图南/organized
[Editor's note]
Recently, Professor Shao Yonghai from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Peking University was a guest at Tsinghua "Lectures have begun", focusing on the basic views on the ancient Chinese social governance system in " Han Feizi ". Under the social power structure of ancient China, how the monarch used "power" and "technique" to control the entire bureaucracy system, and through specific cases, the three key points of the monarch's "Tao technique" are: keeping silence, conforming to form and name, The interpretation of positive rewards and punishments is carried out to grasp the basic logic of the entire ancient Chinese state governance. The following lecture content is excerpted from the on-site recording provided by the organizer, and has been reviewed and authorized for release by Shao Yonghai himself.
Professor Shao Yonghai at the lecture
The famous French thinker Tocqueville once said: "When the past no longer illuminates the future, people's hearts will wander in the darkness." We live in the present, but we also live in history. We cannot cut off the connection with history and tradition. How we think, how we view things, and the lifestyle we are accustomed to all need to be explained in history.
Han Fei lived at the end of the Warring States period more than 2,000 years ago, at the time of "a great meeting of changes in ancient and modern times." He critically absorbed all the ideological achievements of previous thinkers and constructed a political ideological system with "relying on law, applying techniques, and emphasizing power" as the core. He was regarded by later generations as the master of legalist thought . Qin State monarchs used Han Fei's theory as the ideological and theoretical basis and guiding principles for governing the country, and established a complete monarchy system. For more than two thousand years, Han Fei's theory of monarchical absolutism has been pursued by rulers of all generations. It can be said that Han Fei's thoughts have very important contemporary value for us to understand the past and solve the relationship between reality and tradition.
1. Inspiration from a story
Regarding Han Feizi, let’s start with a short story.
Duke Ping of Jin drank with the ministers and drank heartily. Then he sighed and said: "I am not happy to be a king, but I can't disobey what I say." Bad at the wall. The Duke said: "Who is the Grand Master?" Shi Kuang said: "Now there is a villain who talks to the side, so I bump into him." The Duke said: "I am a humble man." Shi Kuang said: "You are dumb! You are not a gentleman. That's what the person said. "Please get rid of it." The public said: "Release it, as a warning to others." ("Han Feizi·Nan Yi")
This story brings us many enlightenments. First of all, the pleasure and satisfaction that absolute power brings to people is huge. In psychology, human beings' pursuit of security and achievement brings about possessiveness and control. Although Jin Pinggong's words were drunken words, they were the true feelings in his heart. Power gives people the same pleasure as drinking wine to a climax. The kind of wanton indulgence of desires and the full respect and realization of personal will. This kind of satisfaction is brought by power.
Secondly, the ancients clearly realized from the lessons of history that power is a thing full of huge risks. Therefore, wise politicians in ancient times always remained sufficiently vigilant and cautious about the operation of power. The "Book of Songs·Xiaoya·Xiaomin" describes the mentality that should be used in politics as "trembling with fear, as if facing an abyss, as if walking on thin ice." These sentences are highly quoted in pre-Qin classics. The ancients realized that it is a kind of wisdom not to abuse power. The greater the power you have, the more careful, humble and self-discipline you should be. Otherwise, it will cause great harm to the country, the people, and the monarch himself. Shi Kuang's admonition is precisely for this purpose.
Thirdly, we noticed that in this story, Shi Kuang used an extremely admonishing method to advise Duke Ping of Jin, with the purpose of making Duke Ping of Jin suddenly wake up. The so-called extreme remonstrance refers to the use of extreme remonstrance methods, including military remonstrance. The ancients realized that power itself has autocratic characteristics, but personal knowledge and level are limited after all. Decisions on major matters based on one person's wisdom will inevitably cause irreparable losses and even devastation if mistakes are made. disaster. Therefore, in order to prevent the risks caused by the abuse of power, power needs to be restricted to a certain extent.The error correction mechanism in the operation of ancient power was mainly the establishment of a remonstrance official system, which also stipulated that all officials have the responsibility and obligation to remonstrate.
