University of Virginia Library

Chapter VI

HAVING REGULATIONS[1] : A MEMORIAL

No country is permanently strong. Nor is any country
permanently weak. If conformers to law are strong, the
country is strong; if conformers to law are weak, the
country is weak.

King Chuang of Ching annexed as many states as twenty-six
and extended his territory as far as three thousand li.
As soon as King Chuang passed[2] away from the Altar of
the Spirits of Land and Grain, Ching decayed accordingly.
Duke Huan of Ch`i annexed as many states as thirty and
extended his territory as far as three thousand li. As soon
as Duke Huan passed away from the Altar of the Spirits of
Land and Grain, Ch`i decayed accordingly. King Hsiang[3]
of Yen took the Yellow River as state-boundary on the
south, established the capital at Chi, doubled the defence
works at Cho and Fang-ch`êng, smashed the Ch`i State,

and subdued the Central Hills State, in such wise that whoever
was a friend of Yen was respected and whoever was
not a friend of Yen was despised. As soon as King Hsiang
passed away from the Altar of the Spirits of Land and
Grain, Yen decayed accordingly. King An-li of Wey attacked
Yen, rescued Chao,[4] took the land to the east of the Yellow
River, and completely conquered both T`ao and Wei.[5]
Then he mobilized his troops into Ch`i and took the city of
P`ing-lu to be his holiday resort. Then he attacked Han,
took Kuan, won the battle by the Ch`i River. Then in the
engagement at Chü-yang he drove the worn-out troops of
Ching into retreat. Finally in the engagement at Shang-ts`ai
and Chao-ling he routed the Ching troops. In this manner
he sent out his expeditionary forces in the four directions
throughout All-under-Heaven and spread his influence all
over the countries of crowns and girdles.[6] Following the
death of King An-li, Wey decayed accordingly.

Thus, as long as King Chuang of Ching and Duke Huan
of Ch`i were alive, Ching and Ch`i could remain hegemonic;
as long as King Hsiang of Yen and King An-li of Wey
were alive, Yen and Wey remained strong. Now their
countries all fell into decay, because their ministers and
magistrates all followed the path to chaos and never sought

for the way to order. Though their countries were chaotic,
they cast aside the state laws and schemed for nothing but
their own outside interests. This was the same as to suppress
a fire by carrying firewood on the back. Consequently
confusion and weakness turned from bad to worse.

Therefore, at present, any ruler able to expel private
crookedness and uphold public law, finds the people safe
and the state in order; and any ruler able to expunge private
action and act on public law, finds his army strong and his
enemy weak. So, find[7] out men following the discipline of
laws and regulations, and place them above the body of
officials. Then the sovereign can not be deceived by anybody
with fraud and falsehood. Find[8] out men able to weigh
different situations, and put them in charge of distant affairs.
Then the sovereign cannot be deceived by anybody in matters
of world politics.

Now supposing promotions were made because of mere
reputations, then ministers would be estranged from the
sovereign and all officials would associate for treasonable
purposes. Supposing officials were appointed on account
of their partisanship, then the people would strive to cultivate
friendships and never seek employment in accordance with
the law. Thus, if the government lack able men, the state
will fall into confusion. If rewards are bestowed according
to mere reputation, and punishments are inflicted according
to mere defamation, then men who love rewards and hate
punishments will discard the law[9] of the public and practise
self-seeking tricks and associate for wicked purposes. If

ministers forget the interest of the sovereign, make friends
with outside people, and thereby promote their adherents,
then their inferiors will be in low spirits to serve the sovereign.
Their friends are many; their adherents, numerous. When
they form juntas in and out, then though they have great
faults, their ways of disguise will be innumerable.

For such reasons, loyal ministers, innocent as they are,
are always facing danger and the death penalty, whereas
wicked ministers, though of no merit, always enjoy security
and prosperity. Should loyal ministers meet danger and
death without committing any crime, good ministers would
withdraw. Should wicked ministers enjoy security and
prosperity without rendering any meritorious service,
villainous ministers would advance. This is the beginning
of decay.

