梁惠王上

Mencius had an audience with King Hui of Liang. The king said: “Venerable sir, you have not considered a thousand li too far to come. Surely you have something that will profit my state?”

Mencius replied: “Why must Your Majesty speak of profit? There is only benevolence and righteous conduct, nothing more. If the king says ‘How can I profit my state?’, the great officers say ‘How can I profit my house?’, and the common scholars and people say ‘How can I profit myself?’ — when those above and below compete for profit, the state is endangered. In a state of ten thousand chariots, he who murders his lord will be the head of a house of a thousand chariots; in a state of a thousand chariots, the murderer will be from a house of a hundred chariots. To take a thousand from ten thousand, or a hundred from a thousand — that is no small share. Yet if righteous conduct is put last and profit first, they will not be satisfied without seizing everything. There has never been a person of benevolence who abandoned his parents, nor a person of righteous conduct who neglected his lord. Let Your Majesty speak only of benevolence and righteous conduct — why must you speak of profit?”

Mencius had an audience with King Hui of Liang. The king was standing by a pond, gazing at the geese, swans, and deer. He asked: “Do worthy men also take pleasure in such things?”

Mencius replied: “Only after one is worthy can one take pleasure in such things. Those who are not worthy, even if they possess them, cannot truly enjoy them. The Odes say: ‘He began to plan the Numinous Terrace, he laid it out and built it. The common people worked on it and completed it in less than a day. He began without haste, yet the people came as if they were his children. The king was in the Numinous Park: the does lay at rest, sleek and fat, the white birds gleamed. The king was at the Numinous Pond, and it was full of leaping fish.’ King Wen used the labor of the people to build his terrace and pond, yet the people rejoiced in it. The ancients shared their pleasures with the people, and therefore could truly enjoy them. The Oath of Tang says: ‘O sun, when will you perish? We will perish together with you!’ When the people wished to perish alongside their ruler, even if he had terraces, ponds, birds, and beasts, could he enjoy them alone?”

King Hui of Liang said: “I devote my full attention to governing my state. When there is famine in Henei, I transfer the people to Hedong and move grain to Henei. When there is famine in Hedong, I do likewise. When I examine the governance of neighboring states, none devotes as much care as I do. Yet the people of neighboring states do not decrease, and my people do not increase. Why is this?”

Mencius replied: “Your Majesty is fond of war — allow me to use a military analogy. When the drums thunder and blades clash, a soldier throws down his armor, drags his weapon, and runs. One stops after a hundred paces, another after fifty. What if the one who ran fifty paces laughed at the one who ran a hundred?”

The king said: “That would not do. He merely did not run a hundred paces — he ran all the same.”

Mencius said: “If Your Majesty understands this, then do not hope your people will be more numerous than your neighbors’. Do not interfere with the farming seasons, and there will be more grain than can be eaten. Do not cast fine-meshed nets in the ponds, and there will be more fish and turtles than can be consumed. Let axes enter the mountain forests only in the proper season, and there will be more timber than can be used. When the people can nourish the living and mourn the dead without regret — this is the beginning of the kingly way. Let mulberry trees be planted around homesteads of five mu, and those over fifty can wear silk. Let chickens, pigs, and dogs be bred without missing their seasons, and those over seventy can eat meat. Let the labor on hundred-mu farms not be disrupted, and a family of several mouths can avoid hunger. Attend carefully to education in the schools, and teach the principles of filial piety and respect for elders, and the grey-haired will not be carrying burdens on the roads. When those over seventy wear silk and eat meat, and the common people neither hunger nor freeze, yet the ruler does not become a true king — this has never happened. Now dogs and pigs eat the food of humans while no one knows to restrain them; corpses of the starved lie on the roads while no one knows to open the granaries. When people die, you say: ‘It is not my fault — it was the harvest.’ How is this different from stabbing someone to death and saying: ‘It was not I — it was the weapon’? If Your Majesty stops blaming the harvest, then the people of the whole realm will come to you.”

King Hui of Liang said: “I wish to receive your instruction with an open mind.”

Mencius replied: “Is there any difference between killing someone with a club and killing with a blade?” The king said: “There is no difference.” “Is there any difference between killing with a blade and killing with misgovernment?” The king said: “There is no difference.”

Mencius said: “In your kitchens there is rich meat; in your stables there are fat horses. Yet the people have the look of hunger, and in the wilds there are corpses of the starved. This is to lead beasts to devour human beings. Beasts devour one another, and people find even that detestable. When one who serves as parent to the people governs in a way that amounts to leading beasts to devour humans, where is the parental care in that? Confucius said: ‘May the one who first made burial figurines have no descendants!’ — because they resembled human beings and were used in place of them. How then can you cause these very people to starve to death?”

