VOLUME III, SEMESTER 4, CHAPTER 49, SECTION 1

VOLUME III, SEMESTER 4, CHAPTER 49, SECTION 1

The Position of Economy—Which Three Matters It Manages

The previous chapter set firm the relationship between the two layers: the foundation supports the superstructure, not determines everything; moreover, these two layers are locked into each other—the bottom holds up the top, and the top turns back to modify the bottom. 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. Therefore, this chapter must draw out that boundary between the two layers, inch by inch. Drawing begins from the layer down below, asking first a most fundamental question: what matters, after all, does the position of economy manage, and which matters do not belong to its governance in the slightest?

One, inviting that line from the ancestors first

This chapter is held up from start to finish by an ancient line of six characters: He who is not in that position does not meddle in its governance. It comes from The Analects: Tai Bo. Zengzi later followed up with an even sharper line: The superior person's thoughts do not wander beyond his position.Thinking without wandering beyond position means not even crossing over in thought. This saying sounds unfeeling at first listen, but upon careful thought, it represents an utmost clarity: if a person makes decisions every day for matters outside his governance, that single matter in his hands that truly belongs to his governance will surely be handled poorly, yet he himself will still feel very busy and dutiful.

Chapter 40 used this saying, applying it then to scales: every scale is a good scale in its position, but becomes a bad scale once it strays beyond that position. This chapter raises it one layer higher, applying it to positions: the layer down below has its matters, and the layer up top has its matters, each ending at a defined boundary.

To explain clearly where the boundary ends, one must first explain clearly what is managed. This section counts the three matters managed by the position of economy; the next section counts another three managed by that other position.

Two, the first matter: bringing things into physical existence

The first matter managed by the position of economy is the most fundamental and most crucial: bringing things into physical existence. Grain must be grown out of the earth, cloth must be woven, chairs must be built one by one, machines must be manufactured, and roads must be built inch by inch. If this single matter cannot be accomplished, nothing further needs to be discussed, and no reasoning can hold up. Chapter 43 stated that when there is no rice in the pot, no matter how fair the ladle is, it cannot scoop out a meal; Chapter 44 further stated that distribution according to labor serves as the provisions for distribution according to need. Both lines speak of this very matter.

Who accomplishes this matter? It is those twenty-some pairs of hands inside that factory floor; it is the person who staked down capital and lies awake at night; it is those upriver sawing timber, drying raw materials, and hauling cargo; it is the person driving goods for delivery before daybreak. Two of the four scales directly manage this matter: one measures labor, letting those willing to exert effort gain; the other measures risk, giving those willing to stake capital beforehand a prospect.

This matter carries one feature that must be kept firmly in mind: if it cannot be accomplished, no one can step in as a substitute. The layer up top can issue an order, but no matter how densely orders are issued or how urgently pressed, grain will not grow out of the soil on its own, nor will chairs leap out of raw timber by themselves. This layer will be drawn upon again in the next two sections.

A line must be added to avoid thinking of this matter too narrowly. Bringing into physical existence includes not merely producing the immediate batch of goods, but also ensuring that goods can still be produced next year and the year after: machinery must be replaced, apprentices must be trained, and someone must be willing to test new methods. Chapter 47 noted that those furnaces in Henan suffered losses for over a decade before succeeding. All these count inside this single matter, and often represent the piece most easily cut, precisely because it produces no figures this year.

Three, the second matter: dividing the things produced down below

Once things are produced, the second matter follows: dividing. What this entire semester has spoken of regarding the four scales boils down to four methods of division: dividing according to labor, dividing according to need, dividing according to who bore the risk, and one least pleasant form—a division fenced off by a wall. The first three each possess their own position, while the fourth must be watched constantly by others, all of which previous chapters have fully detailed.

Whether division is proper is the ledger the position of economy calculates daily. How pay scales are fixed, how large that square ought to be, which items are written on that safety net list, and where the boundary between the two scales is drawn are negotiated year by year, argued over every year, and never fully exhausted. Chapter 45 stated that boundaries can be negotiated and ought to be revised yearly; what cannot be negotiated is that a boundary must exist.

This matter also carries one feature: it can only be calculated out, not judged out. A single factory can calculate how this month's wages ought to be issued, but cannot calculate who is in the right when two parties quarrel; a ledger can calculate how thick that square is, but cannot calculate whether that square ought to be occupied exclusively by a single firm. Calculating and judging are two distinct matters, which Section 2 will address specifically.

