Chapter 1010장
所謂治國必先齊其家者，其家不可教而能教人者，無之。故君子不出家而成教於國：孝者，所以事君也；弟者，所以事長也；慈者，所以使眾也。《康誥》曰：「如保赤子」，心誠求之，雖不中不遠矣。未有學養子而後嫁者也！一家仁，一國興仁；一家讓，一國興讓；一人貪戾，一國作亂。其機如此。此謂一言僨事，一人定國。堯、舜率天下以仁，而民從之；桀、紂率天下以暴，而民從之。其所令反其所好，而民不從。是故君子有諸己而後求諸人，無諸己而後非諸人。所藏乎身不恕，而能喻諸人者，未之有也。故治國在齊其家。《詩》云：「桃之夭夭，其葉蓁蓁；之子于歸，宜其家人。」宜其家人，而後可以教國人。《詩》云：「宜兄宜弟。」宜兄宜弟，而後可以教國人。《詩》云：「其儀不忒，正是四國。」其爲父子兄弟足法，而後民法之也。此謂治國在齊其家。
What is meant by saying that to govern the state one must first set the household in order is this. There is no one who cannot teach his own household and yet can teach others. So the gentleman completes his teaching in the state without leaving his household. Filial love is how one serves the ruler. Brotherly respect is how one serves an elder. Kindness is how one directs the multitude.
The Kang gao says, "Be as one who cares for a newborn child." If one seeks it truly with the heart, then even if one does not hit the mark one will not be far off. No one has ever learned how to raise a child and only then gone to be married.
When one household is benevolent, benevolence rises in the whole state. When one household gives way, giving way rises in the whole state. When one man is greedy and perverse, disorder breaks out in the whole state. Such is the trigger of it. This is what is meant by saying that a single word ruins an affair and a single man settles a state.
Yao and Shun led all under heaven with benevolence, and the people followed. Jie and the tyrant Zhou led all under heaven with cruelty, and the people followed. When what a ruler commands goes against what he himself loves, the people do not follow.
So the gentleman looks for a thing in others only after he has it in himself, and faults others for a thing only after he is free of it himself. No man who does not keep within himself the measuring of others by himself has ever been able to awaken others. So governing the state lies in setting the household in order.
The Odes say, "How lovely the peach tree, how thick its leaves. This young woman goes to her new home, and she will suit the people of her house." Only after one suits the people of one's house can one teach the people of the state.
The Odes say, "He suits his elder brother, he suits his younger brother." Only after one suits elder brother and younger brother can one teach the people of the state.
The Odes say, "His bearing never errs, and so he sets right the states of the four quarters." Only after his father and son and elder brother and younger brother are worth taking as a model do the people take them as a model. This is what is meant by saying that governing the state lies in setting the household in order.