说苑/晉文侯問政於舅犯，舅犯對曰：「分熟不如分腥，分腥不如分地。

晉文侯問政於舅犯，舅犯對曰：「分熟不如分腥，分腥不如分地。

Eric Henry

Lord Wen of Jin asked Jiu Fan62 about government.

Eric Henry

Jiu Fan said, “Distributing cooked meat is not as good as distributing fresh meat, and distributing fresh meat is not as good as distributing land.

割以分民，而益其爵祿，是以上得地而民知富，上失地而民知貧，古之所謂致師而戰者，其此之謂也。

Eric Henry

If you divide land so as to distribute it among the people and increase the people’s ranks and stipends, then they will know that, when you gain territory, they will grow wealthier and that, when you lose territory, they will grow poorer.

Eric Henry

The old expression ‘inciting an army to combat’ refers to this principle.