The Way of the Ruler

T he Way is where all things begin and the line by which right is told from wrong. So the clear-eyed ruler holds to the beginning and knows the source of all things; he keeps to the line and knows where good outcomes and bad ones start. He waits empty and still, and lets the names name themselves, lets the work settle itself. Empty, he sees what is really there. Still, he sees who is moving straight and who is not. The Way is the beginning of the ten thousand things, the standard of right and wrong. Therefore the enlightened ruler holds to the beginning so as to know the source of the ten thousand things, and governs by the standard so as to know the starting-point of success and failure. So he waits empty and still upon what comes: names name themselves, affairs settle themselves. Being empty, he knows the true state of the substantial; being still, he knows what moves and what is correct.

Let a man speak, and his word becomes his own measure. Let him take on a task, and the task becomes his own shape. Match the shape against the word: if they fit, the ruler has nothing left to do — he just files the matter under what it turned out to be. He who speaks makes his own name; he who acts makes his own form. When form and name are compared and tally, the ruler then has no business to attend to, and returns the matter to its own true state. (Form-and-name, 形名: the deed measured against the proposal.)

So it is said: the ruler must not show what he wants. Show what you want, and the ministers will carve and polish themselves to fit it. He must not show what he thinks. Show what you think, and they will paint themselves up to stand out for it. Therefore it is said: let the ruler not display what he desires; if the ruler displays what he desires, the ministers will carve and polish themselves accordingly. Let the ruler not display his intent; if the ruler displays his intent, the ministers will make themselves appear exceptional.

“Show nothing, and the ministers must move first — and in moving, show you exactly what they are.”

So it is said: put away your likes, put away your dislikes, and the ministers show plain wood. Put away your old habits, put away your cleverness, and they have to come ready on their own. Therefore it is said: do away with likes, do away with dislikes, and the ministers reveal their plain substance; do away with the old and do away with cleverness, and the ministers ready themselves of their own accord.

He has cleverness, but he does not scheme with it — he lets all things find their own place. He has competence, but he does not parade it as worth — he watches what his ministers lean on. He has nerve, but he does not spend it in anger — he lets the officials use up theirs. So: drop your cleverness and you gain clear sight; drop your show of worth and you get results; drop your temper and you gain real force. Thus he has wisdom but does not use it to plan, making the ten thousand things know their place; he has capability but does not use it to act the worthy man, observing what the ministers below rely on; he has courage but does not use it in anger, making the assembled ministers exhaust their own martial vigor. Therefore: discard wisdom and there is clarity; discard the show of worth and there is achievement; discard courage and there is strength.

The ministers keep to their posts, the offices run on a fixed routine; he assigns each man by what he can do. This is called running on the settled groove. So it is said: still — as if holding no place at all; vague — and no one can find where he stands. The clear-eyed ruler does nothing up above, and below him the whole body of ministers stands in dread. The ministers keep their charges, the hundred offices have their constants; he employs each according to his ability — this is called practicing the constant. Therefore it is said: silent, as though occupying no position; vague, none can find where he is. The enlightened ruler does nothing above, and the assembled ministers tremble in fear below.

Here is the clear-eyed ruler's method. He lets the clever exhaust their schemes, and decides matters off the back of them — so his own cleverness never runs dry. He lets the capable strain their talents, and hands them the job — so his own competence never runs dry. When it works, the credit is the ruler's; when it fails, the blame is the minister's — so his name never runs dry. So without being clever he is the teacher of the clever; without being worthy he is the standard for the worthy. The ministers carry the labor; the ruler carries the finished thing. This is what they call the rule of the able sovereign. The way of the enlightened ruler: he makes the wise exhaust their deliberations, and the ruler decides affairs accordingly, so the ruler is not exhausted in wisdom; he makes the worthy put forth their talents, and the ruler employs them accordingly, so the ruler is not exhausted in ability; when there is achievement the ruler holds its worth, when there is fault the minister bears its guilt, so the ruler is not exhausted in name. Thus, not worthy, he is teacher to the worthy; not wise, he is corrector to the wise. The ministers have the toil, the ruler has the accomplishment — this is called the cardinal rule of the worthy sovereign.

The Way lies in not being seen; its use lies in not being known. Stay empty, stay still, do nothing, and from the dark watch the flaws come out. See and seem not to see, hear and seem not to hear, know and seem not to know. Once you have a man's word, don't shift it and don't revise it — just hold it and check it against the result later. One man to an office, and never let them pass word to each other; then all things stand fully exposed. The Way lies in what cannot be seen; its function lies in what cannot be known. Empty, still, and without business, from the dark he sees defects. He sees yet does not show he sees, hears yet does not show he hears, knows yet does not show he knows. Having grasped a man's words, he does not alter or change them, but compares and audits them. One man to each office; do not let them communicate, and then the ten thousand matters are all laid bare.

Cover your tracks, hide where you begin, and those below cannot trace you. Put away your cleverness, withhold your skill, and they cannot guess your mind. Keep hold of what you already know and check it against the match. Grip the handles tight and hold them fast. Cut off their hope of reaching for them, smash their designs, let no one covet what is yours. Conceal your traces, hide your starting-points, and those below cannot trace their origin; remove your wisdom, cut off your ability, and those below cannot guess your intent. Keep what you have grasped and verify it for consistency; carefully take hold of the handles and grip them firmly. Cut off their ambition, break their schemes, let no one desire them.

