[2B1] Mencius said, “Heaven’s seasons are less crucial than earth’s advantages, and earth’s advantages less crucial than human accord. There is a city with an inner wall of three li in circumference and an outer wall of seven li: it may be surrounded and attacked but cannot be taken. To surround and attack it requires Heaven’s seasonableness; that it cannot be taken is because Heaven’s seasons are less crucial than earth’s advantages. There is another city: it is not that its walls are not high, it moats deep, its weapons potent, or its food supply abundant, but it must be abandoned because earth’s advantages are less crucial than human accord. Therefore it is said, ‘A people is not bounded by the limits of its borders; a state is not secured by the ruggedness of its mountains and valleys; the world is not awed by the sharpness of its weapons.’
“One who attains the Way has many to assist him; one who loses the Way has few. One who is assisted by a few ultimately finds that he is abandoned even by his relatives, while one who is assisted by many ultimately finds that he is followed by the whole world. When he uses the strength of one who is followed by the whole world to attack one who has been abandoned even by his own relatives, the noble person may not need to fight, or, if he does fight, he will surely prevail.”
[2B2] Mencius was about to go to court to see the king when the king sent someone to say, “I would have liked to come to see you, but, having a cold, cannot be exposed to the wind. In the morning I shall hold court and wonder whether it will be possible to see you?”
Mencius replied, “Unfortunately, I am ill and cannot come to court.”
The next day, as Mencius was setting out on a condolence visit to the Dongguo family, Gongsun Chou said, “Yesterday you excused yourself on ground of illness, while today you are undertaking a visit of condolence. Surely your action must be improper in either one case or the other?”1
Mencius said, “Yesterday I was ill; today I am better. Why should I not pay this visit of condolence?”
The king sent someone to inquire about Mencius’s illness; a doctor came as well. Meng Zhongzi2 replied, saying, “Yesterday, when the king’s order arrived, he had a slight illness and could not come to court. Today his illness is a little better, and he hastened to go to court. I do not know whether or not he was able to get there.”
He sent several persons to look for Mencius along the road and say to him, “Please by all means go to court before returning home.”
Mencius felt obliged to go to spend the night at Jing Chou’s. Master Jing said, “Within the family there is the relation between father and son; without, there is the relation between ruler and minister. These are the greatest of human relations. The relation between father and son is based on kindness [en 
]; the relation between ruler and minister, on respect [jing 
]. I have seen the king’s respect for the Master but have yet to see the Master’s respect for the king.”
Mencius said, “What do you mean by saying such a thing? Among the people of Qi there are none who speak to the king of humaneness and rightness. Could it be that they find that humaneness and rightness are not admirable? Rather, in their hearts they say, ‘This is not a fit person with whom to discuss humaneness and rightness.’ There is no greater lack of respect than this. I dare not set forth before the king anything but the Way of Yao and Shun, and therefore there is no one among the people of Qi who respects the king as much as I do.”
Master Jing said, “No, this is not what I meant. It says in the Book of Rites, ‘When the father calls, the response should be immediate. When the ruler commands, there may be no waiting for a carriage.’3 You were indeed going to court when you heard the king’s command, but then you did not go. It would seem that this was not consistent with the rites.”
Mencius said, “How can you say this? Zengzi said, ‘The wealth of Jin and Chu cannot be equaled. They have their wealth; I have my humaneness. They have their rank; I have my rightness. Why should I feel dissatisfied?’ Since Zengzi said this, how could it not be right? Though the Way is one, there are three things in the world that are universally honored: one is rank, one is age, and one is Virtue. At court, rank is most important; in the villages, it is age; in caring for the world and looking after the people, it is Virtue. How can having one of these be regarded as cause for belittling the other two?
“Therefore a ruler who is to accomplish great deeds must have ministers whom he does not just summon. When he wishes to consult them he goes to them. If he does not honor Virtue and delight in the Way to this extent, then it is not worth associating with him. Thus there was the relation between Tang and Yi Yin: Tang learned of him and then he made him a minister, after which he had no trouble becoming a true king. There was the relation between Duke Huan and Guan Zhong: Duke Huan heard of him and then he made him a minister, after which he had no trouble becoming a hegemon.
“In the world of today the territories of the states are equal and the Virtue of their rulers is comparable, with none being able to excel among the others. They like to make ministers of those whom they teach and do not like to make ministers of those by whom they may be taught. Tang’s relation with Yi Yin and Duke Huan’s relation with Guan Zhong were such that they did not dare summon them [but went to them instead]. If even Guan Zhong could not be summoned, how much less so one who would not be a Guan Zhong.”4
[2B3] Chen Zhen asked, “On a former occasion, when you were in Qi, the king sent a hundred yi,5 which you did not accept. You did, however, accept seventy yi sent to you while you were in Song and fifty yi sent to you while you were in Xie. If it was right not to accept what was sent on the prior occasion, then to have accepted what was sent on the subsequent occasions must have been wrong. If accepting on the subsequent occasions was right, then not accepting on the prior occasion must have been wrong. Surely you must resolve this one way or the other.”
