告子上

Gaozi said: “Human nature is like willow wood; righteous conduct is like cups and bowls. To make benevolence and righteous conduct out of human nature is like making cups and bowls from willow wood.” Mencius said: “Can you make cups and bowls by following the willow’s nature? Or must you mutilate the willow to make them? If you must mutilate the willow to make cups and bowls, must you also mutilate human nature to make benevolence and righteous conduct? It is your words that would lead the whole realm to regard benevolence and righteous conduct as calamities!”

Gaozi said: “Human nature is like swirling water: open a channel to the east and it flows east; open one to the west and it flows west. Human nature is indifferent to good and evil, just as water is indifferent to east and west.” Mencius said: “Water is indeed indifferent to east and west. But is it indifferent to high and low? Human nature’s tendency toward good is like water’s tendency to flow downward. There is no person who is not good, just as there is no water that does not flow down. Strike water and splash it up — you can make it go over your head. Dam it and force it — you can make it flow uphill. But is this the nature of water? It is the force applied to it. When people are made to do evil, their nature is being treated in the same way.”

Gaozi said: “What is inborn is called nature.” Mencius said: “Is ‘what is inborn is called nature’ like saying ‘what is white is called white’?” “Yes.” “Then is the whiteness of white feathers the same as the whiteness of white snow? Is the whiteness of white snow the same as the whiteness of white jade?” “Yes.” “Then is the nature of a dog the same as the nature of an ox? Is the nature of an ox the same as the nature of a human being?”

Gaozi said: “Appetite for food and desire for beauty are human nature. Benevolence is internal, not external; righteous conduct is external, not internal.” Mencius debated this, using the example of respecting an elder: we respect elders regardless of whether they are our own or strangers, suggesting that righteous conduct has an internal source.

Meng Jizi questioned Gongdu Zi about whether righteous conduct is internal or external, using the test case of respecting an uncle versus respecting a younger brother serving as ritual officiant. Gongdu Zi could not answer and consulted Mencius, who resolved it by distinguishing between the constant respect owed to relatives and the situational respect accorded to ceremonial role — both arising from internal moral judgment.

Gongdu Zi presented several rival theories of human nature: that it is neither good nor bad; that it can go either way depending on the ruler; and that some people are innately good while others are innately bad. He asked Mencius: “Now you say human nature is good — are all these others wrong?”

Mencius said: “As for the original feelings, they can be made good — this is what I mean by calling human nature good. If people do evil, it is not the fault of their innate capacity. The heart of compassion — all people have it. The heart of shame — all people have it. The heart of respect — all people have it. The heart of right and wrong — all people have it. Compassion is benevolence; shame is righteous conduct; respect is propriety; right and wrong is wisdom. Benevolence, righteous conduct, propriety, and wisdom are not welded onto us from outside — we inherently possess them. We simply do not reflect on it. Therefore it is said: ‘Seek and you will find it; let go and you will lose it.’”

Mencius said: “In prosperous years, the young are mostly lazy; in bad years, the young are mostly violent. Not because heaven sends them different endowments, but because their circumstances differ in what drowns their hearts.

Consider barley: sow it, cover it with earth. The soil is the same, the planting time the same — it sprouts vigorously and ripens by the solstice. If the yields differ, it is because the soil is richer or poorer, the rain and dew differ, and human effort is unequal. Therefore all things of the same kind are similar. Why doubt this only regarding human beings? The sage and I are of the same kind.

In matters of taste, all mouths agree. In hearing, all ears agree. In sight, all eyes agree on beauty. Is the heart alone without what it shares? What the heart shares is principle and righteous conduct. The sage simply grasped first what our hearts share. Therefore principle and righteous conduct please our hearts as rich meat pleases our mouths.”

Mencius said: “The trees on Ox Mountain were once beautiful. But because it bordered a great city, axes and hatchets cut them down. Can they remain beautiful? With the respite of night, the moisture of rain and dew, buds and shoots appear — but then cattle and goats come to graze on them. That is why it looks so bare. Seeing it bare, people think it never had timber. But is this the mountain’s nature?

And so it is with what is preserved in people. Is there truly no heart of benevolence and righteous conduct? But they let go of their good heart as axes fell the trees — hacked at day after day, how can it remain beautiful? With the respite of night, the qi of dawn, their preferences approach those of other people — but then what they do during the day fetters and destroys it again. When the night’s restorative qi is repeatedly insufficient, they drift close to beasts. People see their beastliness and think they never had moral capacity. But is this human nature?

If properly nourished, nothing will not grow; if deprived of nourishment, nothing will not perish. Confucius said: ‘Hold on and it is preserved; let go and it is lost. It comes and goes without fixed times, and no one knows its direction.’ He was speaking of the heart.”

