Section 55.1
Heaven’s Way:
Spring’s warming gives birth,
summer’s heating nourishes,
autumn’s cooling kills,
winter’s chilling stores away.
Warmth, heat, coolness, and cold are different [aspects of] qi, yet their achievements are identical: they all are the means by which Heaven completes the year.
The sage correlates himself with Heaven’s conduct to create his policies.
1 Therefore,
with gifts he correlates himself with warming and is the counterpart of spring;
2with rewards he correlates himself with heating and is the counterpart of summer;
with penalties he correlates himself with cooling and is the counterpart of autumn;
and with punishments he correlates himself with chilling and is the counterpart of winter.
Gifts, rewards, penalties, and punishments are different affairs, yet their achievements are identical: they all are the means by which the king completes his potency.
Gifts, rewards, penalties, [and] punishments and spring, summer, autumn, and winter respond to one another according to kind, like the joining of two halves of a tally. Therefore it is said: “The king is the counterpart to Heaven.” This refers to the Way.
Heaven has four seasons;
the king has four policies.
The four policies resemble the four seasons. They are in the same category; they are what Heaven and the ruler have in common.
Gifts are spring;
rewards are summer;
penalties are autumn;
punishments are winter.
With gifts, rewards, penalties, and punishments, you will never be unprepared, just as with spring, summer, autumn, and winter [Heaven] will never be incomplete.
Gifts, rewards, penalties, and punishments must be promulgated in accordance with the appropriate occasion, just as warmth, heat, coolness, and cold must issue forth in accordance with the appropriate season.
Gifts, rewards, penalties, and punishments each have their appropriate occasion, just as spring, summer, autumn and winter each have their appropriate time.
These four policies must not interfere with one another, just as the four seasons must not interfere with one another.
These four policies must not trade places, just as the four seasons must not trade places.
Therefore when there were instances in which gifts, rewards, penalties, and punishments were not implemented on the proper occasion, the Spring and Autumn criticized them. [55/58/11–19]