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The ancient scrolls of Mozi, a famous thinker during the Warring States Period. (Image source: Public domain)
Statue of Mozi (Image source: public domain)
ChinaWarring States Periodfamous of the periodThinker MoziHe once said: “When a country is about to perish, there will beSeven diseases“. These are the seven disasters that Mozi analyzed when a country is facing danger. The seven disasters include failure to repair national defense, diplomatic isolation, unfair financial distribution, internal corruption, arrogance of the monarch, exhaustion of people’s power, and improper rewards and punishments. Mozi believed that the country To avoid these disasters, we need to focus on increasing production and saving money to ensure the long-term stability of the country.
These discussions by Mozi reflect his profound understanding of state governance and have profound implications for today’s society.
The original text of “Mozi·Seven Troubles”
Zimozi said: “There are seven problems in the state. What are the seven diseases? The city walls, ditches and ponds cannot be defended, and the palaces and palaces can be managed. This is the first problem. Border countries and neighboring countries cannot be saved, which is the second problem. First, do the useless work of the people and reward the incompetent. The people’s efforts are useless and their treasures are too much to entertain guests. These are the three troubles. Officials hold on to their salaries, while travelers love to be distinguished. The king practices laws to please his ministers, but the ministers are frightened and dare not touch them. These are the four troubles. The king thinks he is the best. The sage is wise but does not care about things. He thinks that the territory is safe but has no defense. The neighbors do not know how to plan, which is the five troubles. Those who believe are unfaithful, and those who are loyal do not believe, which are the six troubles. There are not enough livestock and grains to eat, and there are not enough ministers. In order to do things, rewards cannot be joyful, and punishments cannot be intimidating. If the country is occupied by seven troubles, there will be no country; if the city is guarded by seven troubles, the enemy will overthrow the country, and the country will be in disaster.
All grains are what the people look up to, and why the king wants to support them. Therefore, if the people do not look up to them, the king will not be able to support them. If the people do not have food, they will not be able to do anything. Therefore, food must be done, the land must be used, and use must be done sparingly. . If all the grains are harvested, the five flavors will be controlled by the Lord; if they are not harvested completely, the five flavors will not be completely controlled. Failure to harvest one grain is called famine, failure to harvest two grains is called drought, failure to harvest three grains is called disaster, failure to harvest four grains is called feed, and failure to harvest five grains is called hunger. If there is a bad year, officials and officials and below will lose one-fifth of their salary. If drought occurs, two-fifths will be lost. If it is bad, three-fifths will be lost. If you feed it back, you will lose four-fifths. If you are hungry, you will have no money to feed you. Therefore, evil and famine exist in the country. The king will eat five-fifths of the food, the officials will clear the county, the scholars will not go to school, the clothes of the king will not be made of leather, the guests of the princes, and the envoys from the four neighbors will eat in abundance but not in abundance, and they will eat nothing. , The horses cannot eat millet, the maids and concubines cannot wear silk, this is the most inadequate report.
Now if there is a person who drags his son to the well, he will lead his son into the well, and his mother will follow him to guide him. This year is bad, the people are hungry, and the country is hungry. His son is so guilty of this, how can he not notice the evil? Therefore, if the year is good, the people will be kind and kind; if the year is bad, the people will be stingy and evil. Why do people always do this? If the person is sick and eats too much, he will not have a good year. Therefore, it is said that when there is insufficient wealth, it is the opposite, and when there is insufficient food, it is the opposite. Therefore, our ancestors used time to make money. If you strengthen your foundation and use wealth, you will have sufficient wealth. Therefore, even though there was a sage king in the previous world, how could he make the crops harvest always and prevent droughts and floods? But what is there without freezing and hungry people? His strength is in short supply, but he is frugal in supporting himself. Therefore, the Book of Xia says: “There was water in the seventh year of Yu”, and the Book of Yin says: “There was drought in the fifth year of Tang”. This is far from severe and hungry, but why are the people not freezing and hungry? It is the secret of wealth and the discipline of its use.
Therefore, if there is no grain in the warehouse, one cannot wait for severe famine. If the treasury is unprepared for troops, even if there is justice, one cannot conquer without justice. If the city is not well prepared, it cannot defend itself. If you are unprepared, you cannot respond. If Qingji has no intention of getting rid of it, he cannot let it go easily. Jie was not prepared for the soup, so he let him go; Zhou was not prepared for the force, so he killed him. Jie and Zhou were noble emperors and rich in the world, but why did they all perish at the hands of the king of Baili? There is wealth but no preparation. Therefore, preparations are the most important thing of the country, food is the treasure of the country, soldiers are the claws of the country, and cities are the reason why they can defend themselves. These three are the tools of the country. Therefore, it is called service, repairing the city walls, and the people will not be injured due to labor. If they are kept upright, taxes will be collected, and the people will not be sick. This is not what the people suffer from. They suffer from the heavy work that is collected from the people. Use it as a great reward, give it to those who have done nothing, empty its treasury, prepare chariots and horses, wear strange clothes, suffer for its servants, use it to manage the palace and enjoy entertainment, use it as a thick coffin after death, and mostly use clothes, and manage the terraces and pavilions when you are alive. After death, the tombs were repaired, so the people suffered externally and the treasury was kept internally. The superiors were not tired of the pleasures, but the inferiors could not bear the sufferings. If the homeland is separated from the invaders, the enemy will be injured, and if the people see the danger and hunger, they will die. These are all crimes that are not prepared for. Moreover, those who eat food are the treasure of the sage. Therefore, Zhou Shu said: “If the country does not have enough food for three years, the country is not its own country; if the family does not have enough food for three years, the son is not his son.” ‘This is called national preparation. ”
Translating Mozi’s Seven Problems into vernacular, it is easy to understand at a glance:
There are seven kinds of disasters in the country.
“When a country is about to perish, there are seven dangers.”
1. Dangers of national defense: not building national defense, building palaces, and whitewashing peace
2. Disadvantages of diplomacy: We have a powerful enemy, no allies, and we are isolated and helpless.
3. Financial troubles: unfair distribution, extravagance and waste, exhaustion of civilian needs
4. Troubles in internal affairs: all officials are engaged in fishing for personal gain, revising laws and prohibiting speech, and not caring about the status of the country.
5. The king’s troubles: being arrogant behind closed doors, showing off as advanced, and waiting for death.
6. Problems with the team: Improper employment, villainy, and disunity.
7. The troubles of political power: the people have no food, the country has no talents, and rewards and punishments lack authority.
1. The laxity of national defense and the construction of luxurious palaces and palaces are a common problem;
2. The enemy is pressing down on the territory, and there are no allies to come to the rescue. This is the second problem;
3. Mobilizing troops on some useless things, exhausting the people’s power, and giving rewards to incompetent people. The people’s power will be used up in vain, and the finances will be emptied in the feasting and feasting. These are the three troubles;
4. Officials only care about their own salaries, people sent out to lobby only care about calling friends, those in power amend laws to attack the people, and people dare not discuss politics because of fear. These are the four troubles;
5. The person in power flaunts his advanced nature and does not care about national affairs. He thinks that the world is peaceful and has no defense. Countries around him are seeking development, but he does not want to make progress. This is a five-pronged problem;
6. People you trust are not loyal to the country, and people who are truly loyal to the country are not trusted. These are the six troubles;
7. The people’s livelihood is poor, food and clothing are not guaranteed, the government officials are unable to handle state affairs, the rewards of the rulers cannot make the people happy, and the punishments of the rulers cannot produce the necessary intimidation, these are the seven troubles.
With these seven kinds of disasters, the government will be in ruins and the city will be destroyed. The seven plagues will bring disaster to any country where they exist.
“Food is the first priority for the people” Mozi discusses the importance of food
Mozi believed that it was necessary to increase production and save money so that the country could achieve long-term stability. (Image source: Adobe stock)
Grain is what the people rely on for survival, and it is also the basis for the people to support the rulers. Therefore, if the people lose their dependence on food and clothing, the monarch will have no one to support him. Once the people have nothing to eat, it will be the most difficult to serve. Therefore, we must step up the production of food, cultivate the fields as much as possible, and use money sparingly. Only when all grains are harvested will the taxes paid by the people to the rulers be of all kinds. If the harvests are not all abundant, then the taxes paid cannot be of all kinds.
