Shen Buhai

After Hann completed the conquest and division of Zheng and Wei in 376 BC, he rose up in the ranks of the Han officialdom, reforming it's administration and military defenses only about a half century after its founding.

[5] Although Michael Loewe would caution against attributing too much to any one individual, Sinologist Herrlee G. Creel saw in Shen Buhai the "seeds of the civil service examination," and perhaps even the first political scientist, seeming to play an influence on Han dynasty reformers.

His administrative ideas were influential enough to become one of the Xun Kuang's critiqued "Twelve Masters" in the later Warring States period, and might have been renowned by the time of the Han Feizi.

But Shen Buhai was not necessarily familiar with Shang Yang, and by contrast appears to have opposed punishment, in hopes that a strict, efficient administration would "abolish" the need for it.

Although Sinologists Benjamin Schwartz and Hansen (modernly of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Daoism) would take Shen Dao as a more relevant Daoistic forebear, Creel believed that Shen Buhai's correlation between an (Wu-wei) "inactive" ruler, and a handling of claims and titles may have informed the Daoist conception of the formless Dao (name that cannot be named) that "gives rise to the ten thousand things."

Despite the comparatively minor disagreement with Sima Qian, which would make his time as chancellor a little over fifteen years, Shen Buhai's appointment is likely the most accurate dating that can be determined for his life in general.

Because the quotations attributed to him appear to be pre-Han dynasty, he is credited with writing a now extinct two chapter text, the Shenzi (申子), which is concerned almost exclusively with the philosophy of governmental administration.

[13] As quoted by Pei Yin, Liu Xiang recalls Shen Buhai as a figure who recommended that the ruler "grasp (administrative) technique (shu)" in-order to "do away" with the punishment of ministers, relying on supervision and accountability.

Shen insisted that the ruler must be fully informed on the state of his realm, but couldn't afford to get caught up in details – and does not, Creel says, have the time to do so, eschewing personal appointments.

Shen Buhai's ideal ruler would still have to have had the widest possible sovereignty, be intelligent (if not a sage), have to make all crucial decisions himself, and have unlimited control of the bureaucracy - over which, in contrast to Shang Yang, he is simply the head.

Championing Fa (法 "method"), Shen believed that the greatest threat to a ruler's power came from within, and unlike Han Fei, never preaches to his ministers about duty or loyalty.

[20][21][22] More specifically, Shen Buhai's methods (Fa) focused on "scrutinizing achievement and on that ground alone to give rewards, and to bestow office solely on the basis of ability.

"[23] Liu Xiang wrote that Shen Buhai advised the ruler of men use technique (shu) rather than punishment, relying on persuasion to supervise and hold responsible, though very strictly.

[25] Representing equally applied checks against the power of officials, Xing-Ming seeks the right person for the job through the examination of skill, achievement and (more rarely) seniority.

Creel believed that the correlation between Wu-wei and Xing-ming may have informed the Taoist conception of the formless Tao that "gives rise to the ten thousand things.

[36] More simply though, it can allow ministers to come forward with proposals of specific cost and time frame, leaving their definition to competing ministers—the doctrine favored by Han Fei.

Associated with litigation, he is said to have argued for the permissibility of contradictory propositions, likely engaging in hair-splitting debates on the interpretation of laws, legal principles and definitions.

[42] This "conception of the ruler's role as a supreme arbiter, who keeps the essential power firmly in his grasp" while leaving details to ministers, has a "deep influence on the theory and practice of Chinese monarchy."

[44] Apparently paraphrasing the Analects, Shen Buhai's statement that those near him will feel affection, while the far will yearn for him,[45] stands in contrast to Han Fei, who considered the relationship between the ruler and ministers irreconcilable.

What is called Shu is to create posts according to responsibilities, hold actual services accountable according to official titles, exercise the power over life and death, and examine the abilities of all his ministers; these are the things that the ruler keeps in his own hand.

Fa includes mandates and ordinances promulgated to the government offices, penalties that are definite in the mind of the people, rewards that are due to the careful observers of standards, and punishments that are inflicted upon those who violate orders.

Sinologist Hansen (1992), current of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Daoism, recalls Benjamin Schwarz (1985) as citing Han Fei's two handles of punishment and reward as clearly part of Shu, in rebuttal to Creel's insistence that Shen Buhai was not a Legalist.

Taking Li Kui as a hypothetical influence, Shaughnessy only suggests Shen Buhai as similar in the sense of attempting to implement a more meritocratic government.

Opposing Han Fei's comparison of him with Shang Yang, in favour of a more Confucian-Legalist interpretation, she interpolates a universal registry along the lines of the Confucian rectification of names.

If he was influential in it, Loewe supposes that Shen Buhai's influence may have made Qin government more sophisticated and reasonable, as it appeared, than could be expected of the dogma of the Book of Lord Shang alone.

Emperor Qinshihuang erected an inscription naming himself as taking control of the government and for the first time establishing Xing-Ming, as retroactive terminology for Shen Buhai's method.

The scholar Jia Yi advised Wen to teach his heir to use Shen Buhai's method, so as to be able to "supervise the functions of the many officials and understand the usages of government."

Bringing together Confucian and Daoist discourses, Jia Yi describes Shen Buhai's Shu as a particular method of applying the Dao, or virtue.

The Emperor Xuan of Han was still said by Liu Xiang to have been fond of reading Shen Buhai, using Xing-Ming to control his subordinates and devoting much time to legal cases.