Claim. Providential influence is built bottom-up from tong-ban leaders, not top-down from provincial or national offices; capturing the local-neighborhood level automatically settles every higher level.
Elaboration. SMM diagnoses a structural failure of top-down strategy: “The most important thing is where to put down our roots. The place where these roots should take hold is not within the organizational body of the province. Under the province is the county, and under the county there are townships and villages, but these have become easy targets … For this reason, you must plant your roots in your local neighborhood and community” (CSG 13.3 §2, 171-299, 1988.1.2). The mechanism is rooted in inversion: “It’s okay if we firmly grab hold of the family. Aren’t all people bound to a family? If we catch the family, then the members of the National Assembly, the ministers and vice-ministers of the cabinet, and even the president in the Blue House, all will be caught” (ibid, 167-21, 1987.6.14). “For us, the government is not the issue. What we are trying to do is to find a nation. We are aiming to grab hold of tong and ban. If we do that, then the difficulty of finding that nation will automatically be solved” (ibid, 167-24, 1987.6.14). The strategy mirrors the individual → family → tribe → nation sequence as policy method.
See also. restoration