Abstract: In the late Eastern Han Dynasty,CUI Shi advocated the “goverance in the way of Ba (law and penalty)” to solve the problem of “the political defects of hundreds of kings”,to confront with the apocalyptic situation of corrupted politics and deposed laws. It was inconsistent with the mainstream view of the scholars of his times,who supported the way of Wang (morality and mercifulness),so the ancient and modern scholars' evaluation of CUI Wei,whether critical or supportive,was based on the academic debates between Confucians and the law school,as well as the traditional perspective of the arguments for the ways of Wang or Ba. In CUI Shi's context,the way of Ba provided a possible solution not only to the political and cultural dilemmas of the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties and the problem of “the political defect of hundreds of kings”,but also to the shortcomings of the way of Wang,advocated by the traditional Confucians;therefore,the way of Ba should not be simply regarded as the opposite of Wang. In order to justify the way of Ba,CUI Shi also used the historical experience of the King of Zhou in fighting the barbarism in the Spring and Autumn Period to demonstrate the benefit of Ba to imperial politics. It can be seen that CUI Shi's viewpoint was not to support the way of Ba,nor to use both Wang and Ba,but to try to introduce the positive elements of the way of Ba to assist that of Wang.

Key words: CUI Shi, Zhenglun (political comments), the political defect of hundreds of kings, the ways of Wang and Ba, history and reality