| | 详刑: |
夫刑辟之作，所从尚矣。圣人以治，乱人以亡，故古今帝王，莫不详慎之者，以为人命至重，壹死不生，一断不属故也。夫尧、舜之明，犹惟刑之恤也。是以后圣制法，设三槐九棘之吏，肺石嘉石之讯，然犹复三判，佥曰可杀，然后杀之，罚若有疑，即从其轻，此盖详慎之至也。故苟详、则死者不恨，生者不忿，忿恨不作，则灾害不生，灾害不生，太平之治也。 |
| | The establishment of penal laws has a long history. Sages used them to govern, while disorderly people caused their downfall. Therefore, emperors throughout history and today have all been careful and cautious about this matter, considering human life as extremely precious; once a person dies, they cannot be revived, and once a sentence is passed, it cannot be undone for that reason. Even the wisdom of Yao and Shun was still marked by concern and caution regarding penal matters. Therefore, later sages established laws and appointed officials with the ranks of three 槐 (huai) and nine 棘 (ji), as well as procedures involving the lung stone and jia stone for reporting grievances. Even so, a death sentence would still require three judgments, all agreeing that execution was appropriate, before it could be carried out; if there was any doubt about punishment, the lighter penalty would be chosen instead—this is indeed the utmost in careful deliberation. Thus, if matters are thoroughly examined and carefully handled, the dead will not harbor resentment, and the living will not feel anger. If resentment and anger do not arise, then disasters will not occur; when disasters do not occur, this is the governance of peace and prosperity.
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| | 详刑: |
是以圣主用其刑也。详而行之，必欲民犯之者寡，而畏之者衆，明刑至于无刑，善杀至于无杀，此之谓矣。夫暗乱之主，用刑弥繁，而犯之者益多，而杀之者弥衆，而慢之者尤甚者何，由用之不详而行之不必也。不详则罪不值，所罪不值则当死反生，不必则令有所亏，令有所亏则刑罚不齐矣。失此二者，虽日用五刑，而民犹轻犯之，故乱刑之刑，刑以生刑，恶杀之杀，杀以致杀，此之谓也。 |
| | This is why a sage ruler employs punishment in such a manner. Carefully implementing it, the ruler certainly hopes that few people will commit crimes and many will fear punishment. Clear laws lead to no need for actual punishment; skillful use of execution leads to no real killing—this is what is meant by that statement. A corrupt and disorderly ruler, employing punishment more frequently, finds that the number of lawbreakers increases even more, and those executed grows ever greater; yet people's disrespect for the law becomes especially severe. Why is this so? It arises from using punishment without careful deliberation and enforcing it inconsistently. Without careful deliberation, guilt is not properly assessed; when guilt is improperly assessed, those who should be executed may instead live. Without consistency, the law becomes flawed; when the law is flawed, punishments and penalties become unequal. Losing these two principles, even if the five punishments are applied daily, people will still lightly transgress. Hence it is said: disorderly punishment begets more punishment; cruel killing leads to further killing—this is precisely what is meant by that saying.
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