1 Ch’en Tai1 said: “It seems small of you – refusing to go see the august lords. If you did, you could make whoever you met a true emperor – or at the very least, the finest of august lords. The Annals say: Bend a foot to straighten ten. It seems worth doing, doesn’t it?”
Mencius replied: “Once when he was out hunting, Duke Ching of Ch’i summoned his gamekeeper with a plume-crested flag. The gamekeeper didn’t come, so the duke wanted to have him executed, but Confucius said: A man of great resolve never forgets that he could be abandoned to ditches and gutters, and a man of great valor never forgets that he could lose his head. What was it Confucius admired in the gamekeeper? The man wasn’t entitled to such a lofty summons, so he didn’t answer it. And how would it be if people came without waiting for a summons?2
“And besides, bend a foot to straighten ten is talking about profits. When it’s a matter of turning a profit, don’t people think it’s fine even if they bend ten feet to straighten one?
“Once, because Hsi was a favorite of his, Lord Chien of Chao assigned Wang Liang to drive for him. Hsi didn’t catch a single bird all day, so he returned to Lord Chien saying: He’s the worst driver in all beneath Heaven.
“When someone told him what Hsi had said, Wang Liang said: Let me try again. It took no small amount of persuasion, but Hsi finally agreed. This time Hsi caught ten birds in a single morning, and on returning exclaimed: He’s the finest driver in all beneath Heaven!
“Then I’ll let him drive for you all the time, said Lord Chien.
“But when he told Wang Liang, Wang Liang refused: I drove hard for him according to the precepts, and we didn’t catch a single bird all day. Then I drove shamelessly for him, and in a single morning we caught ten birds. The Songs say:
They drove with flawless skill,
shot arrows with fierce precision.
I’m not accustomed to driving for little people. I’ll go now, if you please.
“Even though he was a mere driver, Wang was ashamed to compromise for an archer. They could have piled birds and animals up like mountains, but he still wouldn’t do it. What kind of person would bend the Way to please others? You’ve got it all wrong: if you bend yourself, you’ll never straighten anyone else.”
2 Ching Ch’un3 said: “How could Kung-sun Yen and Chang Yi4 be anything less than truly great men? If their anger flashed, the august lords cowered. And if they were content, all beneath Heaven was tranquil.”
“Does that make them great men?” replied Mencius. “Haven’t you studied Ritual? When a boy comes of age, he receives his father’s mandate. When a girl marries, she receives her mother’s mandate. Saying farewell at the gate, she cautions her: Now that you’re going to your new home, you must be reverent and cautious, and never disobey your husband. To make deference the norm – that is the Way of married women.
“As for the man who can be called great: He dwells in the most boundless dwelling-place5 of all beneath Heaven, places himself at the center of all beneath Heaven, and practices the great Way of all beneath Heaven. If he succeeds in these ambitions, he and the people enjoy the rewards together. If he fails, he follows the Way alone. Wealth and renown never mean much to him, poverty and obscurity never sway him, and imposing force never awes him.”
3 Chou Hsiao asked: “In ancient times, did the noble-minded take office?”
“They did,” replied Mencius. “The Chronicles say: When Confucius went three months without a position, he got anxious and restless. And when he left one nation for another, he always carried his token of credentials with him.6
“And Kung-ming Yi said: When the ancients went three months without a position, people began offering condolences.
“Offering condolences after three months!” responded Chou Hsiao. “Is it really all that urgent?”
“When a man loses his office,” replied Mencius, “it’s like an august lord losing his nation. The Book of Ritual says:
An august lord helps plow and plant to provide sacrificial grains. His wife helps spin silk to make sacrificial clothes. If the animals are not fat, the grains not clean, the garments not ready, he dare not perform the sacrifice.
And if an official holds no land, he performs no sacrifice. If the sacrificial animals, ritual vessels, and sacrificial garments are not all ready, he dare not perform the sacrifice or offer a banquet.
Isn’t that reason enough for condolences?”
“Why is it Confucius always carried his token of credentials with him when he left one nation for another?” asked Chou Hsiao.
“An official serving in office is like a farmer working the land. If a farmer left one nation for another, would he leave his plow behind?”
“People serve government here in Chin, too,” said Chou Hsiao, “but I’ve never heard of such urgency. If taking office is such an urgent thing, why is it such a difficult question for the noble-minded?”
