"This rabbit can't be recovered, but it's for the sake of Song."

"The rabbit can't be recovered, but for the Song Dynasty" means: However, the rabbit can't be recovered, and he himself was laughed at by the Song people.

From Han Fei's book Han Fei Woods in the Warring States Period.

Excerpt from the original:

There were plowmen in the Song Dynasty. There was a plant in the field. When the rabbit touched the plant, its neck broke and it died. Stand by and watch because you released this plant, hoping to get the rabbit back. Rabbits can't be recovered, but as a small fruit of a song. Today, the people who want to go to the former dynasty are all guarding their factories and so on.

Translation:

There was a farmer in Song State, and there was a stump in his field. One day, a rabbit running fast ran into a stump, broke its neck and died. So the farmer put down his farm tools and stood by the stump day and night, hoping to get another rabbit. However, the hare could not get it again, and he himself was laughed at by the Song people. Now I want to use the past policy of governing the country to govern today's people, and I am as wrong as waiting for him!

Extended data

Everything is Wrong is the representative work of Legalists, with a total of 20 volumes. The book consists of fifty-five independent essays, most of which are from Han Fei. Except for a few articles, the title of each article shows the main idea of the article.

The core of his theory is the combination of law, technique and potential based on absolute monarchy, and he upholds the evolutionary view of history, advocates extreme utilitarianism, thinks that people focus on interests, supplemented by benevolent education, and emphasizes the rule of law and employing people, which has had a great impact on the establishment of China's feudal social system after Qin and Han Dynasties.

Han Fei Zi Wu Zhu is an essay by Han Fei, a representative figure of Legalism at the end of the Warring States Period. The full text of Wu Zhu is nearly 4700 words, which is a further development of pre-Qin reasoning and can reflect the overall characteristics of Han Fei's articles. The author cites a large number of facts, points out the great differences between ancient and modern society in comparison, has sufficient arguments and sharp words, and deducts the facts to the point.

The main idea of Everything is done wrong

1, theory of historical progress

Han Fei pays attention to the study of history and thinks that history is constantly developing and progressing, so he advocates making policies according to today's reality. His view of history provided a theoretical basis for the reform of the rulers at that time.

For the people, he believes that the implementation of criminal law is precisely the performance of loving the people, but he advocates reducing the corvee and taxes of the people. He believes that severe corvee and taxes will only make the soldiers and crabs stronger, which is not conducive to the rule of the king.

2. The absolute monarchy is centralized.

Han Fei inherited and summarized the thoughts and practices of legalists in the Warring States period, and put forward the theory of absolute monarchy and centralization.

For the monarch, he advocates that the power of the country should be concentrated in the hands of the monarch, and the monarch must have the power and influence to govern the world. To this end, you mainly used various means to eliminate hereditary slave owners and nobles, and at the same time selected a group of feudal officials who had been trained by practice to replace them.

3. Reform and the rule of law

Politically, Han Fei advocated reform and the rule of law, demanding "abolishing the former king's religion" and "teaching according to law". He stressed that when a "law" is enacted, it must be strictly enforced, and no one is an exception.

As for the liegeman, he thought he would go to "five evils" to prevent "eight traitors". The so-called five evils refer to: 1, scholars (referring to Confucianism); 2. Speaker (referring to strategist); 3, with a sword (referring to the ranger); 4, suffering from royal (refers to people who are attached to the nobility and evade military service); 5. Business people. He believes that these people will disrupt the legal system and are "national worms" that are not conducive to agricultural warfare and must be eradicated.

The so-called "eight traitors" refers to: 1, "sharing a bed" refers to the monarch's wife and concubine; 2, "side", refers to the monarch's cronies, such as Xi you and the dwarf; 3. "Father and brother" refers to the uncle and brother of the monarch; 4. "Rehabilitation" refers to people who are interested in pleasing the monarch; 5. "People and Mencius" refers to those who privately distribute public wealth to please the people;

6. "Popularity" refers to finding lobbyists to buy people's hearts and create public opinion; 7. "Wei Qiang" means that lieutenants guard fugitives and show off their prestige with swordsmen; 8. "Sifang" refers to the courtiers who use the financial resources of the state treasury to make friends with big countries and cultivate personal power. These people have good conditions to threaten national security, and we should guard against them like thieves.

4. Simple dialectics

Han Fei's simple dialectics is also outstanding. He first put forward the theory of contradiction. It is worth mentioning that Han Feizi records a large number of fables that are well-known among them, the most famous ones are Contradictions, Waiting for the Rabbit, Medical Taboos, Make Up the Numbers, and Old Horses Know the Way. These vivid fables contain profound philosophies, which give people wisdom and enlightenment with their perfect combination of ideology and artistry, and have high literary value.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Hanfeizi Wuzhu