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La 


THE    CHIN 


TRANSLATED     INTO     ENGL 


'^1  '-^•1*--ft.'AV  f 


PRELIMINAP.Y    ESSAYS    AND    EXPLANATORY    NOTES. 


(revised  and  reproduced  from  the  author's  work 
containing  the  original  text,  &c.) 


JAMES  LEGGE,   D,D.,LL.D. 


VOL.  II. 

THE    LIFE    AND    WORKS    OF     MENCIUS. 


LONDON: 

TEUBNER  &  CO.,  57  &  59,  LUDGATE  HILL. 

1875.- 

lAU  Rights  reserved.l 


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JOHN  GUILDS  AND  SON,  PKINTEBS. 


Iittp://www.arcliive.org/details/cliineseclassics02leggiala 


THE 


LIFE    AND    WORKS 


M  E  N  C  I  U  S 


WITH  ESSAYS  AND  NOTES, 


JAMES  LEGGE,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


LONDON: 

TEtJBNEE  &  CO.,  57  &  59,  LUDGATE  HILL. 

1875. 

lAll  Rights  reserved.'} 


J(inN  CHILDS  AND  SON,  PEINTERS. 


Annex 

PL 
\%1 

PREFACE. 


AVhen  the  autlior,  in  1867,  published  "  The  Life  and  Teachings  of 
Confucius,"  he  intimated  that  it  would  be  followed  by  the  present 
volume,  "  as  soon  as  the  publisher  should  feel  ^authorized  by  public 
encouragement  to  go  forward  with  the  undertaking."  It  was  nob 
long  till  the  publisher  gave  him  notice  that  he  was  ready  to  go 
to  press  with  an  edition  of  Mencius,  which  might  therefore  have 
appeared  in  1808.  By  that  time,  however,  the  author  was  occupied 
with  the  fourth  and  fifth  volumes  of  his  larger  Work,  containing 
the  ancient  poeti'y  of  China,  aud  the  history  of  the  feudal  kingdom 
of  Chow  from  B.C.  721  to  480;  and  it  was  not  till  towards  the 
end  of  1872  that  the  publication  of  the  fifth  volume  was  com- 
pleted. 

The  author  then  began  to  take  Mencius  in  hand,  and  to  give 
the  translation  and  notes  in  the  second  volume  of  his  larger 
Work  a  careful  revision.  That  was  published  in  1861,'  and,  as  a 
result-  of  his  studies  during,  the  intervening  years,  he  saw  that 
some  impi'overaent  might  be  efiected  in  his  earlier  labours.  He 
therefore  wrote  out  afresh  the  translation  of  the  seven  Books  of 
Mencius,  and  the  notes  also  with  a  special  view  to  their  suitability 
to  an  edition  of  the  Chinese  philosopher  for  general  readers. 
The  volume  thus  prepared  is  now  submitted  to  the  Public. 

In  the  preface  to  the  former  volume  the  author  referred  to  a 
re-publication  of  his  translation  of  the  Chinese  Works  contained 
in  it  in  the  United 'States,  and  mentioned  that  the  appearance  of 
that  re-publication  was  a  principal  reason  why  his  publisher  had 
asked  him  to  issue  a  popular  edition  of  the  Chinese  Classics  in 
his  own  name.     The  title-page  of  the  volume,  moreover,  says  ex- 


IV  PREFACE. 

pressly  that  it  was  '*  reproduced  for  general  readers  from  the  author's 
Work,  containing  the  original  Text,  &c."  If  Dr  John  lleinrich 
Plath  of  Munich  had  taken  the  trouble  to  read  the  preface  or 
even  the  title-page,  he  would  hardly  have  done  the  injustice  to  the 
author  which  appears  in  his  "  Confucius  und  Seiner  Schiiler  Leben 
und  Lehren."  There,  in  his  "  Leben  des  Confucius,  1,"  on  p.  15,  he 
has  said  that  "  The  Life  and  Teachings  of  Confucius  is  a  delusion 
practised  on  the  Public,  being  a  mere  reprint  of  the  author's 
Translations  in  his  Chinese  Classics,  without  the  Chinese  Text, 
and  with  his  short  Life  of  Confucius."  The  author  cannot 
suppose  that  Dr  Plath  does  not  understand  plain  English  suffici- 
ently well  to  have  saved  him  from  such  a  misrepresentation. 
He  did  not  practise  any  delusion  on  the  Public,  and  it  ought 
not  to  have  been  even  insinuated  that  he  had  been  guilty  of 
such  a  thing. 

London,  \st  March,  1874. 


CONTENTS. 


PEOLEGOMENA., 
CHAPTER  I. 

OF  THE    WORKS  OF  MENCIUS. 

SECTION  PAGE 

I.      THEIR  RECOGNITION  UNDER  THE  HAN  DYNASTY,  AND  BEFOEE 

IT  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  1 

II.      CHAOU  K'E  AND   HIS   LABOURS  UPON   MENCITTS      ...  ...  4 

III.  OTHER  COMMENTATORS  ...  ...  ...  ...  7 

IV.  INTEGRITY;     AUTHORSHIP;     AND     RECEPTION     AMONG     THE 

CLASSICAL  BOOKS   ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  9 

CHAPTER  11. 

MENCIUS  AND  HIS  OPINIONS. 

I.      LIFE  OP   MENCIUS        ...  ...  ...  ...  ...         14 

II.      HIS  INFLUENCE   AND   OPINIONS  ...  ...  ...         B7 

APPENDIX 

I.  THAT  THE  NATURE   IS   EVIL.   BY   THE   PHILOSOPHER  SEUN  .. ^        77 

II.  AN  EXAjnNATION   OF   THE   NATURE  OF  MAN.   BY  HAN   WAN- 

KUNG         ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  •••        88 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  III. 
OP    YANG   CHOO  AND   MIH   TEIH. 


SECTION 

I.      THE   OPINIOKS  OP   YANG   CHOO 

II.      THE  OPINIONS   OF   MIH   TEIH     ... 

UNIYEESAI.  LOVE,   PART  I. 

UNIVERSAL   LOVE,    PART  II. 

UNIVERSAL  LOVE,   PART  III.     ... 


PAOE 

91 

...       99 

...     100 

...      102 

...     107 

THE  WOEKS  OF  MENCIUS. 


BOOK  I. 

KING   HWUY   OF  LEANG,   PART  I. 
KING   HWUY   OP  LEANG,    PART   II. 


123 
139 


BOOK  II. 


KUNG-SUN  CH'OW,   PART   I. 
KUNG-SUN  CH'OW,  PART   Ii. 


159 

178 


BOOK  III. 


T'ANG  WAN  KUNG,  PART   I. 
T'aXG  wan  KUNG,  PART  II. 


196 
215 


BOOK  IV, 


LE   LOW,   PART   I. 
LE  LOW,   PART  II. 


232 

253 


PROLEGOMENA. 


CHAPTER   I. 

OF  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS. 


SECTION  I. 

THEIR    RECOGNITION    UNDER   THE    HAN    DYNASTY,  AND    BEFORE    IT. 

1 .  In  the  third  of  the  catalogues  of  Lev/  Hin/  containing 
a  list  of  the  Works  of  Scholars  which  had  been  collected 
up  to  his  time  (about  a.d.  1),  and  in  the  first  subdivision, 
devoted  to  authors  of  the  classical  or  orthodox  School,  we 
have  the  entry — "  The  Works  of  Mencius,  in  eleven  Books.'" 
At  that  date,  therefore,  Mencius'  writings  were  known  and 
registered  as  a  part  of  the  literature  of  China. 

2.  A  hundred  years  before  Hin,  we  have  the  testimony 
of  the  historian  Sze-ma  Ts'een.  In  the  seventy-fourth 
Book  of  his  "  Historical  Records,"  there  is  a  brief  memoir  of 
Mencius,  where  he  says  that  the  philosopher,  having  with- 
drawn into  private  life,  "  with  his  disciples,  Wan  Chang  and 
others,  prefeced  the  She  and  the  Shoo,  unfolded  the  views 
of  Confucius,  and  made  '  The  Works  of  Mencius,  in  seven 
Books.'" 

The  discrepancy  that  appears  between  these  testimonies, 
in  regard  to  the  number  of  the  Books  which  went  by  the 
common  name  of  Mencius,  will  be  considered  in  the  sequel. 
In  the  mean  while  it  is  shown  that  the  writings  of  ]\Iencius 
were  recognized  by  scholars  a  hundred  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  which  takes  us  back  to  little  more  than  a 
century  and  a  half  from  the  date  assigned  to  his  death. 

'  See  Vol.  I.,  Proleg.,  pp.  4,  5, 
vol..  II.  1 


& 


Z  '  THE   WORKS    OF   MENCIUS. 

3.  Among  writers  of  the  Ilan  dynasty  earlier  tlian  Sze-ma 
Ts'een,  there  were  Han  Ying,  and  Tung  Chung-shoo,  con- 
temporaries, in  the  reigns  of  the  emperors  Wan,  King,  and 
Woo,  (B.C.  178 — 86).  Portions  of  their  Works  remain,  and 
in  thcni  are  found  quotations  from  Mencius.  Later  than 
these  there  were  Yang  Heung  (b.c.  53 — a.d.  18),  who  wrote 
a  commentary  on  Mencius,  which  was  existing  under  the 
Sung  dynasty,  and  Wang  Cli'ung  (died  about  a.d.  100), 
who  left  a  chapter  c^  animadversions  on  our  philosopher, 
which  still  exists. 

4.  But  we  find  references  to  Mencius  and  his  Works 
anterior  to  the  dynasty  of  Han.  Between  him  and  the  rise 
of  the  Ts'in  dynasty  flourished  the  philosopher  Seun  K'ing, 
of  whose  W' ritings  enough  is  still  preserved  to  form  a  large 
volume.  By  many  he  is  regarded  as  the  ablest  of  all  the 
followers  of  Confucius.  He  several  times  makes  mention  of 
.Mencius,  and  one  of  his  most  important  chapters, — "■  That 
Human  Nature  is  Evil,^^  seems  to  have  been  written  ex- 
pressly against  Mencius'  doctrine  of  its  goodness.  He 
quotes  his  arguments,  and  endeavours  to  set  them  aside. 

5.  I  have  used  the  term  recognition  in  the  heading  of  this 
section,  because  the  scholars  of  the  Han  dynasty  do  not 
seem  to  have  had  any  trouble  in  forming  or  settling  the 
text  of  Mencius  such  as  we  have  seen  they  had  with  the 
Confucian  Analects. 

And  here  a  statement  made  by  Chaou  K'^e,  whose  labours 
upon  our  philosopher  I  shall  notice  in  the  next  section, 
deserves  to  be  considered.  He  says  : — "  When  Ts'^in  sought 
by  its  fires  to  destroy  the  classical  books,  and  put  the 
scholars  to  death  in  pits,  there  was  an  end  of  the  School  of 
Mencius.  His  Works,  however,  were  included  under  the 
common  name  of  '  Philosophical,^  and  so  the  tablets  con- 
taining them  escaped  destruction.'^  Ma  Twan-lin  does  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  the  statement  is  incorrect ;  ^  and  it 
seems  strange  that  Mencius  should  have  been  exempted 
from  the  sweep  of  a  measure  intended  to  extinguish  the 
memory  of  the  most  ancient  and  illustrious  sovereigns  of 
China  and  of  their  principles.  But  the  same  thing  is 
affirmed  in  regard  to  the  writings  of  at  least  one  other 
author  of  antiquity,  the  philosopher  Yuh;  and  the  frequent 

'  See  hia  great  work,  Bk  clxxxiv.,  upon  Mencius. 


THSiE  eai;ly  recogxitiox.  3 

quotations  of  Mencius  by  Han  Ying  and  Tung  Cliung-shoo, 
indicating'  that  his  Woi-ks  were  a  complete  collection  in 
their  times,  give  some  confirmation  to  K'c's  account. 

On  the  whole,  the  evidence  seems  rather  to  preponderate 
in  its  favour.  Mencius  did  not  obtain  his  place  as  "a 
classic  "  till  long  after  the  time  of  the  Ts'in  dynasty ;  and 
though  the  infuriate  emperor  would  doubtless  have  given 
special  orders  to  destroy  his  writings,  if  his  attention  had 
been  called  to  them,  we  can  easily  conceive  their  being 
overlooked,  and  escaping  with  a  mass  of  others  which  were 
not  considered  dangerous  to  the  new  rule. 

6.  Another  statement  of  Chaou  K'e  shows  that  the  Works 
of  Mencius,  once  recognized  under  the  Han  dynasty,  were 
for  a  time  at  least  kept  with  a  watchful  care.  He  says  that, 
in  the  reign  of  the  empei"or  Heaou-wan  (b.c.  178 — 154), 
"  the  Lun-yu,  the  Heaou-king,  Mencius,  and  the  Urh-ya 
were  all  put  under  the  care  of  a  Board  of  '  Great  Scholars,' 
which  was  subsequently  done  away  with,  only  '  The  Five 
King 'being  left  uuder  such  guardian  ship. ■'■'  Choo  He  has 
observed  that  the  Books  of  the  Han  dynasty  supply  no 
evidence  of  such  a  Board ;  but  its  existence  may  be  inferred 
from  a  letter  of  Lew  Hin,  complaining  of  the  supineness 
with  which  the  scholars  seconded  his  quest  of  the  scattered 
monuments  of  literature.  He  says  : — "  Under  the  emperor 
Hca6u-wan,  the  Shoo-king  reappeared,  and  the  She-kiug 
began  to  sprout  and  bud  afresh.  Throughout  the  empire, 
a  multitude  of  books  were  continually  making  their  appear- 
ance, and  among  them  the  Records  and  Sayings  of  all  the 
Philosophers,  which  likewise  had  their  place  assigned  to 
them  in  the  Courts  of  Learning,  and  a  Board  of  Great 
Scholars  appointed  to  their  charge."  ^ 

As  the  Board  of  Great  Scholars  in  charge  of  the  Five 
King  was  instituted  B.C.  135,  we  may  suppose  that  the  pre- 
vious arrangement  hardly  lasted  half  a  century.  That  it 
did  exist  for  a  time,  however,  shows  the  value  set  upon  the 
writings  of  Mencius,  and  confirms  the  point  which  I  have 
sought  to  set  forth  in  this  section, — that  there  were  Works 
of  Mencius  current  in  China  before  the  Han  dynasty,  and 
which  were  eagerly  recognized  and  cherished  by  the  scholars 
under  it,  who  had  it  in  charge  to  collect  the  ancient  literary 
productions  of  their  country. 

'   See  the  same  work,  Bk  clxxiv.  pp.  9,  10. 


4  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS. 

SECTION  II. 

CHAOU    K^E   AND   HIS    LABOURS    UPON    MENCIUS. 

1 .  It  has  been  sliown  that  the  Works  of  Mencius  were 
sufficiently  well  known  from  nearly  the  beginning  of  the 
Han  dynasty;  but  its  more  distinguished  scholars  do  not 
seem  to  have  devoted  themselves  to  their  study  and  elucida- 
tion. The  classics  proper  claimed  their  first  attention.  There 
was  much  labour  to  be  done  in  collecting  and  collating  the 
fragments  of  them  ;  and  to  unfold  their  meaning  was  the  chief 
duty  of  every  one  who  thought  himself  equal  to  the  task. 
Mencius  was  but  one  of  the  literati,  a  scholar  like  them- 
selves. He  could  wait.  We  must  come  down  to  the  second 
century  of  the  Christian  era  to  find  the  first  great  comment- 
ary on  his  writings. 

In  the  Prolegomena  to  the  Confucian  Analects,  Section 
i.  7,  I  have  spoken  of  Ch'ing  Heuen  or  Gliding  K'ang-shing, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  74  some  time  between  a.d.  190 — 220, 
after  having  commented  on  every  ancient  classical  book. 
It  is  said  by  some  ^  that  he  embraced  the  Works  of  Mencius 
in  his  labours.  If  he  did  so,  which  to  me  i-s  very  doubtful, 
the  result  has  not  come  down  to  posterity.  To  give  to  our 
philosopher  such  a  treatment  as  he  deserved,  and  compose 
a  commentary  that  should  descend  to  the  latest  posterity, 
was  the  Work  of  Chaou  K'e. 

