 Not a few scholars consider Legalists in general and Han Fei in particular as staunch theorists of “monarchic despotism” (Hsiao 1979: 386). This evaluation should be qualified, though. What distinguishes Han Fei and his ilk from other thinkers is neither his insistence on the monarchic form of rule as singularly appropriate, nor adoration of the sovereign’s authority; actually, on these points the Legalists do not differ from most other intellectual currents of their age (Pines 2009: 25–107). Rather, their distinctiveness was in their pronounced anti-ministerial stance. This stance is exemplified by the following saying of Shen Buhai: