He rewarded those who did good deeds and
punished those who did bad ones.(賞賢罰暴)
The Zhou dynasty in China lasted for 791
years. The Zhou king established over 100 vassal states, each of which became a
kingdom in its own right. These kingdoms engaged in numerous fierce wars for
land and resources, creating an extremely chaotic era.
This period is known as the Spring and
Autumn Period (770–476 BC) and the Warring States Period (476–221 BC).
One of the most notable figures of this era
was the philosopher and thinker Han Fei. He offered solutions to the social and
existential problems of his time.
In his book, he wrote:
'A capable and wise king will enforce his
laws in an extremely transparent manner, making it less likely for him to face
opposition.'
A capable and wise king will manage his
ministers in the central government with great shrewdness, rendering personnel
changes less problematic.
But how can a capable and wise king ensure
that no one dares to disobey his orders when strictly governing his kingdom?
How can he prevent the people from questioning the fairness of his commands?'
The principle is that the king's standards for reward and punishment must be
consistent.
If a king consistently rewarded those who
did good deeds and punished those who did bad ones.
The people of his kingdom will naturally
become more inclined to do good.
Conversely, if a king breaks this system,
the people will naturally become more inclined to do bad deeds.
When rewarding his people, a king should
praise those who do good deeds and give them great rewards, because when people
feel that doing good will bring great rewards, they will naturally do good
deeds.
Likewise, when punishing his people, a king
should reprimand those who do wrong as severely as possible because people will
naturally refrain from wrongdoing if they feel it will result in shameful
punishment.
Once a king has established a set of fair
and just laws, he must resolutely enforce them, strictly adhere to them, and
use them as the basis for governing his people. This is the most fundamental
principle of governance.
This idiom means he rewarded those who did
good deeds and punished those who did bad ones.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
have you gained from this story?
Does your country's law include any reward
measures besides punishment? Do you think there are more good people or bad
people in your country?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
賞賢罰暴(He rewarded those who did good deeds
and punished those who did bad ones.)
中國的周王朝持續長達791年，周王朝的國王把土地分封給100多個諸侯，這些諸侯各自成立的自己的王國，這些王國之間為了爭奪土地與資源而發生許多慘烈的戰爭，那是一個極度混亂的年代。
西元前770年到西元前476年這段時間是中國的春秋時代，西元前476年到西元前221年這段時間是中國的戰國時代。
中國的戰國時代有一個著名的哲學家與思想家的名字叫做(韓非)，他就生活在這個混亂的時代，他針對當時的社會問題與人生問題提出了他解決問題的辦法和觀點。
他寫過一本書，在他的書中有這樣一段話。
一個有能力且明理的國王會用極度公開的方式來執行他所制定的法律，他的這種做法可以讓自己做事情的時候更不容易遭到反對的意見。
一個有能力且明理的國王會用非常機靈的方式管理中央政府中的那些大臣，他的這做法可以讓自己在進行人事調動時不容易陷入困境。
一個有能力且明理的國王在運用權力來嚴格地管理他的王國時，要如何讓所有人都不敢違背他的命令呢?要如何讓百姓們都不會質疑他的命令的公正性呢?其原則就是這個國王在實行獎勵與懲罰的標準要始終如一。
一個國王如果制度性地獎賞那些做好事的好人並懲罰那些做壞事的壞人。
那麼他的王國中的百姓們自然就會愈來愈喜歡做好事。
一個國王如果破壞制度性地獎賞那些做壞事的壞人並懲罰那些做好事的好人，那麼百姓們自然就會愈來愈喜歡做壞事。
一個國王在獎賞人民的時候，他要讚揚那些做好事的人與給予極高的獎勵，因為當人民覺得做好事可以得到許多的可以誇口的獎勵時，人民自然就會做好事。
一個國王在懲罰人民的時候，他要盡量的斥責那些做壞事的人並給予極嚴厲的懲罰，因為當人民覺得做壞事就會得到許多令人羞恥的懲罰時，人民自然就會不敢做壞事。
一個國王制定好一套公平與正義的法律之後，他就要堅決地執行這套法律，並且嚴格地尊重這套法律，並且以此為依據去管理百姓，如果一個國王管理好一個王國的最基本的法則。
這句成語的意思是他獎賞那些做好事的好人並懲罰那些做壞事的壞人。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你的國家的法律在管理人民時除了懲罰之外有那些獎勵的措施嗎?你認為你的國家中是好人比較多還是壞人比較多呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為韓非子-八經
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E9%9F%93%E9%9D%9E%E5%AD%90/%E5%85%AB%E7%B6%93