Mencius said, “It was right in each case. When I was in Song, I was about to undertake a long journey, and a traveler must be sent off with a parting gift. The message said, ‘Sent as a parting gift.’ How could I not have accepted it? When I was in Xie, my mind was occupied with the need for safety precautions. The message said, ‘Having heard of the need for precautions, I am sending this to provide for protection.’ How could I not have accepted it? When I was in Qi, there was no occasion for a gift, and to send someone a gift in the absence of any occasion for it is bribery. Is it possible to procure a noble person with a bribe?”
[2B4] When Mencius went to Pinglu,6 he said to its governor, Kong Juxin, “If you had a lancer who broke rank three times in a single day, would you get rid of him or not?”
The answer was, “I would not wait for the third time.”
Yet you, sir, have also ‘broken rank’ many times. In disastrous years, in years of famine, thousands of your people who were old and weak were left to tumble over into drains and ditches, while those who were strong were scattered in the four directions.”
“This is not something that is within my capacity to control!”
“Now here is a person who accepts the responsibility for another man’s oxen and sheep, and, as he is supposed to care for them, he must search for pasture and fodder. But if, though he searches, he cannot find pasture and fodder, shall he return them to their owner or stand by and watch them die?”
“In this I have been at fault.”
Another day Mencius went to see the king and said, “I know five of the persons who govern towns in your state, and the only one who recognizes his faults is Kong Juxin—and he recounted the story for the king.
The king said, “In this it is I who am at fault.”
[2B5] Mencius said to Chi Wa, “It would seem that when you declined the governorship of Lingqiu and asked to be made chief judge,7 it was so that you would be able to speak out. Now several months have passed. Have you not yet been able to speak?”
Chi Wa remonstrated with the king, and, when his advice was not followed, he resigned his office and departed.
There was a man of Qi who said, “When he was deciding on behalf of Chi Wa, Mencius did well enough, but when it comes to deciding about himself, I do not know.”
When Gongduzi8 told this to Mencius, he replied, “I have heard that one who holds an office will resign if he cannot fulfill his duties. He resigns if he has the responsibility for speaking out but cannot speak. I hold no office, nor have I the responsibility for speaking out. Why should I not have the latitude to decide freely whether to remain or to retire?”
[2B6] When Mencius was a high official in Qi, he went to Teng on a mission of condolence,9 and the king appointed the governor of Ke, Wang Huan, to assist him. Wang Huan was in attendance morning and night, but in the course of the journey from Qi to Teng and back again, Mencius never once spoke with him about the purpose of the mission on which they were engaged. Gongsun Chou said, “Your position as an official of Qi is hardly a minor one, nor is the road from Qi to Teng short. Why is it that at no point in the journey there and back again did you ever speak with him about the mission on which you were engaged?” Mencius replied, “There were others who were in charge of these matters. What need had I to speak of them?”
[2B7] Mencius went from Qi to Lu to bury his mother and, on his return to Qi, stopped in Ying. Chung Yu asked, “On a former occasion, not realizing my lack of capacity, you appointed me to oversee the making of the coffins. Under the circumstances I did not presume to ask, yet now humbly request to inquire about this: it seemed that the wood was too fine.”
Mencius said, “In antiquity there were no rules concerning the inner or the outer coffin. In middle antiquity both the inner and the outer coffins were supposed to be seven inches thick, and this was true for everyone from the Son of Heaven to the common people. This was not simply for the sake of a beautiful appearance but because it allowed, at the last, for the full expression of people’s hearts. If people were not permitted to do this, they could not feel satisfaction, and if they did not have the means to do it, they also could not feel satisfaction. The ancients, if they were able to do this, and had the means to do it, all employed this practice. Why should I alone not have done so? Moreover, is it not a comfort to the mind to keep the earth from touching the bodies of those we love who have been transformed in death? I have heard that the noble person would not for anything in the world stint when it came to his parents.
[2B8] In a private conversation Shen Tong asked, “May the state of Yan be chastised?”10
Mencius said, “It may. Zikuai was not entitled to give Yan to someone else, nor was Zizhi entitled to receive Yan from Zikuai.11 Suppose there were an officer here and that you were pleased with him. Suppose that, without informing the king, you took it upon yourself to give this officer your own emolument and rank and that he, again without the king’s order, took it upon himself to receive them from you. Would this be acceptable? And how would it be any different from what happened in Yan?”12
The people of Qi did chastise Yan.