Failure to harvest one grain is called famine, failure to harvest two grains is called drought, failure to harvest three grains is called misfortune, failure to harvest four grains is called scarcity, and failure to harvest five grains is called hunger. In bad years, officials from the official level down will have one-fifth of their salary reduced; in drought years, two-fifths of their salary will be reduced; in bad years, three-fifths of their salary will be reduced; in poor years, their salary will be reduced. Four-fifths of the salary will be removed; in years of famine, the entire salary will be waived and only food will be provided. Therefore, when a country encounters severe famine, the monarch will remove three-fifths of the food, the doctors will remove bells and other hanging instruments, and they will no longer be able to listen to music. Scholars will no longer be able to go to school and have to farm. Court clothes must not be made new When guests from the princes or envoys from neighboring countries come, they can’t have a big meal, the four horses have to be removed from the left and right, the roads can’t be repaired, the horses can’t eat food, the maids and concubines can’t wear silk, the country is very poor and has to Such a warning.
Mozi advocated frugality
Now, if a person carries a child to the well to draw water and the child falls into the well, the mother will definitely try to rescue the child from the well. Nowadays, in the famine years, people starve to death on the road. This kind of tragedy can be said to be more serious than a child falling into a well. How can we turn a blind eye? When the year is good, the people will be benevolent and kind; when the year is bad, the people will be stingy and vicious. How can people have fixed good and evil? If there are few people producing and many people eating, it is impossible to have a good year. Therefore, if we are short of finances, we must reflect on whether production pays attention to the regularity of farming seasons; if food is insufficient, we must reflect on whether we pay attention to economy. The sages in ancient times produced wealth according to the farming season, established a good agricultural foundation, and saved expenses, so their financial resources would naturally be sufficient. Even the ancient sages could make the grain harvest always abundant and prevent floods and droughts! But at that time, no one suffered from cold or hunger. What was the reason? Because they work hard to farm according to the farming season and pride themselves on being frugal. “Book of Xia” says: “Yu’s seventh year of flood” and “Yin’s Book” says: “Tang’s fifth year of drought.” The famine suffered at that time was severe enough, but the people did not suffer from cold or hunger. Why is this? Because they produce a lot of money and use it frugally.
Mozi advocated “national preparation”
If there is no food in the warehouse, we cannot guard against famine in bad years; if there are no weapons in the warehouse, even if we are righteous, we cannot attack the unjust; if the internal and external cities are not fully repaired, we cannot defend ourselves; if we are not prepared mentally, we cannot cope with emergencies. changes. It’s as if Qingji was unwary and easily ran away with Yaoli, leading to his death. Jie was not prepared to defend against Tang, so he was exiled; Zhou was not prepared to defend against King Wu of Zhou, so he was killed. Although Jie and Zhou were noble emperors and rich in the world, they were both destroyed by the kings of small countries with a radius of hundreds of miles. What is the reason? It’s because although they are rich, they don’t take precautions. Therefore, prevention is the most important thing for the country. Food is the treasure of the country; weapons are the tools of national defense; city walls are the holy land of self-defense: these three things are what the country must have. Therefore, it is said: if labor is distributed normally and the city is repaired, the people will not be harmed even though they work hard; if taxes are collected normally, the people will not be miserable even though they spend money. The sufferings of the people do not lie in normal labor and taxes, but in the excessive taxation and expropriation imposed on the common people by those in power. Take the highest rewards and give them to those who have done nothing; empty the national treasury to buy carriages, horses, clothing, and strange things; drive the people to suffer all kinds of hardships to build luxurious palaces and rooms for the rulers to enjoy and enjoy; after death, they will Make heavy coffins and make many clothes and furs. When you are alive, you build pavilions, and when you die, you build tombs. Therefore, outside the temple, the common people are doing hard labor; inside the temple, the treasury has been squandered; the rulers are aloof and not satisfied with their own enjoyment; the people are under tyranny and can no longer bear the suffering. Therefore, the country fails when invaded by foreign enemies, and the people die when they are starved. These are all sins of not taking precautions in ordinary times. Besides, food is something that saints also regard as precious. “Book of Zhou” says: “If the country does not have enough food for three years, the country is not a country; if the family does not have enough food for three years, the son is not a son.” What we are talking about here is “national preparation”.
Source: Look at China
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