A good ruler, according to Confucius, is virtuous, wise, and humane. He must care for his subjects and regard all of their opinions (even if they are peasants) in accordance with the ruler to subject relationship. Confucius said, “You may rob the Three Armies of their commander, but you cannot deprive the humblest peasant of his opinion,” instilling the importance of allowing the people to have a say in their government.
This idea of a government that the people have a say in is closely related to the idea of “The Mandate of Heaven” in Confucian society. “The Mandate of Heaven” is the divine right to rule that is bestowed by heaven to the current emperor in China. However, certain conditions accompany this bestowal of ultimate power: if a ruler is not virtuous and is instead, cruel, corrupt, or evil, then “The Mandate of Heaven” is revoked and that ruler no longer posses the power to govern. Signs that the Mandate of Heaven has been revoked are when the ruler’s subjects suffer from the “anger of heaven” as expressed through natural disasters and invasion. On the appearance of these signs, the subjects are justified and encouraged to rebel against the ruler because “only a prosperous ruler is endorsed by the Mandate of Heaven,” according to Confucius, and disaster and destruction signify corruption. If the subject-led rebellion is successful, the Mandate of Heaven is said to lie with the person who lead the revolt, and that person will be named the new supreme leader. Thus, to ensure that he is not overthrown, the ruler must always possess de, or virtue, and lead the country morally.
This governing philosophy of Confucius differs dramatically from the philosophy of Legalism, which was prevalent before Confucianism and emphasized harsh punishment and cruel leadership to control the public. Confucius, with his more optimistic view of humanity, asserted that humans did not have to be enslaved and tortured to be controlled because they are naturally good and will follow morality if prompted to: “If the people be led by laws, and uniformity among them be sought by punishments, they will try to escape punishment and have no sense of shame. If they are led by virtue, and uniformity sought among them through the practice of ritual propriety, they will possess a sense of shame and come to you of their own accord,” said Confucius.
The ruler, then, would have to follow the values of Confucius: he would have to show compassion, follow rituals, be honest, and work towards the good of his people. Only under the ruler’s example will subjects be virtuous. According to Confucius, a ruler’s virtue is the best tool of leadership: “If your desire is for good, the people will be good. The moral character of the ruler is the wind; the moral character of those beneath him is the grass. When the wind blows, the grass bends.”
There is more to being an emperor than being virtuous, however, even if being virtuous is the main criteria. To be respected, Confucius says that the ruler must be well educated and take the advice of wise and elderly men because “learning and practice set men apart,” and without a proper education the ruler has no claim to the throne; without an education, the ruler has no right to separate himself from the public and assert his power; one may also view the criteria of education as a promise that one has virtue, as only through education and self-discovery is the natural virtue of humans cultivated. The ruler must also be sensible within society instead of just with books. He must perform Zhengming, or the process of rectifying his behavior so that it exactly corresponds to the language with which he identifies and describes himself, for only then will the people undergo this process, and only when all accept their place in society can there be order.