dependence is effected. These two should control entirely the position of the people. They are only given for real merit or demerit, and there are only two kinds of employment which can give any claim to rewards, viz. agriculture and warfare. On these two the existence of the state depends, and as the people are naturally averse to being engaged in two such hard occupations, the judicious distribution of rewards and punishments should stimulate them in their pursuit. They should be constantly employed in either one of these; and, as war is even more hateful to the people than agriculture, ordinary conditions should be made so hard for them, that they look upon war as a welcome release from their toil and as a good opportunity for earning rewards. Then they will fight with all their energy; they will "gain ten points for every one that it undertakes ".1 The army should shrink from no dangers; if it dares to perform what the enemy dares not, it wins and the state will become strong.2 Even fearful people will be made brave by a right system of penalties and rewards.3 In order to prevent people from escaping their duties, all people should be registered.a

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It is essential that no rewards in the form of ranks, etc., should be acquired by any other means than by merit in these two fields. Only this gate to riches and honour should be opened"; all other gates should be "closed", " debarred ".5 Thus rewards and punishments are "unified ", or “made uniform", that is, given according to one standard only, and the people will have "uniformity of purpose", or will be

concentrated on one thing only, i.e. agriculture and war.1 Care should be taken that rewards are given sparsely: "one reward against nine punishments," 2 and that punishments are made severe : light offences should be regarded as serious, "3 for this will prevent the evil from developing. The very severity of the penalties will make rewards the more valued, and the lightness of rewards will make penalties even more terrifying. Prevention is better than cure: the people should be governed while they are in a state of order and one should not wait till they have come into a state of disorder. The deterrent effects of severe penalties will be such, that penalties become unnecessary, and thus " by means of punishments punishments will be abolished"; on the other hand, mild punishments, which allow minor offences to escape unnoticed, will allow crime to develop and thus the frequent use of punishments will become necessary. This system of punishments "will bring about punishments "6

How is crime to be discovered? If virtuous men are employed in the government, the wicked people will easily deceive them. Therefore it is necessary that the wicked should govern the virtuous. Fear alone can keep the people from transgressing the law, and thus it is true that "virtue has its origin in punishments".8

This "virtue" is, however, not "goodness". It is merely obedience to the law, as fixed by the state. It has nothing to

1 All the expressions in the last sentence are denoted by the character , lit. one-ness, unification.

do with morality. For, indeed, Shang-tzu is completely and consciously amoral. His great fear is that the people should a become interested in the traditional virtues, and thereby set up other standards of conduct than those established by the law. In the most contemptuous terms he speaks of these other virtues. He describes them as "licence" or "lice ", which I have rendered by " parasites". Different groups of these are mentioned. Probably the oldest list is: Care for old age, living on others (without employment), beauty, love, ambition, and virtuous conduct.1 Another group contains: the Odes and History, rites, music, filial piety, brotherly duty, virtue, moral culture 2; and yet another has the Odes and History, rites and music, virtue and the cultivation thereof, benevolence and integrity, sophistry and intelligence.3 In the longest list of all, which is certainly of later date and where not less than sixteen characteristics are given, to those already enumerated in the second group are added: sincerity and faith, chastity and integrity, benevolence and righteousness, criticism of the army, and being ashamed to fight. If the people cultivate these virtues, they become entirely useless for the state, "the ruler will have no one whom he can employ for defence or warfare" and, if a country is governed by means of these, "it will be dismembered as soon as an enemy approaches, and, even if no enemy approaches, it will be poor." 5 When a country is in peril and the ruler in anxiety, it is of no avail for the settling of this danger for professional talkers to form battalions," and it is these talkers, these itinerant scholars, who are interested in moral problems

1 Par. 4, p. 197. Par. 13, p. 256.

and distract the minds of the people from the one thing they should be interested in, that is in agriculture and warfare.1

Single-minded concentration on these occupations preserves the people's natural simplicity, p'u.2 (Simplicity and ignorance are the real virtues of the people. No education and no culture whatever should they have, and therefore they should be kept poor. On the one hand the poor should be encouraged to till the land so that they become rich, but on the other hand the rich should not be allowed to remain rich, so as to prevent them from becoming lazy and addicted to the "lice". If one understands "how to make the poor rich and the rich poor", one will become strong.3 Strength should be " produced " for the benefit of the state, but, in order to prevent the people from becoming strong in themselves, strength should also be "reduced ", that is, the people should be employed in more warfare. A state which neglects to do this, carries on a suicidal policy, and brings the " poison" of cultural pursuits into its own territory; whereas a state which knows how to "reduce" its strength will be able to attack others and to carry the "poison" into the enemy's territory.4

The riches which accrue to the state, should be kept within the country and should be stored in the granaries. There should be no "outlets ", through which the profit disappears.5 Shang-tzu goes so far as to say that import of products means strength, and export means weakness.6 He is opposed

1 These two are looked upon as one, being complementary to one another. When the country was at peace, men farmed but at need they became soldiers.

; cf. par. 3, p. 186. 4 Par. 4, p. 199; p. 202.

3 Par. 4, p. 201.

5 Par. 20, p. 305.

• Ibid.

to the use of money.

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Money kills grain, and grain kills money," so all efforts must be directed towards the production of grain and not of money.1 Trade should be prohibited and merchants hampered as much as possible.

3

The fact that the rules for rewards and punishments are perfectly clear and definite, will make it easy for the people to know how to behave. They themselves will be able to judge between guilt and innocence. "If ten hamlets are the unit for making judgments, there will be weakness; whereas when five hamlets are the unit for making judgments, there will be strength; if it is the family that gives judgments, there will be abundance." 4 And: "If the order of the country depends on the judgments of the family, it attains supremacy; if it depends on the judgments of the officials, it becomes only strong; if it depends on the judgments of the prince, it becomes weak." That is, the law should, so to speak, apply itself and not require the constant interference of the ruler. If the law is clear and simple, and rank and office are only given

5

1 Par. 4, p. 204.

2 Par. 4, p. 199; par. 13, p. 253; cf. also par. 2, passim. See for a discussion of these ideas p. 49.

"

3. The expression might be rendered an area of ten miles," but in view of the use of "family" in the parallel phrase I consider the other translation preferable.

4 Par. 5, p. 213.

5 Par. 5, p. 212. Cf. further pp. 58 et. seq.

• This is also the meaning of the last sentence of par. 5, p. 214, “Therefore in a country that has the true way, order does not depend on the prince, and the people do not merely follow the officials". Forke, op. cit., p. 456, misunderstands this phrase as: "In einem wohlgeordneten Staatswesen hört man bei der Regierung nicht auf dem Fürsten, und das Volk folgt den Beamten nicht." Professor Forke explains this as meaning that the prince should take popular feeling into account.