 Rewards and punishments (primarily promotion and demotion) are the major handles through which the ruler has to control his officials. But how to judge their performance? Here the Legalists put forward the idea of xing ming 刑名: “performance and title.” Although this compound is attested only in Han Feizi, throughout the Former Han dynasty it was most commonly identified with what we nowadays call “Legalism.” Han Fei explains what he means by xing ming: