1 Mencius said: “Emperor Hui of Liang was utterly Inhumane. The Humane extend their love to those they hate. The Inhumane inflict their hatred on those they love.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Kung-sun Ch’ou.
“In his passion for more territory, Emperor Hui sent his people to war, tearing them asunder and suffering disastrous defeats. Soon he wanted to return to the battlefield, but was afraid he couldn’t win. So he sent his beloved son to the grave too.1 This is what I mean by inflicting their hatred on those they love.”
2 Mencius said: “There were no just wars in The Spring and Autumn Annals. Some were better than others, but that’s all. A sovereign may discipline his august lords by attacking them. But one country should never discipline another in such a way.”
3 Mencius said: “If people believe everything in The Book of History, it’s worse than having no Book of History at all. In the entire ‘War Successfully Completed’ chapter, I accept no more than two or three strips.2
“The Humane have no match in all beneath Heaven. If a Humane ruler attacks an Inhumane one, how could blood flow so deep fulling sticks3 begin floating away?”
4 Mencius said: “There are people who say: I am an expert in war and tactics. But they’re just common criminals. If the ruler of a country loves Humanity, he will have no match in all beneath Heaven. When he marches south, the northern tribes will complain: Why does he leave us for last? And when he marches east, the western tribes will complain: Why does he leave us for last?
“When Emperor Wu marched against Shang with three hundred war-chariots and three thousand illustrious warriors, he said: Have no fear: I bring you peace. The Shang people are not my enemy. At this, the Shang people bowed to the ground like animals shaking their horns loose. Hence, to invade was to rectify. People all want to rectify themselves, so what’s the use of war?”
5 Mencius said: “A master carpenter or carriage-maker can hand down compass and square to his followers, but he cannot make them skillful.”
6 Mencius said: “When Shun was eating cracked rice and wild greens, he lived as if he would spend his whole life like that. And when he was the Son of Heaven, wearing embroidered robes and playing his ch’in in the company of Yao’s two daughters, he lived as if he’d always enjoyed such things.”
7 Mencius said: “Only now have I realized the true gravity of killing a man’s family members. If you kill his father, he’ll kill your father. If you kill his brother, he’ll kill your brother. There’s precious little difference between that and killing your father or brother with your own hands.”
8 Mencius said: “In ancient times, border stations were set up to resist attacks. Now they’re set up to launch attacks.”
9 Mencius said: “If you don’t practice the Way yourself, how will you ever get your wife and child to practice it? And if you don’t employ people according to the Way, how can you ever get your wife and child to practice it?”
10 Mencius said: “If you’re always cultivating profit, you’ll avoid death in bad years. If you’re always cultivating Integrity, you’ll avoid confusion in evil times.”
11 Mencius said: “If you love renown, you can give away a nation of a thousand war-chariots. If you don’t, you can’t give away a basket of rice or bowl of soup without looking pained.”
12 Mencius said: “If the worthy and Humane are not trusted, the country is an empty shell. If Ritual and Duty are ignored, leaders and citizens are confounded. And if the work of government is ignored, no amount of wealth will satisfy a country’s needs.”
13 Mencius said: “It has happened that Inhumane tyrants have gained control of a country. But such men have never ruled all beneath Heaven.”
14 Mencius said: “The people are the most precious of all things. Next come the gods of soil and grain. The sovereign matters least.
“That’s why a person must win over the people to become the Son of Heaven, win over the Son of Heaven to become an august lord, and win over an august lord to become a high minister.
“When an august lord neglects the gods of soil and grain, he should be replaced. When the sacrificial animals are perfect, the vessels of grain pure, the sacrifices observed in their proper seasons, and still drought and flood plague the land, then the gods of soil and grain should be replaced.”
15 Mencius said: “A sage is teacher to the hundred generations. Po Yi and Liu-hsia Hui are such men. That’s why the greedy are cured of greed when they hear the legend of Po Yi, and the timid grow resolute; why the niggardly grow generous when they hear the legend of Liu-hsia Hui, and small minds grow broad. They arose a hundred generations ago, but a hundred generations from now they’ll still inspire all who hear of them. If they weren’t sages, how could this happen? And imagine what they meant to the people who knew them!”
16 Mencius said: “Humanity is the human. Put them together and you have the Way.”
17 Mencius said: “When Confucius left Lu, he said: There’s no hurry, no hurry at all. That’s the Way to leave your parents’ country. When he left Ch’i, he simply emptied his rice steamer and set out. That’s the Way to leave a foreign land.”
18 Mencius said: “When Confucius suffered such hardship in Ch’en and Ts’ai,4 it was because he had no friends among rulers and ministers.”
19 Mo Chi said: “I’ve never been much good at talk.”
“There’s no harm in that,” replied Mencius. “Thoughtful people despise those who talk too much. The Songs say:
My troubled heart is grief-stricken
at this small-minded world’s hatred.
Confucius was like that. And Emperor Wen was like this:
Though he couldn’t ease their hatred,
his renown never faltered among them.”
