Han Fei saw the power of "people"

To examine Han Fei's understanding of man's subjective initiative, we should start by examining the social and historical conditions under which Han Fei thought occurred, especially to examine who Han Fei represented in historical development, who stood on whose standpoint he spoke on, why he spoke in this way, and what kind of impact would be brought about by such talking, so as to have a novel view of heaven and man. Before Han Fei, philosophers had many different understandings of the relationship between objective regularity and human subjective initiative. At that time, the main school of thought, namely the four schools of Confucianism and Taoism, the two schools of Confucianism and Taoism tended to emphasize the power of heaven, and although the Mo family saw the power of man, it was obviously incomplete. So, how does Han Fei, who represents the emerging landlord class, view people's subjective initiative?

Han Fei criticized the Confucian and Mo schools for denying the basic orientation of human subjective initiative, viewing it as a "study of foolishness." He saw that historical development has objective laws and used "Tao" and "Reason" to express objective laws. "The Taoist, the reason why all things are the same, is also the reason for all things. Reason, the text of the thing also. The activities of mortals should be "kept to reason, because of nature", that is, to follow objective laws, otherwise it is difficult to succeed, "when it is not heaven, although the ten Yao can not give birth to a spike in winter." Only by following the objective law can we succeed, and "the reason for the husband and wife can be accomplished by those who are engaged in it."

While acknowledging that historical development has objective regularities, Han Fei recognizes the value of human subjective initiative. To construct man's subjectivity on the stage of history, we must first rethink the mystified heavens. Han Fei pointed the finger at divination, which was very authoritative in social activities at that time. He told the story of the war between Zhao and Yan based on divination in a sarcastic tone: "Chiseling turtles and counting strategies, Zhao Yue 'Daji', and the one who attacked Yan, Zhao Ye." Chisel turtle number strategy, Zhao Yue 'Daji', and to attack Zhao, Yan also. "Zhao Guo and Yan Guo both had the result of divination before attacking each other, and they attacked each other according to the results of divination. Han Fei put this sharp contradiction out, the war must be divided into wins and losses, and the two big lucks also mean a win-win situation. The result was the victory of the State of Zhao over the State of Yan. So, how to explain the great auspiciousness of yanguo divination? Han Fei sarcastically said that this "is not a Zhao turtle god but a swallow turtle cheating also." He realized that the root cause of this absurdity lay not in the turtles of the two countries, but in the divination itself; not that the turtles were not credible, but that the divination itself was not credible. Han Fei dissolved the sacred status of divination, telling people that heaven is unreliable and that the most reliable is man.

Han Fei used "personnel" to express people's subjective initiative, and grouped it into a pair of categories with "Tiangong". At the same time, he distinguished the different elements and their statuses that characterize objective regularity and subjective agency. "The reason why Ming Jun has made meritorious achievements and become famous is four: one is the heavenly time, the second is the human heart, the third is the skill, and the fourth is the position of potential." Potential is an objective condition, heaven and time are objective laws, and people's hearts and skills are people's subjective initiative. Human activities should be based on objective reality and subjective initiative. It should be pointed out that in Han Fei, subjective initiative mainly refers to practice, not just words and theories. Han Fei despised the Confucian illusory rhetoric that "if you listen to my words, you can be overlord"; historical development is not spoken out by mouth, but by people, and people's subjective initiative is mainly reflected in the practice of reality.

Han Fei fully realized the significance of man's subjective initiative in historical activities, which is a great improvement over the previous views of various schools that obscured and suppressed man's subjective initiative. Of course, his views are also flawed, mainly reflected in his grasp of the "degree" between the two. He sometimes attached too much importance to the power of objective laws, and the statements that "the reason for the cause of things is not labored" and "the reason for the fate of the husband cannot be achieved by the practitioner" are too absolute. The reason for his deviation is mainly due to his political stance. The relationship between the system and people has a dual nature, when it is necessary to show the power of people, it will naturally bring out people; when the value of people and the system contradict each other, nature will infinitely enlarge the "Tao" hidden behind the system. This is a dilemma that Han Fei is difficult to overcome.