滕文公上

When Duke Wen of Teng was heir apparent, he was traveling to Chu and passed through Song, where he met Mencius. Mencius spoke to him about the goodness of human nature, always citing Yao and Shun as examples.

On his return from Chu, the heir apparent again met Mencius. Mencius said: “Does the heir apparent doubt my words? The Way is one and only one. Cheng Jian told Duke Jing of Qi: ‘He is a man, and I am a man — why should I stand in awe of him?’ Yan Yuan said: ‘What kind of man was Shun? What kind of man am I? He who acts with resolve can be like him.’ Gongming Yi said: ‘King Wen is my teacher — would the Duke of Zhou deceive me?’ Now Teng, if you trim the long and pad the short, is about fifty li — it can still become a good state. The Documents say: ‘If the medicine does not make the patient dizzy, the illness will not be cured.’”

Duke Ding of Teng died. The heir apparent told Ran You: “Once Mencius spoke to me in Song, and I have never forgotten his words. Now I have met with this great misfortune, and I wish to send you to ask Mencius, and then arrange the rites.” Ran You went to Zou and asked Mencius.

Mencius said: “Is this not good! In mourning for parents, one should do one’s utmost. Zengzi said: ‘While they are alive, serve them according to propriety; when they die, bury them according to propriety, sacrifice to them according to propriety — this may be called filial.’ The rites of the feudal lords I have not studied; however, I have heard of them. The three-year mourning period, wearing coarse hemp garments, eating thin gruel — from the Son of Heaven down to the common people, the Three Dynasties shared these practices.”

Ran You returned with this answer, and the three-year mourning was established. But the elders and officials all objected, saying: “None of the former lords of our ancestral state Lu practiced it, and none of our own former lords practiced it. For you to reverse this in your generation is wrong.”

The heir apparent told Ran You: “I have something I received from Mencius.” He sent Ran You again to Zou to ask Mencius.

Mencius said: “So it is. This cannot be sought elsewhere. Confucius said: ‘When a lord dies, entrust affairs to the chief minister. Drink thin gruel, darken your face. Take your place and weep — and all the officials will not dare fail to grieve, for you have set the example.’ When those above have preferences, those below surely carry them to excess. ‘The virtue of the noble person is the wind; the virtue of the small person is the grass. The grass bends when the wind blows over it.’ It depends on the heir apparent.”

The heir apparent said: “So it is. It truly depends on me.” He dwelt in the mourning hut for five months, issuing no commands or prohibitions. The officials and relatives could all be said to know what was proper. When the burial came, visitors from all directions came to observe. The gravity of his expression and the sorrow of his weeping greatly pleased the mourners.

Duke Wen of Teng asked about governing the state. Mencius said: “The people’s livelihood cannot be neglected. The Odes say: ‘By day gather thatch, by night twist rope; swiftly repair the roof, then begin sowing the hundred grains.’ This is the people’s way: those with constant livelihood have constant hearts; those without constant livelihood lack constant hearts. Without constant hearts, there is no dissipation, depravity, or excess they will not commit.

The Xia took one in fifty as tribute; the Yin took one in seventy through the mutual-aid system; the Zhou took one in a hundred through the tithe — in reality all amounted to one-tenth. The tithe means ‘sharing’; the mutual-aid means ‘borrowing labor.’ Longzi said: ‘For land management, nothing is better than mutual aid, nothing worse than tribute.’

Establish schools of various kinds to educate: xiang means ‘to nourish’; xiao means ‘to teach’; xu means ‘archery practice.’ The Xia called them xiao, the Yin called them xu, the Zhou called them xiang — but learning was shared by all three dynasties, all serving to illuminate human relationships. When human relationships are clear among those above, the common people below will be bound by affection. Should a true king arise, he will surely come to learn from you — this is to be the teacher of kings. The Odes say: ‘Although Zhou is an old state, its mandate is renewed.’ This refers to King Wen. If you strive to put this into practice, you too can renew your state.”

The duke sent Bi Zhan to ask about the well-field system. Mencius said: “Your lord intends to practice benevolent governance and has chosen you for the task — you must exert yourself! Benevolent governance must begin with proper land boundaries. When boundaries are not correct, the well-fields are unequal and grain revenues are unfair. Each well is nine hundred mu: the center is the public field. Eight families each manage a hundred mu privately and together cultivate the public field. Only when public work is done may they attend to private work.”

A man named Xu Xing, who advocated the teachings of the Divine Farmer, came from Chu to Teng and told Duke Wen: “A man from afar has heard that you practice benevolent governance. I wish to receive a dwelling and become your subject.” The duke gave him a place. His followers numbered several dozen, all wearing rough hemp, weaving sandals and mats for their living.

Chen Xiang, a follower of Chen Liang, came with his brother Xin from Song to Teng, saying they wished to be subjects of a sage’s government. Chen Xiang met Xu Xing and was greatly pleased, abandoning all his previous learning to study under him. He visited Mencius and relayed Xu Xing’s words: “The duke is truly a worthy ruler. But he has not yet heard the Way. A worthy ruler should plow alongside the people and cook his own meals while governing.”

Mencius said: “Does Master Xu grow his own grain before he eats? Does he weave his own cloth before he wears it?” Chen Xiang admitted that Xu Xing traded grain for his tools and clothing.

Mencius said: “If the craftsman who trades tools for grain does not harm the potter, does the potter who trades for grain harm the farmer? Moreover, why does Xu Xing not make his own pottery? Why this troublesome trading with the hundred craftsmen? Because the hundred crafts cannot be pursued while also farming.”

Mencius continued: “Then can governing the realm alone be pursued while also farming? There are the affairs of the great and the affairs of the small. If everyone had to make everything himself before using it, the whole realm would be on the road. Therefore it is said: some labor with their minds, some labor with their bodies. Those who labor with their minds govern others; those who labor with their bodies are governed by others. Those who are governed feed others; those who govern are fed by others — this is the universal principle.”

Mencius then argued at length that the division of labor between rulers and farmers was essential, citing the examples of Yao, Shun, Yu, and the Duke of Zhou, all of whom governed rather than farmed. He concluded by criticizing Chen Xiang for abandoning his teacher Chen Liang’s Confucian principles in favor of Xu Xing’s primitivism.

Yi Zhi, a Mohist, sought through Xu Bi to see Mencius. Mencius said: “I certainly wish to see him, but I am currently ill. When I recover, I shall go to see him myself.”

Another day Yi Zhi again sought to see Mencius. Mencius said: “Now I can see him. If I do not speak directly, the Way will not be made clear. I have heard that Yi Zhi is a Mohist. The Mohist approach to funerals treats frugality as its principle. Yi Zhi wishes to change the customs of the realm through this — does he consider lavish funerals wrong? Yet Yi Zhi buried his own parents lavishly. In that case, he served his parents with what he himself disdains.”

Xu Bi reported this to Yi Zhi, who replied: “The Confucian way says that the ancients governed as if ‘caring for a newborn infant.’ What does this mean? I take it to mean that love has no gradations, though its application begins with those closest.”

Mencius said: “Does Yi Zhi truly believe that one loves one’s brother’s child no more than one’s neighbor’s infant? There is a specific case to be drawn upon: when an infant crawling on the ground is about to fall into a well, it is not the infant’s fault. Moreover, heaven produces things with a single root, but Yi Zhi would give them two roots.”

Mencius went on to argue that even in primitive times, when people first left the dead unburied, the sight of foxes feeding on the corpse produced a natural reaction of distress — proving that the impulse to honor the dead with proper burial is innate, not merely conventional. Yi Zhi was moved and said: “He has taught me.”