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The term means that those who win the hearts of the people or get the service of the talented will rise while those who lose the hearts of the people or fail to get the talented people will perish. Ren (人) stands for people’s hearts as well as people’s talents. This saying, which comes from Records of the Historian, has two connotations. First, the rise and fall of a country or government depend on winning people’s hearts. Only by winning people’s hearts and responding to their wishes can a country or government continue to thrive.
This is in accord with the philosophy that “people’s will is the foundation of the state” and “people are the foundation of the state.”
Second, talents are critical to the rise and fall of a country or government. Only by identifying and recruiting the most capable and most upright people, and by suitably employing them can a great cause be completed and a country and its government remain stable and secure. Winning people’s hearts is closely related to attracting the talented. Winning people’s hearts will eventually draw in the talented, and recruiting the talented will eventually help win people’s hearts. All leaders, be they heads of states, groups or teams, should follow this notion of ruling.
This term means safeguarding the people’s life. It first appeared in The Book of History. In the view of ancient Chinese, the mandate of heaven determined to whom supreme power in the human world belonged. The mandate was bestowed and removed according to predetermined principles. Virtuous rulers received the mandate, those without virtue lost it. The most important virtue for retaining the mandate of heaven was protecting the people, which was to ensure a safe and peaceful life for them, and this manifested the ruler’s love and care for his people. “Protecting the people” was a central goal of governance in ancient China.
This term refers to the evaluative judgment or view of the people in a country or region, on an issue, phenomenon or incident which touches on their common interest and which has broad societal meaning. Ancient Chinese often took the “mandate of heaven” to be the basis and highest concept for the legitimacy of political authority and for policymaking, but in fact they often regarded the “will of the people” to be the principal source, content, and manifestation of the “mandate of heaven.” They also considered it to be the fundamental principle of a country’s governance, and thought that having or losing the will of the people determined the rise or fall of a country and political power as well as the development of state affairs. It is the core of the Chinese concept of the people as the foundation of the state. All enlightened Chinese statesmen past and present have regarded the “will of the people” to be the most important factor in governance.
A state which takes good care of its people is one with true power. A ruler will be trusted and supported by the people, and the state under such a ruler will be a solid stronghold only when the policies and measures made and implemented meet the people’s requirements and represent the people’s fundamental interests. This is a new theme derived from the concept of “loving the people,” which is the fundamental driving force of a state’s becoming strong and prosperous. It is also an extension and development of the concepts of “the people are the foundation of a state,” and “a benevolent person loves others.”
If one can make the people live in peace and happiness, he can unify all the land. In ancient China, a "king" (wang 王) was not just the one who held the highest power. Rather, he was a man who clearly understood the fundamental principle of maintaining harmony with heaven and earth as well as other humans and enjoyed popular support. To "protect the people" is to love and care for them, ensuring that they obtain the means of survival, receive education and live and work in peace. To "protect the people" is the primary function of the state or government, a prerequisite for winning the people’s hearts and minds; it is also the source of legitimate power. It gives concrete expression to the vision of "putting the people first" and "benevolent governance."
To govern a state well, the ruler must select and employ those with outstanding virtue and talent. However, he must also be tolerant and inclusive toward people of ordinary virtue and aptitude. This is a successful combination of the traditional Chinese political concepts of “exalting the worthy” and “being compassionate.”
This term means that the people are the essence of the state or the foundation upon which it stands. Only when people live and work in peace and contentment can the state be peaceful and stable. This saying, which first appeared in the “Old Text” version of The Book of History as an instruction by Yu the Great, can be traced to Mencius’ (372?-289 BC) statement: “The essence of a state is the people, next come the god of land and the god of grain (which stand for state power), and the last the ruler,” and Xunzi’s (313?-238 BC) statement, “Just as water can float a boat, so can water overturn it.” This idea gave rise to the “people first” thought advocated by Confucianism.
