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796 book IX type of seal script [zhuanwen] by using p’aech’ŏngong or dry gourds. The punishment for such offenders should be light. The following happened when Li Cong became surveillance commissioner of the Hunan region. When a fisherman presented him with a carp, Li Cong had it cooked, and a seal was found in the belly of the carp. When he examined it, it read, “Seal of Hengshan District.” Li Cong searched out the latest official documents of Hengshan District and compared the official seals with the one found in the fish, and the latter appeared suspicious. Then he summoned the magistrate of Hengshan, ordering him to bring an official seal with him that he was currently using. When Li Cong examined it, he was convinced that the seal was a new one. Ordering his staff to leave the room, he interrogated the magistrate, and the latter finally made a confession: “The original official seal happened to be stolen, so my clerks and I in fear of punishment secretly employed a craftsman to make a new one. I wait only for death now.” Keeping the matter secret, Li Cong broke the new seal and let the magistrate return to his district with the old one, and there was hardly anyone who knew about what had happened. CHAPTER : ELIMINATING THREATS AND HARMS Since Eliminating Harms to the People Is the Duty of the Magistrate, the First to Be Eliminated Is Thieves and Bandits; the Second, Superstition; and the Third, Tigers . When These Three Things Are Eliminated, the Calamities of the People Will Disappear. If we ask people who gather and talk in ordinary times what they are most afraid of in the world, their responses are all different according to each individual. Some say that they fear thieves and bandits, others spirits, and others tigers. Hence it is clear that these three things are threats to the people. The troubles caused by spirits happen only when those spirits are summoned by the people. We should eliminate the illicit shrines and shamans that attract spirits. By eliminating witchcraft, we will eliminate the problems spirits inflict on us. Since There Are Three Reasons That Thieves and Bandits Are Produced, Efforts to Eliminate Them Are All Useless if Those Who Are Above Fail to Maintain Their Dignity and Integrity, and Those Who Are in the Middle Do Not Obey Orders, and Those Who Are Below Are Not Afraid of the Law. That those who are above fail to maintain their dignity and integrity means that officials like royal messengers and magistrates commit irregularities marked by 288. The meaning of this term is unknown. 289. An official of the Song dynasty. His courtesy name was Xianfu. He also served as edict attendant (daizhi) of the Hall for Treasuring Culture. Administration of Justice 797 avarice and iniquity. That is the reason that the people call an official traveling under the parasol [ilsan] a main thief. Since the way he carries himself is already out of shape, how can his shadow be straight? Even the thieves secretly whisper among themselves, “How can a man who is so high in rank, commanding attention and respect from others, be so avaricious like that? Although he enjoys all the graces and privileges accorded by the state, he is interested only in stealing property from others. When a man like that behaves in such a way, what should common people like us do? Under circumstances in which no one knows what will happen to us, should we just stand still and watch what goes on?” Since this is the talk of thieves at ordinary times, how can one prevent them from violating the laws? Confucius once said to Ji Kangzi, “If you can suppress your own greed, [the thieves] would be so ashamed that they would not be thieves even if you asked them to be.” This applies exactly to the situation discussed here. The following is a story in Cool Stories of Hasan [Hasan naengdam]: “A hermit called Kalŭi Gŏsa was a man of eccentric gallantry famous in the south. One day it happened that he passed through a market in Ssanggyo and witnessed law-enforcement officers leading away a thief with his hands bound with a rope and his head covered with a colorful paper cap [kokkal]. All of a sudden Kalŭi Gŏsa stepped forward to block the way of the thief and officers. Holding the arm of the thief, he wailed aloud...

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