[6B1] A man from Ren asked Wuluzi, “As between the rites and food, which is more important?”
“The rites are more important.”
“As between sex and the rites, which is more important?”
“The rites are more important.”
“If by observing the rites of eating one will die of starvation, while by not observing them one is able to eat, must one still observe the rites? If the requirement that one go in person to meet his bride means that he cannot get a wife, while not observing that requirement means that he can get a wife, must he observe the requirement?”
Wuluzi was unable to reply, so the next day he went to Zou to consult Mencius.
Mencius said, “What problem could there be in answering these questions? If you do not measure a piece of wood from the bottom but only see that it is aligned at the top, then a piece an inch square can be made to look as tall as a towering pavilion. Gold is heavier than feathers, but could this apply to a single clasp of gold and a cartload of feathers? If one takes a case in which eating is important, while observing the rites is not important, why stop with saying that eating is important? If one chooses sex as important and the rites as not important, why should one stop with saying that sex is important?
“Go and respond to him, ‘If by twisting your brother’s arm and snatching away his food you were able to eat, but by not snatching it you would be unable to eat, would you snatch it away? If by scaling the wall of your neighbor on the east and dragging off his daughter you could get a wife, while by not dragging her off you could not get a wife, would you then drag her off?’”
[6B2] Cao Jiao asked, “Is it true that all human beings are capable of becoming a Yao or a Shun?”
Mencius said, “It is true.”
“I have heard that King Wen was ten feet tall, while Tang was nine feet tall. I am nine feet four inches tall,1 and yet all I can do is eat millet. What shall I do to become a Yao or a Shun?”
“What is there to do but just to do it? Here we have a man who is not strong enough to lift a chicken; he is a man who lacks strength. If he now says that he can lift a hundred jun, he is a man of strength, for by lifting Wu Huo’s burden one becomes Wu Huo.2 Why should one regard not yet having mastered something as a calamity? It is just that one has not done it. To walk slowly behind an older brother is called fraternal; to walk quickly ahead of an older brother is called unfraternal. Is there anyone who is unable to walk slowly? It is just that he does not do it. The Way of Yao and Shun was that of filial and fraternal duty, that is all. By wearing the clothes of Yao, speaking the words of Yao, and performing the actions of Yao, you become Yao. By wearing the clothes of Jie, speaking the words of Jie, and performing the actions of Jie, you become Jie.”
Jiao said, “If I can get to see the ruler of Zou, I may be able to ask him for a house where I may live. I should like to stay here to receive instruction at your gate.”
“The Way is like a great road. It is not difficult to know it. The failing people have is simply that they do not seek it. If you, sir, will go back home and seek it, you will have more than enough teachers.”
[6B3] Gongsun Chou asked, “Gaozi3 said, ‘The “Xiaopan”4 is the poem of a small man.’”
Mencius said, “Why did he say that?”
He said, “Because of its tone of resentment.”5
Mencius said, “How narrow-minded was Old Gao in his interpretation of poetry! There is a man here. A man of Yue draws his bow to shoot him. Were I to talk of this in a jocular manner, it would be solely because he is not a relative of mine. But if my older brother were to draw his bow to shoot him, I would shed tears when telling of it solely because he is my relative. The resentment in the “Xiaopan” is an aspect of the intimacy one feels with one’s parents, and intimacy with one’s parents is humaneness [ren]. How narrow-minded Old Gao was in his interpretation of poetry.
“Why is there no resentment expressed in the ‘Kaifeng’?”6
“In the ‘Kaifeng,’ the fault of the parent was small, while in the ‘Xiaopan’ the fault of the parent was great. When one is unresentful despite the fact that a parent’s fault is great, the sense of estrangement is deepened. When one is resentful despite the fact that a parent’s fault is small, an unwarranted obstacle is created. To deepen estrangement is to be unfilial and to create an obstacle is also unfilial. Confucius said, ‘Shun was consummately filial, yet at the age of fifty he still longed for his parents.’”
[6B4] Song Keng was about to go to Chu when Mencius met him at Shiqiu and asked, “Where are you going, sir?”
“I have heard that Qin and Chu are at war, and I am going to see the King of Chu to persuade him to put a stop to it. If the King of Chu should not be amenable, I shall go to see the King of Qin to persuade him to put a stop to it. With two kings I shall surely have some success.”
“I do not presume to ask about the details, but I would like to hear about the crux of the matter. How will you persuade them?”
