治國

The Way of governing the state must begin with enriching the people. When the people are wealthy they are easy to govern; when the people are poor they are difficult to govern. How do we know this? When the people are wealthy they are content in their villages and value their homes; content and valuing their homes, they respect their superiors and fear punishment — thus easy to govern. When the people are poor they feel insecure in their villages and think lightly of their homes; insecure and thinking lightly of their homes, they dare to insult their superiors and violate prohibitions — thus difficult to govern. Well-governed states are always wealthy, disordered states always poor. Therefore one skilled at governing the state must first enrich the people, and only then govern them.

A rich state with abundant grain originates from agriculture, and therefore the former kings valued it. The most urgent task is to first prohibit secondary occupations and ornamental crafts. When these are prohibited, the people have nowhere to seek idle sustenance and must turn to farming. When the people farm, fields are cultivated; when fields are cultivated, grain is abundant; when grain is abundant, the state is wealthy. A wealthy state has strong armies; strong armies win battles; winning battles expands territory.

A state that does not produce grain will perish. One that produces grain but also depletes it will become a hegemon. One that produces grain without depleting it will become a true king. Grain is what the people flock to; grain is what wealth flocks to; grain is what territory flocks to. When grain is abundant, all things under heaven will arrive. Thus Shun moved once and formed a town, moved twice and formed a capital, moved thrice and formed a state. Shun did not employ severe punishments or heavy prohibitions, yet the people came to him — for those who left him were sure to suffer harm, and those who followed him were sure to gain benefit.