[5A1] Wan Zhang1 asked, “When Shun went to the fields, weeping and crying out to merciful Heaven, why was it that he wept and cried?”
Mencius said, “It was from grief and longing.”
Wan Zhang said, “When his father and mother love him, he should be glad and never forget them. If his father and mother hate him, ‘though he may suffer, he should not be aggrieved.’2 Was Shun then aggrieved?”3
Mencius said, “Chang Xi asked Gongming Gao,4 ‘As to Shun’s going to the fields, I have heard your instructions, but I do not know about his weeping and crying out to merciful Heaven and to his parents.’ Gongming Gao said, ‘This is something you do not understand.’ Gongming Gao thought that the mind of the filial son could not be so dispassionate as this.5 [Shun said] ‘In devoting my strength to tilling the fields, I am fulfilling my duties as a son, nothing more. What is there in me that causes my father and mother not to love me?’
“The sovereign, Yao, caused his children, nine sons and two daughters, his officers, oxen and sheep, granaries and storehouses, to be prepared to serve Shun in the channeled fields, and he was sought out by many of the men of service in the realm. It was the intention of the sovereign to have Shun join him in overseeing the realm and then to transfer it to him. But because he was not in harmony with his parents, Shun was like a poor man with no home to return to.
“To have the approval of the men of service of the realm is something everyone desires, yet this was not enough to dispel his sorrow. To have the love of women is something every man desires, and Shun had as wives the two daughters of the sovereign, yet this was not enough to dispel his sorrow. Wealth is something everyone desires, and he had the wealth that comes with possessing the realm, yet this was not enough to dispel his sorrow. Honor is something that everyone desires, and he had the honor of becoming the Son of Heaven, but this was not enough to dispel his sorrow. The reason why the approval of men, the love of women, wealth, and honor were not enough to dispel his sorrow was that it was a sorrow that could be dispelled only by being in harmony with his parents.
“A person when young longs for his father and mother; when he comes to know the love of women, he longs for young and beautiful women; when he has a wife and child, he longs for his wife and child. When he has an office, he longs for his ruler, and if he does not gain the regard of his ruler, he burns within. The person of great filial devotion longs throughout his life for his father and mother. In the great Shun there was manifested one who, at the age of fifty, still longed for them.”
[5A2] Wan Zhang asked, “The ode says,
To marry a wife, what should one do?
He must inform his parents.6
“If it were truly as it says here, no one should have known it better than Shun. Why did Shun marry without informing them?”
Mencius said, “If he had informed them, they would not have allowed him to marry. For a man and a woman to live together is the greatest of human relationships. To have informed his parents, and then to have had to forgo this greatest of human relationships, would have resulted in antagonism between him and his parents. This is why he did not inform them.”
Wan Zhang said, “As to why Shun married without telling his parents, I have now received your instruction. But how was it that the sovereign, Yao, gave his daughters to Shun in marriage without having informed Shun’s parents?”
“The sovereign, too, knew that if he informed them, he could not have given his daughters to Shun in marriage.”
Wan Zhang said, “Shun’s parents sent him to repair a granary, and, having removed the ladder, Shun’s father, the Blind Man,7 set the granary ablaze. They sent him to dig a well, and, having followed him out, they then covered it over. Shun’s half brother, Xiang, said, ‘Credit for the plan to immolate this lord-who-creates-capitals8 rests solely with me. Let his oxen and sheep go to my parents, and also his storehouses and granaries. His spear will be mine; his lute will be mine; and his bow will be mine. My two sisters-in-law shall be put in charge of my women’s quarters.’ Xiang went to Shun’s palace, and there was Shun on his couch, playing the lute. Xiang said, ‘I have been concerned only for you, my lord.’ He was embarrassed. Shun said, ‘My sole concern has been for my subjects. You should govern them on my behalf.’ Could it have been that Shun did not know that Xiang had tried to kill him?”
Mencius said, “How could he not have known? When Xiang was anxious, he, too, was anxious, and when Xiang was glad, he too was glad.”
“Then was Shun just pretending to be glad?”
“No. Once, someone gave a live fish to Zichan of Zheng. Zichan instructed his pond keeper to put it into a fishpond, but the pond keeper cooked it. Going back to report, he said, ‘When I first released it, it still seemed trapped, but after a little while it came into its own and joyfully swam away.’ Zichan said, ‘It came into its element! It came into its element!’ The pond keeper went out and said, ‘Who says that Zichan is wise? I cooked the fish and ate it, and he said, “It came into its element! It came into its element!” ’
“Thus, a noble man may be taken in by what is right, but he cannot be misled by what is contrary to the Way. Xiang came in the way that brotherly love should have impelled him to do, and therefore Shun believed him and was glad. In what way was he pretending?”