Were such the case, all officials would discard legalism,
practising favouritism and despising public law. They
would frequent the gates of the residences of cunning men,
but never once would they visit the court of the sovereign.
For one hundred times they would ponder the interests of
private families, but never once would they scheme for the
state welfare of the sovereign. Thus, their subordinates,
however numerous, are not for glorifying the ruler; the
officials, however well selected, are not for serving the
country. If so, the sovereign would have the mere name of
the lord of men but in reality he simply commits himself
to the care of the houses of the various ministers. Hence
thy servant says: "The court of a decaying state has no
man."[10]

That the court has no man does not imply the emptiness
of the court. It means that private families strive to benefit
one another but never seek to enhance the state welfare;
that high officials strive to honour one another but never
seek to honour the ruler; and that petty officials spend
their salaries in cultivating personal friendships but never
attend to their official duties. The reason therefore is:
The sovereign never makes his decisions in accordance
with the law but always trusts in his subordinates for whatever
they do.

Therefore, the intelligent sovereign makes the law select
men and makes no arbitrary promotion himself. He makes
the law measure merits and makes no arbitrary regulation
himself. In consequence, able men cannot be obscured,
bad characters cannot be disguised; falsely praised fellows
cannot be advanced, wrongly defamed people cannot be
degraded. Accordingly, between ruler and minister
distinction becomes clear and order is attained. Thus it
suffices only if the sovereign can scrutinize laws.

The wise man, on ministering to a ruler, faces the north[11]
and swears an oath of his office, pledging "not to have two
minds,[12] never to reject any low commission in the court,
and never to reject any hard job in the military camp, but
to follow the instructions of his superior, to obey the law
of the sovereign and empty his mind so as to wait for the
royal decrees to come, and to have no dispute about them".
Therefore, though he has a mouth of his own, he never

speaks for his own advantage; though he has eyes of his
own, he never sees for his private interest. Both his mouth
and eyes are kept under his superior's control. In other
words, who ministers to a ruler may be likened to the hand
that is able to care for the head upward and for the feet
downward, never fails to relieve[13] them from extremes of
cold and heat, and never fails to strike away even the Mo-yeh[14]
Sword when it is near the body. Similarly, the intelligent
ruler never employs worthy and clever ministers or wise
and able men for any selfish purpose. Therefore, the people
do not cross the village border to make friends and have
no relatives[15] living one hundred li away; high and low do
not trespass against each other; the fool and the wise, each
being content with his own lot, keep the scale and stand in
perfect balance. Such is the crowning phase of order,
indeed![16]

Now, those who make light of rank and bounties, resign
from their offices and desert their posts with ease, and thereby
choose their masters, thy servant does not call upright.
Those who falsify theories, disobey laws, defy the sovereign,
and make forcible remonstrances, thy servant does not call
loyal. Those who bestow favours, distribute profits, win
the hearts of inferiors, and thereby make names, thy
servant does not call benevolent. Those who leave the
world, retire from active life, and thereby reprove the
sovereign, thy servant does not call righteous. Those who
serve abroad as envoys to other feudal lords, exhaust the
strength of the native country, and wait for the moment of
crisis[17] to molest the sovereign, saying, "the inter-state
friendship, unless thy servant be in charge of it, cannot
become intimate; the inter-state enmity, unless thy servant
be in charge of it, cannot be appeased," and thereby aim
to win the sovereign's confidence, to be trusted with state
affairs, and to increase their influence by lowering the name
of the sovereign and benefit their own families by hampering
the resources of the country, thy servant does not call wise.

These examples are common practices prevailing in the
dangerous age, which the law of the early kings would
weed out.

