Align upward, no cliques

Introduction

尚同中, Aligning Upward II, is much longer than the first chapter and fills in its frame. The first chapter said to appoint leaders and have everyone align upward. This one answers: align upward for what?

The answer is information. Mozi says the Son of Heaven appoints leaders not to make them rich but to "help him govern." How? "He makes them superiors so that they will help carry the circumstances of those above and below through to each other." He describes the ideal: "Where those above have overlooked matters or unused benefits, those below can find and use them; where those below have stored-up resentment and accumulated harm, those above can learn of it and remove it."

He goes further. When circumstances flow through, "thousands of li away, if someone does good, before their own household knows of it, before their village has heard, the Son of Heaven rewards them; thousands of li away, if someone does evil, before their household knows or their village has heard, the Son of Heaven punishes them." So people say "the Son of Heaven's sight and hearing are godlike." Mozi immediately explains: it is not godlike. He is "using others' ears and eyes to help his own." This is the most modern-sounding passage in the book: a leader's uncanny awareness comes from an information system, not from the person.

The chapter also shows what failure looks like. Leaders are appointed but above and below do not share a standard: "what the superior rewards, the crowd condemns; what the superior punishes, the crowd praises." Then rewards and punishments lose all force and "the people fear nothing."

Finally Mozi returns to the last layer from the first chapter: the Son of Heaven must align with Heaven. If people align with the Son of Heaven but not with Heaven, "calamities will not cease." It is a safety valve. The Son of Heaven is not the end of the line.

For a chapter, this is about reporting: the ten minutes of assignment reports each week and the regular contact between care pairs are concrete forms of "using others' ears and eyes."

The three tests

This chapter rests most on the third test, application: when circumstances flow through there is order; when they do not, rewards and punishments fail.

The first test appears in the accounts of how the ancient sage kings appointed leaders and aligned with Heaven.

Ask a sharp question. Mozi's information flow is two-way, but "what the superior holds right, all shall hold right" sounds one-way. How do the two fit? Information flows both ways, decisions flow one way: is that Mozi's design? When would it fail?

For families

• Ask a child: is there anything you are afraid to tell us? Why? Parents: listen, do not judge, and thank the child first.
• Try a week of "bad news first": whoever finds a problem says it first, and no one is scolded for saying it.
• Tell the story of the Son of Heaven's "godlike" hearing and explain: it is not magic; many people are helping him see and hear.

For chapters

• Reading: the passage "where those above have overlooked matters," and from "the Son of Heaven's sight and hearing are godlike" to "using others' ears and eyes."
• Debate: focus on whether bad news can travel upward. The chapter lead goes first with something they learned recently that they should have known earlier.
• Assignment reports: this week, change the report to "what I know and have not yet reported." The chapter lead records it for the council. This is aligning upward practiced directly.