“When a son is born, parents hope he will one day have a home and family. When a daughter is born, they hope she will one day find a husband. Parents all feel this way. But if children don’t wait for their parents’ blessings or the arrangements of a matchmaker, if they drill holes in the wall to peer at each other or climb over it for secret meetings, their parents and everyone else think it’s appalling.
“Worthy ancients all wanted to serve in office, but never if it meant violating the Way. To secure a position by violating the Way – is that any different from drilling a hole in a wall?”
4 P’eng Keng7 said: “Traveling around, preaching to august lords for your rice, scores of carriages and hundreds of followers trailed out behind you – isn’t that awfully indulgent?”
“If what you do for someone violates the Way,” replied Mencius, “accepting even a basketful of rice from them is too much. But abiding in the Way, Shun accepted all beneath Heaven from Yao and didn’t think it indulgent. But perhaps you would call it indulgent?”
“No,” replied P’eng Keng. “But still, it’s shameful when a man doesn’t work to earn his rice.”
“If someone like you won’t trade what you have for what you need, farmers will be left with useless grain and women with useless cloth. But if you will, carpenters and carriage-makers can earn their rice from you. Now here’s a man who is a worthy child at home and humble when away, who learned the Way of ancient emperors, preserving it for future students – and you don’t think he’s even worth feeding. How can you honor carpenters and carriage-makers, but not a master of Humanity and Duty?”
“When carpenters and carriage-makers work, their motive is rice,” replied P’eng Keng. “But when the noble-minded practice the Way – is their motive nothing more than rice?”
“Why are you talking about motives?” countered Mencius. “When someone works for you, he deserves to be fed and should be. And besides, do you feed people for their motives or their work?”
“For their motives.”
“So if there’s a man flinging mortar around and smashing tiles, and his motive is rice, do you feed him?”
“No.”
“Then you don’t feed people for their motives; you feed them for their work.”
5 Wan Chang8 said: “Sung is a small nation. If its government became that of a true emperor and it were therefore invaded by Ch’i and Ch’u, what could be done?”
“When T’ang lived in Po,” replied Mencius, “Po bordered on Ko, which had a ruler who was dissolute and neglected the sacrifices. When T’ang sent someone to ask why the sacrifices were being neglected, Ko’s ruler said: We don’t have enough animals. T’ang sent him cattle and sheep, but instead of using them for sacrifices, he used them for food.
“Again T’ang sent someone to ask why the sacrifices were being neglected, and the Ko ruler said: We don’t have enough millet. So T’ang sent Po people to help plow and plant, he sent gifts of food for the old and young. But the Ko ruler ambushed them: he led his people out to steal their wine and food, millet and rice. Anyone who resisted was killed: even a boy bringing millet and meat was killed and his gifts stolen.
“The Book of History speaks of this: For the ruler of Ko, the bearers of gifts were enemies. And when T’ang sent an army to avenge the murder of this boy, everyone within the four seas said: It isn’t lust for all beneath Heaven: it’s revenge for the abuse of common men and women.
“Emperor T’ang began his expeditions in Ko, says the Book of History. After eleven expeditions, he hadn’t an enemy left anywhere in all beneath Heaven. When he marched east, the western tribes complained. And when he marched south, the northern tribes complained: Why does he leave us for last? People watched for him the way they watched for rain in the midst of a great drought. When he came, they went to market unhindered again and weeded their fields without interference. He punished the rulers and comforted the people, like rain falling in its season. And so a great joy rose among the people. The Book of History says: We’re waiting for our lord: his coming will end our suffering.
“It also says:
When Yu refused to submit, Emperor Wu marched east and soothed its men and women. They filled baskets with azure-Heaven silk and yellow-earth silk. They went to Wu saying: ‘Let us rest here before you. We will cleave to the state of Chou and serve it alone.’
The noble-minded of Yu offered baskets of Heaven-and-earth silk to welcome the noble-minded of Chou. The peasants of Yu offered baskets of food and jars of wine to welcome the peasants of Chou. Emperor Wu rescued the people from fire and flood, seizing only their cruel rulers.
“In “The Great Declaration,” Wu says:
Let us brandish weapons and strength.
Let us strike deep into their homelands,
and seizing the tyrants ruling there,
put them to death for everyone to see.
Then our splendor will outshine T’ang’s.
If Sung doesn’t have the government of a true emperor, it could fall like that. But if it does have the government of a true emperor, everyone within the four seas will raise their heads and watch for him, wanting him for their sovereign. Then, even though Ch’i and Ch’u are large and powerful nations, what would he have to fear from them?”