The law of the early kings said: "Every minister shall
not exercise his authority nor shall he scheme for his own
advantage but shall follow His Majesty's instructions. He
shall not do evil but shall follow His Majesty's path."[18]
Thus, in antiquity the people of an orderly age abode by
the public law, discarded all self-seeking tricks, devoted
their attention and united their actions to wait for employment
by their superiors.

Indeed, the lord of men, if he has to inspect all officials
himself, finds the day not long enough and his energy not
great enough. Moreover, if the superior uses his eyes, the
inferior ornaments his looks; if the superior uses his ears,
the inferior ornaments his voice; and, if the superior uses
his mind, the inferior twists his sentences. Regarding these
three faculties as insufficient, the early kings left aside their
own talents and relied on laws and numbers and acted
carefully on the principles of reward and punishment. Thus,
what the early kings did was to the purpose of political
order. Their laws, however simplified, were not violated.
Despite the autocratic rule within the four seas, the cunning
could not apply their fabrications; the deceitful[19] could not
practise[20] their plausibilities; and the wicked found no
means to resort to, so that, though as far away from His
Majesty as beyond a thousand li, they dared not change

their words, and though as near by His Majesty as the
courtiers, they dared not cover the good and disguise the
wrong. The officials in the court, high and low, never
trespassed against each other nor did they ever override
their posts. Accordingly the sovereign's administrative
routine did not take up all his time while each day afforded
enough leisure. Such was due to the way the ruler trusted
to his position.

Indeed, the minister trespasses against the sovereign in
the court as in the lie of the land. Leading forward step by
step,[21] he makes the lord of men forget the starting-point
until he turns from east to west and is not conscious of the
change. To guard against such misleadings, the early kings
set up the south-pointing needle[22] to ascertain the directions
of sun-rise and sun-set. Thus, every intelligent ruler ordered
his ministers never to realize their wishes outside the realm
of law and never to bestow their favours inside the realm
of law—in short, never to commit any unlawful act. As
strict laws are means to forbid extra-judicial action and
exterminate selfishness[23] and severe penalties are means to
execute decrees and censure inferiors, legal authority should
not be deputed to anybody and legal control should not
be held behind the same gate. Should legal authority and
control be kept in common by both ruler and minister, all
varieties of wickedness would come into existence. If law
is of no faith, its enforcement by the ruler is absurd.[24] If

penalty is not definite, culprits cannot be overcome. Hence
the saying: "The skilful carpenter, though able to mark
the inked string with his surveying eyes and calculating
mind, always takes compasses and squares as measures
before his marking; the great genius, though able to
accomplish his task with swift move, always takes the law
of the early kings as the ruler before his accomplishment."
Thus, if the inked string is straight, crooked timbers will
be shaved; if the water-level is even, high gnarls will be
planed down. Similarly, if weights and balances are well
hung up, what is too heavy will be decreased and what is
too light will be increased; once pecks and bushels are
established, what is too much will be decreased and what
is too little will be increased.

Hence to govern the state by law is to praise the right
and blame the wrong.[25]

The law does not fawn on the noble; the string does not
yield to the crooked. Whatever the law applies to, the wise
cannot reject nor can the brave defy. Punishment for
fault never skips ministers, reward for good never misses
commoners. Therefore, to correct the faults of the high, to
rebuke the vices of the low, to suppress disorders, to decide
against mistakes, to subdue the arrogant, to straighten the
crooked, and to unify the folkways of the masses, nothing
could match the law. To warn[26] the officials and overawe
the people, to rebuke obscenity and danger, and to forbid
falsehood and deceit, nothing could match penalty. If
penalty is severe, the noble cannot discriminate against the

humble. If law is definite, the superiors are esteemed and
not violated. If the superiors are not violated, the sovereign
will become strong and able to maintain the proper course
of government. Such was the reason why the early kings
esteemed legalism and handed it down to posterity. Should
the lord of men discard law and practise selfishness, high
and low would have no distinction.