The ancient Emperor Yao, when in his old age he abdicated the throne in favour of his successor, Shun, thus gave him charge, “Hail to thee, O Shun! The God-ordained order of succession now rests upon thy person. Hold fast with thy heart and soul to the true middle course of right. If there shall be distress and what among the people within the Empire, the title and honour which God has given to thee will be taken away from thee for ever.” Afterwards the Emperor Shun, when he abdicated in favour of his successor, the great Yu, used the same language in giving him charge.

The Emperor T’ang, when he ascended the Imperial throne, thus offered up his prayer to God, “I, Li, who am one of thy children, do here take upon me to offer up to thee in sacrifice this black heifer, and to announce to Thee, O supreme and sovereign God, that sinners I shall not dare to pardon; and, in the choice of Thy servants, I pray Thee, O God,that thou wilt let me know The will and pleasure. If I do sin against thee,let not the people suffer for my sin. But if the people shall sin against Thee, let me alone bear the penalty of their iniquities.”

With the inauguration of the Chou dynasty, the country wasgreatly prosperous; but only the good were rich.
The Emperors guided themselves by the principle contained in these words: “Although there are men attached and related to our person, yet we do not consider them equal in value to men of moral character. If the people fail in their conduct, it is we alone who are to blame.”

The Emperors set themselves to adjust and enforce uniformity in the use of weights and measures; to organise the administration and laws; to re-establish disused offices; in this way the administration throughout the Empire was well carried out. They restored extinct families of nobles;called to office retired men of virtue and learning; thus the people throughout the Empire gladly acknowledged their authority. What they paid serious attention to were food for the people; rituals and mourning for the deed, and religious services. By considerateness, they won the heart of the people; by good faith, they caused the people to have confidence in them; by diligence in business, what they undertook prospered; by their fair and impartial dealing, the people were contented.

帝尧年老的时候将帝位禅让给舜，并告诫舜说：“哎，舜！上天的使命现在落到你身上了。请全心全意保持正义之道。如果天下百姓遭到苦难，上天赐予你的头衔和荣誉将永远消失。”之后，帝舜将帝位禅让给禹，也说了同样的话。

商王汤登上帝位的时候，这样向上天祈祷：“本人履，您的孩子，在此谨用黑色的公牛来祭祀您，向您祈祷并起誓，至高无上的天，那些有罪的人我不敢擅自赦免，选择仆人时向您祈祷，我的上天，您要让我知道您的意愿和喜悦。如果我冒犯了您，不要让百姓因为我的罪过而受苦。但是如果百姓冒犯了您，就让我一人来承担他们的过错！”

周朝建立的时候，国家繁荣昌盛，但是只有好人生活富裕。 帝王们用下面这些话所总结的原则来指引自己：“尽管我有至亲，但他们仍比不上道德高尚的人。如果百姓行为不端，就让我们自己受到责罚。”

帝王们调整和统一了度量衡，制定了法令，重建了被荒废的办公场所，这样整个帝国的管理就能顺利展开。他们恢复被灭亡了的国家和贵族家族，任用品德高尚、博学智慧的隐逸之士，这样天下的百姓就乐意接受政府的统治。
政府特别重视的四件事情是：百姓、粮食、丧礼和祭祀。体谅他人，就能深得民心；诚挚待人，百姓对政府就有信任；勤勉执政，就能取得成就；公平公正，百姓就会心悦诚服。

有人认为，如果一个人成了大富翁，是件非常有害的事情。而我却认为这绝不是坏事，但有一个条件。孔子曾说：“周有大赉，善人是富。”也就是说，周朝做了一件好事，那就是让当时道德高尚的人成了富翁。成为富翁绝不是一件坏事，问题在于如何支配这些财富，如果不懂得这一点，即How to spend money，那么拥有财富很可能会变成一种罪恶。而懂得如何支配钱财的富翁，他绝不会用这些钱去做低俗罪恶的事情，而是用于高尚的事业。如果能明确这些，有钱就不是坏事。

（二）
子张问孔子曰：“何如斯可以从政矣？”子曰：“尊五美，屏四恶，斯可以从政矣。”子张曰：“何谓五美？”子曰：“君子惠而不费，劳而不怨，欲而不贪，泰而不骄，威而不猛。”子张曰：“何谓惠而不费？”子曰：“因民之所利而利之，斯不亦惠而不费乎？择可劳而劳之，又谁怨？欲仁而得仁，又焉贪？君子无众寡，无大小，无敢慢，斯不亦泰而不骄乎？君子正其衣冠，尊其瞻视，俨然人望而畏之，斯不亦威而不猛乎？”子张曰：“何谓四恶？”子曰：“不教而杀谓之虐；不戒视成谓之暴；慢令致期谓之贼；犹之与人也，出纳之吝谓之有司。”

A disciple of Confucius enquired of him, “What should be done in order to conduct the government of a country?” Confucius answered, “In the conduct of government there are five good principles to be kept in mind and respected; and there are four bad principles to be avoided.” “What are the five good principles to he respected?” asked the disciple.

Confucius replied, “First, to benefit the people without wasting the resources of the country; Secondly, to encourage labour without giving cause for complaint; Thirdly, to desire for the enjoyments of life without being covetous; Fourthly, to be dignified without being supercilious;Fifthly, to inspire awe without being severe.”
“But,” again asked the disciple, “What do you mean by‘To benefit the people without wasting the resources of the country’?”

“It is,” replied Confucius, “to encourage the people to undertake such profitable labour as will best benefit them, without its being necessary to give them any assistance out of the public revenue; that is what is meant by, ‘To benefit the people with- out wasting the resources of the country.’ ”

Confucius then went on to say, “In the employment of the people in forced labour on works for the public good, if you select those who are most able to bear it, who will have any cause for complaint? Make it your aim to wish for moral well-being and you will never be liable to be covetous. A wise and good man, whether dealing with a few people or with many, with great matters or with small, is never presumptuous and never regards anything as beneath his notice or as unworthy of serious and careful attention: that is what is meant by being dignified without being supercilious. And, finally, to inspire awe without being severe, a wise and good man has only to watch over every minute detail connected with his daily life, not only of conduct and bearing, but even in minor details of dress, so as to produce an effect upon the public mind. which, without these influences, could only have been produced by fear.”