Un-Lawful Laws

 

“If [the prince] employs a man, he is immediately afraid that the man will act in his own interest, and so another man is employed to keep a check on the other’s selfishness. If one measure is adopted, there are immediate fears of its being abused or evaded, and so another measure must be adopted to guard against abuses or evasions. All men know where the treasure-chest lies, and so the prince is constantly fretting and fidgeting out of anxiety for its security. Consequently, the laws have to be made tight and as they become tighter they become the very source of disorder. These are what one calls ‘un-Lawful laws.’

            . . . .

“Should it be said that ‘There is only governance by men, not governance by law,’ my reply is that only if there is governance by law can there be governance by men. Since un-Lawful laws fetter men hand and foot, even a man capable of governing cannot overcome inhibiting restraints and suspicions. When there is something to be done, men do no more than their share, content themselves with the easiest slapdash methods, and can accomplish nothing that goes beyond a circumscribed sphere. If the Law of the early kings were still in effect, there would be spirit among men that went beyond the letter of the law. If men were of the right kind, all of their intentions could be realized; and even if they were not of this kind, they could not slash deep or do widespread damage, thus harming the people instead of benefiting them. Therefore I say that only when we have governance by law can we have governance by men.”

Huang Tsung-hsi, Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince (Wm. Theodore de Bary trans., New York, Columbia University Press 1993) (1663) 98–99.

Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘Un-Lawful Laws,’ New Reform Club (May 23, 2023, 5:10 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2023/05/un-lawful-laws.html>;