of good government. The Master said: Government is good when it makes happy those who live under it and attracts those who live far away.
Tzü Hsia, when governor of Chü-fu,[1] asked for advice on government. The Master said: Do not try to do things in a hurry. Do not be intent on small gains. What is done quickly is not done thoroughly; and if small gains are considered, great things remain unaccomplished.
Tzǔ Lu asked about the service due to a prince. The Master said: Use no deceit, but if you oppose him, oppose him openly.
The Master said: If the ruler cherishes the principle of self-control, the people will be docile to his commands.[2]
Shun[3] was one who did nothing, yet governed well. For what, in effect, did he do? Religiously self-observant, he sat gravely on his throne, and that is all.[4]
- ↑ A small city in Lu.
- ↑ Legge translates: "When rulers love to observe the rules of propriety (!), the people respond readily to the calls on them for service." All the other translators seem likewise to have missed the point, which is elsewhere insisted on by Confucius—that no man is fit to govern others who cannot govern himself. On the meaning of li, see Introduction, pp. 30 seqq., and note on p. 60.
- ↑ A legendary Emperor.
- ↑ This saying might have come straight from the mouth of a Taoist philosopher. Nor is it the only place where Confucius seems to advocate quietism. Cf. p. 108.
