<P> Han Fei says: </P> <P> The reason why I discuss the power of position is for the sake of...mediocre rulers . These mediocre rulers, at best they do not reach the level of (the sages) Yao or Shun, and at worst they do not behave like (the arch - tyrants) Jie or Zhou . If they hold to the law and depend on the power of their position, there will be order; but if they abandon the power of their position and turn their backs on the law, there will be disorder . Now if one abandons the power of position, turns one's back on the law, and waits for a Yao or Shun, then when a Yao or a Shun arrives there will indeed be order, but it will only be one generation of order in a thousand generations of disorder...Nevertheless, if anyone devotes his whole discourse to the sufficiency of the doctrine of position to govern All - under - Heaven, the limits of his wisdom must be very narrow . </P> <P> Used in many areas of Chinese thought, Shih probably originated in the military field . Diplomats relied on concepts of situational advantage and opportunity, as well as secrecy (shu) long before the ascendancy of such concepts as sovereignty or law, and were used by kings wishing to free themselves from the aristocrats . Sun Tzu would go on to incorporate Taoist philosophy of inaction and impartiality, and Legalist punishment and rewards as systematic measures of organization, recalling Han Fei's concepts of power (shih) and tactics (shu). </P> <P> Henry Kissinger's On China says: "Chinese statesmanship exhibits a tendency to view the entire strategic landscape as part of a single whole...Strategy and statecraft become means of' combative coexistence' with opponents . The goal is to maneuver them into weakness while building up one's own shi, or strategic position ." Kissinger considers the "maneuvering" approach an ideal, but one that ran in contrast to the conflicts of the Qin dynasty . </P>

What was the main reason for the failure of chinese legalism