The Five Vermin

韩非子Nanhai Publication Company · ChinaJul 2024

Rating 4.6

Word count: 4.8K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Chinese traditional culture has a long and profound intellectual history, marked by high originality, inventiveness, and literary quality. Early thought forms are highly distinctive: religious theology, classical Chinese medical texts, ancient military strategy, Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist, and Hundred Schools thought, feng shui and metaphysics, the Twenty-Four Histories, and local customs and geography are all vast and profound in content. This "Essence of Classic Chinese Culture Original Texts" series preserves the original appearance of the books, with a focus on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers can cultivate their character and subtly appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

"The Five Vermin" is the most famous political essay in the Han Feizi. Han Fei identifies five types of people—scholars, persuaders, swordsmen, draft evaders, and merchants and artisans—as "vermin of the state," and advocates clear laws, appointment by ability, and the elimination of useless debate, embodying the Legalist critique of Warring States social structure and its pursuit of governmental efficiency. The essay's sharp metaphors and layer-by-layer argumentation make it an indispensable text for understanding pre-Qin Legalist thought. This edition belongs to the "Essence of Classic Chinese Culture Original Texts" series, preserves the original appearance of the text, and is suitable as a base text for studying the original. Its value lies not only in the views themselves but also in its argumentative structure and historical context: Han Fei was addressing the itinerant-scholar ethos and the farming-war order of a particular era, and readers who reconstruct that context will see both the relevance and the limitations of his claims. It is advisable to read it alongside other chapters of the Han Feizi and Warring States historical sources, and not to treat its assertions as universally applicable rules.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of pre-Qin thought and Legalism who need to study the original text
Literature and history majors analyzing political essays and argumentative structure
Advanced readers interested in ancient Chinese political thought
Readers preparing for classical Chinese exams or seeking argumentative material

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners with no classical Chinese reading ability
Readers expecting modern vernacular annotation and detailed introductory guidance
Readers who only want light historical stories and are not interested in intellectual argumentation

Reading tips

First read through once to grasp the line of argument, then go paragraph by paragraph through Han Fei's definitions of the five types and his logic of refutation.
Read in light of the social background of the mid-to-late Warring States period, and reflect on the real tension between farming-war policy and the itinerant-scholar ethos.
Read alongside chapters such as "Prominent Schools" and "Solitary Indignation" in the Han Feizi to understand the overall shape of the Legalist critique.
After reading, write a short commentary distinguishing which judgments are context-specific and which have general methodological significance.

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

版权信息
五蠹

FAQ

Which five types of people does "the five vermin" specifically refer to?

They refer to scholars (Confucians), persuaders (political strategists and itinerant lobbyists), swordsmen (wandering knights and assassins), draft evaders (those who evade military service and attach themselves to the powerful), and merchants and artisans. Han Fei held that these five types do not engage in farming or warfare yet consume state resources, like wood-boring insects, and therefore advocated restraining them to strengthen the farming-war order and monarchical centralization.

Do I need to read the entire Han Feizi before reading "The Five Vermin"?

Not necessarily. This chapter can be read independently, but first understanding the late Warring States situation in which Han Fei lived and his basic positions will make it easier to grasp whom the text targets. If time permits, reading "Prominent Schools" and "Solitary Indignation" in the Han Feizi will help you understand the overall framework and argumentative style of his critical system.

Are the views in this book still applicable today?

They should not be applied directly. Han Fei's assertions were aimed at the farming-war order and itinerant-scholar ethos of the Warring States period and bear a clear stamp of their time. The value of reading them today lies more in their argumentative method, their thinking on institutional efficiency, and their cold-eyed observation of human nature and interest than in the specific policy proposals themselves.

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

韩非子 Author

Han Feizi is regarded as the great synthesizer of Legalist thought in the late Warring States period; details of his life and native place are limited in publicly available sources and cannot be verified with certainty. The collection bearing his name contains seventeen of his works, including "Nan Yi," "Nan San," "Yang Quan," "Shuo Lin Shang," "Shuo Lin Xia," "Wu Du," and "Yu Lao," most of which are political and philosophical essays. These writings are known for their cold, rigorous reasoning and their skillful use of fables and historical examples to argue their points, analyzing layer by layer the dynamics between ruler and minister, the function of law and standards, and the changes of the age. Their language is concise and sharply pointed. Pieces such as "Wu Du" embody his emphasis on law, position, and statecraft, and have had a lasting influence on later political culture and essay writing; they are often classified under Eastern philosophy and miscellaneous prose.