VOLUME III, SEMESTER 4, PART III
Foundation and Superstructure
The eyes of the previous two parts rested squarely upon the layer down below: how four scales run upon a single book of accounts, how they hang upon a person's body, how they support a lifetime, how they coexist, co-nourish, co-dwell, and co-share, and how they push against each other so as not to let any single scale grow exclusively dominant. The two chapters and six sections of this part raise the eyes a bit higher, asking a new question: while running down below like this, what kind of things will be pushed out up top? That layer up top refers to statutes, rules, and social atmosphere—it refers to what a place speaks of, what it avoids, and what it regards as proper dignity. This part also serves as the bridge built by this entire volume for Volume IV, Political Systems, and Volume V, Legal Systems.
Chapter 48 first establishes the lowest sequence: material comes first. That thirty-eight-year-old person gets up before dawn to simmer porridge and lay out medicine, clocks in at 8:30, and pays off that debt first on the tenth of each month; speaking of reasoning, dignity, and ambition all rank behind these few items. It is not that he does not care for them, but that sequence is as such. A factory works the same way: in prosperous years rules are observed in the most respectable manner, but the moment orders dry up and wages are delayed, the very first thing to collapse is that set of rules, even though the people remain the exact same people. A place is even more so: only when granaries are opened do human hearts settle, whereas when granaries are empty, even the most meticulous place cannot maintain its standards. Guan Zhong finished stating this two thousand seven hundred years ago in twelve words: When granaries are full, people learn etiquette; when food and clothing are adequate, people know honor and shame. Yet this layer must immediately block a line of misguided interpretation: material coming first does not mean material is the most vital; Semester 1 established that misreading differences in position as differences in moral character is the most common trick of the hypocrite. That person in a lean year who hands his last half-bag of rice to a neighbor does not have a full granary, yet his etiquette is kept firm—he is accomplishing the hardest task underneath this boundary of position.
Chapter 48 next examines a vernacular line from over a hundred years ago: The economic base determines the superstructure. This set of books acknowledges its merit first—acknowledging it with absolute solidity. Before him, speaking of whether a place was good or bad mostly started from human hearts and whether those few individuals up top were wise and virtuous; he shifted the eyes down one layer, looking first at how people eat, how they work, and how they divide things. This shift was equivalent to turning over an entire stretch of ground that no one had been willing to bow their heads to look at. What deserves even greater acknowledgment is that he expressed it in plain vernacular—ten words that an worker with only a few years of schooling could remember. Yet regarding the position spoken of in that line, Guan Zhong was earlier by two thousand four hundred years. Pointing out its origin is not to compete over who spoke first, but to return credit where it belongs, and also to let people see clearly that this position has been seen individually by different people across thousands of years—it is not the banner of a single faction, but simply a fact. The stance of this set of books is also made clear right here: opposing no one from beginning to end, incorporating good vernacular as it comes; yet no matter how good vernacular text is, it stems from the ancient prose of the ancestors—he merely learned that single line. He does not stand opposite the ancestors; he stands behind the ancestors.
Having acknowledged its merit, Chapter 48 replaces a word in that line that was used too absolute. Determines means that whatever sits down below, the top must strictly correspond to it in a one-to-one match. Yet inside those two workshops of the chair factory, with identical machinery, identical pay tables, and identical materials, one workshop's master craftsman is willing to teach apprentices and takes responsibility himself when defective goods are produced, whereas in the other workshop no one is willing to speak an extra word, leaving iron scrap to the next shift as usual. The bottom is identical, yet the top differs by such a wide margin. Therefore, the word that ought to be used is supports: without it the top cannot stand, but with it what grows up top remains undecided; if the foundation is not firm, the building will surely collapse, but once the foundation is firm, how many floors are built and how many windows are opened is beyond the foundation's governance. Changing this single word leaves room for human agency: the layer down below gives position, not a final verdict. Moreover, these two layers are locked into each other: a single line of law pulls a child up from under the well; a single order can make the chessboard larger or smaller; and that table enabling both ends to speak is given precisely by the layer up top.
Chapter 49 draws the boundary between these two layers. What holds it up are those six words of Confucius: He who is not in that position does not meddle in its governance. The position of economy manages three matters: bringing things into physical existence, dividing down below what has been produced, and singling out that ownerless portion; all three are calculated, not judged. What it cannot handle are also three matters: setting rules, judging right from wrong, and enforcing compliance. The crux of these three lies not in capability, but in who handles them; when an insider steps onto the field to serve as a scale, that scale will surely lean. That other position manages precisely these three matters, relying entirely on those three characters staying off field for support, and the table, books, and path to walk away that it provides are precisely two of those three paths of check and balance. It also has matters it cannot handle: it cannot bring things into physical existence on behalf of others; no matter how densely orders are issued, grain will not grow on its own.
Chapter 49 finally examines boundary crossing between the two layers, which takes two forms. Money reaching into the side that sets rules: the table is still there, meetings are held as usual, and minutes are issued as usual, yet only one end is left sitting at the table; the books are still there and look neat, only the most vital entries are not on them. The crux lies not in human hearts, but in whether that position can be bought; Sima Qian wrote, To be wealthy is human nature; men desire it without being taught.Once a position can be bought, the buyer need not be a bad person—being a normal person is quite enough. Conversely, when that hand that ought not to step onto the field reaches into the side of trade, it becomes simultaneously a party on the field and the scale beside the field, leaving the other three scales without even a place to seek mediation. In that quarrel two thousand one hundred years ago, what Sang Hongyang's side blocked was precisely the first form, while what the Virtuous and Literati side blocked was the second form; both sides each blocked one end, and if either won entirely, no one would be left to block the disaster on the other end. Guarding this boundary still relies on those three things—books are visible, words are open to discussion, and people can walk away—plus a line belonging to this part itself: the person accomplishing matters and the person judging right from wrong ought not to be the exact same person.
When this part reaches its conclusion, it leaves behind an unanswered question, which serves as the entry point to the next part: with the exact same foundation, why do different buildings grow out? With the exact same table, why can both ends truly sit down to speak in some places, while in other places it is merely set up for show? Rules written on paper are the same, yet what is carried out turns out differently. That single difference lies neither inside the economy nor inside the rules. This part builds the bridge only up to this point without exceeding its position; as for how those two positions are divided, how they watch each other, and how they guard against the other reaching over, those are the topics of two entire volumes: Volume IV and Volume V.
PART THREE CONTENTS
Chapter 48: When Granaries Are Full, People Learn Etiquette
Chapter 49: He Who Is Not in That Position Does Not Meddle in Its Governance
Credit to the ancestors; the mistakes are mine: Tiger Lyon.