King Hui of Liang said: “The state of Jin was the strongest under heaven — as you well know, sir. In my time, we were defeated by Qi in the east, and my eldest son died there. We lost seven hundred li of territory to Qin in the west. We were humiliated by Chu in the south. I am ashamed of this and wish to avenge the dead in one stroke. How can this be done?”

Mencius replied: “With a territory of only a hundred li square, one can become a true king. If Your Majesty practices benevolent governance toward the people — reducing punishments, lightening taxes, encouraging deep plowing and thorough weeding — then the able-bodied can use their spare days to cultivate filial piety, respect for elders, loyalty, and trustworthiness: serving their fathers and elder brothers at home, serving their superiors abroad. You could have them take up clubs and thrash the hard armor and sharp weapons of Qin and Chu. Those states seize their people’s time so they cannot plow and weed to feed their parents. Parents freeze and starve, brothers and wives are scattered. They drown and trap their own people — if Your Majesty marches to punish them, who could stand against you? Therefore it is said: ‘The benevolent have no enemies.’ I ask Your Majesty not to doubt this.”

Mencius had an audience with King Xiang of Liang. Afterward, he said to others: “When I looked at him from afar, he did not resemble a ruler of men. When I drew close, I saw nothing to inspire awe. Abruptly he asked: ‘How can the realm be settled?’ I replied: ‘It will be settled through unification.’ ‘Who can unify it?’ I replied: ‘One who takes no pleasure in killing can unify it.’ ‘Who would support such a person?’ I replied: ‘Everyone in the realm would support him. Does Your Majesty understand seedlings? During a drought in the seventh or eighth month, the seedlings wither. But when the sky thickens with clouds and rain pours down, the seedlings spring up vigorously. When this happens, who can stop it? Among the shepherds of the people today, there is not one who does not take pleasure in killing. If there were one who took no pleasure in killing, all the people in the realm would crane their necks looking toward him. If it were truly so, the people would flow to him like water flowing downward — who could hold them back?’”

King Xuan of Qi asked: “May I hear about the affairs of Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin?”

Mencius replied: “None among the followers of Confucius spoke of the affairs of Huan and Wen, so nothing was transmitted to later generations. Your servant has not heard of them. If I may not avoid speaking, then shall we discuss true kingship?”

The king asked: “What kind of virtue does it take to become a true king?” Mencius said: “One who protects the people and becomes king — nothing can stop him.” The king asked: “Can someone like me protect the people?” “You can.” “How do you know I can?” “Your servant heard from Hu He that Your Majesty was sitting in the upper hall when someone led an ox past below. Your Majesty saw it and asked: ‘Where is the ox going?’ The reply was: ‘It is to be used to consecrate a bell with its blood.’ Your Majesty said: ‘Spare it! I cannot bear its trembling, like an innocent creature going to its death.’ The reply was: ‘Then shall we cancel the bell consecration?’ You said: ‘How can we cancel it? Substitute a sheep.’ Is this true?” The king said: “It is.” Mencius said: “This heart is sufficient to become a true king. The common people all thought Your Majesty was being stingy, but I knew it was because you could not bear the animal’s suffering.” The king said: “Indeed. There really were such people. Though Qi is a narrow state, why would I grudge a single ox? It was that I could not bear its trembling, like an innocent going to its death, so I substituted a sheep.” Mencius said: “Your Majesty should not be surprised that the people took you for stingy. You replaced the large with the small — how could they know your reason? If Your Majesty pitied it as an innocent going to its death, then what is there to choose between ox and sheep?” The king laughed and said: “What was I really thinking? I was not grudging the cost, yet I substituted a sheep for it — no wonder the people called me stingy.” Mencius said: “There is no harm in this. It was in fact the method of benevolence — you had seen the ox but had not seen the sheep. When the noble person sees animals alive, he cannot bear to see them die; when he hears their cries, he cannot bear to eat their flesh. This is why the noble person keeps his distance from the kitchen.”

The king was pleased and said: “The Odes say: ‘Others have intentions — I measure and fathom them.’ This describes you, Master. I performed the deed myself, and when I reflected and searched for my motive, I could not find my own heart. When you spoke of it, something stirred deeply within me. Why does this heart of mine accord with true kingship?”