“I shall explain the unprofitability of war.”
“Your intentions, sir, are great, but your argument is faulty. If you, sir, use profit to persuade the kings of Qin and Chu, and if the kings of Qin and Chu, being amenable to the idea of profit, stop their armies, the personnel of those armies will be delighted with the cessation of hostilities and amenable to profit. Ministers serving their rulers will be preoccupied with profit; sons serving their parents will be preoccupied with profit; and younger brothers serving their older brothers will be preoccupied with profit. Finally, rulers, ministers, parents, children, and older and younger brothers will abandon humaneness and rightness and encounter one another based on a preoccupation with profit. Whenever this has happened, loss has always ensued. If you, sir, rely on humaneness and rightness to persuade the kings of Qin and Chu, and if the kings of Qin and Chu, being amenable to humaneness and rightness, stop their armies, then the personnel of their armies will be delighted with the cessation of war and amenable to humaneness and rightness. Ministers serving their rulers will be preoccupied with humaneness and rightness; sons serving their parents will be preoccupied with humaneness and rightness; younger brothers serving their older brothers will be preoccupied with humaneness and rightness. Rulers, ministers, parents, children, and older and younger brothers, abandoning profit, will encounter one another based on a preoccupation with humaneness and rightness. Whenever this has happened, the ruler has become a true king.7 Why must you speak of ‘profit’?”8
[6B5] When Mencius was living in Zou, Jizi, acting on behalf of the lord of Ren, sent him a present of silk, which he received without reciprocating. When he was living in Pinglu, Chuzi, who was a minister of Qi, sent him a present of silk, which he received without reciprocating. Later, when he was going from Zou to Ren, he met with Jizi, but when he was going from Pinglu to Qi, he did not meet with Chuzi. Wu Luzi was happy and said, “I have gotten an opening.”9 He asked, “Master, when you went to Ren, you went to see Jizi, but when you went to Qi, you did not go to see Chuzi. Was this because Chuzi was only a minister?”
“No. It says in the Classic of Documents, ‘Along with the offerings there are many courtesies. If the courtesies do not measure up to the thing being offered, one must say that no offering has been made. This means that one has not exerted one’s will in making the offering.’10 In this sense the offering is not complete.”
Wu Luzi was pleased, and when someone asked him about this, he said, “Jizi could not go to Zou, but Chuzi could have gone to Pinglu.”
[6B6] Chunyu Kun11 said, “One who puts reputation and service first acts in the interests of others, while one who puts them last acts in his own interests. You, Master, were among the Three Ministers of the state, yet you departed before your reputation and service had reached to the ruler above or the people below. Is this really what a humane person is like?”
Mencius said, “Living in a lowly position, unwilling to dedicate his abilities to the service of one who was unworthy—this was Boyi.12 Going five times to Tang, and five times to Jie—this was Yi Yin.13 Not disdaining to serve a sullied ruler, nor rejecting a minor post—this was Liuxia Hui.14 While these three masters did not follow precisely the same way, they were as one in terms of direction. What was that direction? It was humaneness. All that is expected of noble persons is that they should be humane. Why must they all be the same?”
Chunyu Kun said, “At the time of Duke Mu of Lu,15 Gongyizi16 was in charge of the government. Ziliu17 and Zisi18 were his ministers. Yet in the course of repeated attacks, Lu had its territory carved away, showing that those you consider worthy are of no benefit to the state.”
Mencius said, “Yu did not employ Boli Xi,19 with the result that the state perished; Duke Mu of Qin [659–620 B.C.E.] did employ him and, as a result, became hegemon. A state that does not employ the worthy perishes. How can the loss be limited to the carving away of territory?”
Chunyu Kun said, “Formerly, when Wang Bao20 lived by the River Qi, the people in the area west of the Yellow River were good at ballads; when Mien Ju lived in Gaotang, the people in the area on the right of Qi21 were good at songs. The women of Huazhou and Qiliang were so good at weeping for their husbands that they changed the customs of the state. What is present within must be manifested without. I have never seen one who performed some service without achieving a beneficial result. There must, therefore, be no worthy men. If there were, I would know about them.”