2.  K'e  was  born  a.d.  108.  His  father  was  a  censor  about 
the  court  of  the  emperor  Hiiaou-gan,  and  gave  him  the  name 
of  Kiia,  which  he  afterwards  changed  into  K^e  for  the  pur- 
pose of  concealment,  changing  also  his  original  designation 

'  In  the  "Books  of  the  Huy  dynasty  "  (A.D.  oHi)— fil7),  Bk  xxxix.,  we  find 
that  there  were  then  in  the  national  Repositories  three  Works  on  Mencius, — 
(Jhaou  K'e's,  one  by  Ch'ing  Heuen,  and  one  by  Lew  He  also  a  scholar  of 
Han,  but  probably  not  earlier  than  (Jhaou  K'e.  The  same  Works  were  existing 
under  the  T'ang  dynasty  (C>2i—'M)7)  ;— see  the  "  Books  of  T'ang,"  Bk.  xlix.  By 
the  rise  of  the  Hung  dynasty  (A.D.  97.")),  however,  the  two  last  were  both 
lost.  The  entries  in  the  Records  of  Suy  and  T'ang  would  seem  to  prove  that 
( 'h-ing  Heuen  had  written  on  Mencius,  but  in  the  sketches  of  his  life  which  I 
have  consulted, — and  that  in  the  "  Books  of  the  After  Han  dynasty  "  must  be 
the  basis  of  all  the  rest, — there  is  no  mention  made  of  his  having  done  so. 


CHAOU    k'E   and   his    LABOURS    UPON    MENCIUS.  5 

of  T'ae-k^ing  into  Pin-k'ing.  It  Avas  his  boast  that  he  could 
trace  his  descent  from  the  empei'or  Chuen-hcuh,  B.C.  2510. 

In  his  youth  K'e  was  distinguished  for  his  intelligence 
and  diligent  study  of  the  classics.  He  married  a  niece  of 
the  celebrated  scholar  and  statesman  Ma  Yung,  but  bore 
himself  proudly  towards  him  and  her  other  relatives.  A. 
stern  independence  and  hatred  of  the  sycophancy  of  the 
times  were  from  the  first  characteristic  of  him,  and  proved 
the  source  of  many  troubles. 

When  he  was  over  thirty,  K'e  was  attacked  with  some 
severe  and  lingering  illness,  in  consequence  of  which  he  lay 
upon  his  bed  for  seven  years.  At  one  time,  thinking  he  was 
near  his  end,  he  addressed  a  nephew  who  was  with  him  in 
the  following  terms :  — "  Born  a  man  into  the  world,  in 
retirement  I  have  not  displayed  the  principles  exemplified 
on  mount  Ke,^  nor  in  office  achieved  the  merit  of  E  and 
Leu."  Heaven  has  not  granted  me  such  distinction.  What 
more  shall  I  say  ?  Set  up  a  round  stone  before  my  grave, 
and  engrave  on  it  the  inscription, — '  Here  lies  a  recluse  of 
Han,  by  surname  Chaou,  and  by  name  Kea.  He  had  the 
will,  but  not  the  opportunity.      Such  was  his  fate.     Alas  ! '  " 

Contrary  to  expectation,  K'e  recovei*ed,  and  in  a.d.  154 
we  find  him  again  engaged  in  public  life,  but  in  four  years 
he  is  flying  into  obscurity  under  a  feigned  name,  to  escape 
the  resentment  of  T'^ang  Hang,  one  of  the  principal  minis- 
ters, and  of  his  partizans.  He  saved  his  life,  but  his  family 
and  relatives  fell  victims  to  the  vengeance  of  his  enemies, 
and  for  some  time  he  wandered  about  the  country  of  the 
Keang  and  Hwae,  or  among  the  mountains  and  by  the  sea- 
coast  on  the  north 'of  the  present  Shan-tung.  One  day,  as 
he  was  selling  cakes  in  a  market-place,  his  noble  presence 
attracted  the  attention  of  Sun  Ts'ung,  a  young  gentleman 
of  Gan-k'ew,  who  was  passing  by  in  a  carriage,  and  to  him, 
on  being  questioned,  he  made  known  his  history.  This 
proved  a  fortunate  rencontre  for  him.  Sun  Ts'ung  took 
him  home,  and  kept  him  for  several  years  concealed  some- 
where, "  in  the  centre  of  a  double  wall.^'  And  now  it  was 
that  he  solaced  his  hard  lot  with  literary  studies.     He  wooed 

'  It  was  to  mount  Ke  that  two  ancient  worthies  are  said  to  have  withdrawn, 
when  Yaou  wished  to  promote  them  to  honour. 

*  Tliese  are  the  well-known  E  Yin  and  T-ue-kung  ^Vang,  ancestor  of  the 
lords  of  Ts'e. 


b  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIU3. 

tlie  muse  in  twouty-tlii-ee  poetical  compositions,  wlaicli  he 
called  "  Songs  of  Adversity/'  and  achieved  his  commentary 
on  Mcncius. 

On  the  fall  of  the  T^ang  fiiction,  when  a  political  amnesty 
was  proclaimed,  K'e  emerged  from  his  friendly  confinement, 
and  was  employed  in  important  offices,  but  only  to  fall  a 
victim  again  to  the  intrigues  of  the  time.  The  first  year  of 
the  emj)eror  Ling,  a.d.  168,  was  the  commencement  of  an 
imprisonment  which  lasted  more  than  ten  years  j  butmothing 
could  crush  his  elasticity,  or  daunt  his  perseverance.  In 
185,  when  he  had  nearly  reached  fourscore,  he  was  active 
as  ever  in  the  field  of  political  strife,  and  wrought  loyally  to 
sustain  the  fortunes  of  the  falling  dynasty.  He  died  at  last 
in  A.D.  201,  in  King-chow,  whither  he  had  gone  on  a  mission 
in  behalf  of  his  imperial  master.  Before  his  death,  he  had 
a  tomb  prepared  for  himself,  which  was  long  shown,  or 
pretended  to  be  shown,  in  what  is  now  the  district  city 
of  Keang-ling  in  the  department  of  King-chow  in  Hoo- 
pih. 

3.  From  the  above  account  of  Chaou  K''o  it  will  be  seen 
that  his  commentary  on  Mencius  was  prepared  under  great 
disadvantages.  That  he,  a  fugitive  and  in  such  close  hid- 
ing, should  have  been  able  to  produce  a  work  such  as  it  is 
shows  the  extent  of  his  reading  and  acquirements  in  early 
days.  I  have  said  so  much  about  hira,  because  his  name 
should  be  added  to  the  long  roll  of  illustrious  men  who  have 
found  comfort  in  sore  adversity  from  the  pursuits  of  litei'a- 
ture  and  philosophy.  As  to  his  mode  of  dealing  with  his 
subject,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  give  his  own  account : — 

"  I  wished  to  set  my  mind  on  some  literary  work,  by 
which  I  might  be  assisted  to  the  government  of  my  thoughts, 
and  forget  the  approach  of  old  age.  But  the  six  classics 
had  all  been  explained  and  carefully  elucidated  by  previous 
scholars.  Of  all  the  orthodox  school  there  was  only 
Mencius,  wide  and  deep,  minute  and  exquisite,  yet  obscure 
at  times  and  hard  to  see  through,  who  seemed  to  me  to 
deserve  to  be  properly  ordered  and  digested.  Upon  this  I 
brought  forth  whatever  I  had  learned,  collected  testimonies 
from  the  classics  and  other  books,  and  divided  my  author 
into  chapters  and  sentences.  My  annotations  are  given 
along  with  the  original  text,  and  of  every  chapter  I  have 
separately  indicated  the  scope.     The  Books  I  have  divided 


OTHER   COMMENTATORS.  7 

into  two  Parts,  the  first  and  seconclj  making  in  all  fourteen 
sections. 

'*  On  tlie  whole,  with  regard  to  my  labour,  I  do  not  venture 
to  think  that  it  speaks  the  man  of  mark,  but,  as  a  gift  to 
the  learner,  it  may  dispel  some  doubts  and  resolve  perplexi- 
ties. It  is  not  for  me,  however,  to  pronounce  on  its  excel- 
lencies or  defects.  Let  men  of  discernment  who  come  after 
me  observe  its  errors  and  omissions  and  correct  them; — 
that  will  be  a  good  service." 


SECTION  III. 

OTHER    COMMENTATORS. 

1.  All  the  commentaries  on  Mencius  made  prior  to  the 
Sung  dynasty  (a.d.  975)  having  perished,  excepting  that  of 
Chaou  K'e,  I  will  not  therefore  make  an  attempt  to  enumer- 
ate them  particulai-ly.  Only  three  names  deserve  to  be 
mentioned,  as  frequent  reference  is  made  to  them  in  Critical 
Introductions  to  our  philosopher.  They  were  all  of  the 
T^ang  dynasty,  extending,  if  we  embrace  in  it  what  is  called 
"  The  after  T^ang,''  from  a.b.  624  to  936.  The  first  is  that 
of  Luh  Shen-king,  who  declined  to  adopt  Chaou  K'e^s 
division  of  the  text  into  fourteen  sections,  and  many  of 
whose  interpretations,  differing  from  those  of  the  older 
authority,  have  .been  received  into  the  now  standard  com- 
mentary of  Choo  He.  The  other  two  names  are  those 
of  Chang  Yih  and  Ting  Kung-choh,  whose  pinncipal  object 
was  to  determine  the  sounds  and  tones  of  characters  about 
which  there  could  be  dispute.  All  that  we  know  of  their 
views  is  from  the  works  of  Sun  Sliih  and  Choo  He^  who  have 
many  references  to  them  in  their  notes. 

2.  During  the  Sung  dynasty,  the  commentators  on  Men- 
cius were  a  multitude,  but  it  is  only  necessary  that  I  speak 
of  two. 

The  most  distinguished  scholar  of  the  early  reigns  was 
Sun  Shih,  who  is  now  generally  alluded  to  by  his  posthumous 
or  honorary  epithet  of  "  The  Illustrious  Duke.^^  AVe  find 
him  high  in  flavour  and  reputation  in  the  time  of  T'ae-tsung 
(977—997)^  Chin-tsung  (998—1022),  and  Jin-tsung  (1023— 


8  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS. 

1063).  By  imperial  command,  in  association  with  several 
other  officers,  he  prepared  a  work  in  two  parts  under  the 
title  of  "  The  Sounds  and  Meaning  of  Mencius,"  and  pre- 
sented it  to  the  court.  Occasion  was  taken  from  this  for  a 
strange  imposture.  In  the  edition  of  "  The  Thirteen  King/' 
Mencius  always  appears  with  "  The  Commentary  of  Chaou 
K'e''  and  "  the  Correct  Meaning  of  Sun  Shih.''  Under 
the  Sung  dynasty,  what  were  called  "  correct  meanings" 
were  made  for  most  of  the  classics.  They  are  commentaries 
and  annotations  on  the  principal  commentator,  who  is  con- 
sidered as  the  expounder  of  the  classic,  the  author  not  hesi- 
tating, however,  to  indicate  any  peculiar  views  of  his  own. 
The  genuineness  of  Shih's  "Correct  Meaning  of  Mencius" 
has  been  questioned  by  few,  but  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt 
of  its  being  really  a  forgery,  at  the  same  time  that  it  contains 
the  substance  of  the  true  Work  of  "  the  Illustrious  Duke,"  so 
far  as  that  embraced  the  meaning  of  Mencius  and  of  Chaou 
K'e.  The  account  of  it  given  in  the  preface  to  "  An  Exam- 
ination of  the  Text  in  the  Commentary  and  Annotations  on 
Mencius,"  by  Yuen  Yuen  of  the  present  dynasty,  is — "  Sun 
Shih  himself  made  no/ Connect  Meaning;'  but  some  one — I 
know  not  who — supposing  that  his  Work  was  really  of  that 
character,  and  that  there  were  many  things  in  the  com- 
mentary which  were  not  explained,  and  passages  also  of  an 
unsatisfactory  nature,  he  transcribed  the  whole  of  Shih's 
Work  on  '  The  Sounds  and  Meaning ; '  and  having  interpo- 
lated some  words  of  his  own,  published  it  under  the  title  of 
'The  Annotations  of  Sun  Sliih.^  He  was  the  same  person 
who  is  styled  by  Choo  He  'A  scholar  of  Shaou-woo. "' 

In  the  12th  century  Choo  He  appeared  upon  the  stage, 
and  entered  into  the  labours  of  all  his  predecessors.  He 
published  one  Work  separately  upon  Mencius,  and  two  upon 
Mencius  and  the  Confucian  Analects,  The  second  of  these, 
— "  Collected  Comments  on  the  Analects  and  Mencius,"  is 
now  the  standard  authority  on  the  subject,  and  has  been  the 
test  of  orthodoxy  and  scholarship  in  the  literary  examinations 
since  a.d.  1315. 

3.  Under  the  present  dynasty  two  important  contributions 
have  been  made  to  the  study  of  Mencius.  They  are  both 
published  in  the  "Explanations  of  the  Classics  under  the 
Imperial  dynasty  ofTs'iug."^    The  former,  bearing  the  title 

'  See  Vol.  I.,  Proleg.,  p.  21. 


THEIR   INTEGRITY   AND   AUTHORSHIP.  V 

of  ''  An  Examiuation  of  the  Text  in  the  Commentary  and 
Annotations  on  Mcncius/'  forms  the  sections  from  1039  to 
1054.  It  is  by  Yuen  Yuen,  the  Governor- general  under 
whose  auspices  that  compilation  was  published.  Its  simple 
aim  is  to  establish  the  true  reading  by  a  collation  of  the 
oldest  and  best  manuscripts  and  editions,  and  of  the  remains 
of  a  series  of  stone  tablets  containing  the  text  of  Mencius, 
which  were  prepared  in  the  reign  of  Kaou-tsung  (a.d.  1128 — 
1162),  and  are  now  existing  in  the  Examination  Hall  of 
Hang-chow.  The  second  Work,  which  is  still  more  import- 
ant, is  embraced  in  the  sections  1117 — 1146.  Its  title  is — • 
"  The  Correct  Meaning  of  Mencius,  by  Tseaou  Seun,  a  Keu- 
jin  of  Keang-too.^^  It  is  intended  to  be  such  a  Work  as  Sun 
Shih  would  have  produced,  had  he  really  made  what  has 
been  so  long  current  in  the  world  under  his  name ;  and  is 
really  valuable. 


SECTION  IV. 

INTEGRITY ;  AUTHORSHIP ;  AND    RECEPTION   AMONG    THE    CLASSICAL 

BOOKS. 

1.  We  have  seen  how  the  Works  of  Mencius  were  cata- 
logued by  Lew  Hin  as  being  in  "  eleven  Books,"  while  a 
century  earlier  Sze-ma  Ts'^een  referred  to  them  as  consisting 
only  of  "  seven.''^  The  question  has  very  much  vexed 
Chinese  scholars  whether  there  ever  really  were  four  addi- 
tional Books  of  Mencius  which  have  been  lost. 

2.  Chaou  K'e  says  in  his  preface: — "There  likewise  are 
four  additional  Books,  entitled  '  A  Discussion  of  the  Good- 
ness of  Man's  Nature,'  '  An  Explanation  of  Terms,'  '  The 
Classic  of  Filial  Piety/  and  '  The  Practice  of  Government.' 
But  neither  breadth  nor  depth  marks  their  composition.  It 
is  not  like  that  of  the  seven  acknowledged  Books.  It  may 
be  judged  they  are  not  really  the  production  of  ]\Iencius, 
but  have  been  palmed  upon  the  woi*ld  by  some  subsequent 
imitator  of  him."  As  the  four  Books  in  question  are  lost, 
and  only  a  very  few  quotations  from  Mencius,  that  are  not 
found  in  his  Works  which  we  have^  can  be  fished  up  from 


]0  THE    WORKS   OF    MEXCIUS. 

ancient  antliors,  our  best  plan  is  to  acquiesce  in  tlie  conclu- 
sion of  Cliaou  K'e.  The  specification  of  "  Seven  Books," 
by  Sze-ma  Ts'een  is  an  important  corroboration  of  it.  In 
the  two  centuries  preceding  our  era  the  four  Books 
whose  titles  are  given  by  him  may  have  been  made  and 
published  under  the  name  of  Mencius,  and  Hin  would  only 
do  his  duty  in  including  them  in  his  catalogue,  unless  their 
falsehood  was  generally  acknowledged.  K'e,  devoting  him- 
self to  the  study  of  our  author^  and  satisfied  from  internal 
evidence  that  they  were  not  his,  only  did  his  duty  in  reject- 
ing them.  There  is  no  e\nidence  that  his  decision  was  called 
in  question  by  any  scholar  of  the  Han  or  the  dynasties  im- 
mediately following,  when  we  may  suppose  that  the  Books 
were  still  in  existence. 