[5A3] Wan Zhang asked, “Xiang took as his daily occupation the cause of murdering Shun. Why, then, was it that Shun, upon becoming Son of Heaven, banished him?”9
Mencius said, “He enfeoffed him. Some referred to this as banishing him.”
Wan Zhang said, “Shun sent the minister of works10 to Youzhou and banished Huan Dou to Mount Chung. He put the Sanmiao11 to death in Sanwei and imprisoned Kun12 on Mount Yu. When he responded thus to the crimes of these four, everyone in the world was in agreement.13 He had cut off those who were not humane. Yet Xiang, who was the most inhumane among them, was enfeoffed at Youbi. What crime had the people of Youbi committed? How could a humane person have done this? In the case of other people, he punished them, but when it came to his brother, he enfeoffed him.”
“A humane man does not store up anger against his brother, nor harbor grievances against him. He simply loves him; that is all. Loving him, he desires him to be honored; loving him, he desires him to be wealthy. His enfeoffment at Youbi was to make Xiang wealthy and honored. If, while Shun himself was sovereign his brother had been a common man, could he be said to have loved him?”
“May I venture to ask what you meant when you said, ‘Some referred to this as banishing him’?”
“Xiang could take no action in his state. The Son of Heaven appointed officials to administer the state and to collect the tribute and taxes from it, which is why it was called ‘banishment.’ How could he have been allowed to oppress the people? However, Shun frequently wanted to see him, and so there was a constant flow of people coming to court. This is what was meant by the saying, ‘He did not wait for the time of tribute or for affairs of government to receive the lord of Youbi.’”
[5A4] Xianqiu Meng14 asked, “There is a saying that ‘a ruler cannot regard a scholar of consummate Virtue as a subject, nor can a father regard him as a son.’ Shun stood facing south, and Yao, at the head of all the lords, faced north and paid homage to him. Gusou also faced north and paid homage to him. When Shun saw Gusou, his countenance was disquieted. Confucius said, ‘At this time all-under-Heaven was in danger—in imminent peril!’ I do not know whether this is true.”
Mencius said, “These are not the words of a noble person. They are the words of an uncultivated person from the east of Qi. When Yao was old, Shun assisted him. The ‘Canon of Yao’ says,
After twenty-eight years Fang Xun15 died.
It was as if the people had lost a father or a mother.
For three years, no music16 was heard within the four seas.17
Confucius said, ‘In the sky there are not two suns, nor do the people have two kings.’ If Shun had already become Son of Heaven before Yao died and also led the lords in all-under-Heaven in observing the three years’ mourning for Yao, this would have meant there were two Sons of Heaven at the same time.”
Xianqiu Meng said, “I have received your instruction about Shun’s not treating Yao as a subject. Yet the ode says,
There is no place under Heaven
That is not the king’s land.
No one within the borders
Who is not the king’s subject.18
I venture to ask, When Shun became Son of Heaven, what could his father have been if not his subject?”
“This ode does not mean what you suggest. It speaks of laboring at the king’s business and not being able to nurture one’s parents. It says, ‘This is all the king’s business. Why am I alone worthy to serve?’ Thus, in explaining an ode, one should not use a word to distort a phrase nor use a phrase to distort the overall intent. If one thinks about understanding the intent, one will get it. If one thinks solely in terms of phrases, there is the ode ‘Milky Way,’ which says,
Of the black-haired people remaining from the Zhou
Not a single one survived.19
If one took these words literally, the Zhou would have had no survivors.
“Of the attainments of a filial child, there is none greater than honoring one’s parents, and among the honors paid to one’s parents, there is none greater than nurturing them with all-under-Heaven. To be the father of the Son of Heaven is the ultimate honor, and to be nurtured with all-under-Heaven is the ultimate nurturing. This is what is meant by the ode when it says,
So long did he express his filial thoughts,
That his filial thoughts became a model.20
The Classic of Documents says,
Reverently performing his duties,
He appeared before Gusou—awestruck, fearful, grave.
And Gusou was also transformed.21
Can this be understood as a case of a father not treating a scholar of consummate Virtue as a son?”
[5A5] Wan Zhang said, “Did it happen that Yao gave the realm to Shun?”
Mencius said, “No. The Son of Heaven cannot give the realm to someone.”
“But Shun did possess the realm. Who gave it to him?”