Mencius said, “When Confucius was minister of justice in Lu, his advice was not followed. Then at a sacrifice the roasted meat was not brought to him. He left without taking off his ceremonial cap. Those who did not know him supposed that it was because of the meat. Those who did know him supposed that it was because it had not been a proper ceremony. Actually, Confucius wanted to take some minor offense as a ground for leaving. He did not want to leave for no reason at all. The actions of a noble person are certainly beyond the understanding of ordinary people.”
[6B7] Mencius said, “The Five Hegemons22 were offenders against the Three Kings.23 Now, the several lords are offenders against the Five Hegemons, and the great officers are offenders against the lords. The Son of Heaven’s visits to the lords were called tours of inspection [xun shou]. The lords’ visits to the Son of Heaven were called reports on responsibilities [shu zhi]. In spring they observed the plowing and augmented any insufficiencies; in autumn they observed the harvesting and repaired any shortages.24 If, when the Son of Heaven entered the borders, fields were being opened up, uncultivated lands reclaimed, the old nourished, the worthy honored, and the eminent placed in high positions, the lord was rewarded with land. If the Son of Heaven entered the borders and found land lying fallow and neglected, the old being abandoned, the worthy ignored, and the rapacious placed in high positions, the lord would be reprimanded. If a lord failed once to attend at court, he would be demoted in rank; for a second offense he would suffer a reduction of his landholdings; a third offense would result in armies moving in. Thus the Son of Heaven commanded the punishment but did not carry it out; the lords carried it out but did not command it. The Five Hegemons induced some of the lords to attack others, which is why I said that the Five Hegemons offended against the Three Kings.
“Among the Five Hegemons, Duke Huan25 was most powerful. At the gathering in Kuiqiu,26 the lords bound the sacrificial animal and made a document to record their agreement, but they did not smear their mouths with the animal’s blood. The first injunction said, ‘Punish those who are unfilial. Do not replace a designated heir, nor promote a concubine to the status of a wife.’ The second injunction said, ‘Honor the worthy and nurture the talented so that Virtue may be made manifest.’ The third injunction said, ‘Show reverence for the old and compassion for the young. Do not be forgetful of guests and travelers.’ The fourth injunction said, ‘Do not allow men of service to hold office on a hereditary basis, nor one person to hold more than one office concurrently. In selecting men of service one must get the right ones. A lord should not put a great officer to death solely on his own authority.’ The fifth injunction said, ‘There should be no crooked embankments,27 no restrictions on the sale of grain, and no granting of a benefice without this being reported.’
“They then said, ‘All of us who have been allied through this covenant shall hereafter, in respect of this covenant, maintain good relations with one another.’
“The lords of today all violate the five prohibitions, which is why I say that the lords of today are offenders against the Five Hegemons.
“The crime of one who accedes to the wickedness of his ruler is small, whereas the crime of one who incites the wickedness of his ruler is great. The great officers of today all incite their rulers’ wickedness. Therefore I say, the great officers of today are offenders against the lords.”
[6B8] The ruler of Lu wanted to make Shenzi the commander of his army. Mencius said, “To employ an uninstructed people in war is to bring disaster upon them. Bringing disaster on the people was not accepted in the time of Yao and Shun. Even if you could conquer Qi in a single strike and capture Nanyang, it would not be right.”
Changing countenance, Shenzi looked displeased and said, “This is something I do not understand.”
Mencius said, “I will explain it clearly. The land belonging to the Son of Heaven amounts to a thousand square li. Were it not a thousand square li, it would not be sufficient to allow him to host the lords. The land belonging to a lord amounts to a hundred square li.
Were it not a hundred square li, it would not be sufficient to allow him to preserve the important documents in his ancestral temple.
“When the Duke of Zhou was enfeoffed in Lu, it was with a hundred square li of land. It is not that a hundred square li was insufficient, but it was limited to that size. When Taigong28 was enfeoffed in Qi, it was also with a hundred square li. It is not that the land was insufficient, but it was limited to a hundred square li.
“Now, Lu is five times one hundred square li in size. Do you suppose that if a true king were to appear, he would bring harm or benefit to the state? If it were merely a matter of taking from one state in order to give to another, a humane man would not do it. How much less would he do it if his quest involved killing people? In serving his ruler a noble person focuses on guiding him along the right Way and committing himself to humaneness.”