Mencius said: “Suppose someone reported to Your Majesty: ‘My strength is sufficient to lift three thousand jin, but not a single feather; my eyesight is sharp enough to discern the tip of an autumn hair, but I cannot see a cartload of firewood.’ Would Your Majesty accept this?” “No.” “Now your kindness reaches animals, yet its benefits do not extend to the common people — why? A feather not lifted is because strength is not applied; firewood not seen is because sight is not used; the people not protected is because kindness is not extended. Therefore Your Majesty’s failure to become a true king is a matter of not doing, not of inability.”

“How does not-doing differ from inability?”

“To tuck Mount Tai under your arm and leap over the North Sea — if you say ‘I cannot,’ that is truly inability. To bend a branch for an elder — if you say ‘I cannot,’ that is not-doing, not inability. Your Majesty’s failure to become king is of the branch-bending variety, not the Mount Tai variety. Treat your own elders as elders, and extend this to the elders of others; treat your own young as young, and extend this to the young of others — then the realm can be turned in the palm of your hand. The Odes say: ‘He set the example for his wife, extended it to his brothers, and thereby governed the clan and state.’ This means nothing more than taking this heart and applying it to others. Extending kindness is sufficient to protect all within the four seas; not extending kindness leaves one unable to protect even wife and children. The reason the ancients so greatly surpassed others was nothing else — they were simply good at extending what they did. Now your kindness reaches animals, yet its benefits do not extend to the people — why? Weigh, and then you know light from heavy; measure, and then you know long from short. All things are thus, and the heart most of all. I ask Your Majesty to measure it. Or would Your Majesty rather raise armies, endanger ministers, and build resentment among the states — is that what satisfies your heart?”

The king said: “No. How would that satisfy me? I do it to pursue my greatest desire.”

“May I hear Your Majesty’s greatest desire?” The king laughed and did not speak. “Is it that rich foods are not enough for your mouth? Light clothing not enough for your body? Beautiful colors not enough for your eyes? Music not enough for your ears? Favorites not enough to attend you? Your ministers can supply all these.” The king said: “No. It is not for these.” “Then Your Majesty’s greatest desire can be known. You wish to expand your territory, make Qin and Chu pay court, preside over the Central States, and subdue the barbarians on all sides. To pursue what you desire by the means you employ is like climbing a tree to seek fish.”

“Is it truly that extreme?” “Perhaps worse. Climbing a tree to seek fish — though you get no fish, there is no disaster afterward. To pursue what you desire by these means, exerting all your strength — there will certainly be disaster.” “May I hear why?” “If the people of Zou fought Chu, who would win?” “Chu.” “So the small cannot oppose the great, the few cannot oppose the many, the weak cannot oppose the strong. Within the seas there are nine territories of a thousand li, and Qi has but one. To use one to subdue eight — how is this different from Zou opposing Chu? Return to the fundamentals. If Your Majesty now issues benevolent governance, causing all the officials in the realm to wish to stand in your court, all the farmers to plow your fields, all the merchants to store goods in your markets, all the travelers to use your roads, and all who are aggrieved by their own rulers to come and appeal to you — who could withstand this?”

The king said: “I am dim-witted and cannot advance to this level. I hope you will assist my aspirations and teach me clearly. Though I am not clever, let me try.”

Mencius said: “Only scholars can maintain a constant heart without constant livelihood. As for the common people, without constant livelihood they lack a constant heart. Without a constant heart, there is no dissipation, depravity, or excess they will not commit. When they fall into crime, to punish them afterward — that is to trap the people. How can a benevolent ruler trap the people? Therefore a wise ruler regulates the people’s livelihood so that above they have enough to serve their parents, and below enough to support wife and children; in good years they are always well-fed, and in bad years they escape death. Only then does he guide them toward goodness, and the people follow easily. Now the people’s livelihood is regulated so that above they cannot serve their parents, below they cannot support wife and children; in good years they toil all their lives, and in bad years they cannot escape death. They merely struggle to survive — what leisure have they for propriety and righteous conduct? If Your Majesty wishes to act, then return to the fundamentals. Plant mulberry trees around five-mu homesteads, and those over fifty can wear silk. Raise chickens, pigs, and dogs without missing their seasons, and those over seventy can eat meat. Do not disrupt the labor on hundred-mu farms, and a family of eight can avoid hunger. Attend carefully to education in the schools, and extend the principles of filial piety and respect for elders, and the grey-haired will not carry burdens on the roads. When the elderly wear silk and eat meat, and the common people neither hunger nor freeze, yet the ruler does not become a true king — this has never happened.”