“Heaven gave it to him.”
“When Heaven gave it to him, did it ordain this through repeated instructions?”
“No. Heaven does not speak. This was manifested simply through Shun’s actions and his conduct of affairs.”
“In what way was this manifested through his actions and his conduct of affairs?”
“The Son of Heaven can present a man to Heaven, but he cannot cause Heaven to give him the realm. The lords can present a man to the Son of Heaven, but they cannot cause the Son of Heaven to make him a lord. A great officer can present a man to the lords, but he cannot cause the lords to make him a great officer. In antiquity Yao presented Shun to Heaven, and it was Heaven that accepted him. He displayed him to the people, and the people accepted him. This is why I said that ‘Heaven does not speak.’ This was manifested solely through his actions and his conduct of affairs.”
“I venture to ask how it was that Yao presented him to Heaven and Heaven accepted him, and he showed him to the people and the people accepted him?”
“He caused him to preside over the sacrifices, and the hundred spirits enjoyed them. This shows that Heaven accepted him. He put him in charge of affairs, and affairs were well ordered, and the hundred surnames22 were at peace. This shows that the people accepted him. Heaven gave it to him; the people gave it to him. This is why I said that ‘the Son of Heaven cannot give the realm to someone.’ Shun assisted Yao for twenty-eight years. This is not something that could have been brought about by a human being. It was Heaven. After Yao died, and the three years’ mourning was completed, Shun withdrew from Yao’s son and went south of the South River. But the lords of the realm, when they went to court, went not to Yao’s son but to Shun. Litigants went not to Yao’s son but to Shun. Singers sang not of Yao’s son but of Shun. This is why I said, ‘It was Heaven.’ It was after all this that he went to the central states and ascended to the position of the Son of Heaven. If he had just taken up residence in Yao’s palace and ousted Yao’s son, this would have been usurpation and not Heaven’s gift. The ‘Great Declaration’ says,
Heaven sees as my people see,
Heaven hears as my people hear.23
“This is what was meant.”
[5A6] Wan Zhang asked, “Some people say that Yu’s Virtue was weak and he did not transmit the power to rule to someone worthy but rather to his own son. Is this true?”
Mencius said, “No, that is not true. When Heaven gave the power to rule to the worthiest, it was given to the worthiest. When Heaven gave it to a son, it was given to a son. Shun presented Yu to Heaven. Seventeen years passed, and Shun died. At the end of the three years’ mourning, Yu withdrew from Shun’s son to Yangcheng. The people of the realm followed Yu. It was as it was after Yao died and they did not follow Yao’s son but followed Shun. Yu presented his minister, Yi, to Heaven, and after seven years, Yu died. At the end of the three years’ mourning, Yi withdrew from Yu’s son to the north of Mount Qi. Those going for an audience at court and those engaged in litigation did not follow Yi but followed Yu’s son, Qi. They said, “This is the son of our ruler.” The singers did not sing about Yi but sang about Qi, saying, “This is the son of our ruler.”
“Danzhu24 was not equal to his father, and Shun’s son was also not equal to his father. Shun assisted Yao, and Yu assisted Shun, and as this went on over the course of years, they conveyed rich benefits upon the people over a long period of time. Qi was worthy and able reverently to continue the Way of Yu. Yi had assisted Yu for only a few years, and he had not been able to confer rich benefits upon the people for a long period of time. Shun and Yu differed from Yi in their periods of service, and their sons differed greatly in their worthiness. All this was owing to Heaven and was not something that could be brought about by human beings. What happens without anyone’s causing it is owing to Heaven; what comes about without anyone’s accomplishing it is the mandate.
“A common man who comes to possess all-under-Heaven must have Virtue comparable to that of Shun and Yu and also the recommendation of the Son of Heaven. This is why Confucius never possessed all-under-Heaven. One who has inherited all-under-Heaven is put aside only by Heaven if he is like Jie or Zhou. This is why Yi, Yi Yin, and the Duke of Zhou did not possess all-under-Heaven. Yi Yin assisted Tang in becoming king of all-under-Heaven. Tang died, and Tai Ding not having been appointed ruler, Wai Bing ruled for two years and Zhong Ren for four years. Tai Jia overturned the laws of Tang, and Yi Yin banished him to Tung for three years. Tai Jia came to regret his errors, to repent and redeem himself, dwelling in humaneness and reforming himself in rightness. After three more years, during which he listened to the instructions of Yi Yin, he returned to Bo.
