| Rewards and Punishments:...: |
What I mean by the unification of education is that all those partisans of wide scholarship, sophistry, cleverness, good faith, integrity, rites and music, and moral culture, whether their reputations are unsullied or foul, should for these reasons not become rich or honoured, should not discuss punishments, and should not compose their private views independently and memorialize their superiors. The strong should be broken and the sharp be blunted. Although one may be called a sage or wise or clever or eloquent or liberal or simple, yet one must not if one lacks merit, monopolize the ruler's favours, but the gate to riches and honour should lie in war and in nothing else. Those who are capable in war tread through the gate to riches and honour, but for the violent and self-willed there are inflexible punishments and no pardon. Thus fathers and seniors, elder and younger brothers, acquaintances, relatives by marriage, husband and wife, one and all say that that, to which they devote special application, is war and that alone. Therefore indeed, the strong devote themselves to warfare, the old and feeble devote themselves to defence; for those who die there is no regret, and the living are bent on exerting themselves. This is what I mean by unifying education. The desire of people for riches and honour does not generally cease before their coffins are closed, and when the gate to riches and honour has its approach in soldiering, then when people hear of war, they congratulate each other, and whether at work or at rest, at times of drinking or eating, they will sing songs of war. This is what I mean by saying, that the climax in the understanding of education is to bring about a condition where there is no longer education. |
