1 Kung-sun Ch’ou1 said: “If you took charge in Ch’i, could you re-create the successes of Kuan Chung2 and Lord Yen?”
“You certainly are a man of Ch’i,” replied Mencius. “You think of no one but Kuan Chung and Lord Yen.
“Someone once asked Tseng Hsi: Who is the wiser, you or Adept Lu?
“Tseng Hsi shifted around uneasily and replied: My father was Master Tseng, and even he was in awe of Lu.
“Well then, who is the wiser, you or Kuan Chung?
“Tseng’s face flushed with anger, and he said: How could you compare me with Kuan Chung? His sovereign trusted him so utterly, and he ran the government for so long – but his achievements were still utterly meager. How could you compare me with him?
“If even Tseng Hsi bridled at the idea of being another Kuan Chung, how could you suggest that I would want such a thing?”
“But Kuan Chung made his sovereign the finest of august lords,” said Kung-sun, “and Lord Yen led his to such splendor. Are such achievements not worthy of your aspirations?”
“To be a true emperor in Ch’i,” replied Mencius, “that would be a simple matter – no harder than turning your hand over.”
“Then I’m more confused than ever,” said Kung-sun. “Emperor Wen’s Integrity was unsurpassed, and he lived to be a hundred, but he still couldn’t spread his tranquil rule to all beneath Heaven. His practices were carried on by Emperor Wu and Duke Chou,3 and only then did great success come. You act like becoming a true emperor is a simple matter – so is Emperor Wen not a worthy exemplar?”
“How could anyone compare to Emperor Wen?” said Mencius. “In the Shang Dynasty, there were six or seven sage emperors between T’ang and Wu Ting, so all beneath Heaven lived content for a long time. And it’s hard to change something that’s gone on for so long.
“The august lords all paid court to Wu Ting, and so he commanded all beneath Heaven as if he were turning it in the palm of his hand. Chou was a tyrant, but his rule didn’t come that much later than Wu Ting’s. The traditions of ancient families had been handed down, the ways of good government had been preserved, and he had counselors of great wisdom: Lord Wei, Wei Chung, Prince Pi Kan, Lord Chi, Chiao Ko. That’s why he lasted so long before losing everything to Wen. There wasn’t a foot of land that wasn’t his territory, or a single person who wasn’t his subject. Emperor Wen had such difficulty because he began with only a hundred square miles. The Ch’i people have a saying:
Though you may have deep wisdom,
seizing an opportunity works better.
Though you may have a fine hoe,
awaiting the season works better.
“So in our time, to be a true emperor in Ch’i would be a simple matter. The Hsia, Shang, and Chou never controlled more than a thousand square miles, even at their height – so Ch’i has enough territory. You can hear roosters crowing and dogs barking all the way out to the four borderlands – so Ch’i has enough people. It isn’t a question of land or people: to be a true emperor here in Ch’i, all you need is Humane government. Then no one could oppose you.
“But the failures of the emperor have never been greater than they are today, and the sufferings of people under tyranny have never been worse than they are today. It’s so easy giving food to the hungry, so easy giving water to the thirsty.
“Confucius said: Integrity spreads through the land faster than a proclamation sent racing down the line of postal stations. If a nation of ten thousand war-chariots embraced Humane government today, the people would rejoice as if they’d escaped hanging by their heels. In times like these, you can do half as much as the ancients and get twice the results.”
2 Kung-sun Ch’ou said: “Suppose you became prime minister in Ch’i and put the Way into practice, making the Ch’i sovereign an emperor without peer – would you feel moved, or not?”
“My mind4 has been utterly still since I was forty,” replied Mencius.
“Then you must be way beyond Meng Pin.”5
“That wouldn’t be hard. Now Master Kao6 – he’d stilled his mind even before me.”
“Is there a Way to follow in stilling the mind?”
“There is,” replied Mencius. “To cultivate great valor, Po-kung Yu never bowed down and never broke off a stare. He knew that the least intimidation was as bad as being slapped in the marketplace. An affront was the same to him whether it came from a peasant or a sovereign who commanded a nation of ten thousand war-chariots, and he’d run his sword through the august lord as easily as the peasant. He knew every insult had to be returned in kind.
“Of cultivating valor, Meng Shih-she said: I consider defeat victory. To gauge an enemy before attacking, to calculate your chances of success before fighting – that is to live in fear of great armies. How can I ever be certain of victory? All I can do is live without fear.