Someone asked Mencius, “Did you actually advise Qi to chastise Yan?” Mencius replied, “No. Shen Tong asked whether Yan might be chastised; I replied that it might. They went ahead and attacked it. Had he asked, ‘Who may chastise it?’ I would have replied that a minister appointed by Heaven might chastise it. Now suppose there were a murderer. If someone asked, ‘May he be put to death?’ I would reply that he might. If he asked, ‘Who may put him to death?’ I would reply that the chief judge might put him to death. How would I have advised that one Yan should chastise another Yan?”13
[2B9] The people of Yan having rebelled, the king of Qi said, “I am deeply ashamed to confront Mencius.”
Chen Jia said, “The king should not be troubled about this. Whom does the king consider more humane and wise—himself or the Duke of Zhou?” The king said, “What kind of question is that?”
Chen Jia said, “The Duke of Zhou appointed Guanshu to oversee Yin, but Guanshu used Yin to stage a rebellion. If he appointed him while knowing this, he cannot have been humane. If he appointed him without knowing it, he was not wise. If the Duke of Zhou was not completely humane or completely wise, how much less could anyone expect this of the king? I beg leave to go to see Mencius and explain this.”
He went to see Mencius and asked, “What kind of man was the Duke of Zhou?”
Mencius replied, “He was a sage of antiquity”
Did it happen that he appointed Guanshu to oversee Yin and that Guanshu used Yin to stage a rebellion?”
“It did.”
“Did the Duke of Zhou appoint him knowing that he would rebel?”
“He did not know.”
“Then even sages make mistakes?”
“The Duke of Zhou was the younger brother; Guanshu was the older brother. Was not the Duke of Zhou’s mistake at the same time also correct? Besides, when the noble persons of antiquity made mistakes, they corrected them, whereas the noble persons of today persist in their errors. The mistakes of the noble persons of antiquity were like eclipses of the sun and moon. The people could all see them. Once they had corrected these mistakes, the people all looked up to them.14 And do the noble persons of today only persist in their mistakes? No, they also go on to make excuses for them.”
[2B10] Having resigned his office, Mencius was returning home. The king came to see him and said, “In the past, I wanted to see you but could not. Then, to my great delight, I got to serve with you in the same court. But now you are once again about to abandon me and return home. I do not know whether in time to come I may be able to see you again?”
Mencius replied, “Though I did not presume to ask, this is certainly what I would wish.”
Another day the king said to Shizi, “I would like to give Mencius a house in the middle of the state and a stipend of ten thousand zhong15 to support his disciples, so that the officers and all the people of the state will have an example to honor and emulate. How would it be if you, sir, were to speak with him about this for me?”
Shizi relied on Chenzi16 to inform Mencius. When Chenzi reported Shizi’s words to Mencius, Mencius said, “Very well, but how could someone like Shizi know that this is impossible? Perhaps he supposes that I am one who desires wealth. Would one desirous of wealth decline a hundred thousand in order to accept ten thousand?
“Ji Sun said, ‘How strange was Zishu Yi! He promoted himself to serve in government, but as his counsel was not followed, he had to retire. He then promoted his own son and younger brother to serve as high officials. Who is there who does not desire wealth and honor? But in the midst of wealth and honor he alone had his own private “high mound.” ’
“In antiquity the markets existed for the purpose of allowing people to exchange what they had for what they lacked, and the officials simply supervised it. But there was a greedy fellow who would seek out a ‘high mound’ and climb it, looking right and left in order to capture all the profit in the market. People all found him greedy, and so they taxed him. The taxing of merchants began with that greedy fellow.”
[2B11] After he left Qi, Mencius was lodging in Zhou17 when a person who wished to detain him on behalf of the king sat down and spoke to him. Mencius did not respond but leaned on his armrest and went to sleep. The guest was not pleased and said, “Only after passing the night in fasting did I dare to speak, but you sleep and do not listen. You must pardon me if I do not request any further interviews with you.”
Mencius said, “Sit down; I will make this clear to you. In the time of Duke Mu of Lu,18 unless the duke had kept someone at Zisi’s19 side, he could not have assured Zisi’s peace of mind. And unless Xie Liu20 and Shen Xiang21 had someone at Duke Mu’s side, he could not have assured their sense of security. You, sir, are concerned about me, yet not to the point where you treat me as Zisi was treated. Are you breaking with me or am I breaking with you?”
[2B12] After Mencius had left Qi, Yin Shi said to someone, “If he did not know that the king could not become a Tang or a Wu,22 then he was not very bright, and if he knew that he could not and came anyway, then he was seeking his own enrichment. He came a thousand li to see a king and, having failed, he left. But it took him three nights before he got beyond Zhou—how slow and reluctant was this departure! I am most disappointed about this.”
