Hánfēizǐ 韓非子

‘Master Hán Fēi’, a late Warring States / Early Hàn collection of essays traditionally attributed to Hán Fēi. The work provides a critical perspective on the intellectual culture of the Warring States period, including the Mohists and other schools of disputation. While suspicious of wandering scholars and sceptical of the efficacy of persuasive argument, it develops its own theories of standards, names, and administrative verification through the doctrine of xíng–míng 刑名/形名. The text is also an important source for the history of Mohism, preserving the famous statement that ‘Mohism divided into three’ (墨分為三).