Diagram of an ancient wheel
Fourth, possessing power means controlling huge social resources, including the right to dominate others and personal status, wealth, etc. Starting from the nature of people seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, many people will find ways to get close to the center of power, which will naturally form a pattern of convergence. In "Han Feizi", the expression "the officials converge" appears many times. In this metaphor, the "hub" represents the monarch and the "spokes" represent his subjects. Regarding how to gain the appreciation and trust of the center of power so as to enter a position where he can enjoy more abundant resources, Han Fei summed up the principle of "taking and giving up together" based on the common human psychology: "All treacherous ministers want to obey the will of their masters." Those who take the advantage of relatives and friends. This is because if the master does something good, the minister will praise it; if the master hates it, the minister will destroy it.” "The way" is that treacherous ministers gain the monarch's trust and favor by catering to and obeying the monarch's wishes, thereby gaining access to the monarch's power resources. In this story, the people around Jin Ping Gong were filled with righteous indignation and requested that Shi Kuang be severely punished. They really didn't understand that the way of thinking shown in Ping Gong's words would bring serious hidden dangers to the politics of Jin Kingdom ? Did they really not understand that Shi Kuang's advice was correct? They are all smart people, they are just trying to please Duke Ping of Jin in this way.
Fifth, we can know from the way Shi Kuang adopted the speech method and the performance of the ministers that the ancient power correction mechanism had serious shortcomings. Because in the entire power structure, the monarch and his ministers are in a completely unequal position, and the monarch controls the huge power of life and death, so giving advice and admonition becomes a high-risk matter for the ministers, which requires great moral courage. Han Fei wrote two articles specifically, "It's Hard to Say" and "It's Hard to Say" to study the difficulties that ministers would encounter in the process of advising the monarch. "Speaking of Difficulties" says, "Any difficulty in speaking requires knowing the meaning of what is being said, so I can say it appropriately." This means that the biggest difficulty in giving advice to the monarch is to truly understand the true thoughts in the monarch's heart, so that we can use our own words to express it. Advise words to suit the monarch's mind; "The task of speaking is to know how to be proud of what is said and to eliminate the shame of it." This means that the important thing to do is to know how to beautify and beautify what the monarch is proud of in his heart. thing, and at the same time ensure that the monarch's inner shame does not appear during the entire conversation. Even so, "these two people are worthy of speaking, the thick one will be killed, and the weak one will be suspicious", but the final outcome is still that the serious case will be killed, and the less serious case will also be suspected by the monarch. ruined his political future. "Unspeakable" says, "Even if a sage cannot escape death and humiliation, what can he do? It is difficult for a fool to speak, and it is difficult for a gentleman to speak. Even if the words are dissatisfied with the ears and fall into the heart, no one but a sage can listen." The reason why sages and sages fail to give advice is because the person they are speaking to is very stupid. Only a monarch with a high level of wisdom can understand it. However, it is too difficult to ask the monarch according to the standards of sages and sages. Therefore, in history, it was normal for courtiers who ventured into admonishment to end up dead and ruined.
Sixth, Han Fei's comment on this story is that "Ping Gong has lost his monarchy, and Shi Kuang has lost his courtesy." That is, Ping Gong is a monarch and Shi Kuang is a minister. Their actions are wrong. In terms of politics, their actions are wrong. will cause serious political consequences. Let's talk about "courtesy" first. In Han Feizi's view, when the monarch makes a mistake, the ministers can only give good advice in the form of advice. If the monarch does not accept it, the ministers had better stay away for the time being, swallow their anger, or resign from office. But in no case should you use extreme remonstrance. Han Fei's conclusion comes from his observation and summary of historical experiences and lessons. In history, many treacherous ministers used the name of extreme remonstrance to kill kings and usurp the throne. Let's talk about " monarchy ", which is the principles and principles that a monarch should follow. When a subject speaks or does something that goes against common sense, "it would be unethical for a king to listen to it with joy."
After telling this story, we can roughly understand the content and characteristics of the book "Han Feizi".In short, the book "Han Feizi" revolves around how to be a king; the theme he is most concerned about is how to use his subordinates as a king, and at the same time guard against the ambition of his subordinates to kill the king and usurp the throne. As a classic on monarchical politics, the core of "Han Feizi" is always the relationship between monarch and ministers, and the main theme of the relationship between monarch and ministers is a life-and-death power struggle.
said this, of course, to simplify a complex issue. "Han Feizi" contains quite rich content. It can be said that Han Fei has considered all the details of the operation of ancient power and proposed very specific solutions. From this we can understand that in the historical process of more than two thousand years since the Qin Dynasty, Han Fei's theory of monarchical absolutism has always been the political strategy pursued by rulers of all dynasties. It can be said that the book "Han Feizi" is the only way to understand and study Chinese history, especially the history of political thought today.
