Quotation
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“The sage-kings of antiquity, in governing, honoured the worthy and employed the capable.”
Mozi · Mohism · Ancient · 5th–4th century BCE
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is an attack on government by relatives and favourites: the old kings, he says, raised people who were worthy and gave them work they could do, and that is why their order held. A competing reading turns the line into a vague plea to respect experts, without his further claim that rank, salary, and authority should track that worth. It is the opening thesis of chapter 8, the first of three chapters on honouring the worthy. The contrast is with his own age, which he thinks promotes the related and the decorative.
Did Mozi really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. A standard English of the thesis of Shang xian, chapter 8. Watson and Johnston agree on the claim. Worth, for Mozi, is competence and moral reliability, not birth.
Where it comes from
Mozi, chapter 8, 'Honouring the Worthy', part 1
Approximate date: 5th–4th century BCE.
How to use it
A board in Manchester that fills a safety role with a cousin, and leaves the person who can read the incident reports in a junior post, fails the chapter in a direct way. Honouring the worthy is not a speech at an awards night. It is who is allowed to decide. Employing the capable means the job, the pay, and the authority move together.
A mindset reading
When you praise merit, check whether anything expensive follows the praise. The habit is to ask who was eligible and who was comfortable. He is not inventing a modern civil service, and the appeal to sage-kings can be used to launder a new elite. The critical edge is the link between worth and actual office.
Understand the philosophy
Mozi is arguing with hereditary privilege in the Warring States. The key terms are xian, the worthy, and neng, the capable. Chapter 8 says the ancient kings listened to them, enriched them, and gave them responsibility, and also says poverty and low status should follow the unworthy. It is a political programme, tied to his impartial concern. Later officials in several traditions used the slogan while keeping the cousins. The chapter is the test.
- justice
- society
- virtue
FAQ
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is an attack on government by relatives and favourites: the old kings, he says, raised people who were worthy and gave them work they could do, and that is why their order held. A competing reading turns the line into a vague plea to respect experts, without his further claim that rank, salary, and authority should track that worth. It is the opening thesis of chapter 8, the first of three chapters on honouring the worthy. The contrast is with his own age, which he thinks promotes the related and the decorative.
Did Mozi really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. A standard English of the thesis of Shang xian, chapter 8. Watson and Johnston agree on the claim. Worth, for Mozi, is competence and moral reliability, not birth.
Which work is it in?
Mozi, chapter 8, 'Honouring the Worthy', part 1 Approximate date: 5th–4th century BCE.