by CEJames (researcher/author) & Akira Ichinose (editor/research assistant)
How should people behave when they hold power? The Seventeen-Article Constitution offers an early Japanese answer, for instance:
authority requires disciplined conduct, and
working together requires restraint.
Herein lies the rub... what if we had more directly concise requirements to run for the office of, say, president. What if those requirements were are part of any party nominating and then enforcing those requirements like say...
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The seventeen articles in plain language
The following is a brief paraphrase, not a translation. Article numbers follow Aston’s rendering of the Nihon shoki. [1]
- Value harmony and discourage factional opposition.
- Revere the Buddhist Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
- Obey the sovereign’s commands.
- Make proper conduct the foundation of office.
- Reject greed and judge complaints impartially.
- Recognize good, correct wrongdoing, and resist deceptive flattery.
- Give suitable people clearly defined responsibilities.
- Attend court early and remain diligent.
- Maintain good faith between rulers and officials.
- Restrain anger, recognizing your own fallibility.
- Make rewards and punishments correspond to conduct.
- Prevent local authorities from imposing independent exactions.
- Keep official business moving despite absences.
- Reject envy of another person’s ability.
- Put public duty ahead of private resentment.
- Schedule compulsory labor around agricultural needs.
- Consult others on weighty decisions; handle minor matters more simply.
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