Keeping the Tally
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和大怨，必有餘怨，安可以為善？是以聖人執左契，而不責於人。有德司契，無德司徹天道無親，常與善人。
Settle a great grievance, and there is sure to be grievance left over: how can that be called good? So the sage holds the left half of the tally and makes no demands on others. One with virtue looks after the tally; one without virtue looks after the tax. Heaven’s Way has no favorites; it is always on the side of good people.
The image of a split tally-stick, held rather than enforced, for how the sage handles what is owed to him.
Even a successful settlement leaves some resentment behind, so the chapter changes the approach entirely. A tally-stick is the record of what is owed, and the sage holds his half without ever pressing anyone to pay. Heshang Gong reads the ruler without virtue as someone who has “turned his back on the tally” and tracks only what others owe.
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