Section Three: The Contrast Between "Virtue" and "Punishment" - The struggle between Confucianists and Legalists

Abstract

Confucius said, "He who administers government by means of his virtue [te] may be compared to the North Star, which keeps its place while all the stars turn around it" (Analects: Wei Cheng). The meaning of this is that if a ruler of a country can use "virtue" to rule his people, he can be like the North Star, just sitting there and not moving, while other stars all turn around it. He then said: "If the people are led by laws [cheng] and regulated through punishment [hsing], they will try to avoid the punishment but will have no sense of shame. If they are led by virtue, and regulated through the rites, they will have that sense of shame and, moreover, will reform themselves" (Ibid.). The meaning of this is that if a ruler of a country, in ruling his people, used only "laws" to guide them and "punishment" to restrain them, the people might be able to avoid committing a crime, but they would not know that to commit a crime was shameful. If he could use "virtue" to guide them and "rites" to restrain them, then not only would people not commit crimes, but they would also know that it was shameful to commit a crime. These were the words that Confucius clearly used in talking about "virtuous government" [te cheng]. The so-called "virtuous governor" or "virtuous ruler" was "one who exercises government by means of his virtue."