This term means that the people are the essence of the state or the foundation

upon which it stands. Only when people live and work in peace and

contentment can the state be peaceful and stable. This saying, which first

appeared in a pseudo-version of The Classical Book of History as an instruction by

Yu the Great, can be traced to Mencius' statement: "The essence of a state is the

people, next come the god of land and the god of grain (which stand for state

power), and the last the ruler," and Xunzi's statement, "Just as water can float a

boat, so can water overturn it." This idea gave rise to the "people first" thought

advocated by Confucianism.