Mencius said: “Do not be surprised that the king lacks wisdom. Even the easiest plant in the world to grow — if exposed to one day of sun and ten days of cold, nothing can make it grow. My audiences with the king are rare. When I withdraw, those who ‘freeze’ him arrive. What can I do with whatever sprouts of goodness I have encouraged? Now take the game of go — a minor skill. Yet without single-minded concentration, one cannot master it. Yi Qiu is the best go player in the realm. Suppose he teaches two students: one concentrates single-mindedly, listening only to Yi Qiu; the other listens but keeps thinking about a swan approaching and how to shoot it. Though they study together, the second will never match the first. Is it because his intelligence is inferior? No.”

Mencius said: “Fish is what I desire; bear’s paw is also what I desire. If I cannot have both, I will set aside the fish and take the bear’s paw. Life is what I desire; righteous conduct is also what I desire. If I cannot have both, I will sacrifice life and choose righteous conduct.

Life is indeed what I desire, but there is something I desire more than life — therefore I will not do just anything to preserve it. Death is indeed what I hate, but there is something I hate more than death — therefore there are dangers I will not flee from. If people desired nothing more than life, they would use any means to preserve it. If they hated nothing more than death, they would do anything to avoid it. Yet there are means of preserving life they will not use, and dangers they will not flee. Thus what they desire is greater than life, and what they hate is greater than death.

A basket of food, a bowl of soup — get them and live, miss them and die. Yet if offered with contempt, even a passerby will not accept them; if kicked toward you, even a beggar will scorn them. But ten thousand zhong of grain — people accept without considering propriety and righteous conduct. What does ten thousand zhong add to me? Fine houses, wives and concubines, the gratitude of the poor? Before, one would rather have died than accept with contempt; now one accepts for fine houses. Before, one would rather have died; now one accepts for wives and concubines. Can this not be stopped? This is called losing one’s original heart.”

Mencius said: “Benevolence is the human heart; righteous conduct is the human path. To abandon the path and not follow it, to let go of the heart and not know to seek it — how pitiful! When people’s chickens and dogs stray, they know to look for them; but when their hearts stray, they do not know to look. The way of learning is nothing else — simply seeking the strayed heart.”

Mencius said: “Suppose you had a ring finger that was bent and could not be straightened — not painful or disabling, but if someone could straighten it, you would not consider the road to Qin or Chu too far. Because your finger is not as good as other people’s. When a finger is not as good as others’, you know to dislike it. But when your heart is not as good as others’, you do not know to dislike it. This is called not knowing what matters.”

Mencius said: “Even with a paulownia or catalpa tree just a double-handful thick, if one wants it to grow, one knows how to nourish it. When it comes to one’s own person, one does not know how to nourish it. Is one’s love for oneself less than for a tree? This is thoughtlessness at its worst.”

Mencius said: “People love their whole body. Since they love the whole, they should nourish the whole. There is not an inch of skin they do not love, so there should be not an inch they do not nourish. The body has noble and base parts, great and small parts. Do not harm the great for the sake of the small; do not harm the noble for the sake of the base. He who nourishes the small part is a small person; he who nourishes the great part is a great person.”

Gongdu Zi asked: “All are equally human, yet some become great persons and others become small persons — why?” Mencius said: “Those who follow the greater part of themselves become great persons; those who follow the lesser part become small persons.” “But all are equally human — why do some follow the greater and others the lesser?” Mencius said: “The organs of the ears and eyes do not think — they are obscured by things. When thing encounters thing, it simply leads them along. The organ of the heart does think. When it thinks, it attains; when it does not think, it does not attain. This is what heaven has given us. First establish the greater part, and the lesser part cannot steal it away. This is simply what makes a great person.”

Mencius said: “There are heavenly honors and human honors. Benevolence, righteous conduct, loyalty, trustworthiness, and tireless delight in goodness — these are heavenly honors. Duke, minister, and great officer — these are human honors. The ancients cultivated their heavenly honors, and human honors followed. People today cultivate their heavenly honors to pursue human honors; and having obtained human honors, they discard their heavenly honors. This is the height of delusion, and they will surely lose everything in the end.”

Mencius said: “The desire for honor is shared by all. Yet everyone has within themselves what is truly honorable — they just do not reflect on it. The honor bestowed by others is not true honor. What Zhao Meng ennobles, Zhao Meng can also debase. The Odes say: ‘Drunk with wine, sated with virtue.’ This means being full of benevolence and righteous conduct, so that one does not yearn for the rich foods of others. When good reputation extends to oneself, one does not desire the fine embroidery of others.”

Mencius said: “Benevolence overcomes the absence of benevolence as water overcomes fire. But those who practice benevolence today are like trying to put out a cartload of burning firewood with one cup of water. When it fails, they say water cannot overcome fire. This actually aids the cause of those without benevolence — and in the end everything is lost.”

Mencius said: “The five grains are the finest of seeds, but if not brought to ripeness, they are worse than weeds. Benevolence likewise depends on being brought to maturity.”

Mencius said: “When Yi taught archery, he insisted on drawing the bow to its full extent; the learner must also insist on the full draw. When a master carpenter teaches, he insists on compass and square; the learner must also insist on compass and square.”