1. Law is to be valued, and avoiding chaos is to be honored.
All men are influenced by feelings of envy between classes. The vassal envies
the lord. The lord envies the warrior. The warrior envies the priest. The
priest envies the learned man. The learned man envies the thief. The wise are
not envious, but content. They do not disobey their lords and fathers. They do
not feud with their neighbors.
2. Sincerely reverence the three treasures. The three
treasures are Jen Shu, Lawful Behavior and the Priesthood. They are the refuge
of the wise and the good. Few men are utterly bad and those who would be made
better should take to themselves the three treasures, it is the only way that their
crookedness can be made straight.
3. When commands from the emperor are received. The wise
scrupulously obey them. See the example of the world around you. They sky is
the superior while the land is inferior. The sky stretches overhead. The land
supports it. When this is so, the four seasons pass properly. But if the land attempted
to stretch overhead, the sky would fall in ruin. Therefore, follow the example
given. The superior speaks and the inferior listens. The superior should act
and the inferior should comply. Those who fail to follow this directive will
find that ruin is the natural consequence.
4. The superiors should make Lawful Behavior their leading
principle, for if the superiors do not behave lawfully, then their inferiors become
instruments of chaos. When superiors behave lawfully, the inferiors behave with
propriety and proper Governance is achieved.
5. Those who sit in judgment must deal impartially with those
who come before him. If the superior who is to decide suits decides by favor or
profit or bribe, then the inferior will take themselves elsewhere to hear judgment
and a knife will flash in the knight.
6. Do not malign the lawful behavior of anyone, nor hide the
chaos of another. Remember that flatterers and deceivers will hasten death. The
inferior who lauds his superior face to face, may also cry out faults to his
own inferiors. From such people great civil disturbances arise.
7. Let every man have his own responsibility and let not his
responsibility be mixed with others. When there is a problem the fault will be
plain. Finding the right man for the right job is the most important task. Seek
the man to fill the office, and not the office for the sake of the man.
8. Let the superiors attend the Court early in the morning
and retire late. The business of governance cannot be neglected. If attendance
at Court is late, and if officials retire soon, the work cannot be completed.
9. Good faith is the foundation of right. If the superior
and the inferior observe good faith one with another, what is there which
cannot be accomplished? If the superior and the inferior do not observe good
faith towards one another, everything ends in failure.
10. Forget anger and irritation with the character of others.
Forget also resentment. All men have hearts, and each heart knows its own good
and evil. One’s good is another’s evil. How can anyone lay down a rule by which
to distinguish good from evil? So let each man follow his heart; and if it be
done lawfully, it is enough.
11. Do not neglect reward and punishment. Give to each what
they are surely due. Let that be your paramount task.
12. Each inferior must pay taxes to their superior. In this
way, all will have but one levy to pay. Let no one presume to collect twice
from the same person.
13. To rise in superiority, let each man turn away from what
is private and set their face toward what is public. If a man is influenced by
private motives, he will breed resentment. When resentment arises, it
interferes with order, and is subversive of law.
14. The people must be employed in forced labor when it is
proper. This is an ancient and excellent rule. Let them be employed thus only
in the winter months, when they are at leisure. But from Spring to Autumn, when
they are engaged in agriculture, the people should not be so employed. For if
they do not attend to agriculture, what will they have to eat? How will the
superior realize taxes.
15. Decisions on important matters should not be made by one
person alone. They should be discussed with many. But small matters are of less
consequence. It is unnecessary to consult a number of people. It is only in the
case of the discussion of weighty affairs, when there is a suspicion that they
may miscarry, that one should arrange matters in concert with others, so as to
arrive at the right conclusion.
No comments:
Post a Comment