原官

Government offices are the center from which all affairs are managed -- the foundation of order. Regulations are what assign the four classes of people to their proper functions -- the structure of governance.

Noble ranks and generous salaries must be proportionate to merit -- this embodies the hierarchy of honor and rank. Encouraging virtue and punishing vice, rectifying standards against the law, and auditing the population -- these are the tools of administration. Equalizing land distribution and regulating taxation -- these are the standards for what the state takes and gives. Evaluating craftsmen and stocking equipment -- these are the achievements of skilled labor. Assigning territory and blocking strategic passes, suppressing disorder and prohibiting excess -- these are the tasks of security.

Upholding the law and verifying decisions -- this is the discipline of ministers and subordinates. Clarifying the law and examining evidence -- this is the ruler's exercise of control. For the ruler to understand what he should guard and to weigh priorities -- this is the balance of power between ruler and minister.

Clarifying rewards and making punishments severe -- this is the technique for stopping corruption. Carefully controlling what to open and what to block, and adhering to a single governing principle -- this is the key to administration.

Information flowing from below to above without obstruction -- this is the height of perceptive governance. Knowing the precise count of what the state has and lacks, and using the surplus -- this is practical administration. Knowing where the enemy is weak is the body of your own strength. Knowing when the enemy moves is the basis for deciding to remain still.

Dividing government offices into civil and military -- these are the two arts of the king.

When ritual vessels follow a unified standard, this is the assembly of the Son of Heaven. Ensuring that traveling persuaders and enemy agents have no way to infiltrate -- this is the technique of proper counsel.

When the feudal lords observe the rites due to the Son of Heaven and rulers succeed their fathers in governing the people by the king's mandate -- this is the established order. When someone changes the state's titles and alters its customs, violating the king's manifest virtue -- then ritual propriety permits a punitive campaign.

When officials have no cases to adjudicate, the ruler has no rewards to distribute, the people have no lawsuits, and the state has no profiteering merchants -- how perfect the king's governance! Promoting the worthy and ensuring information reaches upward -- this depends on the king being willing to listen.