盡心下

Mencius said: “How unbenevolent was King Hui of Liang! The benevolent extend what they love to what they do not love; the unbenevolent extend what they do not love to what they love.” Gongsun Chou asked what this meant. Mencius said: “King Hui of Liang, for the sake of territory, ground up his people in war. Suffering a great defeat, he was about to try again, fearing he could not win, so he drove his beloved sons and brothers to die alongside them. This is extending what he does not love to what he loves.”

Mencius said: “In the Spring and Autumn period there were no righteous wars. Some were better than others, but a true expedition is when the superior attacks the inferior. Equals do not campaign against each other.”

Mencius said: “To fully trust the Documents would be worse than having no Documents at all. From the Wu Cheng chapter I accept only two or three bamboo strips. A benevolent person has no enemies under heaven. When the supremely benevolent attacks the supremely unbenevolent, why should blood flow enough to float pestles?”

Mencius said: “Someone who says ‘I am skilled at formations, I am skilled at warfare’ commits a great crime. If the ruler loves benevolence, he has no enemies in the realm. King Wu’s campaign against Yin used only three hundred war chariots and three thousand tiger warriors. He told the people: ‘Do not fear! I bring you peace, not enmity.’ And they bowed their heads to the ground. ‘Campaign’ means to correct. When each wishes to correct himself, what use is war?”

Mencius said: “The carpenter and wheelwright can give others compass and square, but cannot give them skill.”

Mencius said: “When Shun ate parched grain and wild plants, it was as if he would do so forever. When he became Son of Heaven, wearing embroidered robes, playing the lute, with Yao’s two daughters attending him, it was as if these had always been his.”

Mencius said: “Only now do I understand the gravity of killing another person’s kin. Kill someone’s father, and someone will kill yours. Kill someone’s brother, and someone will kill yours. You did not do it yourself, but you were only one step removed.”

Mencius said: “The passes of antiquity were made to stop violence. The passes of today are made to commit violence.”

Mencius said: “If you yourself do not practice the Way, it will not prevail even with your wife and children. If you employ people not according to the Way, you cannot command even your wife and children.”

Mencius said: “One rich in goodness — a bad year cannot destroy him. One rich in virtue — a corrupt age cannot confuse him.”

Mencius said: “A fame-loving person can yield a state of a thousand chariots. But if he is not truly such a person, you can see resentment on his face over a basket of food or a bowl of soup.”

Mencius said: “If the benevolent and worthy are not trusted, the state will be empty. Without propriety and righteous conduct, superiors and inferiors will be in disorder. Without good governance, there will be insufficient revenue.”

Mencius said: “An unbenevolent person may win a state — that has happened. But an unbenevolent person winning the whole realm — that has never happened.”

Mencius said: “The people are most important; the altars of soil and grain come next; the ruler is least important. Therefore one who gains the trust of the common people becomes Son of Heaven. One who gains the trust of the Son of Heaven becomes a feudal lord. One who gains the trust of the feudal lord becomes a great officer. When a feudal lord endangers the altars of soil and grain, he is replaced. When the sacrificial victims are properly prepared and the grain offerings are clean, and sacrifices are performed on time, yet drought and floods still come — then the altars themselves are replaced.”

Mencius said: “The sage is a teacher for a hundred generations — Bo Yi and Liuxia Hui are examples. Those who hear of Bo Yi’s character are inspired: the stubborn become honest, the timid develop determination. Those who hear of Liuxia Hui’s character are inspired: the mean become generous, the narrow become liberal. They inspired people across a hundred generations. Could anyone but a sage do this? How much more those who were personally influenced by them!”

Mencius said: “Benevolence is what makes a person human. When the two are combined, it is called the Way.”

Mencius said: “When Confucius left Lu, he said: ‘How slowly I travel!’ This is the way of leaving one’s homeland. When he left Qi, he took the rice from the steamer before it was done — this is the way of leaving another state.”

Mencius said: “The noble person’s hardship between Chen and Cai occurred because he had no connections with those in power.”

Mo Ji said: “I am severely criticized.” Mencius said: “No harm in that. Scholars always invite much criticism. The Odes say: ‘My heart is troubled; I am resented by the petty crowd.’ This was Confucius. ‘He did not extinguish his resentment, nor did he lose his reputation.’ This was King Wen.”

Mencius said: “The worthy of old used their own clarity to make others clear. Today they use their own muddleness to try to make others clear.”

Mencius said to Gao Zi: “A mountain trail: if used regularly, it becomes a path. If unused for a time, weeds block it. Now weeds are blocking your heart.”

Gao Zi said Yu’s music surpassed King Wen’s. Mencius asked why, and Gao Zi cited the worn bell-stand. Mencius replied: “Is that sufficient evidence? The ruts in a city gate — are they made by two horses’ strength?”

During a famine in Qi, Chen Zhen said: “Everyone thinks you, Master, will again request the opening of the Tang granary. Probably that cannot be done again.” Mencius said: “That would be to become a Feng Fu.” He told the story of Feng Fu, who had been a famous tiger-fighter, then became a gentleman — but when a crowd was chasing a tiger, Feng Fu rolled up his sleeves and jumped in. The crowd was pleased; the gentlemen laughed at him.

Mencius said: “The mouth’s relation to tastes, the eye’s to colors, the ear’s to sounds, the nose’s to smells, the body’s to comfort — these are nature, but there is also destiny, so the noble person does not call them nature alone. Benevolence in the parent-child relationship, righteous conduct in the ruler-minister relationship, propriety in the host-guest relationship, wisdom in the worthy person, the sage’s relation to the Way of heaven — these are destiny, but there is also nature, so the noble person does not call them destiny alone.”

