Article One: Harmony is to be valued, and the avoidance of defiance to be honoured. All men form factions, and the wise number among the few. Hence there are some who disobey their lords and fathers, and conflict exists between them and their neighbours.　Yet if those who are above are in harmony and those who are below are in amity, then there is concord in the discussion of matters, and the right view of things should naturally prevail. With this, there is nothing that cannot be done. Article one of the Seventeen-Article Constitution, a set of moral precepts written by Prince Shoutoku and adopted during the reign of Empress Suiko.