From Xi Jinping to Mao Zedong to Mencius to Confucius: leaders are expected to SERVE THE PEOPLE! Do you hear Western leaders citing similar quotes? NOT!
Above: a pin on my hat with a silhouette of Mao Zedong. Below, his celebrated motto in his unique calligraphy style, “SERVE THE PEOPLE”!
Confucius (6th century BC)
The state is only a larger form of the family and the mutual obligations that exist between father and sons, exist between sovereign and subjects.
Government Exists for the Benefit of the People.
The ruler was to set a moral example.
Government exists by the will of the governed.
An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger.
“When wealth is centralized, the people are dispersed. When wealth is distributed, the people are brought together
“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
Mencius (4th century BC)
The love of goodness is the highest excellence.
He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.
If the people are well-governed, the ruler is honored, but if the people are ill-governed, the ruler is defamed.
To do what is right and not to do what is wrong – this is the principle which can govern the world.
Those who are good at the art of managing others resemble water – they benefit all things and do not compete with them.
Three things are essential for government: weapons, food, and trust. If one cannot secure all three, he should give up weapons first and food next. Trust should be guarded to the end.
A country can survive with untrustworthy subjects, but not without trustworthy subjects.
Give nourishment to the good and virtue will grow, give nourishment to evil and vice will grow.
So it is that whenever Heaven invests a person with great responsibilities, it first tries his resolve, exhausts his muscles and bones, starves his body, leaves him destitute, and confound his every endeavor. In this way his patience and endurance are developed, and his weaknesses are overcome. We change and grow only when we make mistakes. We realize what to do only when we work through worry and confusion. And we gain people’s trust and understanding only when our inner thoughts are revealed clearly in our faces and words. Integrity, wisdom, skill, intelligence – such things are forged in adversity.
The people are to be valued most, the altars of the grain and the land [traditional symbols of the vitality of the state] next, the ruler least. Hence by winning the favor of the common people you become Emperor.
Mao Zedong
Xi Jinping
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