Government and Public Affairs

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

From The Sayings of Confucius by Confucius, translated by Lionel Giles, 1910.

Government and Public Affairs.

The Master said: In ruling a country of a thousand chariots there should be scrupulous attention to business, honesty, economy, charity, and employment of the people at the proper season.

A virtuous ruler is like the Pole-star, which keeps its place, while all the other stars do homage to it.

People despotically governed and kept in order by punishments may avoid infraction of the law, but they will lose their moral sense. People virtuously governed and kept in order by the inner law of self-control will retain their moral sense, and moreover become good.

Duke Ai asked, saying: What must I do that my people may be contented? Confucius replied: Promote the upright and dismiss all evildoers, and the people will be contented. Promote the evil-doers and dismiss the upright, and the people will be discontented.

Chi K'ang Tzu asked by what means he might cause his people to be respectful and loyal, and encourage them in the path of virtue. The Master replied: Conduct yourself towards them with dignity, and you will earn their respect; be a good son and a kind prince, and you will find them loyal; promote the deserving and instruct those who fall short, and they will be encouraged to follow the path of virtue.

Some one, addressing Confucius, said: Why, Sir, do you take no part in the government? The Master replied: What does the Book of History say about filial piety? Do your duty as a son and as a brother, and these qualities will make themselves felt in the government. This, then, really amounts to taking part in the government. Holding office need not be considered essential.

The people can be made to follow a certain path, but they cannot be made to know the reason why.

Tzu Kung asked for a definition of good government. The Master replied: It consists in providing enough food to eat, in keeping enough soldiers to guard the State, and in winning the confidence of the people. And if one of these three things had to be sacrificed, which should go first? The Master replied: Sacrifice the soldiers. And if of the two remaining things one had to be sacrificed, which should it be? The Master said: Let it be the food. From the beginning, men have always had to die. But without the confidence of the people no government can stand at all.

Ching, Duke of the Ch'i State, questioned Confucius on the art of government. Confucius replied: Let the sovereign do his duty as a sovereign, the subject his duty as a subject, the father his duty as a father, and the son his duty as a son. A good answer ! said the Duke; for unless sovereign and subject, father and son do their respective duties, however much grain there may be in the land, I could obtain none to eat.

Tzu Chang put a question about the art of governing. The Master said: Devote yourself patiently to the theory, and conscientiously to the practice, of government.

Chi K'ang Tzu asked Confucius for advice on the subject of government. Confucius replied: To govern is to keep straight. If you, Sir, lead the people straight, which of your subjects will venture to fall out of line?

Chi K'ang Tzu, being vexed by robbers, asked Confucius for his advice. Confucius replied, saying: If you, sir, can check your own cupidity, there will be no stealing, even though rewards should be offered for theft.

Chi K'ang Tzu questioned Confucius on a point of government, saying: Ought not I to cut off the lawless in order to establish law and order? What do you think? Confucius replied: Sir, what need is there of the death penalty in your system of government? If you showed a sincere desire to be good, your people would likewise be good. The virtue of the prince is like unto wind; that of the people, like unto grass. For it is the nature of grass to bend when the wind blows upon it.

Tzu Lu asked for a hint on the art of governing. The Master replied: Take the lead and set the example of diligent toil. Asked for a further hint, he said: Be patient and untiring.

Chung Kung, being Prime Minister to the head of the Chi clan, asked for advice on governing. The Master said: Make a point of employing your subordinates, overlook trifling mistakes, raise to office worthy and able men. But, said Chung Kung, how am I to discover these worthy men and single them out for promotion? Promote those that you know, was the reply. As for those that you do not know, will not their claims be brought before you by others?

Tzu Lu said: The Prince of Wei is waiting, Sir, for you to take up the reins of government. Pray what is the first reform you would introduce? The Master replied: I would begin by defining terms and making them exact. Oh, indeed ! exclaimed Tzu Lu. But how can you possibly put tilings straight by such a circuitous route? The Master said: How unmannerly you are, Yu! In matters which he does not understand, the wise man will always reserve his judgment. If terms are not correctly defined, words will not harmonise with things. If words do not harmonise with things, public business will remain undone. If public business remains undone, order and harmony will not flourish. If order and harmony do not flourish, law and justice will not attain their ends. If law and justice do not attain their ends, the people will be unable to move hand or foot. The wise man, therefore, frames his definitions to regulate his speech, and his speech to regulate his actions. He is never reckless in his choice of words.

Fan Ch'ih asked to be taught the art of husbandry. The Master said: Any farmer can teach you that better than I can. He then asked to be taught gardening. The Master said: Any gardener will teach you that better than I can. Fan Ch'ih having gone out, the Master said: What a small-minded man is Fan Hsu! If the ruler is addicted to modesty and self control, his people will not permit themselves to be irreverent. If the ruler loves justice and duty, his people will not venture to be unruly. If the ruler loves sincerity and good faith, the people will not be slow to respond. Such being his qualities, the people will flock to him from all quarters, with their babes strapped to their backs. What need for him to know the art of husbandry?

The Master said: If the ruler is personally upright, his subjects will do their duty unbidden; if he is not personally upright, they will not obey, whatever his bidding.

When the Master went to Wei, Jan Yu drove his carriage. The Master said: What an abundant population! Jan Yu said: Now that the people are so abundant, what is the next thing to be done? Enrich them, said Confucius. And having enriched them, what then? Teach them, was the reply.

The Master said: If a country had none but good rulers for a hundred years, crime might be stamped out and the death-penalty abolished. How true this saying is!

If a kingly sovereign were to appear, by the end of one generation natural goodness would prevail.