“Meng Shih-she was like Master Tseng, and Po-kung Yu was like Adept Hsia. It’s impossible to say which of the two had the most profound valor, but Meng Shih-she nurtured his ch’i.7
“Long ago, Master Tseng said to Adept Hsiang: Do you love valor? I once heard about great valor from Confucius. If you look within and find yourself less than honorable, you’ll fear even a peasant as an enemy. But if you look within and find yourself honorable, you’ll face even an army of ten million men.
“Meng Shih-she nurtured ch’i, but that’s still nothing like Master Tseng nurturing essentials.”
“May I ask about the stillness of your mind, and the stillness of Master Kao’s mind?” asked Kung-sun Ch’ou.
“Master Kao says Don’t search the mind for what you can’t find in words, and don’t search ch’i for what you can’t find in the mind,” replied Mencius. “Not searching ch’i for what you can’t find in the mind – that’s fine. But not searching the mind for what you can’t find in words – that isn’t.
“The will guides ch’i, and ch’i fills the body. So for us the will comes first, and ch’i second. That’s why I say: Keep a firm grasp on your will, but never tyrannize your ch’i.”
At this, Kung-sun Ch’ou said: “If you say For us the will comes first, and ch’i second, how can you also say Keep a firm grasp on your will, but never tyrannize your ch’i?”
“When the will is whole, it moves ch’i, and when ch’i is whole, it moves the will. When we stumble and hurry, ch’i is affected, but that in turn moves the mind.”
“May I ask what makes you excel and flourish so?”
“I understand words, and I nurture the ch’i-flood.”
“May I ask what you mean by ch’i-flood?”
“That’s hard to explain,” replied Mencius. “It’s ch’i at its limits: vast and relentless. Nourish it with fidelity and allow it no injury – then it fills the space between Heaven and earth. It is the ch’i that unifies Duty and the Way. Without it, we starve. And it’s born from a lifetime of Duty: a few token acts aren’t enough. When the things we do don’t satisfy the mind, we starve.
“That’s why I say: Master Kao still doesn’t understand Duty. He thinks it’s something outside of us. You must devote yourself to this ch’i-flood without forcing it. Don’t let it out of your mind, but don’t try to help it grow and flourish either.
“If you do, you’ll be acting like that man from Sung who worried that his rice shoots weren’t growing fast enough, and so went around pulling at them. At the end of the day, he returned home exhausted and said to his family: I’m worn out. I’ve been helping the rice grow. His son ran out to look and found the fields all withered and dying.
“In all beneath Heaven, there are few who can resist helping the rice shoots grow. Some think nothing they do will help, so they ignore them. They are the ones who don’t even bother to weed. Some try to help them grow: they are the ones who pull at them. It isn’t just that they aren’t making things better – they’re actually making them worse!”
“What do you mean by understanding words?” asked Kung-sun Ch’ou.
“I understand what lies hidden beneath beguiling words. I understand the trap beneath extravagant words. I understand the deceit beneath depraved words. And I understand the weariness beneath evasive words.
“Born of the mind, such things cripple government. And then what is born of government cripples all our endeavors. If ever great sages arise again, they will confirm what I’ve said.
“Tsai Yü and Adept Kung were masters of eloquence,” said Kung-sun Ch’ou. “Jan Po-niu, Min Tzu-ch’ien, and Yen Hui8 were masters of Integrity’s principles. Confucius had mastered both, and still he said: I’m not much good at eloquence. So you must already be a great sage, Master.”
“What a thing to say!” responded Mencius. “Long ago, Adept Kung asked Confucius: And are you a great sage, Master?
“I couldn’t make such a claim, replied Confucius. I learn relentlessly and teach relentlessly, that’s all.
“At this, Adept Kung said: To learn relentlessly is wisdom, and to teach relentlessly is Humanity. To master wisdom and Humanity – isn’t that to be a sage?
“So even Confucius couldn’t claim to be a sage. What a thing to say!”
“Of those times,” said Kung-sun, “I have heard that Adept Hsia, Adept Yu, and Adept Chang each embodied one aspect of the sage completely. And that Jan Po-niu, Min Tzu-ch’ien, and Yen Hui each embodied all aspects of the sage, but only partially. Which of these is preferable?”
“Let’s skip that for now.”
“What do you think of Po Yi9 and Yi Yin10?”
