Governing a great state

Those governing the world well strive to avoid extravagance that wastes the people's wealth and wearies their strength. Extravagance necessarily starts palace, terrace, and pavilion projects and all kinds of labor service arbitrarily. Farming is neglected, supplies fail, and the state is endangered. Thus the analogy of cooking small fish provides a model for kings ruling the world. The four occurrences of 'its/their' in the text establish the analogy: ghosts originally do not manifest power, but because the contemporary ruler lacks the Way, they cling to grass and wood and together produce strange phenomena to foreshadow what will come and give warnings. If the ruler recognizes these unusual signs and reforms his wrong heart to make the heart of the Way correct, heaven's intention can be recalled. Otherwise, though heaven does not announce it [the transmitted wording is unusual], it must act through someone fit to receive its mandate: the state passes to another and the people follow another, impossible to retain. This is why it says spiritual power does not injure people, and not simply that spiritual power does not injure people. If spirits send no calamity and the ruler is secure and people abundant, his virtue reaches heaven and heaven's favor necessarily descends, leaving lasting freedom from trouble. This is neither injuring the other, so the two virtues return to each other.