Avoid partiality, avoid deflection;—
Level and easy is the royal way.
Avoid perversity, avoid one-sidedness;—
Correct and straight is the royal way.
(Ever) seek for this perfect excellence,
(Ever) turn to this perfect excellence.'
He went on to say, 'This amplification of the royal perfection contains the unchanging (rule), and is the (great) lesson;—yea, it is the lesson of God.* All the multitudes of the people, instructed in this amplification of the perfect excellence, and carrying it into practice, will thereby approximate to the glory of the Son of Heaven, and say, "The Son of Heaven is the parent of the people, and so becomes the sovereign of all under the sky."'
vi. 'Sixth, of the three virtues[1].—The first is correctness and straightforwardness; the second, strong rule; and the third, mild rule. In peace and tranquillity, correctness and straightforwardness (must sway); in violence and disorder, strong rule; in harmony and order, mild rule. For the reserved and retiring there should be (the stimulus of) the strong rule; for the high(-minded) and distinguished, (the restraint of) the mild rule.
'It belongs only to the sovereign to confer dignities and rewards, to display the terrors of majesty, and to receive the revenues (of the kingdom). There should be no such thing as a minister's conferring dignities or rewards, displaying the terrors of majesty, or receiving the revenues. Such
- ↑ 'The three virtues' are not personal attributes of the sovereign, but characteristics of his rule, the varied manifestations of the perfection described in the preceding division.
