鐔津文集 5.8

5.8

Consummate governance speaks of consummate righteousness. When all under Heaven are mobilized through righteousness, governance has that by which it extends, perversity has that by which it is suppressed, good has that by which it is encouraged, and evil has that by which it is checked. In matters of liking and disliking, right and wrong—with their myriad facets—there is that by which decisions are made. Authority can uphold righteousness; even if that authority is weighty, it must be exercised. Righteousness can enact authority; even if that righteousness is light, it must be upheld. If authority does not align with righteousness, pushed to extremes it ultimately causes harm. If righteousness is not upheld by authority, when lost it inevitably leads to disorder. Therefore, those of antiquity who held great governance inevitably possessed its authority; those who wielded great power inevitably brought their governance to success. Tang and Wu wielded great authority, which was the means by which they upheld this righteousness. King Zhao of Zhou and King Yan of Xu lost great authority, which was the reason this righteousness went astray. What is righteousness? It is dwelling in the great balance and proceeding together in accord with all under Heaven. When proceeding attains its proper place, all under Heaven say there is the Way. When proceeding is not in its proper place, all under Heaven say there is no Way. The sage establishes that balance in order to correct where all under Heaven proceed. When the times changed and people became intensely selfish and improper, on a large scale they treated their states as private, next they treated their families as private, and on a small scale they treated their own persons as private. Those who accorded with righteousness were few, while those who opposed righteousness were many. Thereupon later sages feared contention and disorder; setting forth punishments was not done for arbitrary cruelty, and setting forth military force was not done for arbitrary killing—they sought to urge people to hasten toward righteousness. If a ruler is unrighteous toward the people, the multitude may remove him; if the multitude is unrighteous, the officials may govern them. For this reason, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, and the Duke of Zhou—these five sages—were cautious with great governance; hence they did not arbitrarily usurp great authority. Because they exercised great authority, they did not arbitrarily yield the great position. They campaigned against the Youhu clan, exiled Jie of Xia, executed the ruler of Ge, attacked Zhou, and acted as regent over all under Heaven to execute Guan and Cai. They transmitted the realm within their families, yet the people of the realm followed and submitted to them without resentment. This was because their governance was consummate. Thus a lost ode says: 'The flowers of the cherry tree, how they flutter and turn! Do I not long for you? But your house is far away.' The *Shujing* says: 'Punish so that there will be no more punishments, and the people will accord with the mean—truly your merit is great!' Taking this into account, should not a noble person be cautious about governance and careful with authority? When governance declines, people take advantage of it to build power; when authority declines, people rely on it to make disorder. 'Governance' then means having the name while the substance is lost; 'authority' then means indulging the crooked and forgetting the upright. When King Yi stepped down from his hall to meet the feudal lords, this can be called an insufficiency of governance. When Duke Yin improperly yielded a state of a thousand chariots, this can be called an insufficiency of authority. When Duke Huan of Qi boasted of his hegemony, this can be called the beginning of authority's corruption. When King Gong of Zhou degraded his status as king, this can be called the beginning of governance's decline. Now, the relation of governance to authority is like a measure having its scraper; the relation of authority to governance is like a balance following its weight. When the right person is found, they are made upright; when it is not the right person, they are subverted. Therefore, the Way awaits the right person to flourish—who can say it depends merely on the times?