Presenting Counsels
80. Ministers are individuals who help a ruler to govern well, apart from overcoming his doubts. Thus, they would remonstrate even if it means risking their lives.
Scroll 5: Chun Qiu Zuo Shi Zhuan, Vol. 2
81. If ministers fail to convince their ruler with justified remonstrations, this will put him in a dangerous situation. But if they keep on remonstrating, their lives might be at stake for offending their ruler. Ministers who are men of noble character (Junzi) will not bear to see their ruler being caught in a dangerous situation, and will therefore risk their lives for the sake of the country.
Scroll 47: Zheng Yao Lun
82. Confucius said: “If a minister does not protect a ruler from danger, or help him when he is about to fall, then why should a ruler employ his service? The best way to protect a ruler is none other than through sincere remonstrations. A son who obeys a father blindly is not fulfilling true filial piety. A minister who obeys his ruler sheepishly is not being truly faithful. The prosperity of a nation relies very much on government officials who are able to remonstrate with the ruler frankly, while the prosperity of a family relies on children who are able to remonstrate with their parents.”
Scroll 47: Zheng Yao Lun
83. If one were to express a remonstration through metaphorical implications but was so ambiguous that it failed to convey the intended message, then it could never help a ruler to rectify his mistakes. So, the only way to make a ruler correct his faults is through direct and sincere remonstrations.
Scroll 47: Zheng Yao Lun