1. "The law is the program of the world and the instrument of everything." ("Guanzi Mingfa Jie")

Interpretation: The law is the yardstick for governing the country and the society. If there is no law, the country will be in chaos, and people's behavior will not be restricted by rules. The reason why the law is so important is that the law itself is fair and just.

2. Those who give birth to the law are the king; those who abide by the law are the ministers; those who follow the law are the people. When both the emperor and his ministers, high and low, obey the law, this is called great governance. "Guanzi Renfa"

Interpretation: This is a huge challenge to the Zhou Dynasty's system of "punishment is not for officials" and "punishment is graded". When applying the law, monarchs and officials are required to "not know the closeness, distance, nobility, good and evil, and judge by measure." Because the law is fair, the fundamental meaning of the law is to represent the overall interests of the country and is the highest standard for unifying the world. . Guan Zhong called law "public law" and believed that law has the highest authority and has universally applicable value functions. No member of society can be placed outside the law or above the law. Even if the law comes from the king, but the law is higher than the will, the king should take the lead in obeying the law. The king should not change the law at will. He should also have the obligation to abide by the law and require officials and people to abide by the law.

3. The law dictates the rules and regulations of the officials and the people. "Guanzi? Legal Ban"

Interpretation: The monarch, ministers and the common people should also abide by the law.

4. “I don’t know the distance, the distance, the nobility, the good and the evil, and I can judge it by measurement.” "Guan Zi Ren Fa"

Interpretation: The law is the standard for measuring all things. There is no distinction between high and low before the law.

5. "There is no better way to govern a country than the law, and to prohibit prostitution and violence, there is no better way than punishment. There is no way to control the situation, and there are no two branches of government. The country must be governed by law." "Guan Zi Ming Fa Jie"

Interpretation: As a pioneer of Legalism, Guan Zhong was famous for advocating and valuing the law. He opposed the Western Zhou Dynasty's use of "rule by etiquette" as the highest criterion of political life. He advocated that the country should be governed based on the law. If the law is followed, the country will be governed. If the law is ignored, the country will be in chaos. .

6. The reason why the ruler orders and prohibits is to do what the people like and prohibit what the people do not like. The sentiments of the people are that they all desire life and hate death, and they all desire benefit and hate harm. Therefore, if an order is given to benefit others, the order will be carried out; if it is forbidden to kill others, it will be prohibited. The reason for carrying out the order is that the people will be happy with their government." "Guanzi" .Explanation of the Situation"

Interpretation: To establish punishments and laws to govern the people, they must first conform to the people's sentiments and please the people before they can "make orders and prohibitions". It can be said that the key to "governing the people" has been grasped psychologically. .