鐔津文集 5.12

5.12

Rites and righteousness are where instruction resides; habits and customs are what transformation emulates. If it is not where it resides, instruction will not reach its culmination; if it is not what is emulated, transformation will not be correct. For this reason, those skilled in instruction must uphold rites and righteousness; those prudent in transformation must guard against harmful habits and customs. All under Heaven cannot do without instruction; the common people cannot do without transformation. For those who stand above the common people of the realm, can instruction and transformation be neglected? Instruction and transformation are like the wind; the people are like flying dust. When the wind moves high or low, things follow it, floating or sinking. The sage worries that people will drift into evil and not return, and therefore he is cautious regarding instruction and transformation. Instruction arises from government offices and administrative affairs; transformation is accomplished in the customs of the people. Rites and righteousness are demonstrated at court and within the state, and are manifested to all under Heaven. The *Classic of Poetry* says: 'The way of Zhou is like a grindstone, straight as an arrow; walked upon by the noble person, beheld by the petty person.' That which gives birth to it is like the breath and pulse; that which accomplishes it is like the four limbs. There has never been a person who wished to keep their four limbs at ease without regulating their breath and pulse. When that which gives birth is correct, that which is accomplished is upright; when that which is beheld is cultivated, that which is seen is well ordered. For this reason, those in antiquity who held government offices and administrative affairs inevitably first cultivated rites and righteousness to correct themselves, and only then extended them to others. If people did not follow them, they inevitably reflected on whether their own instruction had not yet reached perfection; then they redoubled their cultivation to encourage them. If they still did not follow, these were cases of licentious winds and depraved customs, and only then could laws be applied to punish those who violated rites and transgressed righteousness. The 'Announcement of Tang' says: 'If among the myriad regions there are transgressions, let them fall upon my person alone.' Therefore, when a single transgression was punished, the people understood; when a single command was issued, the people complied. This is what is meant by instruction being cultivated above and the people being transformed below. In later generations, it was not so. Can one neglect what is taught and yet expect proper transformation? To have an unrighteous government and blame people for transgressing righteousness, or to have improper instruction and blame people for violating rites—this too is delusion. Rites are the mean; righteousness is correctness. When those above are not centered and correct, those below will inevitably be deceitful and depraved. The response to instruction and transformation is natural in its momentum, like shadows following forms and echoes following sounds. The proverb says: 'When the form is upright, the shadow is straight; when the sound is harmonious, the echo accords.' When they are not straight and not in accord, should one blame the form and the sound, or blame the shadow and the echo? For this reason, when the noble person enters a state, he observes its customs and tastes, and only then discusses its governance.