6 Mencius said to Tai Pu-sheng: “You wish your emperor were noble and worthy? I’ll try to explain this clearly. Suppose a high minister of Ch’u wanted his son to learn the language of Ch’i. Should he get someone from Ch’i to teach his son, or someone from Ch’u?”
“Someone from Ch’i.”
“With only a single teacher from Ch’i and everyone else around the boy yammering in Ch’u, the father could cane him every day and he’d still never speak Ch’i. But if he took his son to some district in Ch’i for a few years, then he could cane the boy every day and he’d never speak Ch’u.
“Now, because you consider Hsüeh Chü-chou a noble and worthy man, you’ve appointed him to serve among the emperor’s closest advisors. If among these advisors old and young, stately and humble, there were only men like Hsüeh Chü-chou – who could help the emperor commit ignoble acts? And if among these advisors old and young, stately and humble, there were none like Hsüeh Chü-chou – who would help him act nobly? One Hsüeh Chü-chou, alone – what can he do for the Sung emperor?”
7 Kung-sun Ch’ou asked: “Never trying to see august lords and advise them: is that a form of Duty?”
“In ancient times, if you didn’t hold office you didn’t see the sovereign,” replied Mencius. “Tuan-kan Mu fled over a wall to avoid his sovereign, and Hsieh Liu bolted the door so his couldn’t get in. But they were fanatics. When rulers show such determination, it’s all right to see them.
“Yang Hu wanted to see Confucius, and yet wasn’t willing to compromise Ritual propriety. But the custom is: if a scholar is not at home to receive a high minister’s gift, he goes to the minister’s gate and bows in thanks. So Yang Hu waited for Confucius to go out, then sent him a steamed piglet. Confucius likewise waited for Yang Hu to go out, then went to his house and bowed before the gate. If Yang Hu had simply asked to see him, how could Confucius have refused?
“Master Tseng said: Shrugging shoulders and forcing smiles – it’s more grueling than hot summer fieldwork.
“Adept Lu replied: To say you agree when you don’t, and pretend blushing keeps you honest – I can’t understand that at all.
“From this it’s easy to understand what the noble-minded cultivate in themselves.”
8 Tai Ying-chih said: “To levy only a ten percent tax on income, to abolish all other taxes, including those at the borders and in the markets – that isn’t something we can do this year. What if we reduce these taxes now, and give them up completely next year?”
“Suppose someone stole one of his neighbor’s chickens every day,” replied Mencius. “Suppose someone said to him This is not the noble-minded Way, and he replied What if I only steal one a month for now, and give it up completely next year?
“If you recognize something is wrong, you want to see it end quickly. So how can you wait until next year?”
9 Adept Kung-tu said: “Everyone but your own disciples thinks you love to argue, Master. Is it true?”
“It isn’t that I love to argue,” replied Mencius. “I just can’t see how to avoid it. All beneath Heaven has endured for ages and ages – sometimes in peace, sometimes in confusion. In the time of Emperor Yao, floods raged across the Middle Kingdom. Snakes and dragons filled the land, leaving nowhere for the people to settle. Lowland people built nests in the treetops; highland people camped in caves.
“The Book of History says: The flood was a warning to us. And the flood was nothing less than a vast deluge, so Yao appointed Yü to bring the waters under control. Yü dug furrows in the land and sent the waters flowing into the sea. He drove the snakes and dragons into marshes. Where the water rushed toward the sea, it carved out rivers: the Yangtze and Huai, the Yellow and Han. Obstacles and dangers were rinsed away, and ravaging birds and animals disappeared. Only then could people level farmland and settle down.
“But once Yao and Shun died, the Way of sages began to unravel. One savage ruler followed another. They leveled houses to build their pleasure lakes, leaving the people without a place to rest. They let the fields go wild, turning them into parks and preserves, leaving the people without silk and rice. Twisty words and savage acts became official policy. And with the spread of parks and preserves, ponds and lakes, swarms of birds and animals soon returned. By the time of Tyrant Chou, all beneath Heaven was pure chaos. Duke Chou helped Emperor Wu put an end to Tyrant Chou. He conquered Yen after a three-year war and executed its ruler. He drove Fei Lien to the edge of the sea and there put him to death. He conquered fifty nations, drove away all the tigers and leopards, rhinos and elephants. And so, a great joy rose throughout all beneath Heaven. The Book of History says:
How vast the splendor of Emperor Wen’s plans
and the glory of Emperor Wu fulfilling them:
preserving and inspiring us who come later,
they were perfectly true and without flaw.
