Tuesday, May 12, 2009

子曰:政者正也 Confucius: To Govern Means to Rectify

马英九有一次问到访的新加坡退休贪污调查局局长,什么原因使新加坡成为世界上贪污最少的国家之一。对方说,是领导人的政治意志。
这句话给他留下深刻印象,认为是一语中的。他想到了孔子的话:‘其身正,不令而行,其身不正,虽令不行。’孔子也说:‘政者正也,子率以正,孰敢不正?’
孔子推行政府或领导以身作则,因为这样可获得人民的信心。‘政’与‘正’音义几乎相同,显示两者之间关系。孔子相信行动定下基调,人民的素质反映在领导者的身上。
这是基于所有人都有基本共同点与人可以修身与礼仪来加以教化的理念。相信人性本善与可教化性,对中国的政治组织有很大的影响。
在孔子的国度里,统治者的功能就是教育与改变人民。要达到这个目的,法律与强制并非上策,而是应由个人的自我约制,以身作则,争论则有统治者与他的官员来调解。为了达到和谐社会的目的,孔子的政治学说强调以调停而不是以抽象的法律来解决纠纷。
希望这种和谐社会也是无贪污社会,不会因领导人的消失而消失。
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Ma Ying-jeou (Ma Yingjiu) once asked a visiting retired Director of Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau the main reason that made Singapore one of the cleanest, corruption free countries in the world. He was told that political will of leadership is most important in fighting corruption.
He was impressed and thought that this really hit the nail on the head. That also reminded him that Confucius had said before, ‘If a ruler sets himself right, he will be followed without his command. If he does not set himself right, even his commands will not be obeyed.’ Confucius also said, ‘To govern means to rectify. Who will dare not to be correct, if the ruler leads the people with correctness?’
Confucius promoted a government or leadership by example as it would secure the confidence of the people. The words 'govern' and 'rectify' are nearly the exact same Chinese symbol, exposing the relationship between the roots of the words. Confucius believed action sets the tone, people therefore reflect the leader himself.
This is based on a belief in the fundamental similarity of all persons and that human beings can be educated through self-cultivation and the practice of ritual. The belief in the innate goodness and educatibility of man has had strong implications for the development of the Chinese political system.
The ruler's main function in the Confucian state was to educate and transform the people. This was ideally accomplished not by legal regulation and coercion, but by personal rule, moral example, and mediation in disputes by the ruler and his officials. Confucian political theory emphasized conflict resolution through mediation, rather than through the application of abstract rules to establish right and wrong in order to achieve social harmony.
Hopefully, such harmonious society is also corruption free, and will continue to function that way even when the good ruler is not around.

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