Haosheng Buhai asked what kind of person Yuezheng Zi was. Mencius said: “A good person. A trustworthy person.” “What do ‘good’ and ‘trustworthy’ mean?” Mencius said: “What is desirable is called good. To have it in oneself is called trustworthy. To be full of it is called beautiful. Full and radiant is called great. Great and transforming is called sagely. Sagely and unfathomable is called divine. Yuezheng Zi stands in the middle of the first two and below the last four.”

Mencius said: “Those who flee Mohism must turn to Yangism; those who flee Yangism must turn to Confucianism. When they turn, simply accept them. Those who debate with Yang and Mo today are like chasing escaped pigs — once you have them in the pen, you must also bind their legs.”

Mencius said: “There are cloth levies, grain levies, and labor levies. The noble person uses one and defers the other two. Using two, the people starve. Using all three, fathers and sons are separated.”

Mencius said: “A feudal lord has three treasures: territory, people, and governance. One who prizes pearls and jade will surely meet with disaster.”

When Pen Cheng Kuo received office in Qi, Mencius said: “He is a dead man!” When Pen Cheng Kuo was indeed killed, a disciple asked: “How did you know?” Mencius said: “He was a man of small talent who had never heard the great Way of the noble person — just enough to get himself killed.”

When Mencius visited Teng, a pair of sandals was found missing from a windowsill. Someone asked: “Do your followers steal?” Mencius said: “Do you think I came here to steal sandals? Those who come to learn — I do not turn away those who come, nor do I pursue those who leave. If they come with the right heart, I simply accept them.”

Mencius said: “Everyone has things they cannot bear to do. Extend this to what they can bear, and that is benevolence. Everyone has things they will not do. Extend this to what they would do, and that is righteous conduct. If people can extend the heart that does not wish to harm others, benevolence will be more than sufficient. If people can extend the heart that refuses to bore through walls and climb over fences, righteous conduct will be more than sufficient.”

Mencius said: “Words that are near yet point far are good words. A Way that is simple yet broad in application is a good Way. The noble person’s words do not go below the belt, yet the Way is present in them. The noble person’s charge is to cultivate himself, and the whole realm is at peace. People’s trouble is that they neglect their own field to weed someone else’s — demanding much from others while being easy on themselves.”

Mencius said: “Yao and Shun acted from nature; Tang and Wu returned to it. When every movement and gesture accords with propriety, that is the fullness of virtue. When you grieve for the dead with genuine sorrow, it is not for the sake of the living. When you follow the path of virtue without deviation, it is not for the sake of salary. When your words are always trustworthy, it is not for the sake of correcting your behavior. The noble person practices the law and awaits his destiny — nothing more.”

Mencius said: “When speaking to a great man, look down on him and do not be awed by his grandeur. His hall is several fathoms high, his roof ornaments several feet wide — if I achieved my ambition, I would not do this. Food spread before him covers a square zhang, with hundreds of attendant women — if I achieved my ambition, I would not do this. Drinking, pleasure-seeking, hunting with a thousand carriages behind — if I achieved my ambition, I would not do this. What he has is what I would not do; what I have is the ancient institutions. Why should I stand in awe of him?”

Mencius said: “Nothing is better for nourishing the heart than having few desires. A person of few desires may lose some things, but they will be few. A person of many desires may preserve some things, but they will be few.”

Zeng Xi loved lamb dates, and after his death Zeng Zi could not bear to eat them. Gongsun Chou asked: “Which is better, sliced meat or lamb dates?” Mencius said: “Sliced meat, of course!” “Then why did Zeng Zi eat sliced meat but not lamb dates?” Mencius said: “Sliced meat is what everyone shares; lamb dates were his father’s particular fondness. One avoids the name, not the surname — because the surname is shared, but the name is personal.”

Wan Zhang asked: “When Confucius was in Chen, he said ‘Let me go home! The scholars of my school are bold and hasty, advancing yet not forgetting their beginnings.’ Why did Confucius in Chen think of Lu’s bold scholars?”

Mencius said: “Confucius said: ‘If I cannot find those who follow the middle way, I must turn to the bold and the cautious. The bold advance; the cautious have things they will not do.’ Confucius would have preferred the middle way, but when he could not be sure of finding it, he thought of the next best.”

Mencius then discussed the ‘village worthy’ — one who is universally praised, appears virtuous in every way, yet cannot enter the Way of Yao and Shun. Confucius called the village worthy ‘the thief of virtue’ because he resembles virtue without being it, just as weeds resemble grain, glibness resembles trustworthiness, and popular music resembles true music. “The noble person simply returns to principle. When principle is correct, the common people rise up; when the common people rise up, wickedness disappears.”

Mencius said: “From Yao and Shun to Tang, over five hundred years. Yu and Gao Yao saw them and knew; Tang heard of them and knew. From Tang to King Wen, over five hundred years. Yi Yin and Lai Zhu saw him and knew; King Wen heard of him and knew. From King Wen to Confucius, over five hundred years. Taigong Wang and San Yisheng saw him and knew; Confucius heard of him and knew. From Confucius to the present, a little over a hundred years. The distance from the sage’s age is so short! The nearness to the sage’s home is so close! Yet there is no one — indeed, there is no one.”