CHAPTER II.
1. Tsze-chang asked Confucius, saying, 'In
what way should a person in authority act in order that he may conduct
government properly?' The Master replied, 'Let him honour the five excellent,
and banish away the four bad, things;--then may he conduct government
properly.' Tsze-chang said, 'What are meant by the five excellent things?' The
Master said, 'When the person in authority is beneficent without great
expenditure; when he lays tasks on the people without their repining; when he
pursues what he desires without being covetous; when he maintains a dignified
ease without being proud; when he is majestic without being fierce.'
2. Tsze-chang said, 'What is meant by being
beneficent without great expenditure?' The Master replied, 'When the person in
authority makes more beneficial to the people the things from which they
naturally derive benefit;--is not this being beneficent without great
expenditure? When he chooses the labours which are proper, and makes them
labour on them, who will repine? When his desires are set on benevolent
government, and he secures it, who will accuse him of covetousness? Whether he
has to do with many people or few, or with things great or small, he does not
dare to indicate any disrespect;--is not this to maintain a dignified ease
without any pride? He adjusts his clothes and cap, and throws a dignity into
his looks, so that, thus dignified, he is looked at with awe;--is not this to
be majestic without being fierce?'
3. Tsze-chang then asked, 'What are meant by
the four bad things?' The Master said, 'To put the people to death without
having instructed them;--this is called cruelty. To require from them,
suddenly, the full tale of work, without having given them warning;--this is
called oppression. To issue orders as if without urgency, at first, and, when
the time comes, to insist on them with severity;--this is called injury. And,
generally, in the giving pay or rewards to men, to do it in a stingy way;--this
is called acting the part of a mere official.'
Published
by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003
by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia