每日一译（132）

上古结绳而治，后世圣人易之以书契，百官以治，万民以察。——《周易·系辞下》<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

In the remotest antiquity, government was carried on successfully by the use of knotted cords (to preserve the memory of things). In subsequent ages the sages substituted written characters and bonds for them. By means of these, all the officers carried out the administration and all the people examined the state affairs.