2. Three key points of the Tao of the monarch
What is the "Tao of the monarch"? First of all, we must understand what position the monarch should occupy in the power system of the entire family, country, and world. Only in this way can we have a clearer understanding and knowledge of the various ruling strategies and methods used by the monarch as discussed by Han Fei. In the traditional power structure, the monarch and his subjects constitute two aspects that are interdependent and opposed to each other. The monarch is the master of a country and has all ownership of the country, including land and people. However, the monarch alone cannot effectively govern a country, so he needs agents, that is, the bureaucratic class, and he needs to transfer the power of governance to the bureaucratic class. The main duty of the monarch, then, is to see that the bureaucracy faithfully performs its duties. Based on this thinking, Han Fei proposed that there are three main points in the Taoism of the monarch: first, keeping silence, second, combining form and name, and third, correcting rewards and punishments.
Han Fei borrowed Lao Tzu's concept of "emptiness and tranquility", advocating that "emptiness" means that the monarch should be in the dark, as if it were void, unfathomable, and control the "reality" of his ministers with his own "emptiness"; he advocated "quietness" "It requires the monarch to stop with stillness. In Han Feizi's view, since human nature is evil, it is normal for human beings to first consider personal interests in everything, and ministers will inevitably seek every opportunity to gain more selfish interests. Therefore, the contradiction between monarch and ministers is inherently irreconcilable. Han Fei believes that cooperation between monarch and ministers requires communication. In this process, the monarch should never show any true emotions to his ministers as the principle, while the ministers should aim to gain the trust and love of the monarch, whether they are treacherous ministers or loyal ministers. This should be the case. In this context, Han Fei was about to design how a monarch could govern a country by controlling the bureaucracy:
Tian Zifang asked Tang Yiju: "How cautious is the Yi?" He replied: "A bird looks at hundreds of eyes. Zi, Zi guarded it with two eyes, and Zi Jin Zhou Zi Lin said: "Good. If you add Yi, I will add it to the country." When the elder Zheng heard about it, he said, "Tian Zi Fang knew that he wanted to be a boy, but he didn't get it." "For the Lin. The person who has nothing to see is the Lin" ("Han Feizi·Wai Chu Shuo")
In this story, Tian Zifang asked Tang Yiju: "What should people who shoot birds be careful about?" ?" Tang Yiju replied, "The birds are watching you with hundreds of eyes, and you use two eyes to guard against them, so you cannot aim to guard against every bird stealing food. Just guard your granary closely." Tian Zifang agreed and said: "You use this principle in shooting birds, and I use this principle in governing the country."
The king is governed by one person. To deal with thousands of subordinates, if the monarch adopts the method of eradicating traitors to maintain his position, then when the monarch fully deals with one traitor, other traitors will have the opportunity to usurp the monarch's power. Therefore, Tian Zifang believes that the monarch needs to pay attention to The core issue is to carefully guard one's power. After hearing about this incident, Elder Zheng pointed out: Tian Zifang knew that he should protect the granary (power), but he did not know how to protect the granary. When the monarch deals with his ministers in a defensive posture, the ministers will take corresponding countermeasures. The only correct way to protect the granary is to remain silent and do nothing, and do not reveal your thoughts and attitudes, so that the ministers will not be able to take action.