The notion of the people’s will being the foundation, or the “roots,” of government comes from a dialogue between a king of the Shang Dynasty and Houfu (in a text found on bamboo slips of the Warring States Period). Houfu said to the king, “The people’s will is like the roots of a tree: they support the leaves.” By that he meant that public support was the foundation of the state, and without it the state or political power would perish. The ancients believed that a government was legitimate so long as it “followed the mandate of heaven and complied with the wishes of the people.” people’s wishes were a prerequisite of heaven’s will, and only if the state complied with the people’s wishes, would it enjoy lasting stability. This notion is identical to the concept that "people are the foundation of the state".
Water can carry a boat, but can also overturn it. Here, water is compared to the people, while the boat is compared to the ruler. The phrase, “carry or overturn the boat,” reveals the importance of popular support: people are the critical force that decides the future of a regime and a country. This is consistent with such political doctrines as “the people are the foundation of the state,” and “follow the mandate of heaven and comply with the wishes of the people.” Since ancient times, this term has served as a warning to the ruler, reminding him of the need to respect local conditions and popular will, to govern the country for the people, and to anticipate dangers in times of security.
“Opportune time,” which originally referred to the favorable weather at the time of war, now generally refers to various temporal advantages, including weather, timing, opportunity, and so on. “Geographic advantage,” which originally referred to advantageous positions in battle, now refers to generally various favorable spacial conditions, including terrain, position, location, and such. “Unity of the people,” which originally referred to popular support, unity of all ranks, and societal solidarity, now refers in general to advantages in personnel. Ancient Chinese believed that these three were the most important factors for success. Among them, “unity of the people” is decisive because “opportune time is not as valuable as geographic advantage, and geographic advantage is not as valuable as unity of the people.” The saying reflects the three fundamental dimensions of a problem the Chinese people take into consideration: time (opportunity), space (environment), and people. It reflects the basic notion of putting people at the center of everything.
The Chinese phrase dedao (得道) or “obtaining Dao” here refers to having “a just cause.” Since ancient times Chinese people have had a high esteem for justice and have thought of justice as a decisive factor determining success or failure in war and other enterprises. Only by upholding justice can one achieve internal unity and popular support, which are essential for the success of a war or a cause； otherwise, popular support is lost and the ruler or leader becomes too isolated and helpless to succeed. This is a specific expression of the Chinese notion of “governance based on virtue” and the spirit of “civilization.”
Silencing the people and preventing them from expressing their opinions is more damaging than blocking the course of a river and causing a flood. Fang (防) means “a dike” to stop water flowing, and its extended meaning is to “block,” “prevent,” or “stop.” Obstructing the river flow will make the water rise and wash away the dikes, causing uncontrollable flooding. The ancients used this analogy to describe the serious harm that could occur if the public was not allowed to express its opinions. Taken from a positive angle, it means that the public will is powerful and irresistible, and that a ruler should allow its expression, or else expect popular resistance. The idea is in line with such notions as “people are the foundation of the state”, “the people’s will is the foundation of the state”, and “people can float the boat (of state) or sink it”.
This alludes to the long time it takes for a tree to grow, yet even longer time it takes to nurture talents. The implications are twofold: first, identifying and bring up talents has long-term significance for the development of a country and a society; second, nurturing talents should be an undertaking pursued with strategic vision, sustained efforts and according to a comprehensive plan .
Relying on moral strength will bring prosperity, whereas relying on violence will bring doom. The saying is described in The Book of History (as cited in Records of the Historian). De (德) refers to morals, grace, and integrity. Li (力) refers to coercion, violence, and military power. Under the influence of the political and ethical principles of the Confucian school, since ancient times the Chinese people have been advocating benevolent governance virtue (winning over people with benevolence) as opposed to rule by force (wielding power over people), believing that only by relying on benevolence can the ruler hope to win people’s hearts and minds, resulting therefore in a positive synergy that brings about prosperity. Rule by force, on the other hand, can merely coerce people into submission, but cannot achieve genuine and lasting harmony and unity. This is true not only in managing an entity or governing a country, but also in handling relationships among countries. As a principle for managing international relations, the term suggests that wanton engagement in military action or attempting to completely dominate others are incompatible with the development of civilization. Only by observing moral principles and trusting one another can sustainable peace and security be achieved in the world.
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