明法

What is called an ordered state is one where the ruler's Way is clear. What is called a disordered state is one where the ministers' techniques have triumphed. That the ruler is exalted and the ministers are humbled is not a calculation of personal affection — it is the triumph of positional power. That the hundred officials are dutiful is not due to benevolence — it is because punishments are certain. When ruler and ministers share the same prerogatives, there is disorder; when authority is exclusively delegated to one person, there is failure.

A state has four paths to destruction: when commands are sought but cannot be issued, this is called extinction. When commands are issued but blocked en route, this is called obstruction. When the sentiments of those below seek to reach those above but cannot, this is called blockage. When the sentiments from below reach partway up but are stopped, this is called encroachment. The birth of extinction, encroachment, blockage, and obstruction all arise from the failure to establish law. Therefore when the former kings governed the state, they did not indulge their intentions beyond the law, nor bestow favors within the law. Every action conformed to law — this was how they prohibited transgressions and excluded private interests. Authority was not placed in two locations; governance did not issue from two gates. To govern the state by law is simply to take appropriate action, nothing more.

Therefore when there is a system of legal standards, one cannot be deceived by cunning fraud. When there are scales of weights and measures, one cannot be cheated regarding light and heavy. When there are measures of lengths, one cannot be misled regarding long and short. Now if the ruler abandons law and advances ability based on reputation, then ministers will depart from the ruler and form cliques below. If officials are appointed through factions, then the people will devote themselves to making connections rather than seeking to be useful. When officials fail in their governance, it is because the ruler has used reputation as reward and slander as punishment.

Therefore when the former kings governed the state, they let law select men rather than making selections personally; they let law measure merit rather than making assessments personally. Thus ability could not be concealed or hidden; failure could not be covered or adorned. Those who praised could not advance favorites, and those who slandered could not remove the worthy. In this way the distinction between ruler and minister was clear. When the distinction is clear, governance is easy. Even though the ruler does not personally manage everything below, entrusting governance to law suffices.