The  author  of  "  Supplemental  Observations  on  the  Four 
Books,''  ^  says  upon  this  subject : — "  '  It  would  be  better  to 
be  without  books  than  to  give  entire  credit  to  them  ;'  ^ — this 
is  the  rule  for  reading  ancient  books  laid  down  by  Mencius 
himself,  and  the  rule  for  us  after  men  in  reading  about  what 
purport  to  be  lost  books  of  his.  The  seven  Books  we  have 
'  comprehend  [the  doctrine]  of  heaven  and  earth,  examine 
and  set  forth  ten  thousand  topics,  discuss  the  subjects  of 
benevolence  and  righteousness,  reason  and  virtue,  the  nature 
[of  man]  and  the  decrees  [of  Heaven],  misery andhappiness.'' 
Brilliantly  are  these  things  treated  of,  in  a  way  far  beyond 
what  any  disciple  of  Kung-sun  Cli'ow  or  Wan  Chang  could 
have  attained  to.  What  is  the  use  of  disputing  about  other 
matters  ?  Ho  Sheh  has  his  '  Expurgated  Mencius,'  but 
Mencius  cannot  be  expurgated.  Lin  Kin-sze  has  his  '  Con- 
tinuation of  Mencius,'  but  Mencius  needs  no  continuation. 
I  venture  to  say — Besides  the  Seven  Boohs  there  were  no  other 
Worhs  of  Mencius." 

3.  On  the  authorship  of  the  Works  of  Mencius,  Sze-ma 
Ts'een  and  Chaou  K'e  are  agreed.  They  say  that  Mencius 
composed  the  seven  Books  himself,  and  yet  that  ho  did  so 
along  with  certain  of  his  disciples.  The  words  of  the  latter 
are  : — "  He  withdrew  from  public  life,  collected  and  digested 
the  conversations  which  he  had  had  with  his  distinguished 
disciples,  Kung-sun  Ch'ow,  Wan  Chang,  and  others,  on  the 
difficulties  and  doubts  which  they  had  expressed,  and  also 

'  See  Vol.  I.,  Prolonr.,  larger  Work,  p.  132.  *  Mencius,  VII.  Pt  II.  iii. 

'  This  is  the  language  of  Chaou  K'e. 


THEIK    INTEGKITT   AXD   AUTHORSHIP.  11 

compiled  himself  his  deliverances  as  ex-  cathedra  ; — and  so 
published  the  Seven  Books  of  his  writings." 

This  view  of  the  authorship  seems  to  have  been  first 
called  in  question  by  Han  Yu,  commonly  referred  to  as 
""  Han,  the  Duke  of  Literature,"  a  famous  scholar  of  the  eighth 
century  (a.d.  7G8 — 82 i),  under  the  T'ang  dynasty,  who  ex- 
pressed himself  in  the  following  terms  : — "  The  books  of 
Mencius  were  not  published  by  himself.  After  his  death, 
his  disciples.  Wan  Chang  and  Kung-sun  Ch^ow,  in  commu- 
nication with  each  other,  recorded  the  words  of  Mencius." 

4.  If  we  wish  to  adjudicate  in  the  matter,  we  find  that  we 
have  a  diflicult  task  in  hand.  One  thing  is  plain, — the  book 
is  not  the  woi-k  of  many  hands  like  the  Confucian  Analects. 
"  If  we  look  at  the  style  of  the  composition,"  says  Choo 
He,  "it  is  as  if  the  whole  were  melted  together,  and  not 
composed  by  joining  piece  to  piece."  This  language  is  too 
strong,  but  there  is  a  degree  of  truth  and  force  in  it.  No 
principle  of  chronology  guided  the  arrangement  of  the  dif- 
ferent parts,  and  a  foreigner  may  be  pardoned  if  now  and 
then  the  "  pearls  "  seem  to  him  "  at  random  strung  ;  "  yet 
the  collection  is  chai-acterized  by  a  uniformity  of  style,  and 
an  endeavour  in  the  separate  Books  to  preserve  a  unity  of 
matter.  This  consideration,  however,  is  not  enough  to  de- 
cide the  question.  Such  as  the  work  is,  we  can  conceive  it 
proceeding  either  from  Mencius  himself,  or  from  the  labours 
of  a  few  of  his  disciples  engaged  on  it  in  concert. 

The  author  of  the  "  Topography  of  the  Four  Books  "  ^  has 
this  argument  to  show  that  the  w^orks  of  JMencius  are  by 
Mencius  himself: — "The  Confucian  Analects,"  he  says, 
''  were  made  by  the  disciples,  and  therefore  they  record 
minutely  the  appearance  and  manners  of  the  sage.  But 
the  seven  Books  were  made  by  Mencius  himself,  and  there- 
fore we  have  nothing  in  them  excepting  the  words  and 
public  movements  of  the  philosopher.''  This  peculiarity  is 
certainly  consonant  with  the  hypothesis  of  Mencius'  own 
authorship,  and  so  fir  may  dispose  us  to  adopt  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  the  princes  of  Mencius'  time  to 
whom  any  reference  is  made  are  always  mentioned  by  the 
honorary  epithets  conferred  on  them  after  their  death,  it  is 
argued  that  those  at  least  must  have  been  introduced  by  his 
disciples.  There  are  many  passages,  again,  which  savour  more 

'   See  Vol.  I,  Proleg.,  larger  Work,  p.  132. 


12  THE    WORKS    or    MENCIUS. 

of  a  disciple  or  other  narrator  than  of  the  philosopher  him- 
self. There  is,  for  instance,  the  commencing  sentences  of 
Book  III.  Pt  I. :— "  When  the  Duke  Wan  of  T'ang  was 
crown-prince,  having  to  go  to  Ts'oo,  he  went  by  way  of 
Bung,  and  visited  Mencius  (Ht.,  tlie  ]j]illonophcr  Munrj). 
Mencius  discoursed  to  him  how  the  nature  of  man  is  good, 
and  when  speaking,  always  madn  hiudatory  reference  to 
Yaou  and  Khun.  When  the  crown-prince  was  returning 
from  Ts'oo,  he  again  visited  Mencius.  Mencius  said  to  him, 
'  Prince,  do  you  doubt  my  words  ?  The  path  is  one,  and 
only  one.^ " 

5.  Perhaps  the  truth  after  all  is  as  the  thing  is  stated  by 
Sze-ma  Ts'een, — that  Mencius,  aloiuj  with  some  of  his  disci- 
ples, compiled  and  composed  the  Work.  It  woiild  be  in 
their  hands  and  under  their  guardianship  after  his  death, 
and  they  may  have  made  some  slight  alterations,  to  prepare 
it,  as  we  should  say,  for  the  press.  Yet  allowing  this,  there 
is  nothing  to  prevent  us  from  accepting  the  sayings  and 
doings  as  those  of  Mencius,  guaranteed  by  himself. 

6.  It  now  only  remains  here  that  I  refer  to  the  reception 
of  Mencius'  Woi'ks  among  the  Classics.  AYe  have  seen  how 
they  Avere  not  admitted  by  Lew  Hin  into  his  catalogue  of 
classical  works.  Mencius  was  then  only  one  of  the  many 
scholars  or  philosophers  of  the  orthodox  school.  The  same 
classification  obtains  in  the  books  of  the  Suy  and  T'ang 
dynasties ;  and  in  fact  it  was  only  under  the  dynasty  of 
8ung  that  the  works  of  Mencius  and  the  Confucian  Analects 
were  authoritatively  ranked  together.  The  first  explicitly  to 
proclaim  this  honour  as  due  to  our  philosopher  was  Ch'in 
Chih-chae,^  whose  words  are^ — ''Since  the  timewhen  Han,  the 
Duke  of  Literature,  delivered  his  eulogium,  '  Confucius 
handed  [the  scheme  of  doctrine]  to  IMencius,  on  whose  death 
the  line  of  transmission  was  interrupted,'  ^  the  scholars  of 

The  ii:ime  and  the  account  I  take  from  tlie  "  Supplemental  Observations 
on  the  Four  Books,"  Art.  I.  on  Menciu.s.  C'liih,  I  ai)prehen(l,  is  a  misjjrint  for 
Che,  the  individual  referred  to  being  probably  Ch'in  Foo-U-ang,  a  great 
scholar  and  officer  of  the  12th  century,  known  also  by  the  designations  of 
Keun-keu  and  Che-chae. 

^  This  eulogy  of  Han  Yu  is  to  be  found  subjoined  to  the  brief  introduction 
in  the  common  editions  of  Mencius.  The  whole  of  the  passage  there  quoted 
is  : — "  Yaou  handed  [the  scheme  of  doctrine]  down  to  Shun  :  Shun  lianded  it 
to  Yu  ;  Yu  to  T'ang;  T'ang  to  Wiin,  Woo,  and  the  Duke  of  Chow  ;  Wan, 
Woo,  and  the  Duke  of  Chow  to  Confucius  ;  and  Confucius  to  Mencius,  ou 


THEIR    RECEPTION    AS    CLASSICS.  13 

the  empire  hg-vo  all  associated  Confucius  and  Mencius  to- 
gether. The  Books  of  Mencius  are  certainly  superior  to 
those  of  Seun  and  Yang,  and  others  who  have  followed 
thera.  Tlioir  productions  are  not  to  be  spoken  of  in  the 
same  day  wdth  his/^  Choo  He  adopted  the  same  estimate 
of  Mencius,  and  b}^  his  '^  Collected  Comments  "  on  him  and 
the  Analects  bound  the  two  sages  together  in  a  union  which 
the  government  of  China,  in  the  several  dynasties  which 
have  succeeded,  has  with  one  temporary  exception  approved 
and  confirmed. 

whose  death  there  was  no  fartlier  transmission  of  it.  In  Seun  and  Yang 
there  are  snatches  of  it,  but  without  a  nice  discrimination :  they  talk  about 
it,  but  without  a  definite  particularity." 


1-i  MENCIUS    AXD    HIS    OPINIONS. 

CHAPTER  II. 

MENCIUS  AND  HIS  OPINIONS. 


SECTION  I. 

LIFE    or    MENCIUS. 


1.  The  materials  for  a  Memoir  of  Mcncius  are  very  scanty. 
The  birth  and  principal  incidents  of  Confucius^  life  are 
Paucity  and  duly  chronicIcd  in  the  various  annotated  editions 
materials/ °  of  the  Ch'un  Ts'iiw,  and  in  Sze-nia  Ts'een.  It 
is  not  so  in  the  case  of  Mencius.  Ts'een's  account  of  him 
is  contained  in  half  a  dozen  columns  which  are  without  a 
single  date.  That  in  the  "  Cycloptcdia  of  Surnames''  only 
covers  half  a  page.  Chaou  K'e  is  more  particular  in  regard 
to  the  eai'ly  years  of  his  subject,  but  he  is  equally  indelinite. 
Our  chief  informants  are  K'ung  Foo,  and  Lew  Heang  in 
his  "  Eecord  of  Note-worthy  Women/'  but  what  we  hud  in 
them  has  more  the  character  of  legend  than  history. 

It  is  not  till  we  come  to  the  pages  of  Mencius  himself 
that  Ave  are  treading  on  any  certain  ground.  They  give  the 
principal  incidents  of  his  public  life,  extending  over  about 
twenty-four  years.  We  learn  from  them  that  in  the  course 
of  that  time  he  was  in  such  and  such  places,  and  gave  expres- 
sion to  such  and  such  opinions  ;  but  where  he  went  first  and 
where  he  went  last,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  determine. 
I  have  carefully  examined  three  attempts,  made  by  compe- 
tent scholars  of  the  present  dynast}',  to  construct  a  Har- 
mony that  shall  reconcile  the  statements  of  the  "  Seven 
Books"  with  the  current  chronologies  of  the  time,  and  do 
not  see  my  way  to  adopt  entirely  the  conclusions  of  any 
one  of  them,^     The  value  of  the   Books  lies  in  the  record 

'  The  three  attcmptsare — onehy  theautliorof "  Supplemental  Observations 
on  tlie  Four  Books,"  an  outline  of  whiuli  in  f,'iven  in  his  Notes  on  Meneius, 
Art.  HI. ;  one  by  the  author  of  the  "  To])ojiraphy  of  the  Four  Books,"  and 


LIFE    OF    MENCIUS.  15 

which  they  furnisii  of  Mencius'  sentiments,  and  the  lessons 
which  these  supply  for  the  regulation  of  individual  conduct 
and  national  policy.  It  is  of  little  importance  that  we 
should  be  able  to  lay  them  down  in  the  strict  order  of  time. 

With  Mencius'  withdrawal  from  public  life,  all  traces 
of  him  disappear.  All  that  is  said  of  him  is  that  he  spent 
his  latter  years  along  with  his  disciples  in  the  preparation 
and  publication  of  his  Works. 

From  this  paragraph  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  not 
much  to  be  said  in  this  section.  I  shall  relate,  first,  what 
is  reported  of  the  early  years  and  training  of  our  philo- 
sopher, and  then  look  at  him  as  he  comes  before  us  in  his 
own  pages,  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  character  and  powers. 

2.  Mencius  is  the  latinized  form  of  Mang-tsze,  "  The 
philosopher  Mitug."  His  surname  thus  connects  him  with 
the  Mang  or  Mang-sun  family,  one  of  the  three  nis  surname; 
great  Houses  of  Loo,  whose   usurpations  were  birth-place ;  pa- 

1  /..  ,       ^^        i>       ■  •        1   •        n  rni      ■       rents ;  the  year 

such  an  onence  to  Oontucius  in  his  day.     Iheir  oi  Ws birth, b.c. 
power  was  broken  in  the  time  of  duke  Gae  (b.c.  '"^' 
493 — i67),  and  they  thenceforth  dwindle  into  comparative 
insignificance.       Some   branches  remained  in  obscurity  in 
Loo,  and  others  went  forth  to  the  neighbouring  States. 

The  branch  from  which  Mencius  sprang  found  a  home  in 
the  small  adjacent  principality  of  Tsow,  which  in  former 
times  had  been  made  known  by  the  name  of  Choo.  It  was 
absorbed  by  Loo,  and  afterwards  by  Ts'oo,  and  its  name  is 
still  retained  in  one  of  the  districts  of  the  department  of 
Yen-chow  in  Shan-tung.      Confucius  was  a  native  of  a  dis- 

forming  the  24th  section  of  the  "  Explanations  of  the  Classics  under  the  Ts'ing 
dynasty  ;  "  and  one  prefixed  to  the  Works  of  Mencius,  in  •'  The  Four  Books, 
with  the  Relish  of  tl>e  Radical  Meaning"  (Vol.  I.jProleg.,  larger  Work, p.  131). 
These  three  critics  display  much  inirenuity  and  research,  hue  their  conclusions 
are  conflicting. —  I  may  be  pardoned  in  saying  that  their  learned  labours  have 
affected  me  just  as  those  of  the  llarmonizers  of  the  Gospel  Narratives  used 
to  do  in  former  years, — bewildering  more  than  edifying.  Most  cordially  do  I 
agree  with  Dean  Alford  (New  Testament.  Vol.  1.,  Proleg.,  I.  vii.  5)  : — "  If  (  ? 
since)  the  Evangelists  ha\-%  delivered  to  us  truly  and  faithfully  the  Apostolic 
Narratives,  and  if  (  '  since)  the  Apostles  spoke  as  the  Holy  Spirit  enabled 
them,  and  brought  events  and  sayings  to  their  recollection,  then  we  may  be 
sure  that, //■  we  knew  the  real  proeeas  of  the  transactions  themsches,  that 
knowledge  would  enable  vs  to  give  an  account  of  the  diversities  of  narration 
and  arrangement  which  the  Crospels  now  present  to  vs.  But  without  such 
knowledge,  all  attempts  to  accomplish  this  analysis  in  minute  detail  must  he 
merely  conjectural,  and  must  tend  to  weaken  the  Evangelic  testimony  rather 
than  to  strengthen  it." 