“That the Duke of Zhou did not possess all-under Heaven was like the case of Yi in the state of Xia or like Yi Yin in the Yin. Confucius said, ‘In Tang and Yu,25 the succession occurred through abdication; in Xia, Yin, and Zhou, it was hereditary. The principle is the same.’”
[5A7] Wan Zhang asked, “People say that Yi Yin sought the attention of Tang26 through his cooking. Was this so?”
Mencius said, “No, it was not so. Yi Yin farmed in the lands of the ruler of Xin, and there he delighted in the Way of Yao and Shun. Had it involved anything contrary to rightness or to the Way, though he were offered rule over the empire, he would not have considered it, and though a thousand teams of horses were yoked for him, he would not have given them a glance. Had it involved anything contrary to rightness or to the Way, he would neither have given the smallest trifle to anyone nor accepted the smallest trifle from anyone. Tang sent a messenger with presents by way of entreaty, and, with utter indifference, Yi Yin said, ‘What could I do with Tang’s presents? Wouldn’t it be better to be amidst these fields, delighting in the Way of Yao and Shun?’
“After Tang sent messengers three times to entreat him, he changed and, with altered countenance, said, ‘Were I allowed to remain amidst these fields, I might delight in the Way of Yao and Shun. But might it not be better if I caused this ruler to become a Yao or a Shun? Might it not be better if I caused this people to become the people of Yao and Shun? Might it not be better if I saw these things for myself in my own person? Heaven, in giving birth to this people, causes those who are first to know to awaken those who are later to know and causes those who are first awakened to awaken those who are later to be awakened. I am one of those of Heaven’s people who has awakened first; I will take this Way and use it to awaken this people. If I do not awaken them, who will do so?’ He thought that if, among the people in the world, there was a common man or common woman who did not share in the benefits of Yao and Shun, it was as if he himself had pushed them into a ditch. So it was that he took upon himself the responsibility for the heavy weight of the world.27
“Therefore he went to Tang and spoke with him about attacking the Xia and saving the people.
“I have not heard of one who bent himself and, in so doing, straightened others. How much less could one disgrace himself and in so doing correct the world! The sages have differed in their actions. Some have kept their distance; others have approached. Some have departed; others have not. The point of convergence has been in keeping their persons pure, that is all. I have heard of seeking the attention of Tang through the Way of Yao and Shun; I have not heard of doing so through cooking.
“The ‘Instructions of Yi’ says,
Heaven began its punishment
With an attack on the Palace of Mu.
I began with Bo.”28
[5A8] Wan Zhang asked Mencius, “Some say that Confucius, while he was living in Wei, stayed with Yung Ju29 and, while he was living in Qi, with the attendant30 Ji Huan. Is this true?”
Mencius said, “No, it is not true. Such stories are devised by those who are fond of invention. When he was in Wei, he lived with Yen Chouyou. The wife of the officer Mi was the sister of the wife of Zilu, and officer Mi told Zilu, ‘If Confucius stays with me, he should be able to become a high official of Wei.’ Zilu told this to Confucius, who said, ‘There is the Mandate.’ Confucius advanced according to ritual and withdrew according to rightness. As to his attaining or not attaining office, he said, ‘There is the Mandate.’ If he had stayed with Yung Ju or the attendant Ji Huan, this would have been in accord neither with rightness nor with the Mandate.
“Not having been well received in Lu and in Wei, Confucius, on his departure, encountered Huan,31 the master of horses in Song, who wanted to kill him. He passed through Song disguised in the clothing of a common man. At that time, though in circumstances of distress, he stayed with the city master Zhenzi, who was then an official of Zhou, the lord of Chen.
“I have heard that one may judge a person by those whom he hosts when he is at home and by those who host him when he is traveling. If Confucius had stayed with Yong Ju or the attendant Ji Huan, how would he have been Confucius?”
[5A9] Wan Zhang asked, “Some say that Boli Xi sold himself to an animal herder in Qin for the skins of five sheep and fed his oxen in order to procure an introduction to Duke Mu of Qin. Is this true?”
Mencius said, “It is not true. Such stories are devised by those who are fond of invention. Boli Xi was a man of Yu. The people of Jin offered Yu the jade ceremonial disk of Chui Ji and the horses of Qu as a means of borrowing a path through Yu in order to attack Guo. Gong Zhiqi remonstrated,32 while Boli Xi did not. He knew that the Duke of Yu could not be remonstrated with, and so he left for Qin. This was when he was at the age of seventy. If he did not know that it would be contemptible to seek an introduction to Duke Mu of Qin through feeding oxen, could he be considered wise? As he did not remonstrate when he knew that remonstration would be of no use, could he be considered unwise? For knowing that the Duke of Yu was about to be destroyed and leaving him before that occurred, he cannot be considered unwise. Can he be considered to have been unwise when, having been elevated to high office in Qin and realizing that Duke Mu was someone with whom he could act, he then assisted him? As chief minister of Qin, he made his ruler prominent throughout the world and his own achievements worthy of being transmitted to later generations. Could he have done this if he were not a worthy man? As to selling himself in order to promote his ruler, even a villager with any self-esteem would not do this. And will you say that a worthy could have done so?”
