Honoring the Worthy, Part Two尚賢中

Mozi said, "Now the kings, dukes, and great men act as lords over the people, take charge of the altars of land and grain, and govern the state, and they wish to keep and hold it without loss. Why then do they not look into honoring the worthy as the root of government?

How do we know that honoring the worthy is the root of government? It is said that when the noble and wise govern the foolish and the low, there is order, and when the foolish and the low govern the noble and the wise, there is disorder. By this we know that honoring the worthy is the root of government.

So the sage kings of old honored the worthy greatly and charged and employed the able. They made no faction with fathers and elder brothers, they did not lean toward the noble and the rich, and they did not favor a fair face. The worthy they raised up and lifted, enriched and ennobled, and made heads of office. The unworthy they pressed down and put aside, made poor and low, and made into laboring servants.

By this the people all strove for the rewards and feared the punishments, and they led one another on to become worthy. So the worthy grew many and the unworthy grew few. This is called bringing the worthy forward.

Then the sage listened to their words, followed their conduct, looked into what they were able to do, and carefully gave them office. This is called employing the able. So the man fit to govern a state was made to govern a state, the man fit to head an office was made to head an office, the man fit to govern a district was made to govern a district. All those who were set to govern the states, the offices, the districts, and the villages were the worthy men of the state."

When a worthy man governs a state, he holds court early and withdraws late, he hears lawsuits and orders the government. By this the state is in order and punishment and law are upright.

When a worthy man heads an office, he sleeps at night and rises at dawn, he gathers in the profits of the passes and the markets, of the hills and the forests, of the marshes and the fish weirs, and fills the government stores. By this the stores are full and goods are not scattered.

When a worthy man governs a district, he goes out early and comes in at dusk, he plows and sows and plants and tends, and gathers beans and grain. By this beans and grain are many and the people have enough to eat.

So when the state is in order, punishment and law are upright, and when the government stores are full, the myriad people are rich. Above, there is enough to make clean wine and grain offerings and sacrifice to Heaven and the spirits. Outside, there is enough to make hides and gifts of silk and to deal with the feudal lords on the four sides. Within, there is enough to feed the hungry and rest the weary and to raise up the myriad people. Outside, there is enough to draw in the worthy men of all under heaven.

So above, Heaven and the spirits enrich him. Outside, the feudal lords stand with him. Within, the myriad people hold him dear and the worthy men come home to him. With this, when he plans a thing he gets it, when he undertakes a thing he accomplishes it, when he goes in to hold he is firm, when he goes out to strike he is strong. So this alone was the method by which the sage kings of the three ages of old, Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu, were kings over all under heaven and set the feudal lords right.

Even with such a method, if one does not know the art of carrying it out, the work is still not accomplished. So three roots must be set up.

What are the three roots? It is said that if the office is not high, the people will not respect him. If his stored pay is not thick, the people will not trust him. If his orders cannot decide, the people will not fear him.

So the sage kings of old gave him high office, gave him heavy pay, charged him with the work, and gave him power to decide and command. How could this be a gift to a worthy minister? They wished the work to be accomplished.

The Shi says, "I tell you of sorrow and care, I teach you of office. Who can grasp a hot thing and not wash his hand?" This says that the lords of states and the feudal lords of old could not but grasp good men to carry on after them and to help them. It is like having water to wash with when one has grasped a hot thing, to give the hand rest.

The sage kings of old, once they got worthy men and employed them, shared out office to ennoble them and cut off land to enfeoff them, and to the end of their lives did not tire of it. The worthy men, once they got an enlightened lord and served him, spent the strength of their four limbs on the lord's work, and to the end of their lives were not slack in it. If there was anything fine and good, they turned it over to the one above. By this what was fine and good was above, and resentment and slander were below, ease and joy were with the lord, and worry and grief were with the ministers. So the sage kings of old carried on the government in this way.

Now the kings, dukes, and great men also wish to copy others and govern by honoring the worthy and employing the able. They give high office, but pay does not follow it. When office is high and there is no pay, the people do not trust it. They say, "This is not love for me in his heart. He borrows me and uses me." How can a people that is borrowed and used hold dear the one above them?

So the former kings said, "He who is greedy for government cannot share out work to others. He who is thick with goods cannot share out pay to others." If the work is not given and the pay is not shared, then I ask, by what shall the worthy men of all under heaven come to the side of the kings, dukes, and great men?