“Their Ways were different,” replied Mencius. “Po Yi refused to serve a sovereign he disdained or govern a people he disdained. So he took office in times of wise rule and renounced office in times of chaos. Yi Yin, on the other hand, thought any sovereign he served was that much more worthy, and any people he served was that much more worthy. So he took office in times of wise rule, and he took office in times of chaos.
“But Confucius was different. If it was wise to take office, he took office; and if it was wise to stay somewhere, he stayed. If it was wise to linger, he lingered; and if it was wise to hurry away, he hurried away.
“All three were great sages of long ago. I cannot compare to any of them. But Confucius is the one I take for a teacher.”
“Did Po Yi and Yi Yin so nearly equal Confucius?”
“No. In all the time since people first came into being, there’s never been another like Confucius.”
“But were they alike in any way?”
“Yes,” replied Mencius. “Given a hundred square miles of territory to rule, they could have inspired the august lords to pay them homage and so made all beneath Heaven their own. But if making all beneath Heaven their own meant violating their Duty even once or killing even a single innocent person, they all would have refused. In this they were alike.”
“May I ask how they differed?”
“Tsai Yü, Adept Kung, and Master Yu were all wise enough to understand a sage. And they would never defile themselves by giving someone they admired undue praise. Still, Tsai Yü said: In my view, the Master was a far greater sage than Yao or Shun.11
“Adept Kung said: Seeing a state’s Ritual, he understood its government. And hearing a state’s music, he understood its ruler’s Integrity. Looking back, he could gauge all the emperors of a hundred generations. And no one ever proved him wrong. In all the time since people first came into being, there’s never been another like him.
“And Master Yu said: And why only people? Unicorns are like other animals, phoenixes like other birds, T’ai Mountain like common hills, rivers and seas like flowing ditches. And the sage is like other people, though he’s also different from them: he stands above them. In all the time since people first came into being, there’s never been another with the abounding excellence of Confucius.”
3 Mencius said: “To pretend force is Humanity – that’s the mark of a tyrant, and a tyrant needs a large country. To practice Humanity through Integrity – that’s the mark of a true emperor, and a true emperor doesn’t need a large country. T’ang began with only seventy square miles, and Emperor Wen began with only a hundred square miles. If you use force to gain the people’s submission, it isn’t a submission of the heart. It’s only a submission of the weak to the strong. But if you use Integrity to gain the people’s submission, it’s a submission of the sincere and delighted heart. It’s like the submission of seventy disciples to Confucius.
“The Songs say:
From west and from east,
from south and from north –
every thought in submission.
That says it exactly.”
4 Mencius said: “From Humanity comes honor. From Inhumanity comes disgrace. To despise disgrace and yet practice Inhumanity – that’s like despising water and living in bottomlands. If you despise disgrace, there’s nothing like treasuring Integrity and honoring noble officials. When those of great wisdom are ministers and those of great ability are officials, the nation is untroubled. And if the ruler uses such times of peace to clarify his policies, then even the largest countries will stand in awe of him.
Before the Heavens darkened with rain,
I gathered up mulberry roots,
wove tight window and door.
Now those people down below –
how could they disparage me?12
Whoever wrote this poem certainly understood the Way, commented Confucius. If a ruler can govern his nation well, how could anyone disparage him?
“These days, rulers use times of peace to indulge in the pleasures of music and idle amusement. They’re bringing ruin down upon themselves. We bring it all upon ourselves: prosperity and ruin alike. The Songs say:
Always worthy of Heaven’s Mandate,
he found great prosperity in himself.
And the “T’ai Chia”13 says:
Ruin from Heaven
we can weather.
Ruin from ourselves
we never survive.
That says it exactly.”
5 Mencius said: “Honor the wise, employ the able, and you’ll have great worthies for ministers – then every noble official throughout all beneath Heaven will rejoice and long to stand in your court. Collect rent in the markets but no tax, or enforce laws but collect no rent – then every merchant throughout all beneath Heaven will rejoice and long to trade in your markets. Conduct inspections at the border but collect no tax – then every traveler throughout all beneath Heaven will rejoice and long to travel your roads. Have farmers help with public fields but collect no tax – then every farmer in all beneath Heaven will rejoice and long to work your land. Don’t demand tributes in cloth from families and villages – then people throughout all beneath Heaven will rejoice and long to become your subjects.
