告子下

A man of Ren asked Wulu Zi: “Which is more important, propriety or food?” “Propriety.” “Which is more important, desire or propriety?” “Propriety.” The man then posed extreme cases: if following propriety means starving, but ignoring it means getting food, must one follow propriety? Wulu Zi could not answer. Mencius resolved it: “Do not compare the weightiest aspect of one with the lightest of the other. Would you twist your brother’s arm to steal his food? Would you climb your neighbor’s wall to seize their daughter?”

Cao Jiao asked: “Is it true that anyone can become a Yao or Shun?” Mencius said: “Yes.” Cao Jiao asked how. Mencius said: “Simply act! Yao and Shun’s Way was filial piety and respect for elders — nothing more. Wear Yao’s clothes, speak Yao’s words, do Yao’s deeds — and you are Yao. Wear Jie’s clothes, speak Jie’s words, do Jie’s deeds — and you are Jie.” Cao Jiao wished to stay and study. Mencius said: “The Way is like a great road — is it hard to find? People’s trouble is simply that they do not seek it. Go home and seek it — you will have teachers enough.”

Gongsun Chou asked about Gaozi’s interpretation of the Xiao Bian ode as a ‘petty person’s poem.’ Mencius disagreed, arguing that the poem’s grief came from the deep love between parent and child: when a close relative wrongs you, the anguish is proportional to the closeness of the bond.

Song Keng was traveling to Chu to persuade the kings of Qin and Chu to stop fighting. Mencius asked his argument. Song Keng said he would argue that war is unprofitable. Mencius said: “Your ambition is grand, but your argument will not work. If you argue from profit, and the armies stop because they find war unprofitable, then ministers serve their lords from profit, sons serve their fathers from profit, brothers serve each other from profit. A state where all relationships are based on profit will surely perish. But if you argue from benevolence and righteous conduct, and they stop because they embrace these, then all relationships will be based on benevolence and righteous conduct — and such a state will surely thrive. Why must you speak of profit?”

Mencius lived in Zou and accepted gifts from Ji Ren and Chu Zi without returning the courtesy. When he later visited Ji Ren but not Chu Zi, Wulu Zi was puzzled. Mencius explained: according to the Rites, a gift must be accompanied by proper ceremony — Ji Ren’s gift lacked this, making it an incomplete offering, not requiring a return visit.

Chunyu Kun challenged Mencius: “You were one of the three ministers yet left without achieving anything for the king or people — is this how the benevolent act?” Mencius replied by citing the different approaches of Bo Yi, Yi Yin, and Liuxia Hui: all different, but all aimed at benevolence. “The noble person needs only benevolence — why must all be the same?”

Mencius said: “The Five Hegemons were criminals against the Three Kings. Today’s feudal lords are criminals against the Five Hegemons. Today’s great officers are criminals against today’s feudal lords.” He described how the Son of Heaven’s tours of inspection were originally for the welfare of the people. The Five Hegemons were the best of a bad era — Duke Huan of Qi’s covenant at Kuiqiu established five commands for good governance. But today’s lords violate all five. “To abet a ruler’s wickedness is a minor crime; to anticipate and encourage it is a great crime. Today’s ministers all anticipate and encourage their rulers’ wickedness.”

Lu intended to make Shen Zi its general. Mencius said: “To use the people without teaching them is to bring disaster upon them. Such a person would not be tolerated in the age of Yao and Shun.” Mencius warned against territorial expansion through war, arguing that a truly righteous ruler would not pursue it: “A noble person serves his lord by leading him toward the Way, setting his mind on benevolence — nothing more.”

Mencius said: “Today’s ministers all say: ‘I can expand territory for my lord and fill his treasury.’ What today calls a ‘good minister,’ the ancients called a ‘thief of the people.’ To enrich a ruler who does not aim for the Way or strive for benevolence is to enrich a Jie. ‘I can form alliances and guarantee victory in war.’ What today calls a ‘good minister,’ the ancients called a ‘thief of the people.’ By today’s methods, without changing today’s customs, even if given the whole realm, one could not hold it for a single morning.”

Bai Gui said: “I wish to tax at one in twenty. What do you think?” Mencius said: “Your way is the way of the Mo tribe. In a state of ten thousand households, can there be only one potter?” He explained that the Mo lands, with no cities, temples, rituals, or officials, could afford such a low rate — but a civilized state in the Central States could not function without proper institutions. “To lighten taxes below the rate of Yao and Shun is to become a greater or lesser Mo tribe; to increase them is to become a greater or lesser Jie.”

Bai Gui said: “My flood control is better than Yu’s.” Mencius said: “You are wrong. Yu managed water by following water’s nature — he used the four seas as a drain. You are using neighboring states as your drain. When water flows against its nature, it is called a flood. A flood is a torrent — what the benevolent person detests. You are wrong, sir.”

Mencius said: “If the noble person is not sincere, what can he hold to?”

Lu was about to make Yuezheng Zi head of government. Mencius said: “When I heard this, I was so happy I could not sleep.” Gongsun Chou asked: “Is he strong? Is he wise? Is he well-informed?” Mencius said no to all three. “Then why are you happy?” “Because he loves goodness.” “Is loving goodness enough?” “Loving goodness is more than enough for the whole realm, let alone Lu! If a person loves goodness, people from within the four seas will think nothing of traveling a thousand li to tell him of good things. But if he does not love goodness, people will say ‘He already knows everything’ — and that complacent tone drives people a thousand li away. When scholars are kept at a thousand li’s distance, then slanderers, flatterers, and fawners arrive. Can one govern a state while surrounded by such people?”

Chen Zi asked: “Under what conditions did the noble persons of antiquity serve?” Mencius described three levels: the best is when one’s words are heeded and put into practice; the next is when one is at least treated with propriety; the lowest is being saved from starvation as an act of mercy.

Mencius said: “Shun rose from the fields; Fu Yue was raised from building walls; Jiao Ge from fish and salt; Guan Yiwu from prison; Sun Shuao from the sea; Baili Xi from the market.

When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a person, it first hardens his resolve, exhausts his muscles and bones, starves his body, impoverishes him, and thwarts everything he undertakes — so as to shake his heart, toughen his character, and enhance his abilities.

People constantly make mistakes, and only then can they correct themselves. Troubled in heart and pondering deeply, only then can they create. When it shows on their face and sounds in their voice, only then do people understand. Within, if there are no principled families or worthy counselors, and without, if there are no rival states or external threats — the state will always perish. Then one understands that life springs from sorrow and difficulty, and death comes from ease and pleasure.”

Mencius said: “Teaching has many methods. When I decline to teach someone, that too is a form of teaching.”