When Gaozi23 reported this, Mencius said, “How could someone like Yin Shi understand me? I came a thousand li to see a king. This was what I desired to do. But, having failed, I left. How could this have been what I desired to do? I could do nothing else. When I spent three nights before leaving Zhou, in my own mind this still was departing in haste. I was hoping that the king would change. Had he changed, he would have recalled me. Only after I had left Zhou without the king’s having recalled me did I have an overwhelming compulsion to return home.
“Even so, how can it be said that I abandoned the king? The king is still able to do good. If the king were to use me, could it happen that this would bring peace to the people of Qi only? The people of the entire world would be at peace. I am hoping that the king will change. Daily I look forward to this.
“How could I be like the small people who remonstrate with their ruler and, when their remonstration is not accepted, become angry. They then depart, their faces full of rage, and exhaust all their strength traveling for an entire day before stopping for the night.”
When Yin Shi heard this he said, “I am truly a small person.”
[2B13] As Mencius was departing Qi, Chong Yu questioned him along the way, saying, “From your expression it would seem that you are unhappy. Yet on a former occasion I heard you [quoting Confucius] say, ‘The noble person neither repines against Heaven nor reproaches men.’”24
“That age was one time; this is another.25 In five hundred years a true king should appear, and in between there should be men renowned in their generation. From the beginning of the Zhou it has been more than seven hundred years. Given that number, the time is past due, and considering the circumstances, it is still possible. Heaven does not yet want to bring peace to the world. If it wanted to bring peace to the world, who is there in the present age apart from me? Why should I be unhappy?”26
[2B14] After Mencius left Qi, he lived in Xiu. Gongsong Chou asked him, “Was it the way in antiquity to serve in office without receiving an emolument?”
“No. When I had an audience with the king in Chong, my intention had been to withdraw and to leave. I had no inclination to change my intention, and therefore I received no salary. Then there was an order for the mobilization of troops, and it was not possible to request permission to leave. To remain long in Qi had not been my intention.”
Notes
1. That is, either Mencius should not have pleaded illness yesterday, or he should not have undertaken the condolence visit today.
2. Apparently one of Mencius’s relatives.
3. Passages similar in content to what is quoted here are found in the “Quli 
“chapter of the Book of Rites.
5. Yi 
was the name of a mint town in Qi during this period and apparently also a unit of currency. See Wang Yuquan, Early Chinese Coinage, 187, cited in W. A. C. H. Dobson, trans., Mencius (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963), 198.
6. A border town in the state of Qi.
7. Following Charles O. Hucker’s translation of shishi 
in A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1985), 428, s. v. entry 5299.
8. A disciple of Mencius’s.
9. To be present for the obsequies of Duke Wen of Teng.
10. That is, can Yan be attacked as a punishment?
11. Zikuai, the ruler of the state of Yan, offered the rulership to his minister, Zizhi, apparently not suspecting that Zizhi would accept. He did. Mencius faults both men for improper behavior.
12. There is, of course, a difference in that the actions of the ruler of Yan at least had the royal endorsement (his own) that the two officers in Mencius’s hypothetical case did not have.
13. In other words, Qi, being much like Yan in terms of the quality of its government, was not a suitable agent to intervene in Yan.
14. The preceding three sentences are very close to the Analects 19:21.
15. A zhong 
was a measure of volume, in this case for an official allowance of grain.
16. According to Zhao Qi’s commentary, Chenzi was Chen Zhen, a disciple of Mencius’s, who appears in 2B3.
17. A town in the southwest of Qi.
18. Known as Duke Xian, he ruled in Lu from the late fifth to the early fourth centuries B.C.E.
19. Zisi was the grandson of Confucius. The idea is that someone had to be with Zisi to assure him of the duke’s respect and regard.
20. An official who served under Duke Mu, he is referred to in 3B7 and again, under the name Ziliu, in 6B6.
21. According to some sources, he was the son of Confucius’s disciple Zizhang.
22. Reputed founders of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, respectively.
23. Not the Gaozi of 2A2 or of 6A1–4 and 6A6, but a disciple whose name is written with a different Chinese character. See also 6B3, 7B21, and 7B22.
24. The quote is from the Analects 14:37.
25. That is to say, the time when Confucius first said the line that Chong Yu recounts is different from the current age. Mencius is not saying the line Chong Yu cites is inapplicable in his case, which is what readers will be misled to think from most English translations of this passage. Instead, Mencius introduces a short discourse on how their historical situation differs from that of Confucius. His point is that in this later age, the coming of a sage or great worthy is far past due. Given that there is no one else but Mencius to fulfill such roles, why would he be unhappy? See 7B38.
26. Some commentators have suggested that the attitude toward Heaven revealed in this passage is similar to the attitude of Confucius expressed in the Analects 9:5: “If Heaven had intended to destroy this culture, later mortals would not have been able to share in it. And if Heaven is not going to destroy this culture, what can the people of Kuang do to me?”