Reply to the King of Wei

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

Rating 2.5

Word count: 1.1K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

The King of Wei asked what the true peril of a ruler is, and Gao, son of King Anli of Wei, replied: “If great ministers are appointed without consulting those close to the ruler, then when their advice is used, men of knowledge feel alienated and doubt themselves—doubting that the ruler has distanced himself from them. As for favored ministers who seek advancement through flattery, inwardly they ingratiate themselves with the ruler's heart, and outwardly they expose the ruler's faults. This is the greatest peril of a ruler.”

Editor's review

This dialogue comes from Gao, son of King Anli of Wei, and concerns the most hidden dangers surrounding a ruler: on one side, talented ministers grow suspicious because they are kept at a distance; on the other, favored courtiers win favor through flattery and broadcast the ruler's faults abroad. In a few short lines it lays bare the mechanisms of information blockage and collapsing trust at the heart of power. Its value lies not in offering a systematic political theory but in preserving a concrete, sharply observed sample from the perspective of someone involved—best read alongside relevant chapters of the Zhan Guo Ce and Han Feizi. This Bashu Publishing House edition is compact and can serve as close-reading material on pre-Qin political discourse, or as a way to understand the structures of suspicion in ancient ruler-minister relations. Read it slowly, and note the chain of relations among the key terms “doubt,” “distance,” “ingratiate,” and “expose faults.”

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in pre-Qin political thought and ruler-minister relations
Students in need of short classical Chinese texts for close-reading practice
History and literature enthusiasts researching the state of Wei in the late Warring States period

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a systematic framework of political theory
Readers hoping for a complete narrative or a long story
Those with weak classical Chinese reading skills who are unwilling to consult annotations

Reading tips

Read the original text through once, then break down the logic chain of “doubt—distance—favor—peril” sentence by sentence.
Read alongside relevant chapters of the Han Feizi and compare how different texts describe favored ministers interfering in governance.
After reading, restate Gao of Wei's core judgment in your own words and check whether you have grasped the causal turning points.

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
对魏王第十三

FAQ

What is the core argument of this dialogue?

Gao of Wei holds that a ruler's greatest peril has two sides: capable ministers grow self-doubting and distant because they are not trusted, while favored courtiers who rise through flattery cater to the ruler inwardly and expose his faults outwardly—together eroding the ruler's judgment and authority.

How much background knowledge is needed to understand this passage?

You need to know the basic structure of ruler-minister relations during the Warring States period and some general knowledge of Wei's situation under King Anli. It can be read without knowing the specific historical events, but grasping the tension among “great ministers—favored courtiers—ruler” will make it smoother.

Is it suitable as introductory classical Chinese material?

Not really for absolute beginners. Though short, the language is dense and the references are tightly interwoven; it is best used by readers with some classical Chinese reading experience who can consult annotations.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.