 Like several earlier texts, the Han Feizi puts considerable stress on objective criteria for governance. Rulers are to compare “names (ming)”—that is, explicit statements of a position’s duties—with results and bestow awards or inflict punishments based on how the two correspond. We also read that: “A truly enlightened ruler uses standards (fa) to select men for him; he does not choose them himself” (HFZ ch. 6, p. 24). While the ruler does not choose ministers according to his own judgment or whim, he still must establish standards in the first place; he cannot simply rely on tradition or precedent: