The Book of Odes says:
“When Yin had not yet lost the people’s support, it was worthy to serve Heaven.
Take Yin as a mirror – Heaven’s great mandate is not easily retained.”
Thus, the Way (Dao) is this: gain the people’s hearts, and you gain the state; lose the people’s hearts, and you lose the state.
Therefore, the gentleman first cultivates virtue with utmost care.
With virtue, one gains the people;
with the people, one gains territory;
with territory, one acquires wealth;
with wealth, one has resources for use.
Virtue is the root; wealth is the branch.
To treat the root as external and the branch as internal – to prioritize wealth over virtue – leads rulers to compete with the people and resort to plunder.
Hence, when wealth is hoarded by the few, the people scatter;
when wealth is shared among the many, the people gather.
Likewise, words spoken in contradiction to the Way will return in kind;
wealth acquired against righteousness will depart in the same manner.
The Kang Gao (in the Book of Documents) says:
“Heaven’s mandate does not abide permanently with any one person!”
When one follows the good, one receives it; when one departs from the good, one loses it.
The Chu Shu (Records of Chu) states:
“Chu has no treasure but goodness itself.”
Jiu Fan (Uncle Fan), minister of Jin, said:
“A man in exile has no treasure – only benevolence and familial affection are his treasures.”
《詩》云：「殷之未喪師，克配上帝。儀監于殷，峻命不易。」
道得眾則得國，失眾則失國。
是故君子先慎乎德。
有德此有人，有人此有土，有土此有財，有財此有用。
德者本也，財者末也，外本內末，爭民施奪。
是故財聚則民散，財散則民聚。
是故言悖而出者，亦悖而入；貨悖而入者，亦悖而出。
《康誥》曰：「惟命不于常！」
道善則得之，不善則失之矣。
楚書曰：「楚國無以為寶，惟善以為寶。」
舅犯曰：「亡人無以為寶，仁親以為寶。」
Note
This passage profoundly articulates a core tenet of Confucian political philosophy: virtue is the root; wealth is the branch – and the people are the foundation.
First, by invoking the rise and fall of the Yin (Shang) dynasty, it underscores the idea that “Heaven’s mandate is not constant.” Political legitimacy does not derive from lineage or military power, but from moral worthiness – specifically, whether a ruler embodies virtue and aligns with the people’s will. The phrase “gain the people, gain the state” is an early formulation of the later maxim: “He who wins the people’s hearts wins the world.“
Second, it establishes a clear causal chain: virtue > people > land > wealth > utility. This logic overturns utilitarian prioritization of wealth, asserting that material prosperity is merely the natural outcome of virtuous governance – not its goal. When rulers invert this order (“treating the root as external and the branch as internal”), they compete with the people for profit, inevitably fracturing social harmony.
The statement “when wealth is hoarded, the people scatter; when wealth is shared, the people gather” offers one of the earliest and most incisive insights in Chinese thought on the relationship between wealth distribution and political stability. It reflects a deep commitment to people-centered governance, advocating that wealth must serve the people, not concentrate among elites.
Moreover, the principle that “words spoken against the Way return in kind, and ill-gotten wealth departs as it came” reveals a moral law of cause and effect: actions contrary to righteousness inevitably bring self-inflicted consequences. This serves both as a warning to rulers and as an expression of a cosmic moral order.
Finally, quotations from the Chu Shu and Jiu Fan elevate “goodness” and “benevolent kinship” as the true treasures of state and individual alike. Real value lies not in gold or land, but in ethical character and human relationships. This fully resonates with The Great Learning’s opening call to “illuminate bright virtue” and “rest in the highest good,” affirming the Confucian conviction that ethical values must govern politics and economics.
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