樞言

Guan Zhong said: 'The Way as it exists in heaven is the sun; as it exists in man it is the heart.' Therefore it is said: 'Where there is qi, there is life; where there is no qi, there is death — life depends on its qi. Where there are names, there is order; where there are no names, there is chaos — order depends on its names.' The Pivotal Sayings state: 'Love them, benefit them, increase them, secure them' — these four are the emanations of the Way.

Emperor-kings employ these and the realm is ordered. Emperor-kings discern what to put first and what to put last. Put the people and the land first, and you succeed. Put nobility and pride first, and you fail. The ruler who controls others is strong; the one who is controlled by others is the one controlled. The one who cannot control others yet cannot be controlled is the one who neither advances nor retreats beyond what others do. A state ruled by virtue is one that controls; a state of empty power is one that is controlled.

The former kings valued sincerity and trustworthiness. Sincerity and trustworthiness are the knots that bind the realm together. Worthy officials do not rely on ancestral privilege; scholars do not rely on external power. What the former kings loved most was the right moment and the right application. Those who wished to be known, the kings let them be known; those who wished advantage, the kings gave them advantage; those who wished courage, the kings let them show courage; those who wished honor, the kings honored them. One who daily adds yet suffers less — that is loyalty. One who daily diminishes yet suffers more — that is desire. Much loyalty and little desire — that is wisdom: the broad way of serving as a minister.