16  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIOXS. 

trict  of  Loo  having  the  same  narae,  which  many  contend 
was  also  the  birth-place  of  Mencius,  making  him  a  native 
of  Loo  and  not  of  the  State  of  Tsow.  To  my  mind  the 
evidence  is  decidedly  against  such  a  view.^ 

Mencius'  name  was  K'o.  His  designation  does  not  appear 
in  his  Works^  nor  is  any  given  to  him  by  Sze-ma  Ts'een  or 
Chaou  K'e.  The  latter  says  that  he  did  not  know  how  he 
had  been  styled ;  but  the  legends  tell  that  he  was  called 
Tsze-keu,  and  Tsze-yu.  The  same  authorities — if  we  can 
call  them  such — say  that  his  father's  name  was  Keih,  and 
that  he  was  styled  Kung-e.  They  say  also  that  his  mother's 
maiden  surname  was  Chang.  Nothing  is  related  of  the 
former  but  that  he  died  when  his  son  was  quite  young,  but 
the  latter  must  have  a  paragraph  to  herself.  "  The  mother 
of  Mencius  "  is  famous  in  China^  and  held  up  to  the  present 
time  as  a  model  of  what  a  mother  should  be. 

The  year  of  Mencius'  birth  was  probably  the  4th  of  the 
emperor  Leeh,  B.C.  37L  He  lived  to  the  age  of  84,  dying  in 
in  the  year  B.C.  288,  the  26th  x)f  the  emperor  Nan,  with 
whom  terminated  the  long  sovereignty  of  the  Chow  dynasty. 
The  first  twenty-three  years  of  his  life  thus  synchronized 
with  the  last  twenty-three  of  Plato's.  Aristotle,  Zeno,  Epi- 
curus, DemostheneSj  and  other  great  men  of  the  West, 
were  also  his  contemporaries.  When  we  place  Mencius 
among  them,  he  can  look  them  in  the  face.  He  does  not 
need  to  hide  a  diminished  head. 

3.  It  was  his  misfortune,  according  to  Chaou  K'e,  "  to 
lose  his  father  at  an  early  period  ;  -  but  in  his  youthful  years 

'  Yen  Joh-keu  an<1  Ts'aou  Clie-shing  stoutly  maintain  the  different  sides  of 
this  question,  the  latter  giving  live  arguments  to  show  that  the  Tsow  of  Jlen- 
cius  was  the  Tsow  of  Loo.  As  Mencius  went  from  Ts'e  on  the  death  of  his 
mother  to  bury  her  in  Loo  (Bk  II.  Pt  II.  vii.),  tliis  appears  to  prove  that 
he  was  a  native  of  that  State.  But  the  conclusion  is  not  necessary.  Loo  was 
the  ancestral  State  of  his  family,  and  on  that  account  he  might  wish  to  inter 
his  parent  there,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Chow  dynasty  (see  the  Le 
Ke,  Bk  II.  Pt  I.  i.  20).  The  way  in  which  Ts^w  always  appears  as  the 
residence  of  Mencius,  when  he  is  what  we  should  say  "  at  home,"  appears  to 
me  decisive  of  the  question,  though  neither  of  the  disputants  presses  it  into 
his  service.  Compare  Bk  III.  Pt  I.  ii.  ;  Bk  VL  Pt  II.  i.  and  v.  The 
pcrint  is  really  of  no  importance,  for  the  States  of  T.sow  and  Loo  adjoined. 
"  The  rattle  of  the  watchman  in  the  one  was  heard  in  the  other." 

^  The  legend  writers  are  more  precise,  and  say  that  Mencius  was  only  three 
years  old  when  his  father  died.  This  statement,  and  K'e's  as  well,  are  diffi- 
cult to  reconcile  with  what  we  read  in  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  xvi.,  about  the  style  in 


LIFE    OF    MENCIUS.  17 

he  enjoyed  tlie  lessons  of  his  kmd  mother,  who     Mcncius'mo- 
thrice  changed  her  residence  on  his  account/'      ^^°^- 

At  first  they  lived  near  a  cemetery,  and  Mencius  amused 
himself  with  acting  the  vai'ious  scenes  which  he  witnessed 
at  the  tombs.  "  This,"  said  the  lady,  "  is  no  place  for  my 
son ;  " — and  she  removed  to  a  house  in  the  market-place. 
But  the  change  was  no  improvement.  The  boy  took  to 
playing  the  part  of  a  salesman,  vaunting  his  wares,  and 
chaffering  with  customers.  His  mother  sought  a  new  house, 
and  found  one  at  last  close  by  a  public  school.  There  her 
child's  attention  was  taken  with  the  various  exercises  of 
politeness  which  the  scholars  were  taught,  and  he  endeav- 
oured to  imitate  them.  The  mother  was  satisfied.  "This," 
she  said,  "  is  the  proper  place  for  my  son." 

Han  Ying  relates  another  story  of  this  period.  Near 
their  house  was  a  pig-butcher's.  One  day  Mencius  asked 
his  mother  what  they  were  killing  the  pigs  for,  and  was  told 
that  it  was  to  feed  him.  Her  conscience  immediately  re- 
proved her  for  the  answer.  She  said  to  herself,  "  While  I 
was  carrying  this  boy  in  my  womb,  I  would  not  sit  down  if 
the  mat  was  not  placed  square,  and  I  ate  no  meat  which  was 
not  cut  properly  ; — so  I  taught  him  when  he  was  yet  unborn.^ 
And  now  when  his  intelligence  is  opening,  I  am  deceiving 
him  ; — this  is  to  teach  him  untruthfulness  !"  AVith  this  she 
went  and  bought  a  piece  of  pork  in  order  to  make  good 
her  words. 

As  Mencius  grew  up,  he  was  sent  to  school.  AA^ien  he 
returned  home  one  day,  his  mother  looked  up  from  the  web 
which  she  was  weaving,  and  asked  him  how  far  he  had  got 
on.  He  answered  her  with  an  air  of  indifference  that  he 
was  doing  well  enough,  on  which  she  took  a  knife  and  cut 
the  thread  of  her  shuttle.  The  idler  was  alarmed,  and  asked 
what  she  meant,  when  she  gave  him  a  long  lecture,  showing 
that  she  had  done  what  he  was  doing, — that  her  cutting 
her  thread  was  like  his  neglecting  his  learning.  The  ad- 
monition, it  is  said,  had  its  proper  effect ;  the  lecture  did 
not  need  to  be  repeated. 

There  are  two  other  narratives  in  which  Chang-she  figures, 

which  Mencius  buried  his  parents.     If  we  accept  the  legend,  we  are  reduced 
there  to  great  straits. 

'   See  Choo  He"s  "  Education  I'or  the  Young,"  at  the  comraencement  of  the 
chapter  on  '■  Instruction,"  which   begins  with  the  educational  duties  of  the 
uiother,  while  the  child  is  yet  unborn. 
VOL.  11.  2 


18  MENCIUS   AND   HIS   OPINIONS. 

and  tliougli  tlioy  belong  to  a  later  part  of  Mencius'  life,  it 
may  be  as  well  to  embrace  them  in  the  present  paragraph. 

His  wife  was  squatting  down  one  day  in  her  own  room, 
when  Mencius  went  in.  He  was  so  much  offended  at  find- 
ing her  in  that  position,  that  he  told  his  mothei-,  and  ex- 
pressed his  intention  to  put  her  away,  because  of  "  her  want 
of  propriety."  "  It  is  you  who  have  no  propriety/'  said  his 
mother,  "  and  not  your  wife.  Do  not  '  the  Rules  of  Pro- 
priety '  say,  '  When  you  are  about  to  ascend  a  hall,  raise 
your  voice  ;  when  you  enter  a  door,  keep  your  eyes  low  ? ' 
The  reason  of  the  rules  is  that  people  may  not  be  taken  un- 
prepared ;  but  you  entered  the  door  of  your  private  apart- 
ment without  raising  your  voice,  and  so  caused  your  wife  to 
be  caught  squatting  on  the  ground.  The  impropriety  is  with 
you  and  not  with  her,'''  On  this  Mencius  fell  to  reproving 
himself,  and  did  not  dare  to  put  away  his  wife. 

One  day,  when  he  was  living  with  his  mother  in  Ts'e,  she 
was  struck  with  the  sorrowfulness  of  his  aspect,  as  he  stood 
leaning  against  a  pillar,  and  asked  him  the  cause  of  it.  He 
replied,  "  I  have  heard  that  the  superior  man  occupies  the 
place  for  which  he  is  adapted,  accepting  no  reward  to  which 
he  does  not  feel  entitled,  and  not  covetous  of  honour  and 
emolument.  Now  my  doctrines  are  not  practised  in  Ts'e  : 
■ — I  wish  to  leave  it,  but  I  think  of  your  old  age,  and  am  anxi- 
ous." His  mother  said,  "  It  does  not  belong  to  a  woman 
to  determine  anything  of  herself,  but  she  is  subject  to  the 
rule  of  the  three  obediences.  When  young,  she  has  to  obey 
her  parents ;  when  married,  she  has  to  obey  her  husband ; 
when  a  widow,  she  has  to  obey  her  son.  You  are-  a  man  in 
your  full  maturity,  a«d  I  am  old.  Do  you  act  as  your  con- 
viction of  righteousness  tells  you  you  ought  to  do,  and  I  will 
act  according  to  the  rule  which  belongs  to  me.  Why  should 
you  be  anxious  about  me  ?  " 

Such  are  the  accounts  which  I  have  found  of  the  mother 
of  Mencius.  Possibly  some  of  them  are  inventions,  but  they 
are  devoutly  believed  by  the  people  of  China; — and  it  must 
be  to  their  profit.  .  We  may  well  believe  that  she  was  a  wo- 
man of  very  superior  character,  anjl  that  her  son's  subse- 
quent distinction  was  in  a  great  degree  owing  to  her  influ- 
ence and  training. 

•i.  Prom  parents  we  advance  to  be  under  tutors  and 
governors.     The  moulding  hand  that  has  wrought  upon  us 


LIFE   or   MENCIUS.  19 

in  the  pliant  years  of  youth  always  leaves  inef-  st^'l^g"^^"^.'  ^^^^ 
faceable  traces  upon  the  character.  Can  any-  early  life, 
thing  be  ascertained  of  the  instructor  or  instructors  of 
Mencius  ?  I'he  reply  to  this  inquiry  must  be  substantially 
in  the  negative,  though  many  have  affirmed  that  he  sat  as  a 
pupil  at  the  feet  of  Tsze-sze,  the  grandson  of  Confucius. 
We  are  told  this  by  Chaou  K'e,  whose  words  are  : — "  As  he 
grew  up,  he  studied  under  Tsze-sze,  acquired  all  the  know- 
ledge taught  by  '  The  Learned/  and  became  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  '  The  Five  King/  being  more  especially 
distinguished  for  his  mastery  of  the  Slie  and  the  Shoo." 
A  reference  to  dates,  however,  shows  that  this  must  be  in- 
correct. From  the  death  of  Confucius  to  the  birth  of  Men- 
cius there  were  108  years,  and  supposing — w^hat  is  by  no 
means  probable — that  Tsze-sze  was  born  in  the  year  his 
fiither  died,  he  must  have  been  112  years  old  when  MenOius 
was  born.  The  supposition  of  their  having  stood  to  each 
other  in  the  relation  of  master  and  scholar  is  inconsistent, 
moreover,  with  the  style  in  which  Mencius  refers  to  Tsze- 
sze.  He  mentions  him  seven  times,  showing  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  his  history,  but  never  once  in  a  manner 
which  indicates  that  he  had  personal  intercourse  with  him. 

Sze-ma  Ts'een's  account  is  that  "  Mencius  studied  with 
the  disciples  of  Tsze-sze.'^  This  may  have  been  the  case. 
There  is  nothing  on  the  score  of  time  to  make  it  impossible, 
or  even  improbable  ;  but  this  is  all  that  can  be  said  about 
it.  No  famous  names  from  the  school  of  Tsze-sze  have  been 
transmitted  to  posterity,  and  Mencius  nowhere  speaks  as  if 
he  felt  under  special  obligation  to  any  instructor. 

One  short  sentence  contains  all  that  he  has  said  bearing 
on  the  point  before  us  : — "Although  I  could  not  be  a  disci- 
ple of  Confucius  myself,  I  have  endeavoured  to  cultivate  [my 
virtue]  by  means  of  others  [who  were].'"^  The  chapter  to 
which  this  belongs  is  rather  enigmatical.  The  other  member 
of  it  says  : — "  The  influence  of  a  sovereign  sage  terminates  in 
tlie  fifth  generation.  The  influence  of  one  who  is  merely 
a  sage  does  the  same.'"  By  "  one  merely  a  sage  "  Mencius 
i>;  understood  to  mean  Confucius ;  and  by  extendmg  his 
influence  over  five  generations,  he  shows  how  it  was  possible 
for  him  to  place  himself  under  it  by  means  of  others  who 
had  been  in  direct  communication  with  the  IMaster. 

'  See  Book  IV.  Pt  II.  xxii. 


20  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

We  must  leave  the  subject  of  Mencius'  early  instructors 
in  the  obscurity  which  rests  upon  it.  The  first  forty  years 
of  his  life  are  little  more  than  a  blank  to  us.  Many  of  them, 
we  may  be  sure,  were  spent  in  diligent  study.  He  made 
himself"  familiar  during  them  with  all  the  literature  of  his 
country.  Its  classics,  its  histories,  its  great  men,  had  re- 
ceived his  careful  attention.  Confucius  especially  became 
to  him  the  chief  of  mortal  men,  the  object  of  his  untiring 
admiration  ;  and  in  his  principles  and  doctrines  he  recog- 
nized the  truth  for  want  of  an  appreciation  of  which  the 
bonds  of  society  all  round  him  were  being  relaxed,  and  the 
empire  hastening  to  a  general  anarchy. 

How  he  supported  himself  in  Tsow,  we  cannot  tell.  Per- 
haps he  was  possessed  of  some  patrimony ;  but  when  he  first 
comes  forth  from  his  native  State,  we  find  him  accompanied 
by  his  most  eminent  disciples.  He  probably  nnitated  Con- 
fucius by  assuming  the  office  of  a  teacher, — not  that  of  a 
school-master  in  our  acceptation  of  the  word,  but  that  of  a 
professor  of  morals  and  learning,  encouraging  the  resort  of 
inquiring  minds,  in  order  to  resolve  their  doubts  and  inform 
them  on  the  true  principles  of  virtue  and  society.  These 
disciples  would  minister  to  his  wants,  though  we  may  pre- 
sume that  he  sternly  maintained  his  dignity  among  them,  as 
he  afterwards  did  towards  the  princes  of  the  time,  when  he 
appeared  among  them  as  a  lecturer  in  another  sense  of  the 
term.  In  Book  VII.  Pt  II.  xliii.,  and  Book  VI.  Pt  II.  ii., 
we  have  two  instances  of  this,  though  we  cannot  be  sure  that 
they  belonged  to  the  earlier  period  of  his  life. 

5.  The  state  of  China  had  waxed  worse  and  worse  during 
the  interval  that  elapsed  between  Confucius  and  Mencius. 
st:ite  of  China  in  ^^be  elements  of  disorganization  which  were  rife 
Mencius' time.  j^^  ^\^^,  timcs  of  the  earlier  sage  had  gone  on  to 
produce  their  natural  results.  One  feeble  sovereign  had 
followed  another  on  the  throne,  and  the  dynasty  of  Chow- 
was  ready  to  vanish  away.  Men  were  persuaded  of  its 
approaching  extinction.  The  feeling  of  loyalty  to  it  was 
no  longer  a  cherished  sentiment;  and  the  anxiety  and  ex- 
pectation were  about  what  new  rule  would  take  its  place. 

Many  of  the  smaller  fiefs  or  principalities  had  been  re- 
duced to  a  helpless  dependence  on,  or  been  absorbed  by,  the 
larger  ones.  Of  Loo,  Ch'ing,  Wei,  Woo,  Ch'in,  and  Sung, 
conspicuous  in  the  Analects,  we  read  but  little  in  Mencius. 


LIFE    OF    MENCIUS.  21 

Tsin  had  been  dismembered,  and  its  fragments  formed  the 
nuclei  of  three  new  and  vigorous  kingdoms, — Wei,  Chaou, 
and  Han.  Ts'e  still  maintained  its  ground,  but  was  barely 
able  to  make  head  against  the  States  of  Ts'in  in  the  West 
and  Ts^oo  in  the  South.  The  struggle  for  supremacy  was 
between  these  two,  the  former,  as  it  was  ultimately  success- 
ful, being  the  more  ambitious  and  incessant  in  its  aggressions 
on  its  neighbours. 