If a man can reform his own heart, what should hinder him from taking part in government? But if he cannot reform his own heart, what has he to do with reforming others?

Duke Ting asked if there was a single sentence by which a country might be made to flourish. Confucius answered: No single sentence can be expected to have such a virtue as this. But there is the common saying: "To be a good king is difficult; to be a good minister is not easy." He who realises the difficulty of being a good king has he not almost succeeded in making his country prosper by a single sentence? Is there a single sentence, continued the Duke, by which a country can be ruined? Confucius answered: No such power can reside in any single sentence. But there is a saying: "I have no joy in kingly rule, I rejoice only because none can oppose my will." Now if the king's will is good, and none opposes it, all may be well; but if it is not good, and yet none opposes it, has he not almost succeeded in ruining his country be a single sentence?

The Duke of She asked about the conditions of good government. The Master said: Government is good when it makes happy those who live under it and attracts those who live far away.

Tzüi Hsia, when governor of Chü-fu, asked for advice on government. The Master said: Do not try to do things in a hurry. Do not be intent on small gains. What is done quickly is not done thoroughly; and if small gains are considered, great things remain unaccomplished.

Tzü Lu asked about the service due to a prince. The Master said: Use no deceit, but if you oppose him, oppose him openly.

The Master said: If the ruler cherishes the principle of self-control, the people will be docile to his commands.

Shun was one who did nothing, yet governed well. For what, in effect, did he do? Religiously self-observant, he sat gravely on his throne, and that is all.

In serving your prince, make the actual service your first care, and only put the emolument second.

The head of the Chi clan was on the point of attacking the small principality of Chuan-yü. Jan Yu and Chi Lu came to see Confucius, and said: Our lord is going to have trouble with Chuan-yü. Confucius said: Is it not you, Ch'iu, who are to blame in this? The ancient kings long ago made Chuan-yü the centre of the worship of the Eastern Meng mountain, and moreover it is situated within the territory of Lu.

Its ruler has independent priestly functions. What right have you to attack it? Jan Yu replied: It is the will of our master; we, his ministers, have neither of us any wish to act thus. Ch'iu, said Confucius, Chou Jen! had a saying: "If you are capable of displaying energy, hold office; if not, resign." Of what use is that minister likely to be, who does not sustain his master in the presence of danger, or support him when about to fall? Besides, what you say is wrong. If a tiger or a wild buffalo escapes from its cage, if a tortoise-shell or jade ornament is smashed in its casket, whose fault is it, pray? Jan Yu replied: But Chuan-yü is strongly fortified, and close to our own town of Pi.

If we do not take it now, it will cause trouble to our descendants in a later generation. Confucius rejoined: Ch'iu, an honest man hates your hypocrite who will not openly avow his greed, but tries instead to excuse it. I have heard that the ruler of a state or of a clan is troubled not by the smallness of its numbers but by the absence of even-handed justice; not by poverty but by the presence of discontent; for where there is justice there will be no poverty; where there is harmony there will be no lack in numbers; where there is content there will be no revolution.

This being the case then, if outlying communities resist your authority, cultivate the arts of refinement and goodness in order to attract them; and when you have attracted them, make them happy and contented. Now you two, Yu and Ch'iu, are aiding and abetting your master; here is an outlying community which resists your authority, and you are unable to attract it. Partition and collapse are imminent in your own State, and you are unable to preserve it intact. And yet you are planning military aggression within the borders of your country! Verily! fear that Chi-sun's troubles will come, not from Chuan-yii, but from the interior of his own palace.

When the Master came to Wu-ch'eng, he heard the sound of singing and stringed instruments. He was pleased, but said with a smile: Is it necessary to take a pole-axe to kill a fowl? Tzu Yu replied: Some time ago, Sir, I heard you say that the study of true principles made the ruler beneficent and men of the lower class easy to govern. My children, said the Master, Yen is right. What I said was only in jest.

Tzü Chang asked Confucius, saying: What are the essentials of good government? The Master said: Esteem the five excellent, and banish the four evil things; then you will become fit to govern. Tzu Chang asked: What are the five excellent things? The Master replied: The wise and good ruler is benevolent without expending treasure; he lays burdens on the people without causing them to grumble; he has desires without being covetous; he is serene without being proud; he is awe-inspiring without being ferocious. He is benevolent without expending treasure: what does that mean?

The Master replied: He simply follows the course which naturally brings benefit to the people. Is he not thus benevolent without expending treasure? In imposing burdens, he chooses the right time and the right means, and nobody can grumble. His desire is for goodness, and he achieves it; how should he be covetous? The wise and good ruler never allows himself to be negligent, whether he is dealing with many men or with few, with small matters or with great. Is this not serenity without pride? He has his cap and robe properly adjusted, and throws a noble dignity into his looks, so that his gravity inspires onlookers with respect. Is he not thus awe-inspiring without being ferocious? Tzu Chang then asked: What are the four evil things? The Master said: Cruelty: leaving the people in their native ignorance, yet punishing their wrong-doing with death. Oppression: requiring the immediate completion of tasks imposed without previous warning. Ruthlessness: giving vague orders, and then insisting on punctual fulfilment. Peddling husbandry: stinginess in conferring the proper rewards on deserving men of his people in view, but without indulging in indiscriminate largess. The ever-increasing doles of money and corn with which the Roman Emperors were obliged to buy the favour of the populace would thus have fallen under the condemnation of Confucius.

Confucius. The Sayings of Confucius. Translated by Lionel Giles, E. P. Dutton & Company, 1910.

Confucius, Lionel Giles

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