A Tentative Exploration of the Fei Qian Argumentation Scheme Based on Logic in a Broad Sense

The Fei Qian (飞箝) Argumentation Scheme, one of the core rhetorical schemes of the School of Diplomacy (Zonghengjia, 纵横家) aimed at controlling others, has yet to receive systematic theoretical analysis, and its significance within the history of Chinese logic remains underexplored. Drawing primarily on the Guiguzi (《鬼谷子》) and related pre-Qin period sources, this article examines the Fei Qian Argumentation Scheme across three dimensions: its structural logic, its intended targets, and its practical application. The analysis reveals that the Fei Qian Argumentation Scheme exhibits a fundamental asymmetry in evaluative standards—it demands factual reliability of the premises while judging the conclusion solely by the criterion of audience acceptability. Operationally, the scheme proceeds by deploying external flattery (fei, 飞) to draw upon captivating words (Gou Qian zhi ci, 钩箝之辞), supplemented where necessary by inward emotional manipulation (Gou Qian, 钩箝). Its application is further stratified by social hierarchy: the scheme is directed upward at rulers (zhi tian xia, 制天下) and laterally at peers (zhi ren, 制人), while subordinates may be directed without recourse to it. In practice, the Fei Qian Scheme presupposes a careful assessment of power and capacity (duo quan liang neng, 度权量能), pursues the goal of winning willing compliance (cong hua, 从化), and resorts to the compound strategy of “encumber responsibilities and reveal weaknesses” (chong lei–zi hui, 重累—訾毁) when the primary scheme fails. The emergence of the Fei Qian scheme form and the broader rise in the School of Diplomacy were inseparable from the specific socio-cultural and historical context of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. To a significant degree, the argumentation theories and practices of the School of Diplomacy advanced the development of bianxue (辩学, the art of disputation) and of Chinese logic as a whole.