(馬 - Ma)
(皇 - Emperor)
皇: You have spoken previously of the criteria, and I wish to know of the Right.
馬: His Majesty knows all that he needs to know of the Right. There are the ways of Heaven, which dictate the ways of Men. There are those who say Right has no influence, but to ignore it is foolish. A state must manage it or else become isolated by those who do employ it. His Majesty must ensure the state follows the three mandates – Justice, Truth, and Honor.
皇: Is this all to deal with Right? I have seen many nations stand up in the name of Right and they have fallen, whereas those that absolve any relationship to it and succeed in war. What makes the Right a useful criterion in this age where the Right fall and those not Right succeed?
馬: It is said that a nation that pays attention to Heaven is Holy, but it lacks the other qualities of superiority in the five criteria. They fail because they seek the Right only, but without the other four, the State is still weak and weaker still. Those that succeed and know no Right are wise in their managements, preying upon the weak only. They obscure the Right by ensuring the other four criteria are satisfied. But against the Virtuous State, they have no power to vanquish it. It is for this reason why His Majesty must guard against giving it His full devotion for the Righteous State must be also Virtuous and possess excellence in all criteria.
皇: This is a lesson well applied to all states. But what makes the Righteous State strong by itself?
馬: Right is difficult to manipulate because it is decided by the Divine. Man can only look at it and say that it is Right, but to make it Right – that is the work of the Divine. It is therefore important to the Righteous state to acknowledge that the Divine actively operates and makes the way. If a Virtuous state should go against the Divine, it shall lose all against the Righteous and the Virtuous. The three mandates ensure a state’s righteousness.
皇: Speak to me of Justice. I have heard much of justice as a concept of law, but I must understand it in war.
馬: Justice in law applies to the Justice of Man. It is similar to the Right of the State, but much different in its application. As justice in law ensures that all people are treated equally under the law, justice in war ensures that the State is equal to all other states. The wise sovereign realizes that all states are equally capable of war and harm, and that each state is inclined to cause these things. Belligerence and expansionist desires are not qualities of justice, because they concern the virtuosity of the commanders. But the state that recognizes that all states can cause harm and aim to satisfy their interests goes forward in war and aims to satisfy the balance of justice – states in equivalence. The Divine sort the just states with the unjust, in order to make justice in all states. The sovereign does not seek to go to war because it satisfies the other four criteria, but because the Divine decide also that the balance is broken.
Justice of power – the State is capable of harm, but each state must be equally capable of harm. If there is an imbalance, it must be corrected. If the balance is proper, the Divine has set it to be so and war would be against the Right. But one must determine that the imbalance is set – and it is difficult when judging the situation, for it is equally true that to avoid war when the balance is not set is not the Right. And again, with the excellence of the other four categories, the Sovereign then judges that the justice is not set and seeks to restore the balance.
皇: This is a new teaching, I see. But if justice of states is merely a management of power, why confuse the justice of men with the justice of war?
馬: His Majesty must realize that the justice of war is the justice of the Divine. As His Majesty is Regent of All under Heaven, all under heaven is the responsibility of the Sovereign. The Sovereign must ensure that the justice of war is set in balance or otherwise risk great calamity for the entire world. One must see the world beyond the state and recognize these things or else forfeit rule over even one state. The balance of all states is of greatest importance when determining justice. And it must be important to consider justice as more importantly balance and to judge which side has justice in terms of balance.
皇: Indeed, but of Truth, what distinguishes it from Justice?
馬: His Majesty ought to consider the Truth of War separate from that of intelligence, for that is concerns the Truth of Man. A man may lie and hide truth, but to hide truth from the state is most devastating to all. A state must not become deceived and turn from its true interests. Men may judge what is best for the state, but in general the Divine has already decided the Truths of a State. These concern the nature of a state and how it employs its power. The first order of the nature is survival – all states prefer to survive than not to survive, and the Divine has ensured this in the principle of war. When states fight for their existence, the nobility of their Right exceeds that of even the noblest and most virtuous of states. For this reason, a war of extinction is almost never Right, unless it is against the State that is intrinsically opposed to the Right. The second order of the nature is security – all states prefer to attain secure borders than to leave them in disarray. The Divine has determined this as the second order, because the survival of the state is more important than to maintain secure borders, although when states are near extinction, security and survival often intertwine, sometimes to reckless results and other times to marvelous excellence. Nonetheless, the security primarily concerns the inclinations to the fears – all states fear two things most: other states and the will of the Divine. A state therefore aims to increase its security by maximizing power, to deter threats from other states. However, the Divine aims for balance in justice – in order to ensure security from the Divine, he will and must seek Justice. The third order of the nature is stability – all states prefer order to chaos. However, as the Divine dictates, the universe is always tending to disorder and therefore to create and to sustain order requires power. In order, a state is able sustain itself, whereas disorder seeds the ruin of any great state. It is therefore the will of the State to realize these three orders of the nature of a State’s power: survival, security, and stability.
皇: You speak of very convoluted things, and I cannot yet see the logic. I can understand the Justice is distinct from the Justice of Men, but it seems more apt to me to consider it as balance, when Master Sun says of the eum-yang (yin-yang), he speaks to mention understanding the nature of all sides to grasp victory. To be blind to one side is as you have said disastrous for the Sovereign.
馬: His Majesty is correct, but as He has stated, His Majesty must view all standards when evaluating balance. There is a balance of many things – a balance of power, a balance of trade, a balance of life, a balance of peace, and a balance of nature. Truth in war concerns with recognizing the state’s interests relative to the Divine, whereas justice concerns with determining the Divine’s interests relative to the state.
皇: The dichotomy is explained, but I am now curious of Honor. Would this be the relationship of state’s interests relative to another state?
馬: His Majesty is correct and has analyzed the nature of the Right correctly.
皇: How do we determine this relationship?
馬: The one rule of war is the art of deception; therefore, the rule of honor is that other states can never be trusted. Their actions can be misleading; their intentions can be secret. While it is with Method to determine the truth, it is Honor that lies at the root. It is prudent therefore to make known what needs to be known and discover what is not to be known. By recognizing that states have their intentions and that they are hidden, we can manage the nature of Honor.
皇: Therefore, one cannot command the nature of the Right, but instead, one must always be ready to manage it. Against Justice, one must keep the eye of the Divine. Against Truth, one must present himself to the Divine. Against Honor, one must guard against the intentions of other states.
SUMMARY
- Please read the opening post before reading into other people’s threads
- Justice – you can’t control everything that happens to your state, so deal with it.
- Truth – you can’t control everything that your state happens to contribute, so deal with it too.
- Honor – you have a reputation with other states, so unless you hate yourself, it would be prudent to keep a good face while trying to get the good face of other states.
- Gather the whole perspective before making a judgment or – even more importantly – an action.
- This point will be repeated: don’t give all your attention on any one criterion or else forfeit the other criteria.