Three foundations of honoring the worthy

Introduction

尚贤中, Honoring the Worthy II, takes up a practical problem the first chapter left open. You say honor the worthy; but once a worthy person is in place, how do they actually get anything done?

Mozi's answer is the three foundations, 三本. The sage kings did not merely respect the worthy in words; they "gave them high rank, generous pay, charged them with the work, and gave them decisive orders." Why? "If rank is not high the people will not respect them; if pay is not generous the people will not trust them; if orders are not decisive the people will not heed them." Rank, pay and authority are the three foundations that let a worthy person act. They are not rewards for the worthy. They are tools.

Then come three people. Shun farmed at Lishan, fished on the river bank and made pottery at Leize; Yao found him and gave him the world. Yi Yin was a retainer of the Youxin clan, a cook; Tang found him and made him minister. Fu Yue, in coarse clothes with a rope for a belt, was building walls at Fuyan; Wu Ding found him and made him one of the three highest ministers. A farmer, a cook and a wall-builder, each raised from the very bottom to the very top. This is the precedent for last week's line, "even among farmers and workers in the shops."

The second half is the negative. How do rulers now choose? "They employ relatives; they employ those who are rich and noble for no reason; they employ those with handsome faces." Such people "need not be wise," and if they govern, "the disorder of the state can be foreseen."

Mozi adds a plain observation. A ruler would not ask someone who cannot shoot to shoot, or someone who cannot drive to drive; he knows better. Yet for the far greater task of governing he hands the work to these three kinds of people. Mozi calls this "not knowing categories."

Finally he joins honoring the worthy to impartial care. When the worthy govern, "abroad there are gifts and good faith in dealing with neighboring states; at home the hungry are fed and the weary rested." Honoring the worthy is not for the sake of the worthy. It is for the people.

The three tests

This chapter rests most heavily on the first test, precedent. The stories of Shun, Yi Yin and Fu Yue are its skeleton, proving that raising people from the bottom is not fantasy: the sage kings did it.

The third test appears on the negative side: employ relatives, the rich and the handsome, and the state falls into disorder.

Ask a sharp question: are these three stories history or legend? If legend, does the first test still hold? How would Mozi answer? (He would likely say that even if the stories are uncertain, the consequences under the third test are not.)

For families

• Tell the stories of Shun, Yi Yin and Fu Yue: a farmer, a cook and a bricklayer who all became great ministers. Ask why.
• Look at the household jobs (dishes, the dog, the money). Does whoever is responsible have the three foundations, including the power to make the call?
• Ask: if a teacher put you in charge of something but did not let you decide anything, would you do it seriously?

For chapters

• Reading: the passage "gave them high rank, generous pay," and the three stories of Shun, Yi Yin and Fu Yue.
• Debate: hold the three foundations against each of the chapter's assignments. Which have a title and nothing else? Ask each assignment holder which foundation they lack.
• Assignment reports: this week, change the report to "what my assignment is missing." The chapter lead records it for the council, 墨门理事会.