University of Virginia Library

Chapter VII

THE TWO HANDLES[1]

The means[2] whereby the intelligent ruler controls his
ministers are two handles only. The two handles are chastisement[3]
and commendation.[4] What are meant by chastisement
and commendation? To inflict death or torture upon culprits,
is called chastisement; to bestow encouragements or
rewards on men of merit, is called commendation.

Ministers are afraid of censure and punishment but fond
of encouragement and reward. Therefore, if the lord of
men uses the handles of chastisement and commendation,
all ministers will dread his severity and turn to his liberality.
The villainous ministers of the age are different. To men
they hate they would by securing the handle of chastisement
from the sovereign ascribe crimes; on men they love they
would by securing the handle of commendation from the

sovereign bestow rewards. Now supposing the lord of men
placed the authority of punishment and the profit of reward
not in his hands but let the ministers administer the affairs
of reward and punishment instead, then everybody in the
country would fear the ministers and slight the ruler, and
turn to the ministers and away from the ruler. This is the
calamity of the ruler's loss of the handles of chastisement
and commendation.

As illustration, that which enables the tiger to subject the
dog, is his claws and fangs. Supposing the tiger cast aside
its claws and fangs and let the dog use them, the tiger would
in turn be subjected by the dog. The lord of men controls
his ministers by means of chastisement and commendation.
Now supposing the ruler of men cast aside the handles of
chastisement and commendation and let the ministers use
them, the ruler would in turn be controlled by the ministers.

Thus, T`ien Ch`ang petitioned for rank and bounties,
which he in his turn conferred upon the body of officials,
and enlarged pecks and bushels, by virtue of which he
distributed alms among the hundred surnames. In other
words, Duke Chien lost the handle of commendation, which
T`ien Ch`ang set to use. In the long run Duke Chien[5]
was murdered. Likewise, TzŬ-han once said to the Ruler
of Sung: "Indeed, rewards and charities being what the
people like, may Your Highness bestow them! Slaughter
and punishments being what the people dislike, may thy
servant beg leave to enforce them?" Thenceforth, the
Ruler of Sung lost the handle of chastisement, which TzŬ-han
set to use. Hence followed the molestation of the Ruler of

Sung.[6] Inasmuch as T`ien Ch`ang used only the handle of
commendation, Duke Chien was murdered; inasmuch as
TzŬ-han used only the handle of chastisement, the Ruler
of Sung was molested. Therefore, if any minister of the
present age uses both the handles of chastisement and
commendation, the danger of his ruler will be more serious
than that of Duke Chien and the Ruler of Sung. For this
reason, every sovereign molested, murdered, deluded, or
deceived, because he had lost[7] the handles of chastisement
and commendation and let the ministers use them, invited
danger and ruin accordingly.

The lord of men, whenever he wants to suppress culprits,
must see norm accord with name and word never differ
from task.[8] Whenever a minister utters a word, the ruler
should in accordance with his word assign him a task to
accomplish, and in accordance with the task call the work
to account. If the work corresponds with the task, and the
task corresponds with the word, he should be rewarded.
On the contrary, if the work is not equivalent to the task,
and the task not equivalent to the word, he should be
punished. Accordingly, any minister whose word is big
but whose work is small should be punished. Not that the
work is small, but that the work is not equivalent to the
name. Again, any minister whose word is small but whose
work is big should also be punished. Not that big work is
not desirable but that the discrepancy between the work

and the name is worse than the accomplishment of the big
work. Hence the minister should be punished.

Once in by-gone days, Marquis Chao of Han[9] was drunk
and fell into a nap. The crown-keeper, seeing the ruler
exposed to cold, put a coat over him. When the Marquis
awoke, he was glad and asked the attendants, "Who put
more clothes on my body?" "The crown-keeper did,"
they replied. Then the Marquis found the coat-keeper
guilty and put the crown-keeper to death. He punished
the coat-keeper for the neglect of his duty, and the crown-keeper
for the overriding of his post. Not that the Marquis
was not afraid of catching cold but that he thought their
trespassing the assigned duties was worse than his catching
cold.

Thus, when an intelligent ruler keeps ministers in service,
no minister is allowed either to override his post and get
merits thereby nor to utter any word not equivalent to a
fact. Whoever overrides his post is put to death; whoever
makes a word not equivalent to a fact is punished. If everyone
has to do his official duty, and if whatever he says has to be
earnest, then the ministers cannot associate for treasonable
purposes.

The lord of men has two difficulties to face: If he appoints
only worthy men to office, ministers will on the pretence of
worthiness attempt to deceive their ruler; if he makes
arbitrary promotions of officials, the state affairs will always
be menaced. Similarly, if the lord of men loves worthiness,

ministers will gloss over their defects in order to meet the
ruler's need. In consequence, no minister will show his
true heart. If no minister shows his true heart, the lord of
men will find no way to tell the worthy from the unworthy.

For instance, because the King of Yüeh liked brave men,
the people made light of death; because King Ling of Ch`u
liked slender waists, the country became full of starvelings;
because Duke Huan of Ch`i was by nature jealous and fond
of women, Shu Tiao castrated himself in order to administer
the harem; because Duke Huan liked different tastes, Yi-ya
steamed the head of his son and served Duke Huan with
the rare taste; because TzŬ-k`uai of Yen liked worthies,
TzŬ-chih pretended that he would not accept the state.[10]

Therefore, if the ruler reveals his hate, ministers will
conceal their motives; if the ruler reveals his likes, ministers
will pretend to talent; and if the ruler reveals his wants,[11]
ministers will have the opportunity to disguise their feelings
and attitudes.

That was the reason why TzŬ-chih, by pretending to
worthiness, usurped the ruler's throne; and why Shu Tiao
and Yi-ya, by complying with their ruler's wants, molested
their ruler. Thus TzŬ-k`uai died in consequence of a civil
war[12] and Duke Huan was left unburied until worms from
his corpse crawled outdoors.[13] What was the cause of these
incidents? It was nothing but the calamity of the rulers'

revelation of true hearts to ministers. Every minister in his
heart of hearts does not necessarily love the ruler. If he
does, it is for the sake of his own great advantage.

In these days, if the lord of men neither covers his feelings
nor conceals his motives, and if he lets ministers have a
chance to molest their master, the ministers will have no
difficulty in following the examples of TzŬ-chih and T`iench`ang.
Hence the saying: "If the ruler's likes and hate
be concealed, the ministers' true hearts will be revealed. If
the ministers reveal their true hearts, the ruler never will be
deluded."