Han Fei used this story to explain that for the monarch, "likes and dislikes are based on reasons." When the monarch's preferences and emotions are expressed, the ministers will immediately have a basis for it, and the officials will use it to adapt to the monarch's psychology. Then "the master is confused", and eventually the master will be confused by the words and deeds of his ministers. "If the words are clear, it will be difficult for the ministers to speak, but the master will not be a god." When the monarch leaks what he heard, it will be difficult for the subordinates to speak, which will make the monarch's ears and eyes blocked, and he will not be a god. In the chapter "Er Handles", Han Fei said: "The master does not hide his feelings or conceal his secrets, but allows the ministers to invade his master." This also emphasizes that the monarch should take emptiness and inaction as the main way. Lord, never reveal your inner emotions and thoughts at any time. In the "Eight Classics", Han Fei also said: "The master of Ming's business lies in carefulness." For Mingzhu, his main point and key lies in carefulness. "Powerful, so the words of the master are blocked by obstacles, and the words of the master are not seen through obstacles." When the monarch lets his ministers see what he likes, his "virtue", that is, the reward used by the monarch to control the entire bureaucratic mechanism, will be The subject is using:
Duke Huan of Qi likes to wear purple, and a country will wear purple. At that time, there will be no one purple among the five elements. When Duke Huan was suffering from it, he said Guan Zhong: "I like to wear purple, and purple is very expensive. People in a country like to wear purple endlessly, what can I do?" Guan Zhong said: "If you want to stop it, why don't you try not to wear purple? That's called left and right. He said, "I hate the smell of purple." So when someone comes in wearing purple clothes, the Duke will say, "Young Master, I hate the smell of purple." So the doctor said, "No, no one is wearing purple clothes." ; Tomorrow, no one in the country will be wearing purple clothes; on the third day, no one in the country will be wearing purple clothes. (" Han Feizi·Wai Chu said that the upper left ")
This story reminds us of Mencius 's famous saying: "There are good people above, and there must be bad people below." What do people in high positions like? The people below will definitely go further. This is normal in a society where power dominates everything. When power not only monopolizes all social resources, it also monopolizes people's understanding and the definition of aesthetics. The king's preferences are the coordinates and guide of social fashion. Therefore, both Confucius and Mencius paid full attention to the virtues of those in superior positions. Confucius emphasized that if those in power are devoted to good deeds, "then the people will be good." He compared the virtues of those in power to wind, and the character of the people to grass falling in the wind. Therefore, those in power become greedy. If we have sex, materialistic desires, and lawlessness, we cannot expect society to be kind and orderly. The book " tube " also has a very wonderful discussion on this issue: if
is good at bravery, the people will take death lightly; if good at
is good at benevolence, the people will take wealth lightly. Therefore, if the superiors like it, the people will do it very well. Therefore, a wise king knows that the people must have the highest priority in mind, so he sets up laws to govern himself and establishes rituals to rectify himself. Therefore, if the above is not done, the people will not obey; if the people do not obey the legal system, the country will be in chaos. Therefore, if a wise king practices the law and cultivates the system, the ancestors will obey him. "("Guanzi·Fafa")
also attaches great importance to the role of the monarch. Guanzi prefers that the monarch's words and deeds need to be restrained by the legal system. This kind of idea appeared among the pre-Qin scholars, which was groundbreaking, but it was also fleeting. When Han Fei told this story, he changed the direction of the story into a criticism of the monarch's "personal care". Han Fei pointed out that the legal system is a tool used by the monarch to govern the people, and the monarch is beyond the legal system. The law began to stipulate various privileges, including clothing. According to Han Fei's thinking, Duke Huan of Qi did not need to go to such trouble and pretentiousness. He only needed to issue a decree: "Purple is a color reserved for the few, and no one else is allowed to wear purple. It is against the law." Kill without mercy. "After a group of heads fell to the ground, there was no need to wait for three days before everyone in the country was convinced.
In Han Fei's entire ideological system, in addition to the "emphasis on emptiness and tranquility" mentioned above, there is also the "integrated name" and "righteous rewards and punishments." In Han Feizi's view, the monarch has two trump cards in controlling his subjects, namely rewards and punishments. Han Fei repeatedly emphasized that there is no friendship between monarchs and ministers. The most important thing for a monarch is to strictly abide by the law. When doing things, rewards and punishments should be appropriate. For ministers, if they measure their own merits and demerits according to the principles of rewards and punishments, they will not have any personal grudges or favors against the monarch.The so-called appropriate reward and punishment means that the monarch rewards his ministers in the form of titles and salaries according to their merits. If the minister's promise to the monarch, including what he should do according to his official position, is regarded as "name", and what the minister actually does is regarded as "real", then the only thing that the monarch needs to do is See if the two are completely consistent. If they are consistent, they will be rewarded. If they are inconsistent, they will be punished. This is the so-called "integrated name". To take it a step further, any benefit a subject can obtain must be achieved through dedicated work and meritorious deeds for the monarch, thereby obtaining corresponding material rewards and social reputation. In this way, Han Fei outlines for us the most ideal state between monarch and ministers.