[6B9] Mencius said, “Those who serve the ruler today will say, ‘We can enlarge the lord’s territory and expand his treasuries and storehouses.’ And, in the present age, for this they are called ‘good ministers,’ whereas in antiquity they would have been called ‘thieves of the people.’ To seek the enrichment of a ruler who neither follows the Way nor commits himself to humaneness is to enrich a Jie. Those who say ‘We can form alliances with other states so that his military campaigns will be successful’ are, in the present age, called ‘good ministers,’ whereas in antiquity they would have been called ‘thieves of the people.’ To bolster the military strength of a ruler who neither follows the Way nor commits himself to humaneness is to support a Jie. Even if he were to receive all-under-Heaven as a gift, one who follows the way of the present day without having changed present practices would be unable to dwell in it for the space of a single morning.”
[6B10] Bai Kui said, “I want to set the rate of taxation at one part in twenty.29 What do you think?”
Mencius said, “Your way would be the way of the Mo.30 In a country of ten thousand households, would it be sufficient to have only one potter?”
Bai Kui replied, “It would not. There would not be enough vessels.”
Mencius said, “Among the Mo the five grains are not grown; they grow nothing but millet. There are no walled cities, no stately dwellings, no ancestral temples, no rituals of sacrifice. There are no lords in need of gifts and entertainments, no hundred officers with their subordinates. Therefore, if they were to take one part in twenty, it should be sufficient.
“But we live in the Middle Kingdom. Are we to discard human relationships and dispense with nobility? Would that be acceptable? If a state cannot survive with only a few potters, how much less can it endure without nobility? If you wish to make taxation lighter than it was according to the way of Yao and Shun, you will be left with a greater Mo and a lesser Mo. If you want to make it heavier than it was according to the way of Yao and Shun, you will be left with a greater Jie and a lesser Jie.”31
[6B11] Bai Kui said, “When it comes to water control, I am better than Yu.”
Mencius said, “Sir, you are mistaken. Yu’s control of water followed the Way of water. Therefore, he channeled it into the four seas, whereas you, sir, channel it into neighboring states. When water overflows its course, it is called a deluge, and a deluge is a flood—something that a humane man detests. Sir, you are mistaken.”
[6B12] Mencius said, “If a noble person is not resolute, how will he exert control?”
[6B13] The ruler of Lu wanted to have Yuezhengzi assume control of government. Mencius said, “When I heard of this, I was so delighted that I could not sleep.”
Gongsong Chou asked, “Is Yuezhengzi strong?”
Mencius said, “No.”
“Does he have sound judgment?”
“No.”
“Is he widely knowledgeable?”
“No.”
“Why, then, were you so delighted that you could not sleep?”
Mencius said, “He is a person who loves the good.”
“Is it enough to love the good?”
Mencius said, “To love the good is more than enough for governing all-under-Heaven. How should it not be enough for the state of Lu? If a minister loves the good, all within the four seas will consider a thousand li no great distance to come to report to him about the good. But if he does not love the good, people will say, “How arrogant he is! It is as if he knows it all already.” Given the arrogance of his tone of voice and in his countenance, people will retreat to a distance of a thousand li. And when gentlemen retreat to a distance of a thousand li, those given to slander, fawning, and flattery arrive. He may still wish to see the state well governed, but, while surrounded by those given to slander, fawning, and flattery, will he be able to accomplish this?”
[6B14] Chen Zhen32 asked, “What conditions did the noble persons of antiquity attach to serving in office?”
Mencius said, “There were three circumstances in which they accepted office and three in which they left it. When they were received with the utmost respect, in accordance with ritual, and told that the ruler would put their words into practice, they would remain. When the ritual courtesies were not yet dispensed with, yet their words were not being put into practice, they would depart.
“In the next case, although their words were not yet put into practice, if they were received with utmost respect, in accordance with ritual, they would accept office. But when the ritual courtesies were dispensed with, they would depart.
“The final case is that of the person who has eaten neither in the morning nor the evening. Hungry to the point of starvation, he is unable even to go out his door. Hearing of this, the ruler says, ‘The great matter is that I am not able to put his Way into practice, nor am I able to follow his words. But I would be ashamed to let him die of starvation in my domain.’ In this case the assistance could be received, but only to the point of averting death by starvation.”
