1Chi K'ang asked Confucius about government, saying, 'What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?' Confucius replied, 'Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The relation between superiors and inferiors, is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it.'
Book 12, Passage 12.19
Chi K'ang asked Confucius about government, saying, 'What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?' Confucius replied, 'Sir, in…
季康子问政于孔子，曰：“如杀无道，以就有道，何如？”孔子对曰：…
All 24 passages in Book 1219 of 24
1 sentences · 2 notes
Chinese commentary · 2 notes
The notes printed with this passage in Chinese editions, kept in Chinese, for readers who come to the text that way.
草上之风：谓风吹草。上，一作“尚”，加也。“上之风”谓上之以风，即加之以风。
偃：倒下。