The Livelihood of People
272. The livelihood of people relies on hard work, and hard work will assure there is no shortage of daily necessities.
Scroll 5: Chun Qiu Zuo Shi Zhuan, Vol. 2
273. Guanzi said: “After the national granary has sufficient food supply, we can educate the people on propriety.” From the ancient times until today, it has never been possible to rule a country successfully when the people were starving and did not have enough clothing to keep them warm.
Scroll 14: Han Shu, Vol. 2
274. When people are impoverished, crimes and acts of evil would occur. Poverty arises due to insufficient supply of resources caused by people unwilling to work in the fields. When agricultural productions are set aside, families will not settle in one place for long and will migrate from one place to another. If they wander about like the birds and beasts without a regular source of food, clothing and a place to stay, not even high walls with deep moats or harsh laws and corporal punishments could stop them from committing crimes.
Scroll 14: Han Shu, Vol. 2
275. If the prosecutors can gather all the concrete truths behind a crime, no prisoner will be wrongly executed. If healthy and strong men can be allowed to toil in the fields, there will be no famine. If the poor elderly can receive food supply from the government, they will not die from hunger. Let men and women marry at a suitable age and there will be no resentments arising from someone not having a husband or a wife. If benefits can be provided for raising a child, a pregnant woman will not wallow in self-pity and feel woeful. If families with newborn babies can be spared from mandatory labor for the state, there is no worry about not having anyone to take care of the babies. Wait until a person has grown up to become a healthy and strong adult before summoning him to labor for the state and no young men will feel homesick. Furthermore, if old people are not enlisted in the army there is no worry that they may collapse on the road during a drill. Attend to ill people with medication; reduce the loads of mandatory farm labor to allow people to settle in their lives; use punishment to control exploitations; use benevolence and kindness to help the weak; and extend relief to the poor and destitute. In ten years’ time, women who reach the mature age will fill the streets and alleys; in twenty years’ time, men who can be enlisted into the army will be all over the country.
Scroll 25: Wei Zhi, Vol. 1