The Difficulty of Persuasion

Han FeiBashu Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

4.8

Word count: 1.5K words
Chapters: 5

Summary

"Shui Nan" (The Difficulty of Persuasion) is taken from the Han Feizi and is one of the most important of its fifty-five chapters.

Editor's review

"Shui Nan" is a chapter of considerable weight among the fifty-five chapters of the Han Feizi, devoted entirely to the difficulty of advising a ruler. Han Fei breaks the predicament of persuasion down into the other party's psychology, closeness and distance, likes and dislikes, and timing, analyzing each layer in turn with a composure that borders on severity, and precisely for that reason revealing his insight into human nature. The piece wins no victories through fable; it excels in meticulous analysis and incisive judgment, and is an important text for understanding the practical concerns of Legalist thought. This single-chapter edition focuses attention on this one chapter and suits readers who want a close look at how Han Fei argues and how he chooses his words. It may be read as a classical analysis of communication and power relations, whose sense of reality is not diminished by the distance of the ages.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Legalist thought and Han Fei's style
University humanities students in need of analytical classical Chinese prose as a model
Workplace readers concerned with communication, persuasion, and power relations
Primary and secondary teachers preparing lessons on the pre-Qin thinkers

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer literary fables and dislike rigorous argumentation
Those hoping to gain quick-fix persuasion tactics from the book
Readers who find classical Chinese argumentative prose difficult without guidance

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the overall structure of the argument, then go paragraph by paragraph through the difficulties of persuasion Han Fei raises.
Compare the text's analysis of a ruler's psychology with communication situations of your own, making brief annotations.
Cross-reference other chapters of the Han Feizi to see how its Legalist stance runs through the reasoning.
After finishing, try to restate the main points to check whether you have grasped the thread of the argument.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
正文一
正文二
正文三
正文四

FAQ

What is "Shui Nan" mainly about?

This chapter focuses on the difficulty of advising a ruler, analyzing the psychology, closeness and distance, timing, and tact of speech that a persuader faces. Han Fei offers no simple tactics but reveals the structural obstacles in the process of persuasion, so it reads more as a cool analysis than a practical handbook of persuasion.

Is this piece suitable as a model for writing?

Yes. Han Fei's argumentation is clearly layered and decisive in judgment, with short, forceful sentences, making it good material for learning the structure of analytical argumentative prose. Readers may note how he raises a problem, develops it in layers, and draws his conclusion, but should not copy his cold tone in everyday expression.

Do I need to read the whole Han Feizi before "Shui Nan"?

No. The chapter can be read independently; its topic is concentrated and it stands on its own. If, after reading, you become interested in the Legalist stance, expanding to other chapters of the Han Feizi will go more smoothly; reading this chapter first may actually keep you from being put off by the bulk of the whole book.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Han Fei Author · Chinese

Han Fei (c. 280–233 BCE) was a nobleman of the late Warring States state of Han and a disciple of Xunzi, and he is regarded as the great synthesizer of pre-Qin Legalist thought. Combining Shang Yang's "law," Shen Buhai's "method," and Shen Dao's "position of power," he advocated rule by law and centralized monarchical authority. His writing is precise in argument and sharp in tone, often using historical examples and parables to persuade, and is marked by a cool, forceful style. His works include "Solitary Wrath," "The Difficulties of Persuasion," "The Five Vermin," and the Inner and Outer "Storage of Illustrations," later collected as the Han Feizi. His themes center on political strategy, ruler-minister relations, and statecraft, with excursions into prose miscellany and the use of language, giving him influence in both Eastern philosophy and literary appreciation. Sent as an envoy to Qin, he was slandered by Li Si and Yao Jia and died in prison.