Inside this matter of dividing, there is one layer easily overlooked: whether division is handled well directly turns back to affect whether the first matter can be accomplished. If pay scales cannot be spread apart, those willing to exert effort slow down, and next year's goods decrease; if that square is too thin to offer hope, those willing to stake capital will not come, and no one will construct factory buildings the year after next. Chapter 44 spoke of both sides holding fast to grow together; here is what it looks like within the exact same position: making and dividing are not two sequential segments, but two ends locked together.

Four, the third matter: singling out that ownerless portion

The third matter is that exact square newly established in Chapter 46: when the ledger is turned to the very bottom, that portion of yield whose owner cannot be found. What the position of economy manages is calculating it clearly and pointing it out. Inside that ten million of the chair factory, which portions have owners and which portion has no owner; how much the road outside the gate, the power line in the factory, the school that educated those twenty-some literate workers, and that canal that irrigated for two thousand three hundred years subsidized this year's ledger—all these can and ought to be calculated further down. Once calculated clearly, that square can be placed in the open, and only then can assigning it out be discussed.

Yet taking one step further down no longer belongs to this position. Under what name that portion is singled out, to whom it is handed over to manage after collection, who inspects whether it is managed well, and who takes responsibility when problems are uncovered—not a single one of these matters resides within the position of economy.

This is where the boundary reveals its shape for the first time. For the exact same square of money, calculating it is the affair of this position, while collecting it, using it, and inspecting it are the affairs of another position. The position of economy can lay out the books, stating that this square indeed exists and is indeed ownerless; it lacks the capability, and ought not to possess the capability, to decide on its own to whom this square goes to be spent.

Five, the three matters the position of economy cannot handle

Counting the three matters above in order, counting them in reverse makes it even clearer: there are three matters the position of economy cannot handle in a single instance. The first is setting rules. A single factory can set its own internal evaluation, but cannot manage what should be done when debts are unpaid, cannot determine which kind of contract is forbidden to be written, and cannot decide at what age a person may enter the factory to work. These rules govern all factories and all working people, and cannot be set by any single factory or any single trade.

The second is judging right from wrong. When two parties quarrel, each claims plausible reasons and presents their own way of calculation; at this moment, someone who is not inside this deal and does not expect to gain anything from this deal must step in to judge. If the person judging holds a share of goods inside, the losing end will not accept a single word of the judgment passed.

The third is enforcing compliance. Once judgment is passed, what if the losing end refuses to accept the account? Someone must be capable of bringing them to acknowledge it. This exact force is the fourth scale. Chapter 40 established that its position is the narrowest, yet it is indispensable; moreover, not a fraction of it ought to grow in the hands of those making deals.

These three matters are precisely another three to be counted in the next section. Once counted, that boundary will show forth entirely; once the boundary shows forth, the form of boundary crossing will be visible right along with it.

These three unmanageable matters share one common feature worth pointing out first: their crux lies not in whether one knows how to handle them, but in who the person handling them is. Setting rules, judging right from wrong, and enforcing compliance are easy to understand; a person who has traded for thirty years likely understands the trade better than anyone. Yet precisely because he understands the trade, he ought even less to handle them. When an insider steps onto the field to serve as a scale, that scale will surely lean—not because he is bad, but because position makes it so. Chapter 41 established that position is not identity; this line takes a different application here: look not at who he is, but at where he stands.

Six, what this section sets firm

What this section sets firm is one line: the position of economy manages three matters—bringing things into physical existence, dividing the things produced down below, and singling out that ownerless portion. These three matters are all calculated out, not judged out. It can calculate clearly how much wages a factory ought to issue, how thick that square is, and how much ownerless yield exists; it cannot calculate who is in the right, nor set rules, and even less possesses that force that brings people to acknowledge an account.

Therefore, Confucius's saying lands here for the first time: the position of economy need only govern its own affairs. What it cannot handle is also three matters: setting rules, judging right from wrong, and enforcing compliance. The next section looks at which position these three matters ultimately land upon, and sees clearly why they must be handled by that insider who stays off the field.

Credit to the ancestors; the mistakes are mine: Tiger Lyon.

Section 2: The Position of Politics—Which Other Three Matters It Manages