Page 180 - 《大学》中·英对照版

?大
学

him the people. Possessing the people will give the
territory. Possessing the territory will give him its
wealth. Possessing the wealth, he will have resources
for expenditure. Virtue is the root; wealth is the
result. If he makes the root his secondary object,
and the result his primary, he will only wrangle
with his people, and teach them rapine. Hence, the
accumulation of wealth is the way to scatter the
people; and the letting it be scattered among them
is the way to collect the people. And hence, the
ruler’s words going forth contrary to right, will come
back to him in the same way, and wealth, gotten by
improper ways, will take its departure by the same.

In the Announcement to Kang, it is said, “The
decree indeed may not always rest on us;” that
is, goodness obtains the decree, and the want of
goodness loses it.

In the Book of Chu, it is said, “The kingdom of
Chu does not consider that to be valuable. It values,

160