| | All officials toward their superiors, and all people toward their officials, always listen to their words and follow their conduct. Therefore, the essential task of governance lies in rectifying oneself; when one's own person is upright here, the people will respond accordingly there. The Book of Songs says: "You have taught them." The people all emulate it. Therefore, Ye Gong asked about governance. Confucius replied: "If you lead with uprightness, who would dare be otherwise?" He also said: "If one rectifies himself, how could there be any difficulty in governing? If one cannot rectify himself, then how can he correct others?" Therefore, when a gentleman governs, correcting oneself comes first, followed by instruction and prohibition. If the ruler is upright above, officials will not dare to act corruptly below; if officials are upright below, the people will not dare to behave improperly in the countryside. A state without an unrighteous ruler, a court without corrupt officials, and a countryside without deviant commoners—there has never been such a case where governance was poor. The essential task of governance is to regulate affairs. When affairs are regulated above, the people below will have surplus strength; when the people have surplus strength, there will be no disputes or lawsuits among them; and if the people have no disputes or lawsuits, then governance can achieve order without active intervention, and instruction will take effect without words.
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