“If you can do these five things with sincerity, the people in neighboring countries will all revere you as their parent. And not since people first came into being has anyone ever managed to lead children against their own parents. So if you do this, you won’t have an enemy anywhere in all beneath Heaven. When you haven’t an enemy anywhere in all beneath Heaven, you’ll be Heaven’s minister. And no one has become that without becoming a true emperor.”
6 Mencius said: “Everyone has a heart that can’t bear to see others suffer. The ancient emperors had hearts that couldn’t bear to see others suffer, and so had governments that couldn’t bear to see others suffer. If you lead a government that can’t bear to see others suffer, ruling all beneath Heaven is like turning it in the palm of your hand.
“Suddenly seeing a baby about to fall into a well, anyone would be heart-stricken with pity: heart-stricken not because they wanted to curry favor with the baby’s parents, not because they wanted the praise of neighbors and friends, and not because they hated the baby’s cries. This is why I say everyone has a heart that can’t bear to see others suffer.
“And from this we can see that without a heart of compassion we aren’t human, without a heart of conscience we aren’t human, without a heart of courtesy we aren’t human, and without a heart of right and wrong we aren’t human. A heart of compassion is the seed of Humanity. A heart of conscience is the seed of Duty. A heart of courtesy is the seed of Ritual. And a heart of right and wrong is the seed of wisdom.
“These four seeds are as much a part of us as our four limbs. To possess them and yet deny their potential – that is to wound yourself. And to deny the sovereign’s potential – that is to wound the sovereign. We all possess these four seeds, and if we all understand how to nurture them, it will be like fire blazing forth or springs flooding free. Nurtured, they’re enough to watch over all within the four seas. Unnurtured, they aren’t enough to serve even our own parents.”
7 Mencius said: “How can the arrow-maker be any less Humane than the armor-maker? It’s just that the arrow-maker hopes to wound people and the armor-maker hopes to protect them. It’s like this for shaman-healers and coffin-makers too. So you can’t be too careful in choosing your trade.
“Confucius said: Of villages, Humanity is the most beautiful. If you choose to dwell anywhere else – how can you be called wise? Humanity is the noble honor Heaven affirms and the tranquil place humans dwell. Failing to practice Humanity when there’s nothing stopping you – that is a failure of wisdom. Without Humanity and wisdom, Ritual and Duty, we’re nothing but slaves. A slave ashamed of being a slave – that’s like a bow-maker ashamed of making bows or an arrow-maker ashamed of making arrows. If you feel shame, there’s nothing like practicing Humanity.
“The Humane are like archers. They square up their stance before shooting. And if they fail to hit the mark, they don’t resent the victor who does. Instead, they always look within themselves to find the reason for their failure.”
8 Mencius said: “Whenever someone told Adept Lu he’d made a mistake, he was delighted. Whenever Emperor Yü heard someone say something honorable, he bowed. But the great Shun – he went way beyond that. Thinking the honorable was something everyone shared, he gave up his own ways and followed the people. He was always happy to adopt what the people considered honorable. From his life as a farmer, potter, and fisherman to his life as emperor, there was nothing he didn’t learn by adopting it from the people. And to adopt what the people consider honorable is to help them live honorably. So for the noble-minded, nothing is more important than helping the people live honorably.”
9 Mencius said: “Po Yi never served a sovereign he disdained, nor did he remain friends with a friend he disdained. He never served in a foul man’s court, or even talked with such a man. Serving such a man or even talking with him – for Po Yi, that was like donning fine court robes to sit in mud and ash. He pushed his hatred of the foul impossibly far: if he met a neighbor whose hat wasn’t on straight, he would hurry away without looking back, as if it would tarnish him. That’s why he refused all offers from august lords, however honorable the offers were. He refused because it was demeaning to attend them.
“Liu-hsia Hui,14 on the other hand, wasn’t shamed by defiled rulers, nor did he consider common positions below him. When in office, he never hid his wisdom and always depended on the Way. When dismissed, he bore no resentment. And suffering adversity, he remained untroubled. He said: You are who you are, and I am who I am. Even if you stripped naked and stood beside me, how could you ever tarnish me? Hence he was completely at ease no matter who he was with, and never insisted on leaving. If he was asked to stay, he stayed – for he never felt demeaned and forced to leave.
“Po Yi was too pinched and Liu-hsia Hui too undignified,” commented Mencius. “Pinched and undignified: the noble-minded avoid both.”