[One Thousand Characters a Day] Professor Lee Kang-jae's 'Lead Like the Analects' <4>

Editor's NoteAsia Economy provides daily 1,000-character transcription content for readers of the 'One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day One Thousand Characters' newsletter. The transcription content is carefully selected according to daily and monthly themes from Eastern and Western classics, Korean literature, notable columns, and famous speeches. Today, we introduce a part of Professor Kangjae Lee's (Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Seoul National University) book . Character count: 1014.

In the , it is said that if one tries to lead the people through political power and correct them using punishment, the people will only avoid being caught and punished without feeling ashamed. In other words, if one tries to correct the people solely through political means or punishment, people will only evade it. In contrast, Confucius explains that if the people are led by moral influence and corrected through etiquette, even if they avoid detection and punishment, they will feel ashamed themselves and correct their mistakes. This means that one should not govern the people relying only on political power or punishment but should morally influence and correct them through propriety.

From the modern perspective of the rule of law, this passage may seem like a weakness because it relies on human nature rather than institutions. However, no matter how complex society becomes and how important laws as systems are, laws and institutions that do not first consider humans should not take precedence. Although we live in a democratic society, we often find that current laws and systems do not demonstrate fairness by applying equally to the powerless and the poor. In this regard, Confucius’s idea, which presupposes infinite trust in human beings, still holds great significance for us.

The people's response to governance methods is evidence that moral influence is stronger than punishment, but there may be skeptical views about whether this truly applies in our reality. This is especially so because we see many social evils in everyday news. According to Confucius, these phenomena occur precisely because people have tried to govern relying on punishment or law. Furthermore, Confucius argued that leaders, that is, those at the top of society, must be morally perfect themselves and serve as role models so that the people will follow them voluntarily.

In line with this is the phrase "Deokbulgo, Pilyurin (德不孤必有隣)." A person who possesses virtue and excellent morality is never 'alone' (불고, 不孤). That is, they are not lonely because 'Pilyurin' means they will surely have neighbors.

- Kangjae Lee, , 21st Century Books, 22,000 KRW