For society, the monarch is the absolute core, just like the hub at the center of a wheel. The prosperity and wealth of a country are concentrated under the strict control of the monarch, radiating from the center to all directions; and people's desires to pursue interests are like spokes. The monarch, as a result, the power and interests of the entire society objectively form a top-down granting mechanism. According to the social power structure envisioned by Han Fei, the entire bureaucracy is like a big net hanging over society, effectively controlling all people; the monarch is the one who pulls the general outline and controls the big net. The main tools used by the monarch are power and power. Han Fei believes that the core of power is nothing more than reward and punishment, and calls them the "two handles". If the monarch can firmly grasp these two powers, then he will be safe and sound; if he loses any one of them, it may cause endless troubles; if he loses both of them, the monarch will be worthy of the name even if he is not eliminated. puppet. Below we use two stories to elaborate on Han Fei's thoughts on "two handles":
The king of Qi asked Yu Wenzi: "How is governing the country?" He said to him: "Rewards and punishments are the way, and they are sharp weapons. If you hold them tightly, you will not be able to use them." It can be shown to others. If you are like a minister, you are like a beast and a deer, only recommending grass." ("Han Feizi·Nei Chu Shuo Shang Qi Shu")
The main idea of this passage During the Warring States Period The king of Qi State Wenzi Asked: "How should we govern the country?" Wenzi replied: "Rewards and punishments are very powerful methods of governing the country. The monarch must firmly grasp them and cannot share them with others. As for those who serve as ministers, they are like animals like deer. "As long as there is fat grass, they will run there immediately."
In Han Fei's view, humans chasing fame and wealth are like deer chasing fat grass, both driven by instinct. Human beings are at a disadvantage in nature. They do not have feathers like birds and beasts to keep out the cold. They cannot soar in the sky like birds or run and hide in the jungle and wilderness like animals. Therefore, they are subject to many limitations in their ability to obtain food. Human beings rely on food and clothing as the prerequisite for survival, and all social and political phenomena and issues are related to this. Therefore, when an individual's status and reputation determine the share of materials they can obtain, people will naturally pursue fame and status. Regarding this point, Han Fei has made a systematic discussion in "Five Worms":
In ancient times, those who surrendered to the emperor were raised by the prison gate, and the labor of leaving the officials and prisoners was not enough to be passed down to the world in ancient times. Today's county magistrate will die in one day, and his descendants will live happily for many generations, and his friends will cherish him. Therefore, people give way to each other. It is easy to say goodbye to the ancient emperor, but it is difficult to say goodbye to today's county magistrate. ("Han Feizi·Five Beetles")
From this discussion, we can roughly understand that the basic starting point of Han Fei's political scholarship is the evil of human nature. He inherited Xunzi 's views, and extended his argument about the evil of human nature to the question of social politics. opinion. Human beings have the instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. Therefore, when a monarch governs the country, he should make full use of human instinct and nature. However, the tendency to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages is a weakness in human nature. At the level of national governance, if we only believe in the pragmatism philosophy and exploit the weaknesses of human nature without restriction, it will be equivalent to unlimited promotion of human nature to seek benefits in the entire society. Weaknesses can only lead the entire society to a state of primitive jungle. Successful kings and defeated bandits will not only dominate the officialdom, but also dominate the entire society. Han Fei gave up all trust and emotion, designed a system based on the absolute evil of human nature, and made the most comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the logic of power.In a sense, it can be said that Han Fei's thoughts have constructed the logical structure of power in China for more than two thousand years, and also created the logic by which we view power. Let’s look at the second story:
Zhongshan Xianglechi sent Zhao Zhao with hundreds of chariots, and selected the wise guests who thought he was going to go, but the middle way led to chaos. Yuechi said: "I thought you were wise, and made you a general. Now the middle way is in chaos. Why?" The guest left because of his words, saying: "You don't know how to govern. Power is enough to convince people, but benefit is enough. Encourage them, so they can be cured. This minister is a stranger to the emperor. He is a young man and a good man, and he governs the nobles from the humble. This is why he tries to make his ministers chaotic. I can think of him as a prime minister, and I can behead him who is not good, so why not cure him?" ("Han Feizi: The Seven Techniques of Nei Chu Shuo")
From this story, we can understand that in Han Fei's thoughts, regardless of the Whether it is governing a country or managing a team, the key lies in controlling its interests. For a mission of hundreds of people, although a temporarily designated person in charge is young and has a humble status, as long as he controls the power of rewards and punishments, declares the rules of rewards and punishments to team members, and then strictly follows the regulations, he can The team is well managed. Similarly, for a country that strictly stipulates specific provisions for rewarding good and punishing evil through complete laws, using rewards and benefits as bait, and punishment and harm as a deterrent, people will naturally try their best to serve the ruler in order to gain benefits, and at the same time they will not Make trouble to avoid harm. Han Fei repeatedly emphasized that if there was such a governance system, even a mediocre monarch would be able to govern the country well.
