| | 禮政: |
治國之大體有四，一曰仁義，二曰禮制，三曰法令，四曰刑罰，四本者具，則帝王之功立矣。所謂仁者，愛人者也。愛人，父母之行也。為民父母，故能興天下之利也。所謂義者，能辨物理者也。物得理，故能除天下之害也。興利除害者，則賢人之業也。夫仁義禮制者，治之本也。法令刑罰者，治之末也。無本者不立，無末者不成，夫禮教之治，先之以仁義，示之以敬讓，使民遷善，日用而不知也。儒者見其如此，因謂治國不須刑法，不知刑法承其下，而後仁義興於上也。法令者賞善禁淫，居治之要會，商韓見其如此，因曰治國不待仁義，不知仁義為之體，故法令行於下也。是故導之以德，齊之以禮，則民有耻，導之以政，齊之以刑，則民苟免，是治之貴賤者也。先仁而後法，先教而後刑，是治之先後者也。 |
| | The four fundamental principles of governing a state are: first, benevolence and righteousness (renyi), second, rites and institutions (lijie), third, laws and decrees (faling), and fourth, punishments (xingfa). When these four foundations are complete, the achievements of emperors and kings will be established. What is called "ren" means loving others. Loving others is the conduct of parents. To be the parent of the people, therefore one can promote the benefits for all under heaven. What is called "yi" means being able to discern the principles of things. When things are governed by principle, therefore one can eliminate the harms for all under heaven. To promote benefits and remove harms is the achievement of a virtuous person. Benevolence, righteousness, rites, and institutions are the fundamentals of governance. Laws, decrees, punishments are the outward expressions of governance. Without fundamentals, a state cannot be established; without outward expressions, governance cannot be completed. In the rule through rites and moral instruction, benevolence and righteousness are promoted first, respect and yielding are demonstrated, so that the people gradually become virtuous, practicing these daily without being aware of it. Confucian scholars seeing this situation therefore claim that governing a state does not require criminal law, unaware that punishments and laws support from below, enabling benevolence and righteousness to flourish above. Laws and decrees reward virtue and prohibit excess; they occupy a crucial position in governance. Shang Yang and Han Feizi, seeing this situation, therefore claimed that governing a state does not depend on benevolence and righteousness, unaware that benevolence and righteousness form the foundation, hence laws and decrees can be implemented among the people below. Therefore, guiding the people with virtue and regulating them with rites will make them have a sense of shame; guiding them with policies and regulating them with punishments will only lead them to seek temporary avoidance. This is the distinction between superior and inferior methods of governance. Prioritizing benevolence before law, and instruction before punishment—this is the proper sequence in governance.
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| | 禮政: |
夫遠物難明而近理易知，故禮讓緩而刑罰急，是治之緩急也。夫仁者使人有德，不能使人知禁，禮者使人知禁，不能使人必仁，故本之者仁，明之者禮也。必行之者刑罰也。先王為禮以達人之性，理刑以承禮之所不足，故以仁義為不足以治者，不知人性者也。是故失教，失教者無本也。以刑法為不可用者，是不知情僞者也。是故失威，失威者不禁也。故有刑法而無仁義，久則民忽，民忽則怒也。有仁義而無刑法，則民慢，民慢則奸起也。故曰：本之以仁，成之以法，使兩通而無偏重，則治之至也。夫仁義雖弱而持久，刑殺雖强而速亡，自然之治也。 |
| | Distant matters are difficult to clarify, while nearby principles are easy to understand; therefore, rites and yielding proceed slowly whereas punishments act swiftly—this is the balance of urgency in governance. Benevolence makes people virtuous, but cannot make them aware of prohibitions; rites make people aware of prohibitions, but cannot necessarily make them benevolent. Therefore, the foundation is benevolence, and clarity comes from rites. What ensures implementation is punishment. The sage kings established rites to realize human nature, and applied punishments to address what rites could not fully achieve. Therefore, those who claim benevolence and righteousness alone are insufficient for governance do not understand human nature. Therefore, failing in moral instruction means losing the foundation. Those who claim punishments and laws cannot be used are those who do not understand human emotions and artificiality. Therefore, losing authority means failing to restrain; one who loses restraint is unable to control. Thus, having punishments and laws without benevolence and righteousness will eventually lead the people to become indifferent; when the people are indifferent, anger arises. Having benevolence and righteousness without punishments and laws will cause the people to be disrespectful; when the people become disrespectful, immorality arises. Therefore it is said: establish governance with benevolence and complete it with law, allowing both to be balanced without undue emphasis—this is the highest form of governance. Benevolence and righteousness may appear weak but endure over time; punishments and executions, though strong, lead to swift decline—this is the natural way of governance.
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