The leadership philosophy of Han Fei

Abstract

This work discusses the ideas on leadership that are to be found in the works of Han Fei, the pre-eminent philosopher of Legalism in ancient China. It describes the fundamental Legalist principles of fa, shi and shu and the ‘two handles’ of reward and punishment which were the primary means by which leaders controlled organizations. The work discusses the various elements of Han Fei's ideas on leadership including the nature of leadership, the duties and responsibilities of the leader and the relationships between leaders and subordinates. It concludes by noting some themes of Legalism that have echoes in other theories of leadership and suggests some implications for future thinking about leadership.

Keywords:

• Chinese theories of leadership
• Han Fei
• leadership
• leadership in China
• Legalism

Notes

1. The suffix -zi is usually translated as ‘master’, thus Han Feizi = Master Han Fei.

2. Throughout this work, I have used pinyin transliterations of Chinese names. Watson, like many older sources, uses the Wade-Giles system. I have not attempted to harmonise these, as I am not qualified to do so. My apologies for any annoyance this may cause to readers.