“In hearing lawsuits, I am like other people; what is necessary is to make litigation unnecessary.” The sentence appears in the Yan Yuan chapter of the Analects. “Hearing lawsuits” means adjudicating disputes. Confucius says that his ability to decide a case is much like anyone else’s; the more important aim is to prevent contention from arising. The following line says that people with groundless claims did not dare to exhaust their arguments, so the context concerns not only judicial technique but also the creation of order and trust.
Today, “no litigation” should not mean suppressing complaints. Fair procedure remains indispensable. The harder question is whether institutions can reduce information gaps, imbalances of power and blocked avenues of redress before a dispute reaches court. A case may be decided elegantly, but if the same injury keeps recurring, governance remains unfinished.
https://ctext.org/text.pl?if=gb&node=1394&show=parallel
https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=53959&la=0&powerMode=0
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