If the worthy do not come to the side of the kings, dukes, and great men, then the unworthy are at their right and left. When the unworthy are at their right and left, what they praise does not fit the worthy and what they slander does not fit the violent. When the kings, dukes, and great men honor these men and govern a state by them, then rewards too will surely not fit the worthy and punishments too will surely not fit the violent.

If rewards do not fit the worthy and punishments do not fit the violent, then those who would be worthy are not urged on and those who would be violent are not held back. By this, at home men are not loving and filial to their parents. Abroad they do not treat the elder as elder and the younger as younger in their village. In their dwelling there is no measure, in their going out and coming in there is no rule, and between man and woman there is no separation.

Set them to govern an office and they steal. Set them to hold a city wall and they turn traitor. When the lord is in trouble they will not die for him, and when he goes out in flight they will not follow him. Set them to decide lawsuits and the judgment is not right. Set them to share out goods and the sharing is not even. Plan a thing with them and it is not got, undertake a thing and it is not accomplished, go in to hold and it is not firm, go out to strike and it is not strong.

So the violent kings of the three ages of old, Jie and Zhou and King You and King Li, lost their states and overturned their altars of land and grain for this very reason. Why? Because they were all clear about small things and not clear about great things.

Now if the kings, dukes, and great men cannot cut out a single suit of clothes, they will surely borrow a good craftsman. If they cannot kill a single ox or sheep, they will surely borrow a good butcher. So in these two matters the kings, dukes, and great men all know how to manage by honoring the worthy and employing the able.

But when it comes to their state being in disorder and their altars of land and grain in danger, they do not know how to employ the able to put it in order. If a man is kin, they employ him. If a man is rich and noble for no reason, or fair of face, they employ him. Now if they employ a man because he is rich and noble for no reason, or fair of face, how is he bound to be wise and clever? If they set such a man to govern the state, this is setting one who is not wise to govern the state. That the state will fall into disorder can already be known.

Again, the kings, dukes, and great men employ a man because they love his looks. Their heart does not look into his knowing, and they give him only their love. So a man who cannot govern a hundred is set in the office of a thousand, and a man who cannot govern a thousand is set in the office of ten thousand.

What is the reason for this? It is said, "The man set in that office has high rank and thick pay, and so they love his looks and employ him."

Now if a man who cannot govern a thousand is set in the office of ten thousand, this office is ten times over. The way of governing comes day by day. He governs by his days, but his days are not made ten times over. He governs by his knowing, but his knowing is not made ten times greater. Yet the office given is ten times over. Then he governs one part and throws away the nine. Though he joined night to day to govern such an office, the office would still not be governed.

What is the reason for this? It is that the kings, dukes, and great men are not clear about governing by honoring the worthy and employing the able. So governing by honoring the worthy and employing the able, and having order, is what my words mean. Governing by putting the worthy low, and having disorder, is also what my words mean.

Now if the kings, dukes, and great men truly wish in their hearts to govern their states and to keep and hold them without loss, why do they not look into honoring the worthy as the root of government?

And is it only Mozi who says that honoring the worthy is the root of government? This is the way of the sage kings, the writings of the former kings, the word of long years. What has been handed down says, "Seek out sage lords and wise men to help your own person." The Tang shi says, "At last he sought out the first of sages, and joined strength and made one heart with him, and so governed all under heaven." This says that the sages did not fail to govern by honoring the worthy and employing the able.

So the sage kings of old looked only to governing by honoring the worthy and employing the able, and mixed nothing else in with it. Therefore all under heaven each got their place.

In old times Shun plowed at Lishan, fired pots on the bank of the He, and fished at Leize. Yao got him on the north side of Fuze, raised him up and made him Son of Heaven, and with him took hold of the government of all under heaven and governed the people of all under heaven.

Yi Zhi (伊摯) was a private servant of a daughter of the Youshen clan and did the work of the kitchen himself. Tang got him, raised him up and made him his own prime minister, and with him took hold of the government of all under heaven and governed the people of all under heaven.

Fu Yue wore a coat of hair and a rope for a belt, and built walls for hire at Fuyan. Wu Ding got him, raised him up and made him one of the three dukes, and with him took hold of the government of all under heaven and governed the people of all under heaven.