The  princes  were  thus  at  constant  warfare  with  one 
another.  Now  two  or  more  would  form  a  league  to  resist 
the  encroaching  Ts'in,  and  hardly  would  that  object  be  ac- 
complished before  they  were  at  war  amoug  themselves. 
Ambitious  statesm^en  were  continually  intlaming  their 
quarrels.  The  recluses  of  Confucius'  days,  who  withdrew 
in  disgust  from  the  world  and  its  turmoil,  had  given  place 
to  a  class  of  men  who  came  forth  from  their  retirements 
provided  with  arts  of  war  or  schemes  of  policy  which  they 
recommended  to  the  contending  chiefs.  They  made  no 
scruple  of  changing  their  allegiance,  as  they  were  moved  by 
whim  or  interest.  Kung-suu  Yen  and  Chang  E  may  be 
mentioned  as  a  specimen  of  those  chai*acters.  "  Are  they  not 
really  great  men  ?  "  it  was  once  asked  of  Mencius.  "  Let  them 
once  be  angry,  and  all  the  princes  are  afraid.  Let  them  live 
quietly,  aud  the  flames  of  trouble  are  extinguished  through- 
out the  kingdom."  ^ 

It  is  not  wonderful  that  in  such  times  the  minds  of  men 
should  have  doubted  of  the  soundness  of  the  ancient  princi- 
ples of  the  acknowledged  sages  of  the  nation.  Doctrines, 
strange  and  portentous  in  the  view  of  Mencius,  were  openly 
professed.  The  authority  of  Confucius  was  disowned.  The 
foundations  of  government  were  overthrown ;  the  founda- 
tions of  truth  were  assailed.  Two  or  thi*ee  paragraphs 
from  our  philosopher  will  verify  and  illustrate  this  represent- 
ation of  the  character  of  his  times. 

"  A  host  marches  [in  attendance  on  the  ruler],  and  stores  of  provisions  are 
consumed.  The  hungry  are  depi'ived  of  tlieir  food,  and  there  is  no  rest  for 
those  who  are  called  to  toil.  IVIalediotions  are  uttered  by  one  to  another  with 
eyes  askance,  and  the  people  proceed  to  tlie  commission  of  wickedness. 
Thus  the  royal  ordinances  are  violated,  and  the  people  are  oppressed,  and 
the  supplies  of  food  and  drink  flow  away  like  water.  The  rulers  yield  them- 
selves to  the  [bad]  current,  or  they  urge  their  [evil]  way  [against  a  good 
one]  ;  they  are  wild  ;  they  are  utterly  lost."  - 

'  Bk  III.  Pt  II.  11.  2  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  iv.  6. 


22  MENCIUS   AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

"  Tlie  five  cbiefs  of  the  princes  were  sinners  against  the  three  kings.  The 
princes  of  the  i)resent  day  are  sinners  against  the  five  chiefs.  The  great 
officers  of  tlie  present  day  are  sinners  against  the  princes.  .  .  .  The  crime  of 
him  who  connives  at  and  aids  tlie  wickedness  of  his  prince  is  small,  but  the 
crime  of  him  who  anticipates  and  excites  that  wickedness  is  great.  The 
officers  of  the  present  day  all  go  to  meet  their  sovereigns'  wickedness,  and 
therefore  1  say  that  they  are  sinners  against  them."  ' 

"  Sage  kings  cease  to  arise,  and  the  princes  of  the  States  give  the  reins  to 
their  lusts.  Unemployed  scholars  indulue  in  unreasonable  discussions.  The 
words  of  Yang  Choo-and  Mih  Teih  till  the  emi>ire.  If  you  listen  to  people'.s 
discourses,  you  will  find  that  they  have  adopted  the  views  either  of  Yang  or 
of  Mih.  [Now,]  Yang's  principle  is — '  each  one  for  himself,'  which  does  not 
acknowledge  [tiie  claims  of]  the  sovereign.  Mih's  principle  is — '  to  love  all 
equall)-,'  whicii  does  not  acknowledge  [the  peculiar  affection  due  to]  a  father. 
But  to  acknowledge  neither  king  nor  father  is  to  be  in  the  state  of  a  beast. 
Kung-ming  E  said,  '  In  their  kitchens  tliere  is  fat  meat.  In  their  stables 
tiiere  are  fat  hoi-ses.  But  their  peo|)le  have  the  look  of  hunger,  and  on  the 
wilds  there  are  those  who  have  died  of  famine.  This  is  leading  on  beasts  to 
devour  men.'  If  the  principles  of  Yang  and  Mih  are  not  stopped,  and  the 
principles  of  Confucius  not  set  forth,  those  perverse  speakings  will  delude  the 
people  and  stop  up  [tlie  path  of  ]  benevolence  and  righteousness.  When  bene- 
volence and  righteousness  are  stopped  up,  beasts  will  be  led  on  to  devour  men, 
and  men  will  devour  one  another."  - 

6.  It  is  in  Ts'^e  that  we  first  meet  with  Mencius  as  a 
counsellor  of  the  princes/  and  it  was  in  this  State  that  he 
Mencius  the  Spent  mucli  the  greater  part  of  his  public  life, 
first  time  in  His  residence  in  it,  however,  appears  to  have 
b^tweenTc.^S^  been  divided  into  two  portions,  and  we  know 
and  323.  ^^^  j.^  ^JjIqIj  of  them  to  rofcr  many  of  the  chap- 

ters which  describe  his  intercourse  with  the  prince  and  his 
mini.sters  ;  but,  as  T  have  already  observed,  this  is  to  us  of 
little  moment.  Our  interest  is  in  what  he  did  and  said.  Ic 
matters  little  that  we  cannot  assign  to  each  saying  and 
doing  its  particular  date. 

That  he  left  Ts'e  the  fir,st  time  before  B.C.  323  is  plausibly 
inferred  from  Bk  II.  Pt  II.  xiv.  4;*  and  assuming  that  the 

1  Bk  VI.  Pt  11.  vii.  1,4.  *  Book  III.  Pt  II.  ix.  1). 

'  In  the  "  Aimals  of  the  p]mpire"  (Vol.  I.,  Proleg.,  larger  Work,  p.  134),  Men- 
cius' visit  to  kintr  Hwuy  of  Leang  is  set  down  as  having  occurred  in  B.C.  335, 
and  under  B.C.  31 8  it  is  said—"  Mencius  goes  from  Leang  to  Ts'e."  The  visit  to 
Leang  is  placed  too  early,  and  that  to  Ts'e  too  late.  The  disasters  of  king 
Hwuy,  mentioned  Bk  I.  Pt  I.  v  1,  had  not  all  taken  place  in  B.C.  318;  and  if 
Mencius  remainetl  17  years  in  Leang,  it  is  strange  we  have  only  five  conversa- 
tions between  him  and  king  Hwuy.  So  far  from  hisnotgiung  to  Ts'e  till 
B.C.  318,  it  will  be  seen  from  the  next  note  that  he  was  leaving  Ts'e  before 
B.C.  323. 

*  Mencius'  words  are—"  From  the  commencement  of  the  Chow  dynasty 


LIFE    OF   MENCIUS.  23 

conversation  in  tlie  same  Book,  Pt  I.  ii.,  took  place  immedi- 
ately before  or  after  his  arrival/  we  can  determine  that  he 
did  not  enter  the  State  before  B.C.  331,  for  he  speaks  of 
himself  as  having  attained  at  forty  years  of  age  to  "  an  un- 
perturbed mind."  The  two  chapters  contain  the  most  re- 
markable expressions  indicative  of  Mencius'  estimate  of 
himself  In  the  first,  while  he  glorifies  Confucius  as  far 
befoi'e  all  other  men  who  had  ever  lived,  he  declines  having 
comparisons  drawn  between  himself  and  any  of  the  sage's 
most  distinguished  disciples.  In  the  second,  when  going 
away  sorrowful  because  he  had  not  wrought  the  good  which 
he  desired,  he  observes  : — "  Heaven  does  not  yet  wish  that 
the  empire  should  enjoy  tranquillity  and  good  order.  If  it 
wished  this,  who  is  there  besides  me  to  bring  it  about  ?  " 

We  may  be  certain  that  Mencius  did  not  go  to  Ts*^e  unin- 
vited. His  approach  was  waited  for  with  curious  expecta- 
tion, and  the  king,  spoken  of  always  by  his  honorary 
epithet  of  Seueu,  "  The  Illustrious,''  sent  persons  to  spy 
out  whether  he  was  like  other  men.^  They  had  their  first 
interview  at  a  place  called  Ts'^ung,  which  was  so  little  satis- 
factory to  the  philosopher  that  he  resolved  to  make  only  a 
short  stay  in  the  State.  Circumstances  occurred  to  change 
this  resolution,  but  though  he  remained,  and  even  accepted 
ofiice,  yet  it  was  only  honorary  ; — he  declined  receiving  any 
salary.^ 

From  Ts'ung  he  appears  to  have  retired  to  P'ing-luh, 
where  Ch'oo,  the  prime  minister,  sent  him  a  present,  wish- 
ing, no  doubt,  to  get  into  his  good  graces.  I  call  attention 
to  the  circumstance,  though  trifling  in  itself,  because  it 
illustrates  the  way  in  which  Mencius  carried  himself  to  the 
great  men.  He  took  the  gift,  but  subsequently,  when  he 
went  to  the  capital,  he  did  not  visit  the  minister  to  acknow- 

till  now  more  than  700  years  have  elapsed."  It  was  to  the  purpose  of  his 
argument  to  make  the  time  appear  as  long  as  i)Ossible.  Had  800  years 
elapsed,  he  would  surely  have  said  so.  But  as  the  Cliow  dynasty  commenced 
in  B.C.  1121,  the  jear  B.C.  322  would  be  its  800th  anniversarj',  and  Mencius' 
departure  from  IVe  did  not  take  place  later  that  the  year  before  B.C.  823. 

'  This  chapter  and  the  one  before  it  have  very  much  the  appearance  of 
having  taken  place  on  the  way  from  Tsow  to  Ts'e.  Mencius  has  been  invited 
to  a  powerful  court.  He  is  emerging  from  his  obscurity.  His  di.'^ciples 
expect  great  things  for  him.  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  sees  him  invested  with  the 
government  of  Ts'e,  and  in  the  elation  of  his  heart  makes  his  inquiries. 

*  Bk  IV.  Pt  IL  xxxii.  ^  Bk  II.  Pt  II.  xiv. 


24  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

ledge  it.  His  opinion  was  that  Cli'oo  miglit  have  come  in 
person  to  P4ng-luh  to  see  him.  "  There  was  a  gift,  but  no 
corresponding  respect."  ^ 

When  Mencius  presented  himself  at  the  capital  of  the 
State,  he  was  honourably  received  by  the  king.  Many  of 
the  conversations  with  the  sovereign  and  ofRcers  which  are 
scattered  through  the  seven  Books,  though  the  first  and 
second  are  richest  in  them,  must  be  referred  to  this  period. 
The  one  which  is  first  in* place,-  and  which  contains  the  full- 
est exposition  of  the  philosopher's  views  on  government, 
was  probably  first  likewise  in  time.^  It  sets  foi'th  the  grand 
essential  to  the  exercise  of  royal  -government, — a  heart  on 
the  part  of  the  sovereign  impatient  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
people,  and  eager  to  protect  them  and  make  them  happy ; 
it  brings  home  to  king  Seuen  the  conviction  that  he  was  not 
without  such  a  heart,  and  presses  on  him  the  truth  that  his 
not  exercising  it  was  from  a  want  of  will  and  not  from  any 
lack  of  ability ;  it  exposes  unsparingly  the  errors  of  the 
course  he  was  pursuing ;  and  concludes  by  an  exhibition  of 
the  outlines  and  happy  issues  of  a  true  royal  sway. 

Of  this  nature  were  all  Mencius'  communications  with 
the  sovereign  ;  but  he  lays  himself  open  in  one  thing  to 
severe  censure.  Afraid  apparently  of  repelling  the  prince 
from  him  by  the  severity  of  his  lessons,  he  tries  to  lead  hira 
on  by  his  very  passions.  ''  I  am  fond  of  beauty,"  says  the 
king,  "  and  that  is  in  the  way  of  ray  attaining  to  the  royal 
government  which  you  celebrate."  "Not  at  all,"  replies 
the  philosopher.  "  Gratify  yourself,  only  do  not  let  your 
doing  so  interfere  with  the  people's  getting  similar  enjoy- 
ment for  themselves."*  So  the  love  of  money,  the  love  of 
war,  and  the  love  of  music  are  dealt  with.  Mencius  thought 
that  if  he  could  only  get  the  good  of  the  people  to  be 
recognized  by  Seuen  as  the  great  aim  which  he  was  to  pur- 
sue, his  tone  of  mind  would  be  so  elevated,  that  the  selfish 
passions  and  gratifications  of  which  he  was  the  slave  would 

'  Bk  VI.  Pt  II.  V.  2  Bk  I.  Pt  I.  vii. 

'  I  judge  that  this  was  the  first  set  converHation  between  kinjj  Seuen  and 
Mencius,  because  of  the  inquiry  with  which  the  king  opens  it, — "  May  I  be 
informed  by  you  of  the  transactions  of  Hwan  of  Ts'e,  and  Wan  of  Tsin?" 
Avery  brief  acquaintance  with  our  philosopher  would  have  taught  him  that 
he  was  the  last  person  to  apply  to  about  those  characters. 

*  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  i.  iii.  v.  :  et  al. 


LIFE    OF    MENCIUS.  25 

be  purified  or  altogether  displaced.  And  so  it  would  have 
been.  Where  he  fails,  is  in  patting  his  points  as  if  benevo- 
lence and  selfishness,  covetousncss  and  generosity,  might 
exist  together.  Chinese  moralists  rightly  find  fault  with 
him  in  this  respect,  and  say  that  Confucius  never  conde- 
scended to  such  a  style  of  argument. 

Notwithstanding  the  apparent  cordiality  of  the  king's  re- 
ception of  him,  and  the  freedom  with  which  Mencius  spoke 
his  mind  at  their  interviews,  a  certain  suspiciousness  appears 
to  have  been  maintained  between  them.  Neither  of  them 
would  bend  to  the  other.  Mencius  would  not  bow  to  the 
royal  state ;  Seuen  would  not  vail  bonnet  to  the  philosopher's 
cloak.  We  have  one  amusing  instance  of  the  struggles  to 
which  this  sometimes  gave  rise.  '  One  day  Mencius  was  pre- 
paring to  go  to  court  of  his  own  free  will,  when  a  messenger 
arrived  from  the  king,  saying  he  had  intended  to.  come  and 
see  him,  but  was  prevented  by  a  cold,  and  asking  whether 
Mencius  would  not  appear  at  the  audience  next  morning. 
Mencius  saw  that  this  was  a  device  on  the  part  of  the  king 
to  avoid  stooping  to  visit  him,  and  though  he  had  been  about 
to  go  to  coui't,  he  replied  at  once  that  he  was  unwell.  He 
did  not  hesitate  to  meet  the  king's  falsehood  with  one  of  his 
own. 

He  did  not  wish,  however,  that  the  king  should  be  ignorant 
of  the  truth,  and  went  out  next  morning  to  pay  a  visit  of 
condolence.  He  supposed  that  messengers  would  be  sent 
from  the  court  to  inquire  about  his  health,  and  that,  when 
they  took  back  word  that  he  had  gone  out  visiting-,  the  king 
would  understand  how  his  sickness  of  the  day  before  was 
only  feigned. 

it  happened  as  he  expected.  The  king  sent  a  messenger, 
and  his  physician  besides.  Mencius  being  out,  they  were 
received  by  Maug  Chung,  either  his  son  or  cousin,  who  com- 
plicated the  affair  by  an  invention  of  his  own.  "  To-day,"  he 
said,  "he  was  a  little  better,  and  hastened  to  go  to  court.  I 
don't  know  whether  he  has  reached  it  by  this  time  or  not." 
No  sooner  were  the  visitors  gone  with  this  story,  than  he 
sent  several  persons  to  look  for  the  philosopher,  and  urge 
him  to  go  to  the  court  before  he  returned  home. 

It  was  now  necessary  that  a  full  account  of  the  matter  should 
reach  the  royal  ears  ;  and  to  accomplish  this,  Mencius  neither 
went  home  nor  to  the  court,  but  spent  the  night  at  the  hotise 


26  MENCIUS    AKD    HIS    OrOION?. 

of  one  of  the  high  officers.  They  had  an  animated  discussion. 
The  officer  accused Mencius  of  showing  disrespect  to  the  king. 
The  philosopher  replied  that  no  man  in  Ts'e  showed  so  much 
respect  for  the  sovereign  as  he  did,  for  it  was  only  he  who 
brought  high  and  truly  royal  subjects  under  his  notice. 

