Free A Thousand Pieces of Gold by Adeline Yen Mah

(governing methods), such as hukou (system of requiring every household to be registered with the local government in Communist China), has been handed down virtually unchanged since the time of the Warring States. The third was fa (law).
    Surprisingly modern in some aspects, the Legalist School made the rule of law the foundation of its new philosophy of government. The law was to be universal and was to be obeyed by everyone, regardless of rank or blood. This was far different from the feudal system during the Warring States, in which the king of each state was a law unto himself. He, his family, and the nobles they appointed had unlimited powers over those under them. Han Feizi was a fierce opponent of feudal privileges and their hierarchic social structure. He wrote,
    Let the laws be recorded in writing, displayed within the government offices, and made known to the people.
    He taught that the laws must be kept constant. All affairs could be carried out only within the scope of the law, and the law was to be the highest standard of behavior in the world. Laws should be established so as to do away with private standards:
    Private standards and private opinions tend to confuse the laws. If devious scholars should pursue their education while harboring hidden agendas, then the more intelligent ones will criticize while the lesser ones will cast doubt. What gives good government is law; but what causes chaos is private standards and private opinions. After establishing the law, no one should be allowed to question the law or to have private opinions.
    His writings came into the hands of King Zheng, ruler of Qin and future First Emperor of China.
    According to Shiji,
    Someone sent Han Feizi’s writings to the King of Qin. When he read them, he said, “Ah! If I could only meet the man who wrote this and come to know him, I would die without regret.”
    Li Si replied, “These essays were written by my classmate. His name is Han Feizi.” At that time, Li Si had been in Qin for fourteen years and held the high post of visiting minister. Fearing that the brilliant Han Feizi would again overshadow him if he were also to work for the King of Qin, Li Si devised a devious plan.
    Not long afterward, at the urging of Li Si, Qin attacked Haan on a pretext. As part of the peace negotiation, Li Si insisted that his classmate Han Feizi be dispatched to Qin as the emissary representing the state of Haan. Therefore, in the year 233 B.C.E ., Han Feizi went to Qin and was presented to King Zheng.
    Shiji continues:
    The King of Haan sent Han Feizi as an emissary to Qin. Although the King of Qin was much pleased with the brilliant scholar, he dared not trust him sufficiently yet to use him.
    While in Qin, Han Feizi submitted a petition to King Zheng. In eloquent terms, he asked Qin to desist from continuing its military campaign against Haan and to attack Zhao instead. Hearing of this, Li Si submitted a counter petition to the king, urging him not to agree to the suggestions of Han Feizi. He suggested that he himself be sent as Qin’s emissary to see the King of Haan and make an attempt to lure the latter to visit Qin. In one stroke, Li Si hoped to imprison the King of Haan in Qin and place Haan at the mercy of Qin.
    King Zheng duly sent Li Si to Haan, but the King of Haan would not grant him an interview. At great peril to himself, Li Si submitted a petition to the King of Haan in which he tried to dissuade the king from granting safe passage to the army of Zhao, which was threatening to invade Qin. This was the petition in which Li Si quoted the proverb chun wan chi han, “when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold.” Li Si claimed that the war of Qin would become the war of Haan because Zhao would eventually invade them both. In the 1960s Chairman Mao used the same proverb and the same argument during the Vietnam War.
    Despite his best efforts, Li Si was not granted an interview and returned to Qin empty-handed. Shiji continues:
    Soon