However, managing a team of hundreds of people is different from managing a country. This is not only a difference in size, but also in the complexity of society, which may not be covered by this law. The basic spirit of Legalist law is the embodiment of the monarch's will in the whole society. Han Fei highly summarized it as: "(The monarch) sets out the interests and harms to show the world." There is no emotion in this, because "those who love many will not establish the law"; there is only authoritative , because "those who fear the few will invade the superiors"; anyone who violates the monarch's laws (except the monarch himself) must be severely punished No lending, because "if the law is not necessary, then the prohibition will not work." In short, Han Fei's political ideal is to establish a new social order in the form of decrees and use punishment to strictly control the thoughts and behaviors of all subjects, so as to maintain the monarch's autocratic rule. Such a concept and system seems simple and practical, but Han Fei did not consider that in such a legislative spirit, no matter how finely the legal network is woven, it can never be completely airtight, not to mention that the law needs to be specific. People do it.
3. "Rewards must be punished"
In the traditional political model of the family and the country, the function of law is to protect the rule and authority of the family and the country from infringement. The law emphasized by Han Fei was summarized by Ban Gu of the Han Dynasty in "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi·Zhuzilue" as "Trust is rewarded with punishment". Reward and punishment are the basic means used by the monarch to control the entire bureaucracy and even the entire society.
When discussing the role of rewards and persuasion, Han Fei emphasized three principles. The first is trustworthy reward, which means that what is stated as a reward must be implemented. You must not pay lip service but fail to implement it, let alone change it so that the reward decree has no authority in the minds of the people, especially it cannot be based on your own People who are close or close will not be rewarded for the same work. The second is the principle of generous rewards. Since rewards are to be given, the intensity should be enough to impress people's hearts, otherwise there will be no substantive meaning. The third is the reward principle of matching fame and wealth, that is, rewards should be consistent with social reputation, and people should not be rewarded by the monarch but denounced by society.
In terms of punishment, Han Fei inherited the ideas of Shang Yang and strongly advocated severe punishment. Han Fei has repeatedly stated that heavy punishment does not mean cruelty, and light punishment does not mean caring for the people, but is essentially harmful to the people. Because in Han Fei's view, the purpose of punishment is not punishment, but deterrence, so only severe punishment will have enough deterrence to make subjects dare not offend easily. Han Fei also emphasized that the prerequisite for severe punishment to have the proper deterrent effect is that violations must be prosecuted and law enforcement must be strict.
In an autocratic system, both the emperor and the ministers believe in the political philosophy of the winner and the loser. The entire officialdom is like a primitive jungle. The winner is arrogant and looks down on everyone else; the loser bows his head and calls the mountain long live. . Especially the process of handing over power is full of blood. Han Fei believes that the most dangerous moment for a monarch is when the "lord is not God", so that the ministers "have reasons", that is, the monarch's character traits and ideological trajectory are completely controlled by the ministers, which provides a basis for the ministers to use the monarch to realize their personal desires. Regardless of character, talent, learning, or wisdom, the monarch may not necessarily be able to surpass his ministers. The monarch only relies on his status and power to make his ministers work for him. Therefore, he must grasp one key point, which is to make himself mysterious, and from mystery comes majesty. In this way, rewards and punishments can be fully used to treat the ministers with kindness and power, so that "the system is governed by nature, and the people employed are ghosts", and the tragedy of robbing and killing the monarch will not occur.
Editor in charge: Zang Jixian
Proofreader: Shi Jun