"  That,"  said  the  officer,  "  is  not  my  meaninjj.  The  rule  is — '  When  the 
prince's  order  calls,  the  carriage  must  not  be  waited  for.'  You  were  going 
to  the  court,  but  when  you  heard  the  king's  message,  you  did  not  do  so. 
This  seems  not  in  accordance  with  that  rule."  Mencius  explained  : — "  There 
are  three  things  universally  acknowledged  to  be  honourable, — nobility,  age, 
and  virtue.  In  courts,  nobility  holds  the  first  place  ;  in  villages,  age ;  and 
for  helping  one's  generation  and  presiding  over  the  people,  the  other  two  are 
not  equal  to  virtue.  The  possession  of  one  of  the  three  docs  not  authorize 
the  despising  of  one  who  has  the  other  two. 

"  A  prince  who  is  to  accomplish  great  deeds  will  have  ministers  whom  he 
does  not  call  to  go  to  see  liim.  When  he  wishes  to  consult  with  then:,  he 
goes  to  them.  The  prince  who  does  not  honour  the  virtuous,  and  delight  in 
their  ways  of  doing,  to  this  extent,  is  not  worth  having  to  do  with. 

"There  was  T'ang  with  E  Yin  :^he  first  learned  of  him,  and  then  made 
him  his  minister  ;  and  so  without  difficulty  he  became  sovereign.  There  was 
the  duke  Ilwan  with  Kwan  Cliung  :  — he  first  learned  of  him,  and  then  made 
him  his  minister  ;  and  so  without  difficulty  he  became  chief  of  all  the  princes. 

"  So  did  T'ang  behave  to  E  Yin,  and  the  duke  Hwan  to  Kwan  Chung,  that 
they  would  not  venture  to  call  them  to  go  to  them.  If  Kwan  Chung  might 
not  be  called  to  him  by  his  [irince,  how  much  less  may  I  be  called,  who  would 
not  play  the  part  of  Kwan  Chung  ! "  ' 

We  are  to  suppose  that  these  sentiments  wore  conveyed 
to  the  king  by  the  officer  with  whom  Mencius  spent  the 
night.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  exposition  of  them  could  only  be 
effected  in  such  a  roundabout  manner,  and  was  preceded  by 
such  acts  of  prevarication.  But  where  the  two  parties  were 
so  suspicious  of  each  other,  we  need  not  wonder  that  they 
separated  before  long.  Mencius  resigned  his  honorary  ap- 
pointment, and  prepared  to  return  to  Tsow.  On  this  occa- 
sion king  Seuen  visited  him,  and  after  some  com])limentary 
expressions  asked  whether  he  might  expect  to  see  him  again. 
"1  dare  not  request  permission  to  visit  you  [at  any  particular 
time],"  replied  Mencius,  "but,  indeed,  it  is  what  I  desire."  ^ 

'  r.k  II.  Pt  II.  ii. 

"  Bk  II.  Pt  II.  X.  I  consider  that  this  chapter,  and  others  here  referred 
to,  belong  to  Jlencius'  first  de|)arture  from  Ts'c.  I  do  so  because  we  can 
hardly  suppose  that  the  king  and  his  officers  would  not  have  understood  him 
better  by  the  end  of  his  second  residence.  Moreover,  while  jMencius  retires, 
his  language  in  x.  2  and  xi.  5,  6  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  leaves  uu  opening 
for  Lim  to  return  agaiu. 


LIFE    OP   MENCIUS.  27 

The  king- made  another  attempt  to  detain  liim,  and  sent  an 
officer,  called  She,  to  propose  to  him  to  remain  in  the  State, 
on  the  understanding  that  ho  should  have  a  house  largo 
enough  to  accommodate  his  disciples,  and  an  allowance  of  ten 
thousand  measures  of  grain  to  support  them.  All  Mencius' 
efforts  had  not  sufficed  to  make  king  Seuen  and  his  ministers 
understand  him.  They  thought  he  was  really  actuated  like 
themselves  by  a  desire  for  wealth.  He  indignantly  rejected 
the  proposal,  and  pointed  out  the  folly  of  it,  considering 
that  he  had  already  declined  ^  hundred  thousand  measures 
in  holding  only  an  honorary  appointment. 

So  Mencius  turned  his  back  on  Ts'e  ;  but  he  withdrew 
with  a  slow  and  liugermg  step,  stopping  three  nights  in  one 
place,  to  afford  the  king  an  opportunity  to  recall  him  on  a 
pi-oper  understanding.  Some  reproached  him  with  his  hesi- 
tancy, but  he  sufficiently  explained  himself.  "  The  king,'^  he 
said,  "is,  after  all,  one  who  may  be  made  to  do  good.  If  he 
were  to  use  me,  would  it  be  for  the  happiness  of  Ts'e  only  ? 
It  would  be  for  the  happiness  of  the  people  of  the  whole  em- 
pire. I  am  hoping  that  the  king  will  change ;  I  am  daily 
hoping  for  this. 

"Am  I  like  one  of  your  little-minded  people  ?  They  will 
remonsti-ate  with  their  prince,  and  on  their  remonstrance  not 
being  accepted,  they  get  angry,  and,  with  their  passion  dis- 
played in  their  countenance,  they  take  their  leave,  and  travel 
with  all  their  strength  for  a  whole  day,  before  they  will 
rest.''^ 

7.  After  he  left  Ts'e,  Mencius  found  a  home  for  some  time 
in  the  small  principality  of  T'iing,  on  the  south  of  Ts'e,  in  the 
ruler  of  which  he  had  a  sincere  admirer  and  Mencius  in 
docile  pupil.  He  did  not  proceed  thither  imme-  his'ifa'ving°rse 
diately,  however,  but  seems  to  have  taken  his  way  *°  ^•'=-  '^^^■ 
to  Sung,  which  consisted  mostly  of  the  present  department 
of  Kwei-tih  in  Ho-nan.'  There  he  was  visited  by  the  heir- 
son  of  T'ang,  who  made  a  long  detour,  Avhile  on  a  journey  to 
Ts'oo,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  him.  The  philosopher  dis- 
coursed on  the  goodness  of  human  natvire,  and  the  excellent 
ways  of  Yaou  and  Shun.     His  hearer  admired,  but  doubted. 

'  Bk  II.  Pt  II.  xii. 

-  This  is  gathered  from  Ek  III.  Pt  I.  i.  1,  where  the  crown-prince  of 
T'ang  visits  Mencius,  and  from  Bk  II.  Pt  II.  iii.,  where  his  accepting  a 
gift  in  Suug  appears  to  have  beeu  subsequent  to  his  refusing  one  in  Ts'e. 


28  ME\CIUS   AND   HIS    OriNIONS, 

He  could  not  forget,  however,  and  the  lessons  which  he  re- 
ceived produced  fruit  before  long. 

From  Sung  Mencius  returned  to  Tsow,  by  way  of  Seeh. 
In  both  Sung  and  Seeh  he  accepted  large  gifts  from  the  rulers, 
which  help  us  in  some  measure  to  understand  how  he  could 
maiutain  an  expenditure  which  inusthave  been  great,  and  which 
gave  occasion  also  for  an  ingenious  exposition  of  the  princi- 
ples on  which  he  guided  his  course  among  the  princes. 

"  When  3'oii  were  in  Ts'e,"  said  one  of  his  disciples,  "  j-ou  refused  100  yih  of 
fine  gold,  which  the  king  sent,  while  in  Sung  )'()u  accepted  70  ylh,  and  in  Seeh 
50.  If  you  were  right  in  refusing  the  gift  in  the  first  case,  you  did  wrong  in 
accepting  it  in  the  other  two.  If  you  were  riglit  in  accepting  it  in  those 
two  cases,  you  were  wrong  in  refusing  it  in  Ts'e.  You  must  accept  one 
of  these  alternatives."  "  I  did  right  in  all  the  cases,"  replied  Mencius. 
"  When  I  was  in  Sung,  I  was  about  to  undertake  a  long  journey.  Travel- 
lers must  be  provided  with  what  is  necessary  for  their  expenses. 
The  prince's  message  was — 'a  present  against  travelling-expenses;' 
why  should  I  have  declined  the  gift  ?  In  Seeh  I  was  under  appre- 
hensions for  my  safetj',  and  taking  measures  for  my  protection.  The 
message  was  — '  I  have  heard  j'ou  are  taking  measures  to  protect  your.self, 
and  send  this  to  help  you  in  procuring  arms.'  Why  should  I  have  declined 
the  gift  ?  But  when  I  was  in  Ts'e,  I  had  no  occasion  for  money.  To  send  a 
man  a  gift  when  he  has  no  occasion  for  it  is  to  bribe  him.  How  is  it  possi- 
ble that  a  superior  man  should  be  taken  with  a  bribe  ?  "  ' 

Before  Mencius  had  been  long  in  Tsow,  the  crown-prince 
of  T^'mg  succeeded  to  the  rule  of  the  principality,  and,  call- 
ing to  mind  the  lessons  which  he  had  heard  in  Sung,  sent 
an  officer  to  consult  the  philosopher  on  the  manner  in  which 
he  should  perform  the  funeral  and  mourning  services  for  his 
father.^  Mencius  of  course  advised  hiui  to  carry  out  in  the 
strictest  manner  the  ancient  regulations.  The  new  prince's 
relatives  and  the  officers  of  the  State  opposed,  but  ineffectu- 
ally. Mencius'  counsel  was  followed,  and  the  effect  was 
great.     Duke  Wan  became  an  object  of  general  admiration. 

By  and  by  Mencius  proceeded  himself  to  T'ang.  AVe 
may  suppose  that  he  was  invited  thither  by  the  prince  as 
soon  as  the  rules  of  mourning  would  allow  his  holding  free 
communication  with  him.  The  chapters  which  give  an 
account  of  their  conversations  are  really  interesting.     Men- 

'  Bk  II.  Pt  II.  iii. 

*  Bk  III.  Pt  I.  il.  The  note  of  time  which  is  relied  on  as  enabling  us 
to  follow  Mencius  here  is  the  intimation,  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  xiv.,  that  "Ts'e  was 
about  to  fortify  Seeh."  This  is  referred  to  B.C.  820,  when  king  Seuen  ap- 
pointed his  brother  T'cen  Ying  over  the  dependency  of  Seeh,  and  took 
measures  to  fortify  it. 


LIFE    OP   MENCIUS.  29 

cius  recommended  that  attention  should  be  chiefly  directed 
to  the  encourao^eraent  of  aofriculture  and  education.  He 
would  have  nourishment  secured  both  for  the  body  and  the 
mind  of  every  subject.^  When  the  duke  was  lamenting  the 
danger  to  which  he  was  exposed  from  his  powerful  and  en- 
croaching neighbours,  Mencius  told  him  he  might  adopt  one 
of  two  courses ; — either  leave  his  State,  and  like  king  T'^ae 
go  and  find  a  settlement  elsewhere,  or  be  prepared  to  die 
for  his  patrimony.  "  If  you  do  good/'  said  he,  "  among 
your  descendants  in  after-generations  there  will  be  one  who 
shall  attain  to  the  Royal  dignity.  But  results  are  with 
Heaven.  What  is  Ts'e  to  you,  0  prince  ?  Be  strong  to  do 
good.     That  is  all  your  business."  " 

After  all,  nothing  came  of  Mencius'  residence  in  TTmg. 
We  should  like  to  know  what  made  him  leave  it.  Confucius 
said  that,  if  any  of  the  princes  were  to  employ  him,  he  should 
achieve  something  considerable  in  twelve  months,  and  in 
the  course  of  three  years  the  government  would  be  per- 
fected.^ Mencius  taught  that,  in  his  time,  with  half  the 
merit  of  former  days  double  the  result  might  be  accom- 
plished.* Herein  T'ang  a  fair  field  seemed  to  be  j^fforded 
him,  but  he  was  not  able  to  make  his  promise  good.  Pos- 
sibly the  good  purposes  and  docility  of  duke  Wan  may  not 
have,  held  out,  or  Mencius  may  have  found  that  it  was  easier 
to  theorize  about  government,  than  actually  to  carry  it  on. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  we  find  him  in  B.C.  819 
at  the  court  of  king  Hwuy  of  Leang. 

Before  he  left  T'ang,  Mencius  had  his  rencounter  with  the 
disciples  of  the  "  shrike-tongued  barbarian  of  the  south," 
one  Hen  Hing,  who  came  to  T'ang  on  hearing  of  the  reforms 
which  were  being  made  at  Mencius'  advice  by  the  duke 
AVan.  This  was  one  of  the  dreamy  speculators  of  the  time, 
to  whom  I  have  already  alluded.  He  pretended  to  follow 
the  lessons  of  Shin-nung,  one  of  the  reputed  founders  of  the 
empire  and  the  father  of  husbandry,  and  came  to  T'ang  with 
his  plough  upon  his  shoulder,  followed  by  scores  of  followers, 
all  wearing  the  coarsest  clothes,  and  supporting  themselves 
by  making  mats  and  sandals.  It  was  one  of  his  maxims 
that  "  the  magistrates  should  be  labouring  men."  He 
would  have  the  sovereign  grow  his  own  rice,  and  cook  his 

'   Rk  III.  Pt  I.  iii.  2  31-  j   p^  jj  ^jjj^   ^^j^^  ^^ 

-  L'oufuciau   Analects  XIII.  x.  ■*  Bk  II.  Pt  I.  i.  13. 


30  MENCIUS   AND    HIS    OPINTONS.  , 

own  meals.  Xot  a  few  of  ''  The  Learned  "  were  led  away 
by  his  doctrines,  but  Mencins  girt  up  his  loins  to  oppose 
the  hercs}^,  and  ably  vindicated  the  propriety  of  a  division 
of  labour,  and  of  a  lettered  class  conductino:  the  government. 
It  is  just  possible  that  the  appearance  of  Hen  Hiug,  and  the 
countenance  shown  to  him,  may  have  had  something  to  do 
with  Mencius'  leaving  the  State. 

8.  Leang  Avas  another  name  for  Wei,  one  of  the  States 
into  which  Tsin  had  been  divided.  King  Hwuy,  early  in 
Mencius  in  hig  reign,  B.C.  864-,  had  made  the  citv  of  Tae- 
318.  '  ■  '  leang,  in  the  present  department  of  K'ae-fung, 
his  capital,  and  given  its  name  to  his  whole  principality. 
It  was  the  year  before  his  death,  when  Mencius  visited  him.^ 
A  long,  stormy,  and  disastrous  rule  was  about  to  terminate, 
but  the  king  was  as  full  of  activity  and  warlike  enterprise 
as  ever  he  had  been.  At  his  first  interview  with  Mencius, 
he  addressed  him  in  the  well-known  words,  "  Venerable  Sir, 
since  you  have  not  counted  it  far  to  come  here,  a  distance  of 
a  thousand  le,  may  I  presume  that  you  are  likewise  provided 
with  counsels  to  prolit  my  kingdom?''  Mencius  in  reply 
starts  from  the  word  profit,  and  expatiates  eloquently  on  the 
evil  consequences  that  must  ensue  from  n;aking  a  regard  to 
profit  the  ground  of  conduct  or  the  rule  of  policy.  As  for 
himself,  his  theme  must  be  benevolence  and  righteousness. 
On  these  he  would  discourse,  but  on  nothing  else,  and  in 
following  them  a  prince  would  obtain  true  and  sure  advan- 
tages. 

Only  five  conversations  are  related  between  king  Hwuy 
and  the  philosopher.  They  are  all  in  the  spirit  of  the  first 
which  has  just  been  described,  and  of  those  which  he  had 
with  king  Seuen  of  Ts'e.  There  is  the  same  freedom  of 
expostulation,  or,  rather,  boldness  of  reproof,  and  the  same 
imhesitatiug  assurance  of  the  success  that  would  follow  the 

'  There  are  various  difficulties  :xl)nut  the  reif^u  of  kins  Hwuy  of  Leang. 
Sze-ma  Ts'een  nialces  it  commence  iu  ;{(Ii)  and  terminate  in  l)I$4.  He  is  then 
succeeded  ijy  Seanj^  whose  reign  ends  in  ;il8  ;  and  he  is  lollowed  by  Gae  till 
L'11.5.  What  are  called  "The  Bamboo  liooks  "  extend  Hwuy's  reign  to  B.C. 
318,  and  the  next  l-'O  years  are  assigned  to  king  Gae.  "The  Annals  of  the  Em- 
pire" (which  arecoiiijiiled  from  "The  (General  Mirrorof  History")  follow  the 
J'.amboo  Books  in  the  length  of  king  Hwuy's  reign,  but  make  him  followed  by 
Sr-ang;  and  take  no  note  of  a  king  Gae. — From  Mencius  we  may  be  assured 
that  Hwuy  was  succeeded  by  !?eang,  and  the  view  of  his  Life,  which  I  have 
followed  in  this  sketch,  leads  to  the  longer  period  assigned  to  his  reign. 


MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS.  31 

adoption  of  liis  principles.  The  most  remarkable  is  tlie 
third^  where  we  have  a  sounder  doctrine  than  where  he  tells 
king  Seuen  that  his  love  of  beauty  and  money  and  valour 
need  not  interfere  with  his  administration  of  royal  govern- 
^lent.  Hwuy  is  boasting  of  his  diligence  in  the  govern- 
ment of  his  State,  and  sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of  his 
people,  as  far  beyond  those  of  any  of  the  neighbouring 
rulers,  and  wondering  how  he  was  not  more  prosperous  than 
they.  Mencius  replies,  "  Your  Majesty  is  fond  of  war  ; — 
let  me  take  an  illustration  from  it.  The  drums  sound,  and 
the  weapons  are  crossed,  when  suddenly  the  soldiers  on  one 
side  throw  away  their  coats  of  mail,  trail  their  weapons  be- 
hind them,  and  run.  Some  of  them  run  a  hundred  paces, 
and  some  run  only  fifty.  What  would  you  think  if  those 
who  run  fifty  paces  were  to  laugh  at  those  who  run  a  hun- 
dred paces  ?  "  "  They  may  not  do  so,^'  said  the  king  ; 
"  they  only  did  not  run  a  hundred  paces,  but  they  also  ran." 
"  Since  your  Majesty  knows  this,"  was  the  reply, ''  you  need 
not  hope  that  your  people  will  become  more  numerous  than 
those  of  the  neighbouring  kingdoms."  The  king  was  thus 
taught  that  half  measures  would  not  do.  Royal  govern- 
ment, to  be  effectual,  must  be  carried  out  faithfully  and  in 
its  spirit. 

King  Hwuy  died  in  B.C.  319,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  the  king  Seang.  Mencius  appears  to  have  had  but  one 
interview  with  him.  When  he  came  out  from  it,  he  observed 
to  some  of  his  friends  : — '^^  When  I  looked  at  him  from  a 
distance,  he  did  not  appear  like  a  sovereign  ;  when  I  drew 
near  to  him,  I  saw  nothing  venerable  about  him."  ^ 

It  was  of  no  use  to  remain  any  longer  in  Leang ;  he  left 
it,  and  we  meet  with  him  again  in  Ts'e. 

9.  Whether  he  returned  immediately  to  Ts''e  we  cannot 
tell,  but  the  probability  is  that  he  did,  and  remained  in  it 
till  the  year  B.C.  31 1.^  When  he  left  it  about  Mencius  the 
seven  years  before,  he  had  made  provision  for  TJ^e'^'L^to'Vc! 
his  return  in  case  of  a  chano-e  of  mind  in  kin 2:  ^ii. 

'   Bk  1.  Pt  I.  vi. 

-  Tliis  concUiaion  is  adopted  because  it  was  in  311  that  Yen  rebelled,  when 
the  king  said  that  he  was  ven'  much  ashamed  wlieu  he  thought  of  Mencius, 
who  had  strongly  condemned  his  policy  towards  the  State  of  Yen. — This  is 
another  case  in  which  the  chronology  is  differently  laid  down  by  the  author- 
ities, Sze-ma  Ts'een  saying  that  Yen  was  taken  by  king  Min  the  son  and 
successor  of  youen. 


32  LIFE    OF    MENCIUS. 

Seuen.  The  pliilosoplier,  I  appreliond,  was  content  with  an 
insufficient  assurance  of  such  an  alteration.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  he  went  back^  and  took  an  appointment  again  as  a 
high  noble. 

If  he  was  contented  with  a  smaller  reformation  on  the 
part  of  the  king  than  he  must  have  desired,  Mencius  was 
not  himself  different  from  Avhat  he  had  been.  In  the\;ourt 
and  among  the  high  officers  his  deportment  was  equally  un- 
bending ;  he  was  the  same  stern  mentor. 

Among  the  officers  was  one  Wang  Hwan,  called  also 
Tsze-gaou,  a  favourite  with  the  king,  insolent  and  presum- 
intr.  Him  Mencius  treated  with  an  indifference  and  even 
contempt  which  must  have  been  very  provoking.  A  large 
party  were  met  one  time  at  the  house  of  an  officer  who  had 
lost  a  son,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  their  condolences. 
Mencius  was  among  them,  when  suddenly  Wang  Ilwan 
made  his  appearance.  One  and  another  moved  to  do  him 
honour  and  win  from  him  a  smile, — all  indeed  but  Mencius, 
who  paid  no  regard  to  him.  The  other  complained  of  the 
rudeness,  but  the  philosopher  could  show  that  his  conduct 
was  only  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  propriety.^ 

NoAv  and  then  he  became  the  object  of  unpleasant  remark 
and  censure.  At  his  instigation,  an  officer,  Cli'c  Wa,  re- 
monsti'ated  with  the  king  on  some  abuse,  and  had  in  conse- 
quence to  resign  his  office.  The  people  were  not  pleased 
with  Mencius,  thus  advising  others  to  their  harm,  and  yet 
continuing  to  retain  his  own  position  undisturbed.  "  In 
the  course  which  he  marked  out  for  Ch'e  Wa,'^  they  said, 
"  he  did  well,  but  we  do  not  know  as  to  the  course  which 
he  pursues  for  himself.^'  The  philosopher,  however,  was 
never  at  a  loss  in  rendering  a  reason.  He  declared  that, 
as  his  office  was  honox'ary,  he  could  act  "  freely  and  without 
I'estraint  either  in  going  forward  or  retiring. ''  ^  In  this 
matter  we  have  more  sympathy  with  the  condemnation  than 
with  the  defence. 

Some  time  during  these  years  there  occurred  the  death 
of  Mencius'  excellent  mother.  She  had  been  with  him  in 
Ts'e,  and  he  cairied  the  coffin  to  Loo,  to  bury  it  near  the 
dust  of  his  father  and  ancestors.  The  funeral  was  a  splen- 
did one.     Mencius  perhaps  erred   in  having  it  so  from  his 

'   Bk  IV.  Pt  II.  xxvii.  «  Bk  II.  rt  II.  V. 


LIFE    OF   MENCIUS.  83 

dislike  to  tlie  Miliists,  who  advocated  a  spare  simplicity  in 
all  funeral  matters.'-  His  arrangements  certainly  excited 
tlie  astonisliinent  of  some  of  his  own  disciples,^  and  were 
the  occasion  of  general  remark.'  He  defended  himself  on 
"the  ground  that  "the  superior  man  will  not  for  all  the  world 
be  niggardly  to  his  parents/'  and  that,  as  ho  had  the  means, 
there  was  no  reason  why  he  should  not  give  all  the  expres- 
sion in  his  power  to  his  natural  feelings. 

Having  paid  this  last  tribute  of  filial  duty,  Mencius  re- 
turned to  Ts'e,  but  he  could  not  appear  at  court  till  the 
three  years  of  his  mourning  were  accomplished.*  It  could 
not  be  long  after  this  when  trouble  and  confusion  arose  in 
Yen,  a  large  State  to  the  north-west  of  Ts'e,  in  the  present 
Chih-le.  Its  prince,  who  was  a  poor  weakling,  wished  to  go 
through  the  sham  of  resigning  his  throne  to  his  prime 
minister,  understanding  that  he  would  decline  it,  and  that 
thus  he  would  have  the  credit  of  playing  the  part  of  the 
ancient  Yaou,  while  at  the  same  time  he  retained  his  king- 
dom. The  minister,  however,  accepted  the  tender,  and,  as 
lie  proved  a  tyrannical  ruler,  great  dissatisfaction  arose. 
Shin  T'ung,  an  officer  of  Ts^e,  asked  Mencius  whether  Yen 
might  be  smitten.  He  replied  that  it  might,  for  its  prince  had 
no  right  to  resign  it  to  his  minister,  and  the  minister  no  right 
to  receive  it.  "  Suppose,"  said  he,  "  there  were  an  oflBcer 
hera  Avith  whom  you  were  pleased,  and  that,  without  in- 
forming the  king,  you  were  privately  to  give  him  your 
salary  and  rank  ;  and  suppose  that  this  officer,  also  without 
the  king's  orders,  were  privately  to  receive  them  from  you  : 
— would  such  a  transaction  be  allowable  ?  And  where  is 
the  difference  between  the  case  of  Yen  and  this  "? "  ^ 

Whether  these  sentiments  were  reported  to  king  Souen 
or  not,  he  proceeded  to  attack  Yen,  and  found  it  an  easy 
prey.  Mencius  was  charged  with  having  advised  the 
measure,  but  he  ingeniously  repudiated  the  accusation.  "  I 
answered  Shin  T'ung  that  Yen  might  be  smitten.  If  he 
had    asked    me  —  'Who    may    smite    it?'     I    would    have 

'  BK-  III.  Pt  I.  V.  2.  =  Bk  II.  rt  II.  vii. 

'  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  xvi. 

■*  Some  are  of  opinion  that  'McnciiK  sto]iped  all  the  period  of  mourning  in 
Loo,  but  the  more  natural  conclusicm,  Bk  II.  Pt  II.  vii.  1,  seems  to  me  that 
he  returned  to  Ts'e,  and  stayed  at  Ying,  without  going  to  court. 

*  Bk  II.  Pt  II.  viii. 

VOL.    II.  3 


34  MEXCirS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

answered  liim— 'He  who  is  the  minister  of  Heaven  may 
smite  it/  Suppose  the  case  of  a  murderer,  and  that  one 
asks  me — '  May  this  man  be  put  to  death  ?  '  I  will  answer 
him — '  He  may/  If  he  ask  me — '  Who  may  put  him  .to 
death  ?  '  I  will  answer  him--'  The  chief  criminal  judge 
may  put  him  to  death/  But  now  with  one  Yen  to  smite 
another  Yen  : — how  should  I  have  advised  this  ?  "  This 
reference  to  "  The  minister  of  Heaven  "  strikingly  illustrates 
what  was  said  about  the  state  of  China  in  Mcncius'  time. 
He  tells  us  in  one  place  that  hostile  States  do  not  correct 
one  another,  and  that  only  the  supi-eme  authority  can  punish' 
its  subjects  by  force  of  arms/  But  there  was  now  no 
supreme  authority  in  China.  He  saw  in  the  emperor  but 
"the  shadow  of  an  empty  name.^'  His  conception  of  a 
minister  of  Heaven  was  not  unworthy.  He  was  one  who, 
by  the  distinction  which  he  gave  to  talents  and  virtue,  and  by 
his  encouragement  of  agriculture  and  commerce,  attracted  all 
people  to  him  as  a  parent.  He  would  have  no  enemy  under 
heaven,  and  could  not  help  attaining  to  the  Royal  dignity.^ 

King  Seuen,  after  conquering  and  appropriating  Yen, 
tried  to  get  Mencius'  sanction  of  the  proceeding,  alleging 
the  ease  and  rapidity  with  which  he  had  effected  the  con- 
quest as  an  evidence  of  the  favour  of  Heaven.  ]]ut  the 
philosopher  was  true  to  himself.  The  people  of  Yen,  he 
said,  had  submitted,  because  they  expected  to  find  in  the 
king  a  deliverer  from  the  evils  under  which  they  groaned. 
If  they  were  pleased,  he  might  retain  the  State,  but  if  he 
tried  to  keep  it  by  force,  there  would  simply  be  another 
revolution.^ 

The  king's  love  of  power  prevailed.  He  determined  to 
keep  his  prey,  and  ere  long  a  combination  was  formed 
among  the  neighbouring  princes  to  wrest  Yen  from  him. 
Full  of  alarm  ho  again  consulted  Mencius,  but  got  no  com- 
fort from  him.  "Let  him  restore  his  captives  and  spoils, 
consult  with  the  people  of  Yen,  and  appoint  them  a  ruler — 
so  he  might  be  able  to  avert  the  threatened  attack."  * 

The  result  was  as  Mencius  had  predicted.  The;  people  of 
Yen  rebelled.  The  king  felt  ashamed  before  the  philoso- 
pher, whose  second  residence  in  Ts'e  was  thus  brought  to 
an  unpleasant  termination. 

'  r.k  VII.  Pt  II.  ii.  2  Bk  IT.  Pt  I.  V. 

'  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  X.  "  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  ii. 


LIFE    OF    MENCIUS.  35 

10.  We  do  not  know  tliat  Mcncius  visited  any  of  the 
princes  after  this.  On  leaving  Ts'e,  he  took  his  way  again 
to  Sung,  the  duke  of  which  had  taken  the  title  Menciu?  in 
of  king  in  B.C.  317.  A  report  also  had  gone  Loo;-b.c.  309. 
abroad  that  he  was  setting  about  to  practise  the  true  royal 
government,  but  Mencius  soon  satisfied  himself  of  its  in- 
correctness.^ 

The  last  court  at  which  we  find  him  is  that  of  Loo,  B.C. 
309.  The  duke  P'ing  had  there  called  Yoh-ching,  one  of 
the  philosopher's  disciples,  to  his  councils,  and  indeed  com- 
mitted to  him  the  administration  of  the  government.  When 
Mencius  heard  of  it,  he  was  so  overjoyed  that  he  could  not 
sleep. ^ 

The  first  appearance  (in  point  of  time)  of  this  Yoh-ching 
in  the  Seven  Books  is  not  much  to  his  credit.  He  comes  to 
Ts'e  in  the  train  of  Wang  Hwan,  the  favourite  who  was  an 
offence  to  the  philosopher,  and  is  veiy  sharply  reproved  for 
joining  himself  to  such  a  character  "  for  the  sake  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes.''  ^  Other  references  to  him  are  more 
favourable.  Mencius  declares  him  to  be  "  a  good  man,"  "^  a 
real  man."  *  He  allows  that  ''he  is  not  a  man  of  vigour," 
nor  "  a  man  wise  in  council/'  nor  "  a  man  of  much  informa- 
tion," but  he  says — "  he  is  a  man  that  loves  what  is  good," 
and  "  the  love  of  what  is  good  is  more  than  a  sufficient 
qualification  for  the  government  of  the  kingdom ; — how 
much  more  is  it  so  for  the  State  of  Loo  !  "  ^ 

Either  on  his  own  impulse  or  by  Yoh-ching's  invitation, 
Mencius  went  himself  also  to  Loo,  hoping  that  the  prince 
who  had  committed  his  government  to  the  disciple  might  be 
willing  to  listen  to  the  counsels  of  the  master.  The  duke 
was  informed  of  his  arrival  by  Yoh-ching,  and  also  of  the 
deference  which  he  exacted.  He  resolved  to  go  and  visit 
him  and  invite  him  to  the  court.  The  horses  were  put  to 
the  carriage,  and  the  duke  was  ready  to  start,  when  the  in- 
tervention of  his  favourite,  a  worthless  creature  called  Tsang 
Ts'ang,  diverted  him  from  his  good  purpose.  When  told 
by  the  duke  that  he  was  going  to  visit  the  scholar  Mang, 
Ts'ang  said,  "  That  you  demean  yourself  to  pay  the  honour 
of  the  first  visit  to  a  common  man,  is,  I  apprehend,  because 

'  See  Bk  III.  Ft  II.  v.  vi.  '  Bk  YI.  Pt  II.  xiii. 

3  Bk  IV.  Pt  I.  XXV.  ^  Bk  VII.  Pt  II.  xxv.  »  Bk  VI.  Pt  II.  xiii. 


36  MEXCIUS    AXD    HIS    OPINIONS. 

you  think  that  he  is  a  man  of  talents  and  virtue.  From 
such  men  the  rules  of  ceremonial  proprieties  and  right  pro- 
ceed ;  but  on  the  occasion  of  this  ]\Iang's  second  mourning, 
his  observances  exceeded  those  of  the  former.  Do  not  go 
to  see  him,  my  prince."  The  duke  said,  "  I  will  not;" — 
and  carriage  and  horses  w^ere  ordered  back  to  their  places. 

