| This dissertation includes introduction, the main body and conclusion.The introduction first reviews the previous studies of Han Fei & his book Han Fei Zi's inheriting, reforming and utilizing Confucianism and then explains the research method, the research ideas and the prospects of the present study.The main body of the dissertation is composed of five parts.In Part I, namely the second chapter of the dissertation, we first discuss the characteristic of the li (propriety) ideology in Confucianism, that is, the political connotations of the concepts of jing (respect) and xin (honesty), and expound Han Fei's inheriting and utilizing Confucian concepts of Jing & Xin. Then in connection with the view of some scholars who hold that Han Fei disfavored the idea of li, we make a special analysis of the separation and independence of li and yi (ceremony) existing from the Spring & Autumn Period to the Warring States Period. We further expound and prove the fact that Han Fei's disfavor of the Confucian concept of li was actually in opposition to such properties of yi as ostentatiousness, complicatedness and hypocrisy as well as the phenomenon of senior officials' utilizing those properties to seek position and fortune.In short, we adopt two perspectives to examine Han Fei's inheriting and reforming the Confucian ideology of li.In Partâ…¡, namely the third chapter of the dissertation, we first analyze Confucius' thought of "Name Rectification" and study Han Fei's upholding such a thought. Then we discuss the development of the thought of "Name Rectification" and Han Fei's inheriting & utilizing this thought during the Warring States Period. Next, we discuss the germination of Confucius' thought of "The Sovereign Being Inactive While The Ministers Being Active", its development during the Warring States Period and its evolution in Xun Zi's ideas. Finally, we study Han Fei's inheriting and reforming Confucianism in terms of his doctrine of what the sovereign and the ministers should be like. In Part III, namely the fourth chapter of the dissertation, we adopt a parallel research method. The first section studies Han Fei's accepting the concepts of "xing" (penalty) and "de" (virtue) that were popular in the Spring & Autumn Period. The second section analyses Han Fei's inheriting and reforming Confucian outlook on xing & de. First the Confucian outlook on de is expounded, which is followed by the explanation of how Han Fei accepted and utilized that outlook. Then the author takes great pains to analyze the characteristic of the Confucian outlook on xing, that is, "Civilization Should Come Before Penalty and Learning Should be Held in High Esteem", which not only features the Confucian outlook on xing, but also makes the Confucian criteria for convicting. After illustrating the characteristic, we expound respectively the Confucius-Mencius' outlook on xing and Xun Zi's outlook on xing before we observe and study Han Fei's accepting and negating the Confucian (especially Xun Zi's) outlook on xing. The third section analyses Han Fei's accepting the Confucian outlook on fa (law). First it reviews the general status of fa in the Spring & Autumn Period. Then it discusses the characteristic of Confucius-Mencius' outlook on fa before it shifts emphasis on Xun Zi's outlook on fa. Finally it observes and studies Han Fei's inheriting and discarding the Confucian (especially Xun Zi's) outlook on fa.In Part IV, namely the fifth chapter of the dissertation, we observe and study the Confucian ideology that Han Fei learned from Guan Zhong and Zi Chan through analyzing the Confucian nature of the two early period Legalists' political thoughts. First we analyze the Confucian nature of Guan Zhong. Through discussing Guan Zhong's influence upon Confucius' thoughts and considering the fact that in Han Fei Zi Guan Zhong's thoughts were positively introduced, we conclude that it was from Guan Zhong that Han Fei learned the Confucian ideology. In the second section, through respectively analyzing the Confucian nature and Legalist nature of Zi Chan's political thoughts, we think that the latter exerted impact not on Han Fei directly, but on the emergence of Confucius' thoughts to a greater extent. Through analyzing Han Fei's positive view of Zi Chan and examining Zi Chan's political orientation towards Confucian state-running ideas, we infer that it was from Zi Chan that Han Fei received the Confucian influence. In the third section, we arrange and discuss the Confucian master-disciple relations between the Legalists in early and middle periods, thus indirectly illustrating where Han Fei's thoughts met with Confucianism.In Part V, namely the sixth chapter of the dissertation, we concentrate our attention on Han Fei's inheriting, repudiating and reforming Confucian ideology during the course of his history outlook's formation. The first section mainly explores the study of shan rang (the system of a ruler abdicating and handing over the crown to another person). There were different schools in this field of study, behind which existed various political factors. We mainly observe Han Fei's negating and accepting the Confucian school of shan rang advocated by Confucius and Xun Zi. The second section mainly explores the influence of Xun Zi's doctrine of "Learning From the Modern Wise Rulers" on Han Fei's ideology. We first deeply analyze the essence of and the relations between Xun Zi's doctrines of "Learning From the Modern Wise Rulers", "Learning From the Ancient Sage Rulers" and "Restoring Ancient Ways". Then we discuss Han Fei's accepting and discarding Xun Zi's doctrine of "Learning from the Modern Wise Rulers". In the third section, we concentrate our attention on the influence of Xun Zi's doctrine of "Combining a King & an Overlord" on Han Fei's ideology. We first describe the objective environment and historical setting in which the history outlooks of Xun Zi and Han Fei were incubated and ripened. Then we specially analyze the characteristic of Xun Zi's doctrine of "Combining a King & an Overlord" before we finally come to the analysis of Han Fei's accepting and discarding Xun Zi's theory in this respect.The conclusion mainly explains how the present subject was chosen. It also adds three arguments related to Han Fei's refuting Confucianism, which are not mentioned in the main body. The dissertation ends up with a few lines about the prospects of the present study. |
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