 But disputation could also degenerate into a superficial game of trying to outtalk the opponent, an idle contest of wits aimed at defending sophistries, or even a simple quarrel. This side of disputation explains Mencius’s chagrined response when told he has a reputation for being “fond of disputation” (3B:9). Early texts are uniformly disparaging about such empty or flippant disputation. The Annals of Lü Buwei complains that “Those in the world who study engage in much disputation. Their sayings are facile and expressions are upside-down. They don’t seek the facts (shi, the actual things, what is real). They strive to demolish each other, with victory as their [sole] purpose” (15.8/368). “Under Heaven” says that disputers “exaggerate others’ hearts and change others’ intentions. They can defeat others’ mouths, but cannot persuade their hearts.” As to Hui Shi, “He took opposing others as the substance of his activity and desired to make a name for himself by defeating others; that’s why he couldn’t get along with people” (cf. Graham 1981: 284–85). Sima Qian, the Han historian who may have coined the label “School of Names,” says in his account of the six schools that the disputers “determine things only by names and neglect people’s feelings.” They twist words so “people cannot get back to the thought” they were trying to express (Shi Ji, Book 130). Practitioners of this sort of antagonistic or frivolous disputation cared only for victory, even at the cost of distorting the opponent’s point, and they defended bizarre claims without regard for the facts. 