“But after them, things began to unravel again, and the Way grew weak. Twisty words and savage acts again became official policy. There were ministers killing emperors, and sons killing fathers. Confucius was heartsick, so he wrote The Spring and Autumn Annals. It talks about issues the Son of Heaven faces, which is why Confucius said: If people understand me, it’s because of The Spring and Autumn Annals; and if they condemn me, it’s also because of The Spring and Autumn Annals.
“But there’ve been no sage emperors since then, only these august lords indulging themselves with such abandon. Pundits go around talking nonsense, filling all beneath Heaven with the claims of Yang Chu and Mo Tzu: if there’s a doctrine that can’t be traced back to Yang, it can surely be traced back to Mo. Yang’s school preaches everyone for themselves, and so denies the sovereign. Mo’s school preaches loving everyone equally, and so denies the father. No father and no sovereign – that’s the realm of birds and animals.
“Kung-ming Yi said: There’s plenty of juicy meat in your kitchen and plenty of well-fed horses in your stable – but the people here look hungry, and in the countryside they’re starving to death. You’re feeding humans to animals. Unless the Way of Yang and Mo withers and the Way of Confucius flourishes, twisty words will keep deluding the people and blocking the path of Humanity and Duty. When Humanity and Duty are blocked up, humans are fed to animals. And pretty soon humans will be feeding on humans. I’m heartsick over it all, and so guard the Way of ancient sages. If we resist Yang and Mo, driving their reckless ideas away, those pundits will stop spreading their twisty words. Born of the mind, such things cripple our endeavors, and then our endeavors cripple government. If ever great sages arise again, they won’t question what I’ve said.
“In ancient times, Yü controlled the floodwaters and brought peace to all beneath Heaven. Duke Chou subjugated the wild tribes of the east and north, drove the fierce animals away, and brought peace of mind to the people. When Confucius finished The Spring and Autumn Annals, rebellious ministers and thieving sons were filled with fear.
“The Book of Songs says:
fighting down the wild tribes
and punishing Ch’u and Shu.
And so no one dares resist us.
No father and no sovereign – this is what Duke Chou fought against. And so, continuing the work of the three sages, I want to rectify people’s minds and put an end to twisty words, resist dangerous conduct and drive reckless ideas away. It isn’t that I love to argue. I just can’t see how to avoid it, for only those who speak out against Yang and Mo are true followers of the sages.”
10 K’uang Chang9 said: “Isn’t Master Chung a man of utterly pure principles? A recluse in the wilds of Wu Ling, he once had nothing to eat for three days, which robbed him of hearing and sight. There was a plum tree standing beside his well, dung worms eating at its fruit. He crawled over to it and began eating too. He took three bites, and suddenly he could hear and see again.”
“Surely Master Chung is the finest man in the nation of Ch’i,” replied Mencius. “But still, how can he be called a man of pure principles? To master his discipline completely, you’d have to be an earthworm – eating leaf rot up above and drinking from the Yellow Springs of graveland down below.
“Was Chung’s house built by the great recluse Po Yi or the great bandit Chih? And was his millet grown by Po Yi, or Chih the bandit? How could he know?”
“What difference does it make?” countered K’uang Chang. “He wove sandals with hemp spun by his wife, and they bartered them for the things they needed.”
“Master Chung comes from an old and noble family of Ch’i,” said Mencius. “His brother’s lofty position earned him ten thousand measures of grain. But Chung thought his brother only earned that grain by ignoring Duty, so he refused to eat it. And he thought his brother only paid for his house by ignoring Duty, so he refused to stay in it. Instead, he lived in Wu Ling, far from his brother and mother.
“One day he returned home and found that his brother had been given a live goose by someone wanting favors. He frowned and said: What good is this cackling creature to you? A few days later, his mother killed the goose and served it to Chung for dinner. Having been away, his brother returned just then and said: Isn’t this the meat of that cackling goose? Chung thereupon ran outside and threw it up.
“He never again ate his mother’s food, but he ate his wife’s. He never again lived in his brother’s house, but he lived in his Wu Ling house. So did he perfect that way of life completely? Only an earthworm could master Chung’s discipline completely.”