[6B15] Mencius said, “Shun emerged from the fields; Fu Yue was elevated from among the boards and earthworks; Jiao Ge from the fish and salt; Guan Yiwu from the hands of the jailer; Sunshu Ao from the seacoast; and Boli Xi from the marketplace. When Heaven intends to confer a great responsibility upon a person, it first visits his mind and will with suffering, toils his sinews and bones, subjects his body to hunger, exposes him to poverty, and confounds his projects. Through this, his mind is stimulated, his nature strengthened, and his inadequacies repaired. People commonly err, but later they are able to reform; their minds are troubled and their thoughts perplexed, but then they prove capable of acting. This becomes evident in their expressions, emerges in their voices, and, finally, they understand.
“Thus, in the absence of law-abiding families and worthy counselors within and hostile states and external challenges without, a state will often perish. From this we know that we thrive from experiencing sorrow and calamity, and perish from comfort and joy.”
[6B16] Mencius said, “There are many arts in teaching. If I decline to teach someone, I am teaching him all the same.”
Notes
1. Obviously, the Chinese foot was considerably shorter than the Western measurement; there is no clear scholarly consensus on how long it was in this time and place.
2. Wu Huo was a legendary strong man.
3. Mengzi’s disciple. See 2B13, note 23.
4. Ode 197 (Legge, Chinese Classics, 4:336–40).
5. Actually, Gongsun Chou’s response to Mencius’s question is just one word: yuan 
, suggesting both sorrow and a sense of having been wronged. One interpretation of the poem is that it represents the lament of Yijiu, the oldest son and heir apparent of King You, the last ruler of the Western Zhou. When his father became enamored of another woman, Yijiu’s mother was demoted and Yijiu was passed over as heir apparent in favor of a son of the king’s new favorite.
6. Ode 32 (Legge, Chinese Classics, 4:50–51). According to the “Little Preface” to the Classic of Odes, the widowed mother described in this poem would like to remarry, while her seven sons tactfully resist this inclination.
7. Unfortunately, the translation fails to preserve a Mencian play on words. Mencius has said that, when profit is central, the result is loss (wang 
, in the second tone). When humaneness and rightness are central, the result is the rise of a true king (wang 
, in the fourth tone).
9. Literally, “a crevice”—that is, a point of entry for discovering something about Mencius’s priorities.
10. “The Announcement Concerning Lo,” Classic of Documents, in Legge, Chinese Classics, 3:441.
11. Chunyu Kun was a native of the state of Qi. He seems to have had a special interest in needling Mencius. See also 4A17.
13. For Yi Yin, see 5B1. Apparently, after he heeded Tang’s call to come to serve, he paid the five visits to Jie, the “bad last ruler” of the Xia, in an attempt to assist him in reforming.
15. Duke Xian (409–375 B.C.E.).
16. Also known as Gongyi Xiu, he was prime minister of Lu.
17. Also known as Xie Liu. See 2B11.
18. Or Kong Ji, who was Confucius’s grandson.
20. According to Zhao Qi, Wang was a talented singer from Wei. Zheng Zhen, in the Chaojing chao wen ji, cites a reference to Wang in the Zuozhuan, Duke Ai, sixth year, that he believes suggests that he was from Qi (Legge, Chinese Classics, 5:811).
21. That is, along the western borders of Qi.
22. The Five Hegemons were Duke Huan of Qi (r. 685–643 B.C.E.), Duke Wen of Jin (r. 636–629 B.C.E.), Duke Mu of Qin (r. 659–620 B.C.E.), Duke Xiang of Song (r. 651–636 B.C.E.), and King Zhuang of Chu (r. 613–591 B.C.E.). Mencius regarded them as ethically inferior to true kings but not wholly without worth, as they preserved some vestige of proper hierarchy and order. See also 1A7, n. 19.
23. The founders of the Xia, the Shang, and the Zhou dynasties.
24. The lines beginning, “The Son of Heaven’s visits to the lords . . .” and concluding “. . . in autumn they observed the harvesting and repaired any shortages” occur as well in 1B4.
25. Duke Huan of Qi.
26. Held in 650 B.C.E.
27. That is, no diversion of the water supply intended to advantage oneself at the expense of others.
28. Taigong, or Taigong Wang, was Lu Sheng, who assisted Kings Wen and Wu in the consolidation of the Zhou empire. See 4A13, 7A22, and 7B38.
29. By prevailing standards, a very low rate of taxation.
30. Pastoral peoples to the north. Legge and many other Western translators describe them as “barbarous tribes,” which would seem to distort the sense in which Mencius referred to them.
31. If the rate of taxation is too light, civilization may not be sustained. If it is too heavy, exploitation cannot be precluded.