How was it that they were low at first and noble at last, poor at first and rich at last? It was because the kings, dukes, and great men were clear about governing by honoring the worthy and employing the able. By this there was no one among the people who was hungry and did not get food, cold and did not get clothing, weary and did not get rest, in disorder and did not get order.

So the sage kings of old looked only to governing by honoring the worthy and employing the able, and took their law from Heaven. Even Heaven does not sort men by poor or rich, noble or low, far or near, close kin or distant. The worthy it raises up and honors, and the unworthy it presses down and puts aside.

Then who were the rich and noble who did what was worthy and got their reward? It is said that they were the sage kings of the three ages of old, Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu.

Why did they get their reward? It is said that in governing all under heaven they loved all alike and went on to benefit them, and they also led the myriad people of all under heaven to honor and serve Heaven and to serve the spirits, and to love and benefit the myriad people. So Heaven and the spirits rewarded them, and they were set up as Sons of Heaven and made father and mother to the people, and the myriad people went on to praise them and call them sage kings, and to this day it has not stopped. These are the rich and noble who did what was worthy and got their reward.

Then who were the rich and noble who did what was violent and got their punishment? It is said that they were the violent kings of the three ages of old, Jie and Zhou and King You and King Li.

How do we know this was so? It is said that in governing all under heaven they hated all alike and went on to harm them, and they also led the people of all under heaven to rail at Heaven above and to make light of the spirits, and to harm and kill the myriad people. So Heaven and the spirits punished them. Their bodies died and were cut down by punishment, their sons and grandsons were scattered, their houses were destroyed, and their line was cut off with no one to follow. And the myriad people went on to condemn them and call them violent kings, and to this day it has not stopped. These are the rich and noble who did what was violent and got their punishment.

Then who was the kinsman who was not good and got his punishment? It is said that it was Bo Gun (伯鯀) of old. He was the eldest son of the Lord on High, yet he did not use the Lord's virtue and cast it aside. In the end he was punished in the wilds of Mount Yu (羽山), and was put where not even the heat of the sun reached him, and the Lord did not love him either. This is the kinsman who was not good and got his punishment.

Then who were the able men whom Heaven employed? It is said that they were Yu and Ji and Gao Yao of old.

How do we know this was so? The writing of the former kings, the Lü xing (呂刑), tells it thus: "The August Lord asked clearly of the people below, and there were words about the Youmiao. They said, 'The many lords are spread out below, but their brightness is not constant, and the widower and the widow are not sheltered. Only the awe of virtue is awe, only the brightness of virtue is brightness.' Then he named three lords to work with care for the people. Bo Yi sent down the statutes and made the people clear by punishment. Yu made level the waters and the land and gave names to the hills and the streams. Ji sent down the sowing of seed and made them plant the good grain. The three lords accomplished their work, and there was good for the people."

This says that these three sages were careful in their words, watchful in their conduct, and fine in their thought. They sought out the hidden matters and the left-over benefits of all under heaven and served Heaven above, and Heaven took their virtue as an offering. They spread it below among the myriad people, and the myriad people received its benefit, and to the end of their lives it did not stop.

So the words of the former kings say, "This way, used greatly for all under heaven, is not too loose. Used in a small way, it is not cramped. Used with care, the myriad people receive its benefit, and to the end of their lives it does not stop."

The Zhou song tells it thus: "The virtue of the sage is like the height of Heaven, like the breadth of earth, and it has brightness over all under heaven. It is like the firmness of the earth, like the holding up of the hills, and it does not split and does not fall. It is like the light of the sun, like the brightness of the moon, and it is as constant as heaven and earth." This says that the virtue of the sage is plain and bright and wide and great, solid and lasting long. So the virtue of the sage gathers up heaven and earth.

Now the kings, dukes, and great men wish to be kings over all under heaven and to set the feudal lords right. Without virtue and right, by what shall they do it? What they say is that they will surely hold to shaking awe and strength. But where will the kings, dukes, and great men get this shaking awe and strength? It is that in a moment the people die.

The people desire life greatly and hate death greatly. If what they desire is not got and what they hate comes again and again, then from old times down to now there has never been anyone who could by this be king over all under heaven and set the feudal lords right.

Now if the kings, dukes, and great men wish to be kings over all under heaven and to set the feudal lords right, and to have their purpose got in all under heaven and their name accomplished for later ages, why do they not look into honoring the worthy as the root of government? This is the thick conduct of the sage.