Three Parables on Governance

Feb 22 2008

Posted by: 阿偉 in Culture

The Parable of the Poisonous Weeds

“Behold, once a man knowledgable in the healing powers of all manner of plants, trees, and wild herbs, and his apprentice, went forth from their abode to search for herbs in the forest, so that they might give them to an ailing man. Being skillful in his art, the senior man was able to identify all the herbs beneficial to one’s health, and gather them. But the apprentice, being inexperienced, gathered the poisonous weeds among the good herbs.

Upon seeing the poisonous weeds, the elder said to the younger, “Look! These weeds are poisonous, and surely any man who consumes it shall fall ill and die. You must take care to learn the difference, lest you not mix the poisonous weeds with the good herbs.”

The younger man, having seen the poison and heard his elder’s words vowed to recognize the poisonous weeds, so that he might do a good deed in the future. Hearing this, the elder was pleased.

The meaning of the Parable: The herbalist represents the leader of the Nation, and the apprentice represents the ministers of the Government. The leader is constantly trying to keep his patient, the Nation and the People from falling ill; else he is trying to cure it. Sometimes, the ministers make laws which are beneficial to the Nation and keep the Nation from falling ill, but sometimes, in their ignorance they embrace ideas and thoughts which are detrimental. It is the leader’s duty to then point out those errors so that they do not harm the People and the Nation.

The Parable of the Painter

Once, a scholar spoke to King Renzong of Tangut saying, “Your Majesty is fond of art. Shall I make an allusion?

‘In the time of Xia, there lived a painter who was a servant in the court of the Emperor Zhongkang. Every morning, he made four paints, and he poured them in four separate vessels, that there they should keep their luster. With these paints, he created paintings unrivaled throughout the entire realm.

Now it came to pass in the seventh month of the year Gen-Wu that Zhongkang passed away, and was succeeded by Lord Xiang. On the second day of the third month of Emperor Xiang’s rule, a lower official from Luohe prefecture sought out the artist and told him that he needed a painting done within three days. This official also recommended that, if the artist were to mix all colors in one vessel, the artist could paint quickly and even better than before. Thus the artist blended all paints into one vessel.’

O King, what do you think? If four dyes are mixed in a vessel, and the artist stirred them, when would they become unmixed?”

King Renzong said: “Not even if one were to stir them for a number of kalpas equal to the number of sands on the banks of the Ganges or Yangtze, could they ever become unmixed.”

The Scholar spoke again, saying, “Indeed, O King!

‘For indeed in this single vessel he found that he had only one shade, of which he had seen nothing alike. And he was unable to separate the light and the shadows.’”

The meaning of the Parable: All cultures and peoples have their own peculiar properties that make them unique, just as the particular appearance of colors make them unique. It is possible for peoples to work together for the creative benefit of man. It is also physically possible for peoples to mix together, and to some degree this can even have a pleasant appearance. However, when the leader should exert so much effort in “mixing” peoples each with their unique qualities (such as through social engineering), identities become lost, just as the colors are indistinguishable from one another when they are all mixed into one vessel.

The Parable of Well

A young man inherited from his father a patch of land in which he grew vegetables and raised livestock. Now, this farm was eight li distant from the source of water, and soon the young man grew tired of travelling to the well day after day to gather water to water his crops. Yet he persevered, being concerned with his own sustenance and the welfare of the farm. And by so doing, his farm was lush and green, and his animals were fat.

One day, after telling of his ordeal, some men in the marketplace mocked him, saying “Thou fool! There is a well only two li from your farm. Why not draw water from there?” Having heard his, he thought to himself, “How excellent! Now I shall not have to walk such a distance!”. And upon reaching the well, he discovered that its water was dirty and putrid, unlike the clean water of the distant well. But the lazy farmer, not wishing to walk, gathered the putrid water from the well, and used it to water his crops and animals. Within a week, his crops withered and the animals fell ill.

The meaning of the Parable: In the world, there are many types of ideas and methods of governance. The farmer is like the righeous ruler, who mindfully tends to the cultivation of his people’s mind and well-being, and the clean water is like the true and noble Tradition that unites the people. However, in the age of the Five Evils, or the Kali Yuga, this is a difficult thing to achieve. Thus, the lesser ruler will attempt the easy path towards the “putrid well”. Hence, the putrid well represents the faults of the unenlightened modern world. Upon consuming this, cultivation ceases, and the ruler’s society is ruined. Therefore, the parable states that a righteous ruler uses all his power to bring pure ideas and cultivate his nation.

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