| | Relying on closed doors and gates to prevent thieves is not as effective as making clear the punishments. Making clear the punishments is not as good as cultivating virtue. Therefore, there are moral prohibitions, legal prohibitions, and material prohibitions. A sage employs all of them together; thus, the people know shame and do not commit wrongful acts. If one cannot prevent evil intentions in the people, yet wishes to restrain their outward actions with axes and saws, even if one executes people daily in public squares, it will still not be effective. The wise understand that control must begin at the root; therefore, they withdraw to cultivate virtue, establish rites for men and women, and promote proper unions between couples, thus preventing licentiousness. By teaching integrity and shame, and by understanding the limits of contentment, theft will no longer occur. Bestowing ranks according to virtue, as stated in the edict , makes the people's virtue thick. Therefore, sages value constancy; constancy is the foundation of virtue. Sages remain long in their way, and thus the world is transformed into harmony; there has never been a case where one without constancy could achieve virtue, or one without virtue who could endure for long.
|
