Chapter 49

FORTY-NINE

The perfect Sage has no preconceived opinions; he accepts the opinions of his people as his own. The good he treats with fairness, the not-good he also treats with fairness and by so doing attains the teh of justice. The faithful he treats with good-faith, and the unfaithful he also treats with good-faith and so he attains the teh of faithfulness.

The perfect Sage is always concerned about the welfare of people and, indeed, it is for their sakes that his mind is burdened. All people show him respect and are obedient to him and, in return, he regards them as his children.