離婁下

Mencius said: “Shun was born in Zhufeng, moved to Fuxia, and died at Mingtiao — a man of the Eastern Yi. King Wen was born at Qizhou and died at Biying — a man of the Western Yi. Their lands were more than a thousand li apart; their ages were more than a thousand years apart. Yet when they achieved their aims and practiced them in the Central States, it was like matching tallies. The earlier sage and the later sage — their standard was one and the same.”

Zi Chan managed the government of Zheng and used his own carriage to ferry people across the Zhen and Wei rivers. Mencius said: “Kind, but he did not know how to govern. If in the eleventh month footbridges were built and in the twelfth month carriage bridges were completed, the people would have no difficulty crossing. When the noble person governs fairly, he may even clear people from his path as he goes out. How can he ferry every person individually?”

Mencius told King Xuan of Qi: “If the ruler treats his ministers as his hands and feet, the ministers treat the ruler as their heart and belly. If the ruler treats his ministers as dogs and horses, the ministers treat the ruler as any other man. If the ruler treats his ministers as dirt and weeds, the ministers treat the ruler as an enemy.”

Mencius said: “If the innocent are killed among the officials, then the great officers may leave. If the innocent are murdered among the people, then the scholars may move away.”

Mencius said: “When the ruler is benevolent, none will be unbenevolent. When the ruler is righteous, none will be unrighteous.”

Mencius said: “Propriety that is not true propriety, righteous conduct that is not true righteous conduct — the great person does not practice these.”

Mencius said: “The balanced nurture the unbalanced; the talented nurture the untalented. Therefore people are glad to have worthy fathers and brothers. If the balanced abandoned the unbalanced, and the talented abandoned the untalented, the distance between worthy and unworthy would not be an inch.”

Mencius said: “A person must refrain from certain things before he can accomplish others.”

Mencius said: “When you speak of others’ faults, what will you do about the consequences?”

Mencius said: “Confucius never went to extremes.”

Mencius said: “The great person’s words need not always be kept, and his actions need not always be completed — he follows only what is right.”

Mencius said: “The great person is one who never loses the heart of a newborn child.”

Mencius said: “Nourishing the living is not sufficient to count as the great duty. Only sending off the dead counts as the great duty.”

Mencius said: “The noble person advances deeply by means of the Way, wishing to attain it in himself. When he attains it in himself, he dwells in it peacefully. Dwelling in it peacefully, he draws upon it deeply. Drawing upon it deeply, he finds its source wherever he turns. Therefore the noble person wishes to attain it in himself.”

Mencius said: “Study broadly and explain in detail — the aim is to return to what is essential.”

Mencius said: “He who tries to subdue others through goodness has never succeeded in subduing anyone. He who nourishes others with goodness can subdue the whole realm. There has never been one who became king without the heartfelt submission of the realm.”

Mencius said: “Words without substance are inauspicious. The consequences of such inauspiciousness fall on those who obstruct the worthy.”

Xu Zi asked: “Confucius repeatedly praised water, saying ‘Water! Water!’ What did he find in water?” Mencius said: “The source spring flows ceaselessly, day and night. It fills each hollow before moving on, flowing all the way to the sea. That which has a source is like this. Confucius took this as his model. If something has no source, then during the rains of the seventh and eighth months the ditches all fill, but they dry up in no time. Therefore a reputation that exceeds the reality is something the noble person is ashamed of.”

Mencius said: “What distinguishes humans from beasts is slight indeed. The common people lose it; the noble person preserves it. Shun understood the nature of things and examined human relationships. He walked in benevolence and righteous conduct — he did not merely practice benevolence and righteous conduct.”

Mencius said: “Yu disliked fine wine and loved good words. Tang held to the mean and established the worthy without regard to origin. King Wen regarded the people as if they were wounded, and looked toward the Way as if he had not yet seen it. King Wu did not neglect those close nor forget those far. The Duke of Zhou wished to combine the ways of the Three Kings and implement their four achievements. When something did not accord, he would look up and think about it, from night into day. If fortunate enough to find the answer, he would sit and wait for dawn.”

Mencius said: “When the traces of the true kings disappeared, the Odes perished. When the Odes perished, the Spring and Autumn Annals were composed. The Sheng of Jin, the Taowu of Chu, and the Spring and Autumn of Lu are one and the same. Their subject matter is the affairs of Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin; their style is that of annalists. Confucius said: ‘Its righteous judgments — I have taken the liberty of making them.’”

Mencius said: “The influence of the noble person lasts five generations before being cut off; the influence of the small person also lasts five generations before being cut off. I was not able to be a disciple of Confucius, but I have received his teaching from others.”

Mencius said: “When you may take and may not take, taking harms integrity. When you may give and may not give, giving harms kindness. When you may die and may not die, dying harms courage.”

Feng Meng learned archery from Yi. Having mastered all of Yi’s techniques, he thought that only Yi in the whole realm surpassed him, and so he killed Yi. Mencius said: “Yi was also at fault.” He then told the story of Zi Zhuo Ruzi, who was pursued by Yu Gong Zhi Si — a man who had learned archery from Zi Zhuo Ruzi’s own student. Because the student was upright, he had chosen upright friends; and the pursuer, out of respect for the chain of teaching, removed his arrowheads before shooting, then turned back.

