everse, meet with
but a wise man and they will of themselves be amenable. In this way
will the State be eternal and the Temples of the Earth and of Grain*
will be free from danger. Therefore did the wise sovereigns of
antiquity seek the man to fill the office, and not the office for the
sake of the man.

*A Chinese expression for the Imperial house.

VIII. Let the ministers and functionaries attend the Court early in
the morning, and retire late. The business of the State does not
admit of remissness, and the whole day is hardly enough for its
accomplishment. If, therefore, the attendance at Court is late,
emergencies cannot be met: if officials retire soon, the work cannot
be completed.

IX. Good faith is the foundation of right. In everything let there be
good faith, for in it there surely consists the good and the bad,
success and failure. If the lord and the vassal observe good faith
one with another, what is there which cannot be accomplished? If the
lord and the vassal do not observe good faith towards one another,
everything without exception ends in failure.

X. Let us cease from wrath, and refrain from angry looks. Nor let us
be resentful when others differ from us. For all men have hearts, and
each heart has its own leanings. Their right is our wrong, and our
right is their wrong. We are not unquestionably sages nor are they
unquestionably fools. Both of us are simply ordinary men. How can
anyone lay down a rule by which to distinguish right from wrong? For
we are all, one with another, wise and foolish like a ring which has
no end. Therefore, although others give way to anger, let us, on the
contrary, dread our own faults, and though we alone may be in the
right, let us follow the multitude and act like them.

XI. Give clear appreciation to merit and demerit, and deal out to
each its sure reward or punishment. In these days, reward does not
attend upon merit, nor punishment upon crime. Ye high functionaries
who have charge of public affairs, let it be your task to make clear
rewards and punishments.

XII. Let not the provincial authorities or the kuni no miyatsuko levy
exactions on the people. In a country there are not two lords; the
people have not two masters. The sovereign is the master of the
people of the whole country. The officials to whom he gives charge
are all his vassals. How can they, as well as the Government, presume
to levy taxes on the people?

XIII. Let all persons entrusted with o