The Books of Chow

Book XX: The Officers of Chow

This book offers a general outline of the official system of the Chow dynasty. It details the specific offices and functions of the various ministers. It begins by describing the present condition of the empire and concludes with the king offering important advice to the officers and ministers.

The king of Chow brought the myriad regions of the empire to tranquility; he made a tour of inspection through the How and Teen tenures; he punished on all sides the chiefs who had refused to appear at court; thus securing the repose of the millions of the people and all the princes of the six tenures acknowledging his virtue. He then returned to the honoured capital of Chow, and strictly regulated the officers of the administration.

The king said, “It was the grand method of former times to regulate the government while there was no confusion, and to secure the country while there was no danger.” He said, “Yaou and Shun studied antiquity, and established a hundred officers. At court there were the General Regulator, and the President of the Four Eminences. Abroad there were the Pastors of the provinces, and the princes of States. Thus the various departments of the Kung to diffuse widely all transforming influences; they with reverence display brightly the powers of heaven and earth: assisting me, the one man.

“I appoint the prime minister, who presides over the ruling of the empire, has the general management of all other officers, and secures an uniformity throughout all within the four seas: the minister of Instruction, who presides over the education of the empire, inculcates the duties attaching to the five relations of society, and trains to obedience the people: the minister of Religion, who presides over the ceremonies of the empire, attends to the service of the spirits and manes, and makes a harmony between high and low; the minister of War, who presides over the military administration of the empire, commands the six hosts, and secures the tranquility of all the States: the minister of Crime, who presides over the prohibitions of the empire, searches out the villainous and secretly will be free from error. Make the regular statutes of our dynasty your rule, and do not with artful speeches introduce disorder into your offices. To accumulate doubts is the way to ruin your plans; to be idle and indifferent is the way to ruin your government. Without study, you stand facing a wall, and your management of affairs will be full of trouble.

I caution you, my high nobles, exalted merit depends on the high aim, and a patrimony is enlarged only by diligence. It is by means of bold decision that future difficulties are avoided. With rank, pride comes unperceived, and extravagance in the same way with emolument. Let reverence and economy be real virtues, and do not show them in your affairs with hypocrisy. Practise them as virtues, and your minds will be at ease, and you will daily become more admirable. Practise them in hypocrisy, and your minds will be toiled, and you will daily become more stupid. In the enjoyment of favour think of peril, and never be without a cautious apprehension. He who is without such apprehension finds himself amidst what is to be feared. Push forward the worthy, and give place to the able, and harmony will prevail among all your officers. When they are not harmonious, the government becomes a tangled confusion. If those whom you advance are able for their offices, the ability is yours. If you advance improper men, then you are not equal to your duty.”

The king said, “Oh! ye charged with the threefold business of government, and ye great officers, reverently attend to your departments, and conduct well your affairs of government, so as to assist your sovereign, and secure the lasting happiness of the millions of the people: so shall there be no dissatisfaction among the myriad States.”