萬章上

Wan Zhang asked: “Shun went to the fields and wept to the heavens — why did he weep?” Mencius said: “Out of longing and resentment.”

Wan Zhang said: “When parents love us, we rejoice and do not forget; when parents hate us, we toil without resentment. Then did Shun resent his parents?”

Mencius explained that Shun’s grief was not resentment but the deepest longing: although he had become emperor, with all the wealth, honor, and beauty the world could offer, nothing could console him because his parents did not love him. “A great filial son longs for his parents all his life. At fifty still longing for them — in the great Shun I see this.”

Wan Zhang asked why Shun married without informing his parents, given the principle that one should inform them. Mencius replied that informing them would have meant not being able to marry at all — and marriage is the greatest of human relationships. Not to marry would have been to violate that relationship, causing greater filial harm. Mencius then discussed the episode where Shun’s brother Xiang plotted to kill him, explaining that Shun’s joy when Xiang visited was genuine, not feigned — a noble person can be deceived by what accords with principle, but not by what violates it.

Wan Zhang asked why Shun enfeoffed his brother Xiang rather than punishing him for attempted murder. Mencius explained: a benevolent person does not harbor anger or nurse resentment toward his brother — he simply loves him. Loving him means wishing him wealthy and honored. To be emperor while one’s brother remained a commoner could not be called love. However, Shun did not give Xiang actual governing power — he sent officials to administer Xiang’s territory and collect its revenues. This was called ‘exile’ by some, but Shun simply wished to see his brother often.

Xianqiu Meng asked about the tradition that Yao treated Shun as his lord after abdicating. Mencius firmly denied this as “wild talk of the eastern countryside” and explained the proper account: Yao was old and Shun served as regent. After Yao died, Shun observed three years of mourning, then withdrew south of the Southern River. But the feudal lords, litigants, and singers all went to Shun rather than Yao’s son — so Shun went to the capital and took the throne. This was heaven’s will, not human arrangement.

Mencius also taught a crucial hermeneutic principle: “Those who explain the Odes should not let the words harm the phrases, nor the phrases harm the intent. Use one’s own understanding to meet the author’s intent — that is how to get it right.”

Wan Zhang asked whether Yao gave the realm to Shun. Mencius said: “No. The Son of Heaven cannot give the realm to another.” “Then who gave it to Shun?” “Heaven gave it to him.” “Did heaven speak to command it?” “No. Heaven does not speak — it shows its will through actions and events.”

Mencius explained: Yao recommended Shun to heaven and heaven accepted him; he presented Shun to the people and the people accepted him. Heaven gave it, and the people gave it. “The Son of Heaven can recommend a person to heaven, but cannot make heaven give him the realm.” After Yao died, the lords went to Shun rather than Yao’s son — this was heaven’s doing. The Tai Shi says: ‘Heaven sees through the eyes of my people; heaven hears through the ears of my people.’”

Wan Zhang asked about the claim that virtue declined after Yu because he transmitted the throne to his son rather than to the worthy. Mencius denied this, explaining that whether the throne passes to the worthy or to the son depends on heaven’s will. Shun’s son and Yu’s son differed in character: Shun’s son was unworthy, but Yu’s son Qi was capable. Moreover, Yu had served Shun for a shorter time than Shun had served Yao, so his designated successor Yi had less time to benefit the people. When the people chose Qi over Yi, saying “He is the son of our lord,” it was heaven’s decision, not human corruption.

Wan Zhang asked whether Yi Yin used his cooking to approach Tang. Mencius firmly denied this, saying it was fabricated by meddlesome people. Yi Yin plowed in the wilds of Youxin and took joy in the Way of Yao and Shun. Tang sent gifts three times to recruit him. At first Yi Yin was content to remain a farmer; but he reflected: “Rather than enjoying the Way of Yao and Shun here among the furrows, should I not make this lord into a Yao or Shun? Should I not make these people into Yao and Shun’s people?” He felt that if any man or woman in the realm did not share in the blessings of Yao and Shun, it was as if he himself had pushed them into a ditch. With this self-imposed burden, he went to Tang and persuaded him to campaign against the Xia.

Wan Zhang asked whether Confucius was hosted by improper people during his travels. Mencius firmly denied it, saying these were fabrications by meddlesome people. He explained who Confucius’s actual hosts were and concluded: “If Confucius had lodged with a tumor doctor and a eunuch, what would he be? Judge a man by the hosts he chooses.”

Wan Zhang asked whether Baili Xi sold himself for five sheepskins to become Duke Mu of Qin’s minister. Mencius denied it, recounting Baili Xi’s true story: he was from the state of Yu, and when Jin destroyed Yu, he escaped to Qin at age seventy. He knew Duke Mu of Qin was capable of great things and became his minister. Would someone so wise as to recognize a great ruler demean himself by selling himself for sheepskins?