Han Feizi: rule by strict law and fear, not by a ruler's virtue

Against Confucians who trusted moral cultivation to produce good government, Han Feizi argued a state needs fixed laws, harsh predictable punishments, and rulers who conceal their intentions to stay unmanipulable. His Legalist philosophy was adopted by the Qin dynasty, whose ruler used it to unify China in 221 BC, even as Han Feizi himself was forced to suicide in a Qin prison shortly before.

— Han Feizi, Han Feizi — c. 3rd century BC — public domain