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88 L. Du

4.2 The Path Toward “Ethics-Politics”: “Rule of the Man of
Virtue”

If a “sage” was an illusory “ideal personality” far above real life, what could be
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found was a “man of virtue (君子).” The realization of “inwardly being a sage and
outwardly being a king” was accomplished by being a “man of virtue” in real
politics (Yang, 2006, p. 39).
In other words, the Confucian minimum requirement of a ruler is that he be a
“man of virtue.” Here the “man of virtue” could be the ruler himself or his officials.
A man of virtue runs a country (君子治国) by means of his internal virtue and
the external order and rules. When he utilizes his internal “virtue,” it is about “to
govern by virtue (德政)”; when he relies on the external order and rules, it is about
“rule by rites (礼治)” or “rule of rites ”

4.2.1 “To Govern by Virtue” or “to Govern by the Power of Virtue”

In ancient China, “political” thought was actually thought on “governance,”
which is only partly conveyed in Western languages (such as the English word
“politics”) (Du, 2018, p. 66–69). The word “to govern” can better reflect this idea.
The pre-Qin Confucian concepts of “virtue” and “to govern by virtue (德政)” were
the development of the ideas of “respecting virtue and protecting ruled people
(敬德保民)” and “matching virtue with Heaven (以德配天)” of the Western Zhou
Dynasty. They mainly emphasized the moral abilities and model function of the
rulers, which were embodied in the two phrases of Confucius: “Governing by
virtue” and “guiding ruled people by virtue.”
“A ruler governing by means of his virtue is like the north polar star, which
stays still, surrounded and followed by all the other stars”, which is from “On
Governance” of The Analects (《论语 · 为政》). First of all, the ruler himself had to
have a high moral standard, which was a prerequisite for government. This was not
only in line with the goal of “everyone should become good (人人向善)” in
Confucian political thought, but also in accordance with the spirit of “inwardly
being a sage and outwardly being a king.” Only those who had high moral stan-
dards could influence the common people.
“Guiding the people by means of virtue” comes from “On Governance” of The
Analects (《论语 · 为政》). Confucius said, “If the people are guided by decree,
and their behavior is unified by criminal law, they will try to avoid the punishment,
but have no sense of shame. If they are guided by virtue, and their behavior is

4 Sages are invisible to me. What satisfies me is, men of virtue can be met” (“Shu Er” of The
Analects《论语 · 述而》).