Mencius said: “If Xi Shi were covered in filth, people would hold their noses passing by. But even a hideous person, if he fasts and purifies himself with ritual bathing, can sacrifice to the Supreme Deity.”

Mencius said: “All discussion of human nature in the realm comes down to precedent, and precedent is based on what comes naturally. What is objectionable about cleverness is its forcing. If the clever were like Yu directing water, there would be nothing objectionable about cleverness. Yu directed water by guiding it where it naturally wanted to go. If the clever also acted where there was nothing to force, their cleverness would be great indeed. The sky is high, the stars are distant; yet if we seek their patterns, the solstice of a thousand years hence can be calculated while sitting.”

When Gongxing Zi held a funeral for his son, the Right Minister came to pay condolences. Some came forward to speak with the Right Minister; others went to his seat to speak with him. Mencius did not speak with the Right Minister. The Right Minister was displeased and said: “All the gentlemen speak with me; only Mencius does not. He is slighting me.” Mencius heard this and said: “According to propriety, in court one does not cross to another’s seat to converse, and one does not cross the steps to bow. I wished to observe propriety, yet Zi Ao considers me rude — is this not strange?”

Mencius said: “What distinguishes the noble person from others is what he preserves in his heart. The noble person preserves benevolence in his heart and propriety in his heart. The benevolent love others; those with propriety respect others. He who loves others is always loved by others; he who respects others is always respected by others.

Suppose someone treats you with hostility. The noble person will examine himself: ‘I must not have been benevolent; I must have lacked propriety — why else would this happen?’ If upon self-examination he finds himself benevolent and proper, yet the hostility continues, the noble person examines himself again: ‘I must not have been fully devoted.’ If upon examination he finds himself devoted, yet the hostility persists, the noble person says: ‘This is simply a reckless person. Such a person — what is there to choose between him and a beast?’

Therefore the noble person has lifelong concerns but no momentary worries. His concern is this: Shun was a human being; I too am a human being. Shun became a model for the realm, worthy of being transmitted to later ages, while I am still no better than a villager — this is worth worrying about. And what does he do about it? He simply tries to be like Shun. As for momentary worries, the noble person has none.”

Yu and Ji lived in an age of peace, yet passed their own doors three times without entering. Confucius praised them. Yan Hui lived in a troubled age, dwelling in a narrow lane with one basket of food and one gourd of drink. Others could not have borne the hardship, but Yan Hui did not change his joy. Confucius praised him.

Mencius said: “Yu, Ji, and Yan Hui followed the same Way. Yu thought that if anyone in the realm were drowning, he himself was drowning them. Ji thought that if anyone in the realm were starving, he himself was starving them — that is why they were so urgent. If Yu, Ji, and Yan Hui exchanged positions, each would have done as the other did.”

Gongdu Zi asked: “The whole state calls Kuang Zhang unfilial. Yet you, Master, associate with him and treat him with courtesy. May I ask why?”

Mencius said: “There are five things commonly called unfilial: laziness about supporting one’s parents; gambling and drinking without caring for one’s parents; loving wealth and favoring wife and children over one’s parents; indulging in sensual pleasures to one’s parents’ disgrace; being fond of fighting and endangering one’s parents. Does Zhang have any of these?

Zhang’s case was a father-son conflict over moral demands. Moral demands belong to friendship, not to the father-son relationship — where demanding goodness corrodes affection.”

Zengzi lived at Wucheng when raiders came. Someone said: “The raiders are coming — why not leave?” Zengzi said: “Do not let anyone stay in my house or damage the plants and trees.” When the raiders withdrew, he said: “Repair my walls — I shall return.”

Zi Si lived in Wei when Qi raiders came. Someone said: “The raiders are coming — why not leave?” Zi Si said: “If I leave in haste, who will defend the state with the lord?”

Mencius said: “Zengzi and Zi Si followed the same Way. Zengzi was a teacher, in the position of a father or elder brother. Zi Si was a minister, in a subordinate position. If Zengzi and Zi Si exchanged positions, each would have done as the other did.”

Chu Zi asked: “The king sent someone to observe you, Master. Is there truly something that distinguishes you from other people?” Mencius said: “How should I differ from other people? Yao and Shun were the same as other people.”

There was a man of Qi who had one wife and one concubine. Whenever the husband went out, he returned stuffed with wine and meat. When his wife asked whom he had dined with, they were all wealthy and noble. His wife told the concubine: “Whenever the husband goes out, he returns stuffed with wine and meat, and says his companions were all wealthy and noble — yet no distinguished person has ever visited us. I shall follow him and see where he goes.”

She rose early and followed him through the whole city. Not a single person stopped to speak with him. Finally, he went to the cemetery among the tombs in the eastern suburbs, begging for leftovers from the sacrificial offerings. When that was not enough, he looked around and went to another tomb. This was his way of getting stuffed.

His wife returned and told the concubine. “The husband is one we looked up to for our whole lives — and now this!” They wept together in the courtyard. But the husband, knowing nothing, came swaggering home to show off before his wife and concubine.

From the perspective of the noble person, the ways in which people pursue wealth, rank, and profit — few are those whose wives and concubines would not weep with shame.”