Do not guard the bolt; do not make fast the door — and the tiger moves in. Do not watch your affairs; do not cover your true state — and the traitor is bred. He who murders his lord and takes his place, and finds everyone willing to go along — that is the tiger. He who sits at his lord's side as a treacherous minister, listening for his lord's slips — that is the traitor. Scatter his faction, take in his hangers-on, shut his door, strip away his props, and the state has no tiger. Be too vast to gauge, too deep to sound; match form to name, test against the standard; execute the man who acts on his own — and the state has no traitor. If you do not carefully guard the bolt, do not make firm the door, the tiger will come to exist; if you are not careful in your affairs, do not conceal your true state, the traitor will arise. He murders his lord, takes his place, and there is no one who does not side with him — therefore he is called a tiger. He dwells at his lord's side, acts the treacherous minister, hears out his lord's faults — therefore he is called a traitor. Disperse his faction, gather in his remnant, shut his gate, seize away his supports, and the state will have no tiger. Vast beyond measuring, deep beyond sounding; bring form and name into accord, examine and verify by the standard; the one who acts on his own authority is executed — and the state will have no traitor.

And so a ruler has five ways of being walled off. When a minister blocks access to him — that is a wall. When a minister controls the money and gains — a wall. When a minister gives orders on his own — a wall. When a minister can hand out favor on his own — a wall. When a minister can plant his own men — a wall. Block the ruler and he loses his place. Control the money and he loses his largesse. Order on his own and he loses command. Hand out favor and he loses his clear sight. Plant his own men and he loses his following. These five are the ruler's to wield alone — not things a minister gets to work. Therefore the ruler has five obstructions: when a minister shuts off the ruler, that is obstruction; when a minister controls wealth and profit, that is obstruction; when a minister issues orders at will, that is obstruction; when a minister can dispense largesse (義), that is obstruction; when a minister can set up men, that is obstruction. If the minister shuts off the ruler, the ruler loses his position; if the minister controls wealth and profit, the ruler loses his bounty (德); if the minister issues orders at will, the ruler loses command; if the minister dispenses largesse, the ruler loses his clarity; if the minister sets up men, the ruler loses his faction. These belong to the ruler to hold alone, and are not what a minister may operate.

The ruler's way is to prize stillness and holding back. He does not handle the work himself, yet knows clumsy from skilled. He does not do the figuring himself, yet knows what will pay and what will cost. So without speaking he draws good answers; without binding men he draws more from them. Once a word has been answered for, he keeps the tally; once a task has borne fruit, he holds the tally-stick. Where the two halves of the tally meet — that is where reward and punishment are born. The ruler's way is to prize stillness and withdrawal as treasures. He does not handle affairs himself, yet knows the clumsy and the skilled; he does not calculate himself, yet knows fortune and misfortune. Thus without speaking he responds well, and without binding agreements he increases well. When a word has been answered, he holds its contract; when an affair has yielded increase, he grips its tally. Where tally and contract match is where reward and punishment arise.

So the ministers lay out their words; the ruler hands each man a task to fit his word; and by the task he holds the man to the result. Result fits task and task fits word — reward. Result misses task and task misses word — punishment. Under the clear-eyed ruler, no minister lays out a word that doesn't square. So when such a ruler gives a reward, it is soft as the seasonal rain — the people drink its blessing. When he metes out punishment, it is dreaded like the thunderclap — not even saints and spirits can talk their way out. So the clear-eyed ruler gives no slack reward and lets no punishment off. Therefore the ministers set forth their words; the ruler assigns tasks according to their words; and by the task he holds them responsible for the result. If the result fits the task and the task fits the word — reward; if the result does not fit the task and the task does not fit the word — punishment. Under the enlightened ruler's way, no minister sets forth a word that fails to match. Therefore when the enlightened ruler bestows reward, it is mild as the timely rain, and the people profit from its moisture; when he carries out punishment, it is dreaded as the thunderbolt, which even the divine sages cannot dissolve. So the enlightened ruler grants no careless reward, pardons no punishment.

Slack rewards, and your good ministers let their work go to ruin. Pardoned punishments, and your treacherous ones find it easy to do wrong. So: if a man truly has merit, reward him though he be distant and low; if a man truly has a fault, punish him though he be near and dear. When the near and dear are sure to be punished, the distant and low do not slacken — and the near and dear do not grow proud. If reward is careless, meritorious ministers will let their work fall into ruin; if punishment is pardoned, treacherous ministers will find it easy to do wrong. Therefore, if one truly has merit, then even the distant and lowly must be rewarded; if one truly has a fault, then even the near and beloved must be punished. When the near and beloved are sure to be punished, the distant and lowly do not grow slack, and the near and beloved do not grow arrogant.

主道 The original Chinese · honored as an artifact

道者，萬物之始，是非之紀也。是以明君守始以知萬物之源，治紀以知善敗之端。

Opening lines, classical Chinese · The Han Feizi 韓非子