絹與墨Lüshi Chunqiu · Two public excerpts
Compiled under Lü Buwei in the late Warring States, this anthology asks when inherited rules should change and why sound judgment begins with self-knowledge.
《呂氏春秋·察今》
世易時移變法宜矣
As the world and its times change, changing the rules becomes fitting.
The chapter argues that earlier laws addressed earlier conditions. It compares a law left unchanged after circumstances shift to a medicine kept the same when an illness has changed.
《呂氏春秋·先己》
欲知人者必先自知
To understand others, first know yourself.
The line follows two parallel calls to overcome and examine oneself before doing so to others. In this political context, self-scrutiny is preparation for sound judgment and leadership, not withdrawal from public life.
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