| | Heaven produces human beings so that people give rise to righteousness and profit. Profit is used to nourish the body, and righteousness is used to nourish the mind. The mind cannot be happy without righteousness, and the body cannot be at ease without profit. Righteousness is the nourishment of the mind, and profit is the nourishment of the body. The body is not more precious than the mind; therefore, no nourishment is more important than righteousness. The cultivation of righteousness benefits human beings more than profit. Why do we know this? Nowadays, when people have much righteousness but very little profit, even though they are poor and lowly, they still honor their conduct, take pride in themselves, and enjoy life; Yuan Xian, Zeng, and Min are examples of such individuals. When people have great profit but lack righteousness greatly, even though they may be very wealthy, they will suffer great shame and evil. Their evils are profound; those who do not immediately die for their crimes will soon suffer misfortunes and worries, and none can live a happy life until the end of their days—these are the people who meet early deaths or suffer punishment. A person with righteousness, though poor, is still able to find joy in himself. One who greatly lacks righteousness, though wealthy, cannot preserve oneself. I therefore know that the cultivation of righteousness truly benefits human beings more than profit and is far more valuable than wealth. The people cannot understand this and often act contrary to it, forgetting righteousness while pursuing profit, abandoning reason for evil paths, thereby harming themselves and bringing disaster upon their families. This is not because they are disloyal in planning for themselves, but rather because their understanding cannot reach clarity. Now present a jujube and an ornamented piece of gold to an infant, and the infant will surely take the jujube but dare not touch the gold. Present one catty of gold and thousands of pearls to a rustic man, and he will surely take the gold but dare not touch the pearls. Therefore, regarding things and people, small matters are easy to understand, while great ones are difficult to perceive. Now that profit is a small matter for people, while righteousness is a great one, it is no wonder that the common folk all pursue profit and do not seek righteousness; this is due to their ignorance, so they are not to blame. The Shi Jing says: "Show me your noble virtue and conduct." This is what it means. The sage kings of old demonstrated noble virtue to the people; the people rejoiced and sang about it in poetry, were pleased by it, and thus transformed their desires accordingly. Therefore, without orders they acted on their own, and without prohibitions they ceased of themselves; following the will of those above, they did not need to be commanded—it was as natural as that. Therefore it is said: The sage moves heaven and earth, transforms the four seasons—not for any other reason, but because he perceives righteousness as great; thus he can move others, through movement he can transform them, through transformation he can widely spread virtue. When virtue spreads widely, laws are not transgressed; when laws are not transgressed, punishments need not be used—this is the virtue and achievement of Yao and Shun. This is the way to great governance; it was passed down and repeated by the sage ancestors. Therefore, Confucius said: "Who can go out without passing through a door? Why then does no one follow this way?" Now, if noble virtue and conduct are not demonstrated, the people remain ignorant of righteousness and thus cannot act accordingly. They become confused by the Way and unable to understand; therefore, if one resorts to strictness in order to force them into correctness, it only harms innocent people and undermines the virtue of rulership—it is a course that cannot succeed. Zhong Ni said: "When a state is governed with righteousness, even if punishments are added, they are in reality no punishment at all." "When a state lacks virtue, even if people are executed, the wrongdoings cannot be fully eradicated." What he meant by "a state with virtue" or "without virtue" is simply whether noble virtue and conduct are demonstrated to the people or not.
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