Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/93

 low." In an essay "On the Value of Agriculture" he writes thus :

" Crime begins in poverty ; poverty in insufficiency of food ; insufficiency of food in neglect of agriculture. Without agriculture, man has no tie to bind him to the soil. Without such tie he readily leaves his birth- place and his home. He is like unto the birds of the air or the beasts of the field. Neither battlemented cities, nor deep moats, nor harsh laws, nor cruel punish- ments, can subdue this roving spirit that is strong within him.

" He who is cold examines not the quality of cloth ; he who is hungry tarries not for choice meats. When cold and hunger come upon men, honesty and shame depart. As man is constituted, he must eat twice daily, or hunger ; he must wear clothes, or be cold. And if the stomach cannot get food and the body clothes, the love of the fondest mother cannot keep her children at her side. How then should a sovereign keep his subjects gathered around him ?

"The wise ruler knows this. Therefore he concen- trates the energies of his people upon agriculture. He levies light taxes. He extends the system of grain storage, to provide for his subjects at times when their resources fail."

The name of Li LING (second and first centuries B.C.) is a familiar one to every Chinese schoolboy. He was a military official who was sent in command of 800 horse to reconnoitre the territory of the Huns ; and returning successful from this expedition, he was promoted to a high command and was again employed against these

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