Notes
1. A disciple of Mencius’s.
2. The phrase lao er bu yuan 
(suffer but not be aggrieved) is found in the Analects 4:18.
3. The translation of the word yuan 
(here, “grief” or “aggrieved”) is difficult. A more common translation for yuan is “resent” or “resentment,” but this implies that the anger or dismay is directed outward—in this case at Shun’s abusive parents. The significance of this passage turns, however, on Shun’s remarkable ambivalence: he is apparently unsure whether the fault lies with them or with himself.
4. According to Zhu Xi, Chang Xi was a disciple of Kongming Gao’s, who in turn was a disciple of Zengzi’s.
5. Chang Xi’s question to Gongming Gao is evidently construed by Mencius to imply that Chang, like Wan Zhang, thought that Shun should have shown no appearance of being aggrieved. The point here is that, while Shun was not aggrieved, it was only natural for him to be grieved.
6. Ode 101 (Legge, Chinese Classics, 4:155–57).
8. Zhu Xi’s commentary explains that wherever Shun lived for three years became a capital, which accounts for Xiang’s sarcastic description of him.
9. Instead of punishing him for his misdeeds.
10. Referred to as Gong Gong, he appears in the “Canon of Yao,” in the Classic of Documents, where he is recommended to Yao by Huan Dou. Yao’s response is critical. See Legge, Chinese Classics, 3:23–24.
11. Presumably a people, with their ruler being the one punished by Shun. However, Mencius says that Shun killed (sha 
) the Sanmiao, whereas the “Canon of Shun,” in the Classic of Documents, says that he expelled (cuan 
) them (Legge, Chinese Classics, 3:40).
12. The father of Yu, who would later become Shun’s successor. Kun appears in the “Canon of Yao,” Classic of Documents, as one who was assigned to deal with massive floods but who, after nine years, was unsuccessful (Legge, Chinese Classics, 3:24–25). In the “Canon of Shun,” as in Mencius, the word used for Shun’s punishment of Kun is ji 
, which can mean either “to execute” or “to imprison for life” (ibid., 3:40). Zhu Xi favored the former interpretation.
13. With the exception of a single Chinese character, Wan Zhang’s review of Shun’s punishments follows the text of the “Canon of Shun” (Legge, Chinese Classics, 3:39–40).
14. According to Zhao Qi, he was a disciple of Mencius’s.
15. That is, Yao.
16. Literally, the “eight sounds,” referring to instruments made of metal, stone, cord, bamboo, calabash, earthenware, leather, or wood. See Legge, Chinese Classics, 2:352.
17. These sentences are found in what is now known as the “Canon of Shun” (ibid., 3:40–41).
18. Ode 205 (ibid., 4:360–62).
19. Ode 258 (ibid., 4:528–34).
20. Ode 243 (ibid., 4:458–60).
21. “Counsels of the Great Yu,” Classic of Documents (ibid., 3:66). I follow Legge’s sense of the term yun 
but translate it as “transformed.”
22. The people as a whole.
23. See the “Taishi” chapter in the Classic of Documents (Legge, Chinese Classics, 3:292).
24. Yao’s son.
25. Here Tang is the name of Yao’s dynasty, and Yu is the name of Shun’s dynasty.
26. First the tutor and later a minister to Tang the Accomplished, known as the first ruler of the Shang dynasty, Yi Yin is regarded as one of the exemplary ministers of Chinese history.
27. This passage is repeated in 5B1.
28. The text of the “Instructions of Yi” that appears in the Classic of History differs from what is quoted here. See Legge, Chinese Classics, 3:194. In any case, the point is that Heaven began its punishment in Jie’s own palace due to his misdeeds, while Yi Yin began to translate Heaven’s will into action in Bo by advising Tang, who would oust Jie and found the Shang dynasty.
29. A rather unlikely name. It means “ulcer.”
30. According to Zhu Xi, the title refers to a eunuch.
31. Or Huan Tui. See the Analects 7:22.
32. Against accepting the bribe from Jin.