(Section 6)
No state is forever strong or forever weak. If those who uphold the law are strong, the state will be strong; if they are weak, the state will be weak. King Zhuang (r. 613–591) of Chu annexed twenty-six states and extended his territory three thousand li, but death called him from his altars of the soil and grain, and Chu in time declined.
Duke Huan (r. 685–643) of Qi annexed thirty states and opened up his territory three thousand li, but death called him from his altars of the soil and grain, and Qi in time declined. King Zhao (r. 311–279)1 of Yan extended his domain to the Yellow River on the south, made his capital at Ji, and strengthened his defenses at Zhuo and Fangcheng; he overran the state of Qi and conquered Zhongshan, until all who allied themselves with him were looked on as powerful and all who did not as insignificant; but death called him from his altars, and Yan in time declined. King Anxi (r. 276–243) of Wei attacked Yan to save
Zhao,2 seized the area east of the Yellow River, attacked and gained complete control of the regions of Tao and Wei, dispatched troops against Qi, and seized the city of Pinglu for his private use; he attacked Han, took control of Guan, and won victory at the Qi River; in the campaign at Suiyang the Chu army ran from him in exhaustion, and in the campaign at Cai and Zhaoling the Chu army was crushed; his troops marched to the four quarters of the world and his might overawed the cap-and-girdle states;3 but after King Anxi died, Wei in time declined.
Thus, under Zhuang and Huan the states of Chu and Qi became dictators; and under Zhao and Anxi the states of Yan and Wei were strong. But now all of them have become doomed countries, because their ministers and officials pursue only what brings chaos and never what brings order. Their states have already fallen into disorder and weakness, and yet the ministers and officials disregard
the laws and seek private gain in dealings with foreign powers. One might as well carry bundles of kindling to put out a fire with—the chaos and weakness can only increase.
In our present age he who can put an end to private scheming and make men uphold the public law will see his people secure and his state well ordered; he who can block selfish pursuits and enforce the public law will see his armies growing stronger and his enemies weakening. Find men who have a clear understanding of what is beneficial to the nation and a feeling for the system of laws and regulations, and place them in charge of the lesser officials; then the ruler can never be deceived by lies and falsehoods. Find men who have a clear understanding of what is beneficial to the nation and the judgment to weigh issues properly, and put them in charge of foreign affairs; then the ruler can never be deceived in his relations with the other powers of the world.
Now if able men are selected for promotion on the basis of reputation alone, then the officials will disregard the ruler and seek only the good will of their associates and subordinates. If appointments to office are controlled by cliques, then men will work only to establish profitable connections and will not try to achieve office by regular routes. In such cases, official posts will never be filled by able men, and the state will fall into disorder. If rewards are handed out on the basis of good report alone, and punishments on the basis of slander, then men who covet rewards and fear punishment will abandon the public interest and pursue only private schemes, banding together to further each other’s interests. If men forget who their sovereign is and enter into association with foreign powers in order to further the interests of their own group, then subordinates will be of little aid to their superiors. If the groups are large and their allies numerous, so that a single clique embraces men both inside and outside the state, then, though its members commit a glaring fault, they will find plentiful means to conceal it. As a result, truly loyal ministers will face peril and death even though they are guilty of no fault, while evil ministers will enjoy safety and profit which they have done nothing to deserve. If loyal ministers, though guiltless, still face peril and death, then good officials will go into hiding, and if evil ministers, though without merit, enjoy safety
and profit, then corrupt officials will come to the fore. This is the beginning of downfall.
In such cases, the officials will turn their backs on law, seeking only to establish weighty personal connections and making light of public duty. Numbers of them will flock to the gates of powerful men, but none will appear in the ruler’s court. They will lay a hundred plans for the advancement of private family interests, but give not one thought to how the ruler should order his state. Thus, although there are plenty of men attached to the administration, they will not be the kind who will honor their ruler; though all the official posts are filled, none who fill them will be the kind who can be entrusted with affairs of state. So, although the sovereign holds the title of ruler of men, he will in fact be a pawn of the ministerial families.
Therefore I say:4 There are no men in the court of a doomed state.
When I say there are no men, I do not mean that the actual number of men at court is any less than usual. But the powerful families seek only to benefit each other and not to enrich the state; the high ministers seek only to honor each other and not to honor their sovereign; and the petty officials cling to their stipends and work to make influential friends instead of attending to their duties. And the reason such a state of affairs has come about is that the ruler does not make important decisions on the basis of law, but puts faith in whatever his subordinates do.
A truly enlightened ruler uses the law to select men for him; he does not choose them himself. He uses the law to weigh their merits; he does not attempt to judge them for himself. Hence men of true worth will not be able to hide their talents, nor spoilers to gloss over their faults. Men cannot advance on the basis of praise alone, nor be driven from court by calumny. Then there will be a clear understanding of values between the ruler and his ministers, and the state can be easily governed. But only if the ruler makes use of law can he hope to achieve this.
When a man of true worth becomes a minister, he faces north before the sovereign, presents tokens of his allegiance,5 and banishes from his mind the thought of all other loyalties. If he serves at court, he does not venture to excuse himself because of the lowliness of the post assigned him; if he serves in the army, he does
not dare to shirk danger. He follows the lead of his superiors and obeys the laws of his sovereign; with empty mind he awaits orders and does not question whether they are right or wrong. Thus, though he has a mouth, he never uses it to speak for private advantage; though he has eyes, he never employs them to spy private gain; in all things he is under the control of his superior. A minister may be compared to a hand, which reaches up to serve the head or reaches down to tend the foot; its duty is to relieve the body from heat or cold and, when swords threaten,6 it dare not fail to strike out at them. For his part, the ruler must never make selfish use of his wise ministers or able men. So the people are never tempted to go beyond their communities to form friendships, nor need they worry about what happens a hundred li away. Honorable and humble do not get in each other’s way, and stupid and wise find their proper place. This is the perfection of good government.