20 Mencius said: “The wise and worthy used their bright insight to open bright insight in people. Now pundits use blind ignorance to open bright insight in people.”
21 Mencius said to Adept Kao: “If a footpath in the mountains suddenly gets a lot of use, it becomes a road. And if it’s never used, it’s soon choked with underbrush. That’s how it is with your heart: choked with underbrush.”
22 Adept Kao said: “Yü’s music was much finer than Emperor Wen’s.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Mencius.
“Because the bell-pivots in his orchestra were nearly worn through.”
“That’s hardly proof. Do the deep ruts passing through a city gate come from the power of a single team of horses?”
23 When there was famine in Ch’i, Adept Ch’en said: “The Ch’i people are hoping you can get T’ang to open its granaries for them again. But you can’t do that, can you?”
“If I did,” replied Mencius, “I’d be another Feng Fu. Feng Fu was a man in Chin who was good at seizing tigers, but eventually became a good official. Many years later he went out into the country and found a crowd of people chasing a tiger. They cornered the tiger against some cliffs, but no one dared tangle with it. When they saw Feng Fu, they ran to greet him. And seeing him boldly roll up his sleeves and climb out of his carriage, they were delighted. But the other scholars there only laughed.”
24 Mencius said: “The mouth’s relation to flavor, the eye’s to color, the ear’s to sound, the nose’s to fragrance, the four limbs’ to ease – these are human nature. But they’re also the Mandate of Heaven, so the noble-minded never call them human nature.
“Humanity’s relation to father and son, Duty’s to sovereign and minister, Ritual’s to guest and host, understanding’s to the wise and worthy, the sage’s to Heaven’s Way – these are the Mandate of Heaven. But they’re also human nature, so the noble-minded never call them the Mandate of Heaven.”
25 Hao-sheng Pu-hai asked: “What kind of man is Adept Yüeh-cheng?”
“A man of virtue and sincerity,” replied Mencius.
“What do you mean by virtue and sincerity?”
“What we aspire to is called virtue, and to possess it within us is called sincerity,” began Mencius. “To possess it in rich abundance is called beauty, and to be ablaze with that rich abundance is called great. Someone transformed by that greatness is a sage, and to be a sage beyond all knowing – that is called divinity. Yüeh-cheng has mastered the first two, but the last four are still beyond him.”
26 Mencius said: “When people abandon the school of Mo Tzu, they turn to Yang Chu. And when they abandon the school of Yang Chu, they turn to Confucius. When they turn to our Confucian school, we should take them in. That’s all.
“But these days, people debate the followers of Mo Tzu and Yang Chu, and it’s like they’re chasing stray pigs. First they herd them back into the pen, then they tie up their legs.”
27 Mencius said: “There are three forms of taxation: cloth, grain, and labor. The noble-minded levy one, and relax the other two. If you levy two at once, the people starve and die. If you levy all three at once, father and son are torn asunder.”
28 Mencius said: “An august lord has three treasures: land, people, and government. If they treasure pearls and jade, they’re destined for ruin.”
29 When P’en-ch’eng K’uo took office in Ch’i, Mencius said: “He’s as good as dead.”
Eventually P’en-ch’eng K’uo was put to death, and the disciples asked: “How did you know he’d be put to death?”
“He was a man of little talent,” replied Mencius, “and he’d never learned the great noble-minded Way. That’s all it took to kill him.”
30 When Mencius went to T’eng and stayed in the Upper Palace, there was a half-finished pair of sandals on the windowsill. At some point, the palace servants came looking for them but couldn’t find them. So someone asked: “Can your followers really be so shameless?”
“Do you think we came all this way just to steal sandals?” replied Mencius.
“I wouldn’t think so. But as a teacher, you don’t chase after students who leave and you don’t refuse students who come. If they come to you with an earnest mind, you accept them without any question.”
31 Mencius said: “There are things people find unbearable. To see that and use it to understand what makes life bearable – that is Humanity. There are things people will not do. To see that and use it to understand what people should do – that is Duty.
“The heart detests harming others. If you apply that everywhere, you’ll never exhaust Humanity. The heart detests peeking through holes and stealing over walls. If you apply that everywhere, you’ll never exhaust Duty. People resent condescension. If you apply that everywhere, you can practice Duty wherever you go.
“To say what you should not say – that is to use words as a ploy. Not to say what you should say – that is to use silence as a ploy. Either way, it’s no different from peeking through holes and stealing over walls.”
32 Mencius said: “Words that speak of things close at hand and carry far-reaching implications – those are the good words. Guarding the essentials and applying them broadly – that is the good Way.
“The noble-minded always use forthright words, so the Way endures in them. And they cultivate themselves tenaciously, so all beneath Heaven is at peace.
“People keep leaving their own fields to weed the fields of others. It’s a sickness. They demand everything of others, and nothing of themselves.”
33 Mencius said: “For Yao and Shun, it was their very nature. And T’ang and Wu – they returned to it.
“When every movement of mind and body is in accord with Ritual – that is the fullest form of Integrity. When you mourn the dead utterly, it isn’t to impress the living. When you abide by Integrity without swerving, it isn’t to earn a fat salary. And when you speak with true sincerity, always standing by your word, it isn’t to justify your actions. The noble-minded simply put the law into action, then await their fate.”
