There are three methods of [acquiring] prestige. There is the
prestige [derived] from the Way and virtue, there is the prestige
from harsh supervision, and there is the prestige from demented
wantonness. It is absolutely necessary to examine into these three
[sources of] prestige. What do we mean by the prestige [derived]
from the Way and virtue? Rites (li) and music are in order;
distinctions and obligations (i) are clear; promotions and employment
are seasonable; love and profit are impartial.[2]
Under such
circumstances as these, the people honor [the ruler] as emperor.
They love him as their parent, and fear him as [they do] spiritual
beings. Truly, when rewards are not used and still the people are
persuaded [to do good], when punishments are not applied, and
yet [the ruler's] prestige is effective, his is the prestige [derived]
from the Way and virtue.
What do we mean by the prestige from harsh supervision?
Rites (li) and music are not in order; distinctions and obligations
are not clear; promotions and employment are not seasonable; love
and profit are not impartial. But restrictions on wrong-doers are
harsh, and the punishment of those who do not submit is invariable;[3]
penalties are numerous[4]
and extensive; executions are
cruel and inevitable. With a crash[5]
like thunder [people] are
struck down, oppressed as by a [falling] wall. [Under such conditions,
when][6]
the people are under pressure they are afraid;
when it is relaxed they are disrespectful toward their superiors.
When seized by force, they assemble; when from afar they hear
[of him], they scatter. If they are not pressed by punishments and
force and stirred up by executions and death, [the ruler] has no
way of keeping them under him. Such is the prestige from harsh
supervision.
What do we mean by the prestige from demented wantonness?
No disposition for loving others, no undertakings to benefit others,
and daily throwing into disorder the Way of man. When the
people murmur, [the ruler] following them up, seizes and binds
them, punishes and tortures them.[7]
He does not conform to human
feelings and goes against Heaven's principles. Under these conditions
flood and drought are unseasonable; the yearly grain crops
do not ripen. The people on the one hand suffer distress from the
troubles of harsh [government] and disorder, and on the other
hand are in straits in the matters of food and clothing. They are
anxious and grieved, with no way of making complaint. Forming
cliques, they run off and are estranged from their superiors. Overthrow
and destruction can be expected at any moment: such is
the prestige from demented wantonness.
Now the prestige [derived] from the Way and virtue culminates
in numbers and strength; the prestige from harsh supervision
culminates in danger and weakness; and the prestige from demented
wantonness culminates in destruction. Now though the
term "prestige" is the same [in all these cases], the good or bad
results are far apart. Hence it is absolutely necessary to examine
into them.
The Ode says,[8]
Compassionate Heaven[9]
is arrayed in angry terrors;
Heaven is indeed sending down ruin,
Afflicting us with famine,
So that the people are all wandering fugitives.
