The Long View
The mandate of heaven
By Manuel L. Quezon III
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:45:00 05/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines - The ancient Chinese believed that the "mandate of Heaven" was revealed by tangible signs, such as flood or famine. Such misfortunes were indications that the legitimacy of a ruler was waning. Confucius elaborated the idea further, and taught that the "mandate of Heaven" was dependent on knowing the moral order of the universe, and demonstrating it in the six relationships that govern superiors and subordinates (i.e. minister to prince, friend to friend, teacher to student).
From "The Analects of Confucius" (the L. Giles translation) come some useful principles to ponder. The first two extracts concern definitions of good government.
The first involves the "five excellent things" and the "four evil things": "Tzü Chang asked Confucius, saying: What are the essentials of good government? The Master said: Esteem the five excellent, and banish the four evil things; then you will become fit to govern." Tzü Chang then asked: "What are the five excellent things?" Confucious replied, "The wise and good ruler is benevolent without expending treasure; he lays burdens on the people without causing them to grumble; he has desires without being covetous; he is serene without being proud; he is awe-inspiring without being ferocious. He is benevolent without expending treasure."
Then, the bad: "Tzü Chang then asked: What are the four evil things? The Master said: Cruelty: leaving the people in their native ignorance, yet punishing their wrong-doing with death. Oppression: requiring the immediate completion of tasks imposed without previous warning. Ruthlessness: giving vague orders, and then insisting on punctual fulfillment. Peddling husbandry: stinginess in conferring the proper rewards on deserving men."
The second related extract involves the tangible signs of good government, and the things that can be dispensed with, and the thing that absolutely cannot be dispensed with: "Tzü Kung asked for a definition of good government. The Master replied: It consists in providing enough food to eat, in keeping enough soldiers to guard the State, and in winning the confidence of the people. And if one of these three things had to be sacrificed, which should go first? The Master replied: Sacrifice the soldiers. And if of the two remaining things one had to be sacrificed, which should it be? The master said: Let it be the food. From the beginning, men have always had to die. But without the confidence of the people no government can stand at all."
Then two extracts in a similar vein, on the means to maintain public confidence, and the means to instill harmony in the people.
There's a simple rule of thumb concerning the hiring and firing of officials: "Duke Ai asked, saying: What must I do that my people may be contented? Confucius replied: Promote the upright and dismiss all evildoers, and the people will be contented. Promote the evil-doers and dismiss the upright, and the people will be discontented."
A similar reiteration concerning promotions: "Chi K'-ang Tzü asked by what means he might cause his people to be respectful and loyal, and encourage them in the path of virtue. The Master replied: Conduct yourself towards them with dignity, and you will earn their respect; be a good son and a kind prince, and you will find them loyal; promote the deserving and instruct those who fall short, and they will be encouraged to follow the path of virtue."
And then, an extract pointing to the importance of precision on the part of policymakers: "Tzü Lu said: The Prince of Wei is waiting, Sir, for you to take up the reins of government. Pray what is the first reform you would introduce? The Master replied: I would begin by defining terms and making them exact. Oh, indeed! exclaimed Tzü Lu. But how can you possibly put things straight by such a circuitous route? The Master said: How unmannerly you are, Yu! In matters which he does not understand, the wise man will always reserve his judgment. If terms are not correctly defined, words will not harmonize with things. If words do not harmonize with things, public business will remain undone. If public business remains undone, order and harmony will not flourish. If order and harmony do not flourish, law and justice will not attain their ends. If law and justice do not attain their ends, the people will be unable to move hand or foot. The wise man, therefore, frames his definitions to regulate his speech, and his speech to regulate his actions. He is never reckless in his choice of words."
Finally, the things that make for effective government, and which weaken it: "Confucius rejoined: Ch'iu, an honest man, hates your hypocrite who will not openly avow his greed, but tries instead to excuse it. I have heard that the ruler of a state or of a clan is troubled not by the smallness of its numbers but by the absence of even-handed justice; not by poverty but by the presence of discontent; for where there is justice there will be no poverty; where there is harmony there will be no lack in numbers; where there is content there will be no revolution. This being the case then, if outlying communities resist your authority, cultivate the arts of refinement and goodness in order to attract them; and when you have attracted them, make them happy and contented. Now you two, Yu and Ch'iu, are aiding and abetting your master; here is an outlying community which resists your authority, and you are unable to attract it. Partition and collapse are imminent in your own State, and you are unable to preserve it intact. And yet you are planning military aggression within the borders of your country! Verily I fear that Chi-sun's troubles will come, not from Chuan-yü, but from the interior of his own palace."
The issues that confront us, today: food security, government corruption, the rigodon of unimpressive appointive officials, the possibility of renewed conflict in Mindanao, charter change or change in the heart. All have echoes in what was said millennia ago.
|