34 Mencius said: “When you counsel great figures, do it with disdain. Don’t let their majesty impress you. Ceilings thirty feet high and rafter-beams a yard across – if I realized my every dream, I wouldn’t have such things. Serving girls by the hundred and tables ten feet wide spread with food – if I realized my every dream, I wouldn’t have such things. Great fun drinking, riding, and hunting, always a retinue of a thousand carriages following behind – if I realized my every dream, I wouldn’t have such things.
“The things they do are all things I would never do. And the things I do are all in accordance with the ancient precepts. So why should I cower before them?”
35 Mencius said: “For nurturing the mind, there’s nothing like paring your desires away to a very few. If you have few desires, there may still be some capricious whims in your mind, but they’ll be few. If you have many desires, there may still be some enduring principles in your mind, but they’ll be few indeed.”
36 Tseng Hsi loved sheep-dates. But his son, Master Tseng, couldn’t bear to eat them.
“Which tastes better – roast mincemeat or sheep-dates?” asked Kung-sun Ch’ou.
“Roast mincemeat, of course,” replied Mencius.
“Then why did Master Tseng eat roast mincemeat and not sheep-dates?”
“Roast mincemeat is a taste shared by many, but a taste for sheep-dates is unique. It’s forbidden to use someone’s personal name, but not their family name. This is because a family name is shared by many, while a personal name is unique.”
37 Adept Wan Chang asked: “When he was in Ch’en, Confucius said: Let’s go back home. The young in our villages are full of impetuous ambition. They forge ahead but cannot forget their childish ways.5 But he was in Ch’en, so what made him think of the impetuous young scholars in Lu?”
Mencius replied: “Confucius said: I can’t find students who steer the middle Way, so I turn to the impetuous and the timid. The impetuous forge ahead, and the timid know what to avoid.6 Obviously, Confucius wanted to find students who steer the middle Way. But since he couldn’t find such people, he started thinking about the best alternatives.”
“What sort of person did he mean by impetuous?” asked Wan Chang.
“People like Ch’in Chang, Tseng Hsi, and Mu P’i.”
“Why did he call them impetuous?”
“They were full of ambition,” said Mencius, “and grand boasting about The ancients! The ancients! But if you examine their actions, you see they often violated the ancient precepts.
“And when he couldn’t find the impetuous for students, all Confucius could do is look for arrogant scholars who wouldn’t condescend to anything the least bit impure. These are the timid, and they are the next best alternative.”
Wan Chang continued: “Confucius said: I regret all those who pass by my gate without entering to become students – all but the righteous villager. A righteous villager is the thief of Integrity.7 What sort of person did he mean by righteous villager?”
“All that grand boasting of the impetuous is senseless,” replied Mencius. “Their words ignore their actions; their actions ignore their words. And still they bluster about The ancients! The ancients! And how can the timid walk around so cold and self-contained? They live in this world, so they should act like they’re a part of it. But if these two only act with virtue and benevolence, they’re alright.
“As for those righteous villagers: they enfeeble themselves fawning all over this world.”
“If a whole village praises someone as righteous,” said Adept Wan, “then they’d be called righteous wherever they went. So why did Confucius call such a person the thief of Integrity?”
“If you want to accuse such a person, there’s no place to begin,” replied Mencius. “If you want to criticize, there’s nothing to criticize. They do what everyone else does, in perfect harmony with this sordid world. They live that way, and yet seem loyal and sincere. They act that way, and yet seem pure and honest. They please everyone and believe they’re always right. But it’s impossible to enter the Way of Yao and Shun with them. That’s why Confucius called such a person the thief of Integrity.
“Confucius said:
I hate things that are not what they appear. I hate weeds for fear they’ll be confused with young rice. I hate sweet talk for fear it will be confused with eloquence. I hate calculating tongues for fear they’ll be confused with sincerity. I hate the dissolute songs of Cheng for fear they’ll be confused with music. I hate purple for fear it will be confused with the purity of vermilion. And I hate righteous villagers for fear they’ll be confused with people of Integrity.
“The noble-minded simply return to the changeless principle. When the changeless principle is established, the people flourish. And when the people flourish, the twisty ways of evil are unknown.”
38 Mencius said: “It was over five hundred years from Yao and Shun to T’ang. People like Yü and Kao Yao understood because they knew Yao and Shun, and people like T’ang understood through learning. It was over five hundred years from T’ang to Emperor Wen. People like Yi Yin and Lai Chu understood because they knew T’ang, and people like Emperor Wen understood through learning. It was over five hundred years from Emperor Wen to Confucius. People like Duke T’ai and San-yi Sheng understood because they knew Wen, and people like Confucius understood through learning.
“Now it’s hardly been a hundred years from Confucius to our own age. We aren’t far from his time, and we’re so near his home. But if no one here’s gleaned anything from that great sage, then no one here’s gleaned anything.”