VOLUME III, SEMESTER 4, CHAPTER 49
He Who Is Not in That Position Does Not Meddle in Its Governance
The previous chapter set firm the relationship between the two layers: the foundation supports the superstructure, not determines everything, and the two layers are locked into each other. Yet a line spoken in Chapter 45 must be used here again: things that nourish each other are most prone to cross the boundary to make decisions for the other side. That chapter spoke of the space between the four scales; this chapter speaks of the space between the lower and upper layers. The layer down below requires the layer up top to provide a table and a law; the layer up top requires the layer down below to supply provisions and hands. The tighter the demand, the smoother the hand reaches over, and when reaching, each side carries a set of very plausible reasons. This chapter draws out that boundary between the two layers, inch by inch. Holding up this entire chapter are those six characters of Confucius: He who is not in that position does not meddle in its governance; Zengzi later followed up with an even sharper line: The superior person's thoughts do not wander beyond his position.
Section 1 counts the three matters managed by the position of economy. The first is bringing things into physical existence: grain must be grown out of the earth, and chairs must be built one by one; if this single matter cannot be accomplished, nothing further needs to be discussed, and no matter how densely orders are issued, grain will not grow out of the soil on its own. The second is dividing the things produced down below: the four scales represent four ways of division, and where the line is drawn is negotiated year by year. The third is singling out that ownerless portion—that exact square in Chapter 46: calculating it clearly and pointing it out. These three matters share one common feature: they are all calculated out, not judged out. Looking in reverse, there are three matters it cannot handle in a single instance: setting rules, judging right from wrong, and enforcing compliance. A single factory can set its own internal evaluation, but cannot manage what should be done when debts are unpaid; when two parties quarrel, a person who is not inside this deal must step in to judge; once judgment is passed and a party refuses to accept the account, someone must be capable of bringing them to acknowledge it. The crux of these three matters lies not in whether one knows how to handle them, but in who the person handling them is: if an insider steps onto the field to serve as a scale, that scale will surely lean.
Section 2 counts another three matters managed by that other position. Setting rules means drawing that boundary for everyone; judging right from wrong means having an insider who stays off the field step in to mediate when neither end is convinced; enforcing compliance serves as the legs for the first two matters—if rules are set but no one abides by them, they are empty words; if right and wrong are judged but the losing end refuses to accept the account, it equals no judgment at all. These three matters rely entirely on the three characters staying off field for support. Furthermore, what this position provides are precisely two of the three paths of check and balance in Chapter 47: that table enabling both ends to come up was opened by it, whether the books ought to be placed out in the open was stipulated by it, and whether that document forbidding going to other firms for three years counts or not is also a matter of a single word from it. Yet it also has things it cannot handle: it cannot make things for people on their behalf, and that exact way of collapsing where enforcement grows exclusively dominant stems from here. Therefore, the matters it handles are, in the final analysis, enabling others to accomplish matters. He who is not in that position does not meddle in its governance is not calling on people to fold their arms, nor telling people to shut their mouths; caring is caring, speaking is speaking, but deciding for that position is another matter entirely. How these two positions are divided and how they watch each other are precisely the topics of two entire volumes: Volume IV, Political Systems, and Volume V, Legal Systems.
Section 3 examines boundary crossing between the two layers, which also takes two forms in opposing directions. The first is money reaching into the side that sets rules: the table is still there, but only one end is left sitting at the table; the books are still there, only the most vital entries are not on them; and whether that binding contract counts or not also listens to money. When the three paths narrow down together, a wall that no one can ever fill in will grow out. 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 does not need to be a bad person—being a normal person is quite enough. The second form is that hand that ought not to step onto the field reaching into the side of trade: the moment it steps down, 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 precisely the second form; with both sides each blocking one end, if one side wins entirely, no one will be left to block the disaster on the other end. Guarding this boundary still relies on those same three things—books being visible, words being open to discussion, and people being able to walk away—plus a line belonging to this chapter itself: the person accomplishing matters and the person judging right from wrong ought not to be the exact same person.
The section pushing upward ends right here. Yet looking back, one will discover that these two chapters have been circling a single question all along: 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. What differs lies neither inside the economy nor inside the rules. The next chapter digs further underneath, digging into that patch of soil that supports all of this.
Chapter Table of Contents
Section 1: The Position of Economy—Which Three Matters It Manages
Section 2: The Position of Politics—Which Other Three Matters It Manages
Section 3: Money Reaching over There, That Hand Reaching over Here
Credit to the ancestors; the mistakes are mine: Tiger Lyon.
Section 1: The Position of Economy—Which Three Matters It Manages