| | Yu Lizzi said: "The people are like sand; those who possess the world can only gather and consolidate them." The people of Yao and Shun were as if glued together with lacquer, never dispersing at any time. Therefore, when Yao died, the common people mourned as if they had lost their parents; for three years, all eight kinds of music were suspended throughout the four seas. This was not due to coercion through authority or strict commands. The people of the Three Dynasties were like sand glued together with adhesive; although they sometimes melted, they did not easily separate. Therefore, their descendants passed on the dynasty for several hundred years; it was only when an unjust ruler emerged that decline began. If a virtuous leader then succeeded him, prosperity would be restored. It was only when there were extremely unjust rulers like Jie and Zhou, and virtuous and sage feudal lords such as Shang Tang and King Wu of Zhou who intervened between them, that the dynasty finally perished. Those whose tyranny was not as severe as Jie's or Zhou's did not perish; Even if a ruler was tyrannical like Jie or Zhou, if there were no virtuous and sage feudal lords who happened to be present at that time to intervene, the dynasty would not perish either. The people of a hegemonic era are like sand bound together with water; their unity seems unbreakable. Like ice formed from water, once it melts, the people scatter and disperse. Those below them gather the people by force; it is like holding sand in one's hand—when clenched, it stays together, but when released, it scatters. They do not seek the way to truly unite the people, yet they blame the people and say: "These are stubborn and prone to rebellion." Alas! How profoundly unreflective they are!"
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