Abstract
This paper examined the Legalist School's (fa jia 法家) use of allegory in 「Inner Congeries of Sayings, The Upper Series: Seven Tacts」 (內儲說上·七術), 『Han Feizi』 (韓非子). The 「Inner Congeries of Sayings, The Upper Series: Seven Tacts」 took the forms ‘經傳’ and the forms and structures of it interconnected one another. First, the sentence structure of jing (經) used the allegory and fable for effective persuasion. Han Feizi drove readers to understand meanings of the texts rather than directly revealing the meanings. Second, the sentences in Jing connected Jing and Zhuan (傳), which intrigued readers' curiosity. The sentences showed an effective persuasive strategy by attracting readers' and listeners' attention. Third, all quotations in Jing gathered key sentences under sub-theme categories, making readers guess their meanings by context. For the readers familiar with the Zhuan, the quotations made them successfully understand Han Feizi. Fourth, <Canguan> (參觀), the first chapter of 「Inner Congeries of Sayings, The Upper Series: Seven Tacts」 opened its chapter with the sentence of “If not A~.” The sentence was a strategy to express delicate issues of 'officials’ sayings.‘ Fifth, the sentences adopted interesting subjects, including dwarfs, to indirectly express writers’ ideas. The sentences were an expression of Han Feizi, who prioritizes human reason than myths. Han Feizi expressed that the danger of words and the difficulties of arguing against artful words. The analysis of <Canguan> revealed that Han Feizi used secret and elaborate tactics to a king. This study examined the allegorical features of 「Inner Congeries of Sayings, The Upper Series: Seven Tacts」 as Han Feizi’s way of persuading his king effectively using its unique literary styles. This study is also leading research of persuasive communication skills and types in 『Han Feizi』 overall.
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