Men who are contemptuous of ranks and stipends, quick to discard their posts and abandon the state in search of another sovereign, I would not call upright. Those who propound false doctrines and controvert the law, who defy their sovereign or oppose him with strong censure, I would not call loyal. Those who practice charity and dole out benefits in order to win over their subordinates and make a name for themselves, I would not call benevolent. Those who withdraw from the world, live in retirement, and employ their wits to spread false slander against their superiors,7 I would not call righteous. Those who devote all their time to establishing favorable relations with the princes of other states, impoverishing their own state in the process, and who, when they see the moment of crisis approaching, attempt to intimidate their sovereign by saying, “Only through me can friendly relations be established with So-and-so; only through me can So-and-so’s anger be appeased!”, until the ruler comes to believe in them and entrusts all state affairs to their decision; who lower the name of the ruler in order to enhance their own eminence, who raid the resources of the state in order to benefit their own families—such men I would not call wise.
Deeds such as these prevail in a dangerous age, but were precluded by the laws of the former kings. The law of the former kings says, “Ministers shall not wield the instruments of authority nor
dispense benefits, but follow the commands of the king; none shall do evil, but uphold the king’s path.” In antiquity the people of a well-ordered age upheld the public law and renounced private schemes, concentrated their attention upon one goal and their actions upon one object, and together awaited the charge that was laid upon them.
If the ruler of men tries to keep a personal check on all the various offices of his government, he will find the day too short and his energies insufficient. Moreover if the ruler uses his eyes, his subordinates will try to prettify what he sees; if he uses his ears, they will try to embellish what he hears; and if he uses his mind, they will be at him with endless speeches. The former kings, knowing that these three faculties would not suffice, accordingly set aside their own abilities; instead they relied upon law and policy, and took care to see that rewards and punishments were correctly apportioned.
Since they held fast to the essential point, their legal codes were simple and yet inviolable, and alone they exercised control over all within the four seas. Even the cleverest men could find no opening for their falsehoods, the glibbest talkers no audience for their sophistries, and evil and deceit were left without a foothold. Though a thousand miles from the ruler’s side, men did not dare say anything different from what they had said in his presence; though courtiers in the palace, they did not dare to conceal good or gloss over evil. Courtiers and officials flocked to the service of their sovereign, each diligently attending to his own duties, and none dared overstep his position. Affairs of government were not pressing8
and time was left to spare. The way in which the ruler relied upon his position made it so.
The process by which ministers invade the rights of their sovereign is as gradual as the shifting of the contours of the landscape. Little by little they cause him to lose his sense of direction, until he is facing east where before he faced west, and yet he is unaware of the change. Hence the former kings set up south-pointing markers to determine the direction of sunrise and sunset. In the same way, an enlightened ruler will make certain that the ambitions of his ministers do not roam beyond the bounds of the law, and that they do not go about dispensing favors even though such acts may be within the
law. They are permitted to make no move that is not in accord with law. Laws are the means of prohibiting error and ruling out selfish
motives;9 strict penalties are the means of enforcing orders and disciplining inferiors. Authority should never reside in two places;10
the power of decree should never be open to joint use. If authority and power are shared with others, then all manner of abuse will become rife. If law does not command respect, then all the ruler’s actions will be endangered. If penalties are not enforced, then evil will never be surmounted.
Though a skilled carpenter is capable of judging a straight line with his eye alone, he will always take his measurements with a rule; though a man of superior wisdom is capable of handling affairs by native wit alone, he will always look to the laws of the former kings for guidance. Stretch the plumb line, and crooked wood can be planed straight; apply the level, and bumps and hollows can be shaved away; balance the scales, and heavy and light can be adjusted; get out the measuring jars, and discrepancies of quantity can be corrected. In the same way one should use laws to govern the state, disposing of all matters on their basis alone.
The law no more makes exceptions for men of high station than the plumb line bends to accommodate a crooked place in the wood.
What the law has decreed the wise man cannot dispute nor the brave man venture to contest. When faults are to be punished, the highest minister cannot escape; when good is to be rewarded, the lowest peasant must not be passed over. Hence, for correcting the faults of superiors, chastising the misdeeds of subordinates, restoring order, exposing error, checking excess, remedying evil, and unifying the standards of the people, nothing can compare to law.
For putting fear into the officials, awing the people, wiping out wantonness and sloth, and preventing lies and deception, nothing can compare to penalties. If penalties are heavy, men dare not use high position to abuse the humble; if laws are clearly defined, superiors will be honored and their rights will not be invaded. If they are honored and their rights are inviolable, then the ruler will be strong and will hold fast to what is essential. Hence the former kings held laws in high esteem and handed them down to posterity. Were
the ruler of men to discard law and follow his private whim, then all distinction between high and low would cease to exist.
1The text erroneously reads King Xiang.
2The text erroneously reads “attacked Zhao to save Yan.”
3I.e., the states in which Chinese dress was worn.
4Literally, “Your servant says,” suggesting that this was originally a memorial to some ruler, probably the king of Han.
5Ritually prescribed gifts presented upon entering the service of a ruler. Chinese rulers always sat facing south when holding audience.
6Omitting the ru, which is either superfluous or the remnant of a clause that has dropped out.
7Following Chen Qiyou, who amends zuo to zha and supplies zhi above it.
8Emending zu to cu in accordance with the suggestion of Chen Qiyou; but the meaning is very doubtful.
9Amending ling to jin and omitting you in accordance with the suggestion of Chen Qiyou.
10Reading er instead of dai.