As  soon  as  Yoh-ching  had  an  audience  of  the  duke,  he 
explained  the  charge  of  impropriety  which  had  been  brought 
against  Mencius  ;  but  the  evil  was  done.  The  duke  had 
taken  his  course.  "1  told  him/'  said  Yoh-ching,  ''about 
you,  and  he  was  coming  to  see  you,  when  Tsang  Ts'ang 
stopped  him."  Mencius  replied  to  him, ''  A  man's  advance- 
ment is  effected,  it  may  be,  by  others,  and  the  stopping 
him  is,  it  may  be,  from  the  efforts  of  others.  But  to  advance 
a  man  or  to  stop  his  advance  is  really  beyond  the  power  of 
other  men  ;  my  not  finding  in  the  prince  of  Loo  a  ruler  who 
Avould  confide  in  me,  and  put  my  counsels  into  pi'actice,  is 
from  Heaven.  How  could  that  scion  of  the  Tsang  family 
cause  me  not  to  find  the  ruler  that  would  suit  me  ?  "  ^ 

Mencius  appears  to  have  accepted  this  intimation  of  the 
will  of  Heaven  as  final.  He  has  a  remarkable  saying,  that 
Heaven  controls  the  development  of  a  man's  faculties  and 
affections,  but  as  there  is  an  adaptation  in  his  nature  for 
these,  the  superior  mail  does  not  say — "  It  is  the  appoint- 
ment of  Heaven."  ^  In  accordance  with  this  principle  he 
had  sti'iven  long  against  the  adverse  circumstances  which 
threw  his  hopes  of  influencing  the  rulers  of  his  time  again 
and  again  in  the  dust.  On  his  first  leaving  Ts'e  we  saw 
how  he  said  : — "  Heaven  does  not  yet  wish  that  the  empire 
should  eujoy  tranquillity  and  good  order."  For  about  fifteen 
years,  however,  he  persevered,  if  peradventure  there  might 
be  a  change  in  the  Heavenly  councils.  Now  at  last  he 
bowed  in  submission.  The  year  after  and  he  would  reach 
liis  grand  climacteric.  We  lose  sight  of  him.  He  retired 
from  courts  and  great  officers.  Wo  can  but  think  and  con- 
jecture of  him,  according  to  tradition,  passing  the  last 
twenty  years  of  his  life  amid  the  more  congenial  society  of 
his  disciples,  discoursing  to  them,  and  com])iling  the  Works 
wliich  have  survived  as  his  memorial  to  the  present  day. 

1  1 .  I  have  endeavoured  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  to 

'  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  xvi.  *  Bk  III.  rt  II.  xiv 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  37 

put  together  the  principal  incidents  of  Mencins'  history  as 
they  may  be  gathered  from  his  Writings.  There  is  no 
other  source  of  information  about  him,  and  we  must  regret 
that  they  tell  us  nothing  of  his  doiuestic  life  and  habits.  In 
one  of  the  stones  about  his  mother  there  is  an  allusion  to 
his  wife,  from  which  we  may  conclude  that  his  marriage 
was  not  without  its  bitternesses.  It  is  probable  that  the 
Mang  Chung,  mentioned  in  Bk  IT.  Pt  II.  ii.,  was  his  son, 
though  this  is  not  easily  reconcileable  with  what  we  read  in 
VI.  Pt  I.  v.,  of  a  M;1ng  Ko,  who  was,  according  to  Chaou 
K'e,  a  brother  of  Mrmg  Chung.  We  must  believe  that  he 
left  a  family,  for  his  descend;mts  form  a  large  clan  at  the 
present  day.  He-wiin,  the  oGth  in  descent  from  Mencius, 
was,  in  the  period  Kea-tsing  (a.d.  1522  — 1566),  constituted 
a  member  of  the  Han-lin  college,  and  of  the  Board  in  charge 
of  the  fiv^e  King,  which  honour  was  to  be  hereditary  in  the 
family,  and  the  holder  of  it  to  preside  at  the  sacrifices  to  his 
ancestor.^  China's  appreciation  of  our  philosopher  could 
not  be  more  strikingly  shown.  Honours  flow  back  in  this  i 
empire.  The  descendant  ennobles  his  ancestors.  But  in  | 
the  case  of  Mencius,  as  in  that  of  Confucius,  this  order  is 
reversed.  No  excellence  of  descendants  can  extend  to 
them ;  and  the  nation  acknowledges  its  obligations  to  them 
by  nobility  and  distinction  conferred  through  all  generations 
upon  their  posterity. 


SECTION  II. 

HIS    INFLUENCE   AND    OPINIONS. 


1.  Confucius  had  hardh-  passed  off  the  stage  of  life  before 
his  merits  began  to  be  acknowledged.  The  duke  Gae,  who 
had  neglected  his  counsels  when  he  was  alive,  was  the  first 
to  pronounce  his  eulogy,  and  to  order  that  public  sacrifices 
should  be  offered  to  him.  His  disciples  proclaimed  their 
estimation  of  him  as  superior  to  all  the  sages  whom  China 
had  ever  seen.     Before  long  this  view  of  him  took  possession 

'  See  Morrisou's  Dictionarv,  on  Mencius. 


38  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPIXIOXS. 

of  the  whole  nation;  and  since  the  Han  dynast}',  he  lias  been 
the  man  wliom  sovereign  and  people  have  delighted  to  hononi". 

The  memory  of  Mencius  was  not  so  distinguished.  We 
have  seen  that  many  centuries  elapsed  before  his  Writings 
Acknowiedp-  Were  received  among  the  classics  of  the  empire. 
Tnerits  byThe"*'  I*  ^^^^  natural  that  under  the  same  dynasty 
goveniment.  when  this  was  done  the  man  himself  should  be 
admitted  to  share  in  the  sacrifices  presented  to  Confucius. 

The  emperor  Shin-tsung,^  in  a.d.  1083,  issued  a  patent, 
constituting  Mencius  "  duke  of  the  State  of  Tsow/^  and 
ordering  a  temple  to  be  built  to  him  in  the  district  of  Tsow, 
at  the  spot  where  the  philosopher  had  been  interred.  In 
the  following  year  it  was  enacted  that  he  should  have  a  place 
in  the  temple  of  Confucius,  next  to  that  of  Yen  Yuen,  the 
favourite  disciple  of  the  sage. 

In  A.D.  1330,  the  emperor  Wan,^  of  the  Yuen  dynasty, 
made  an  addition  to  Mencius'  title,  and  styled  him  "  duke 
of  the  State  of  Tsow,  Inferior  Sage."  This  continued 
till  the  rise  of  the  Ming  dynasty,  the  founder  of  which 
had  his  indignation  excited  in  1372  by  one  of  Mencius' 
conversations  with  king  Seuen.  The  philosopher  had 
said: — "When  the  ruler  regards  his  ministers  as  his  hands 
and  feet,  the  ministers  regard  their  ruler  as  their  belly  and 
heart ;  when  he  regards  theni  as  his  dogs  and  horses,  they 
regard  him  as  any  other  man  ;  when  he  regards  them  as 
the  ground  or  as  grass,  they  regard  him  as  a  robber  and  an 
enemy.''  ^  To  apply  such  names  as  rohher  and  euciiii/  in  any 
case  to  rulers  seemed  to  the  imperial  reader  an  unpardonablo 
outrage,  and  he  ordered  Mencius  to  be  degraded  from  his 
place  in  the  temples  of  Confucius,  declaring  also  that  if  any 
one  remonstrated  on  the  proceeding  he  should  be  dealt  with 
as  guilty  of  "  Contempt  of  ^lajesty." 

The  scholars  of  China  have  never  been  slow  to  vindicate 
the  memory  of  its  sages  and  worthies.  Undeten-ed  by  the 
imperial  threat,  Ts'een  T'ang,  a  president  of  the  Board  of 
i'unishmeuts,  presented  himself  with  a  remonstrance,  say- 
iug — "  I  will  die  for  Mencius,  and  my  death  will  be  crowned 
with  glory."  'J'he  emperor  was  moved  by  his  earnestness, 
and  allowed  him  to  go  scathless.  In  the  following  year, 
moreover,  examination  and  reflection  produced  a  change  of 

'   A.u.  10G8-1085.  ^  A.D.  1330— 1333. 

^  Bk  IV.  Pt  II.  iii. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND   OPINIONS.  39 

miud.  He  issued  a  second  proclamation  to  the  effect  tliat 
Mencius,  by  exposing  heretical  doctrines  and  overthrowing' 
perverse  speakings,  had  set  forth  clearly  the  principles  of 
Confucius,  and  ought  to  be  restored  to  his  place  as  one  of 
his  assessors.^ 

In  IboO,  the  ninth  year  of  the  period  Kea-tsing,  a  general 
revision  was  made  of  the  sacrihcial  canon  for  the  sage's 
temple,  and  the  title  of  Mencius  was  changed  into — "  The 
philo'sopher  Mang,  Inferior  Sage/'  So  it  continues  to  the 
present  day.  His  place  is  the  second  on  the  west,  next  to 
that  of  the  philosopher  Tsrmg.  Originally,  we  have  seen,  he 
followed  Yen  Hwuy,  but  Hwuy,  Tszc-sze,  Tsaug,  and  Mang 
were  appointed  the  sage's  four  assessors,  and  had  their 
relative  positions  fixed,  in  12G7. 

2.  The  second  edict  in  the  period  Hung-woo,  restoring 
Mencius  to  his  place  in  the  temples  of  Confucius,  states  fairly 
enough  the  services  which  he  is  held  to  have  rendered  to  his 
country.  The  philosopher's  own  estimate  of  Estimate  of 
himself  has  partly  appeared  in  the  sketch  of  seu'andb/s^hS- 
his  Life.     He  seemed  to  start  with   astonish-    ^^■'*- 

'  I  have  taken  this  account  from  "  The  Sacrificial  Canon  of  the  Sage's 
Temples  "  (Vol.  I.  Proleg.  p.  103).  Dr.  Morrison  in  his  Dictionary,  under 
the  character  Mang,  adds  that  the  change  in  the  emperor's  mind  was  pro- 
duced by  his  reading  the  remarkable  passage  in  Bk  VI.  Pt  II,  xv.,  about 
trials'.aud  hardships  as  the  way  by  which  Heaven  prepares  men  for  great 
services.  He  thouglit  it  was  descriptive  of  himself,  and  that  he  could  argue 
from  it  a  good  title  to  the  crown  ; — and  so  he  was  mollified  to  the  philoso- 
pher. It  may  be  worth  while  tOsgive  here  the  conclutling  remarks  in  "  The 
Paraphrase  for  Daily  Lesson.s,  E.xplaining  the  Meaning  of  the  Four  P.ooks" 
(Vol.  I.  Proleg.  of  larger  Work,  p.  181),  on  the  chapter  of  Mencius  which  was 
deemed  by  the  imperial  reader  so  objectionable  :  —  "Mencius  wished  that  sove- 
reigns should  treat  their  ministers  according  to  propriety,  and  nourish  them 
with  kindness,  anil  therefore  he  used  these  perilous  words  in  order  to  alarm  and 
rouse  them.  iVs  to  the  other  side,  the  part  of  ministers,  though  the  sovereign 
regard  them  as  his  hands  and  feet,  they  ought  notwithstanding  to  discharge 
most  earnestly  their  duties  of  loyalty  and  love.  Yea,  though  he  regard  them  as 
dogs  and  horses,  or  as  tlie  ground  and  grass,  they  ought  still  more  to  perform 
their  part  in  spite  of  all  difiieulties,  and  oblivious  of  their  person.  They  may  on 
no  account  make  the  manner  in  which  they  are  regan^leil,  whether  it  beot  ap- 
preciation or  contempt,  the  standard  by  which  they  regulate  the  measure  of 
their  grateful  service.  The  woi-ds  of  Confucius,  that  the  ruler  should  behiive 
to  his  ministers  according  to ^troprictij,  and  the  viinisters  serve  tJieir  sove- 
reign with  f  aithfulness,  contain  the  unchanging  rule  for  all  ages."  The  authors 
of  the  Dady  Lessons  did  their  work  by  imperial  order,  and  evidently  had 
the  fear  of  the  court  before  their  eyes.  Their  language  implies  a  censure  of 
our  [)liilo.-o|ilier.  There  will  ever  be  a  grudge  against  him  in  the  minds  of 
despots,  and  their  creatures  will  be  ready  to  depreciate  him. 


40  MLXCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

mcnt  when  his  disciple  Kviiig-sun  Ch^ow  was  disposed  to 
rank  him  as  a  sage ;  ^  but  Le  also  said  on  one  occasion — 
"  When  sages  shall  rise  up  again^  they  will  not  change  my 
words."  ^  Evidently^  he  was  of  opinion  that  the  mantle  of 
Confucius  had  fallen  upon  him.  A  work  was  to  be  done  in 
his  generation,  and  he  felt  himself  able  to  undertake  it. 
After  describing  what  had  been  accomplished  by  the  great 
Yu,  by  Chow-kung,  and  Confucius,  he  adds  : — "  I  also  wish 
to  rectify  men's  hearts,  and  to  put  an  end  to  those  perverse 
doctrines,  to  oppose  their  one-sided  actions,  and  banish  away 
their  licentious  expressions ;  and  thus  to  carry  on  the  work 
of  the  three  sages."  ^ 

3.  The  place  which  Mencius  occupies  in  the  estimation  of 
the  literati  of  China  may  be  seen  by  the  following  testimonies, 
selected  from  those  appended  by  Choo  He  to  the  prefatory 
notice  of  his  Life  in  the  "  Collected  Comments.'" 

Han  Yu  *  says,  "  If  we  wish  to  study  the  doctrines  of  tho 
sagos,  we  must  begin  with  Mencius.^'  He  also  quotes  the 
opinion  of  Yang  Tsze-yun,^  "Yang  and  Mih  wei'e  stopping  up 
the  way  [of  truth] ,  when  Mencius  refuted  them,  and  scattered 
their  delusions  without  difficulty ;  "  and  then  remai-ks  upon 
it : — "  When  Yang  and  Mih  walked  abroad,  the  true  doctrine 
had  nearly  come  to  nought.  Though  Mencius  possessed 
talents  and  virtue,  even  those  of  a  sage,  he  did  not  occupy 
the  throne.  He  could  only  speak  and  not  act.  With  ail 
his  earnestness,  what  could  he  do  ?  It  is  owing,  however,  to 
his  words,  that  learners  now-a-days  still  know  to  revere- 
Confucius,  to  honour  benevolence  and  righteousness,  to  es- 
teem the  true  sovereign  and  despise  the  mere  pretender. 
But  the  grand  rules  and  laws  of  the  sage  and  sage-emperors 
had  been  lost  beyond  the  power  of  redemption  ;  only  one 
in  a  hundred  of  them  was  preserved.  Can  it  be  said  in 
those  circumstances  that  Mencius  had  an  easy  task  ?  Yet 
had  it  not  been  for  him,  we  should  hav(5  been  buttoning  the 
lappets  of  our  coats  on  the  left  side,  and  our  discourse  would 
have  been  all-confused  and  indistinct; — it  is  on  this  account 
that  I  have  honoured  Mencius,  and  consider  his  merit  not 
inferior  to  that  of  Yu." 

One  asked  the  philosopher  Ch'ing "  whether  Mencius  might 

•  Bk  II.  Pt  I.  ii.  18,  19.  '  Bk  III.  Ft  II.  ix.  10. 
'  Ih.,  par.  1.3.  *  See  above. 

*  Died  A.D.  18.  "  See  Vol.  I.,  Proleg.,  p.  24.  ^ 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  :  41 

DC  pronounced  to  bca  sage.  He  replied,  "  I  do  not  dare  to 
say  altogether  that  he  was  a  sage,  but  his  learning  had 
reached  the  extremest  point.^^  The  same  great  scholar  also 
said  : — "  The  merit  of  Mencius  in  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  | 
the  sages  is  more  than  can  be  told.  Confucius  only  spoke  i 
of  benevolence,  but  as  soon  as  Mencius  opens  his  mouth,  we  ! 
hear  of  benevolence  and  right eoii-sn ess.  Confucius  only  spoke  \ 
of  the  will  or  mind,  but-  Mencius  enlarged  also  on  the, 
nourishment  of  the  'passion-nature.  In  these  two  respects 
his  merit  was  great."  "  Mencius  did  great  service  to  the 
world  by  his  teaching  the  goodness  of  man's  nature." 
"  Mencius  had  a  certain  amount  of  the  heroical  spirit,  and 
to  that  there  always  belong  some  jutting  corners,  the  effect 
of  which  is  very  injurious.  Yen  Yuen,  all  round  and  com- 
plete, was  different  from  this.  He  was  but  a  hair's-breadth 
removed  from  a  sage,  while  Mencius  must  be  placed  in  a 
lower  rank,  a  great  worthy,  an  inferior  sage."  Ch^ng  was 
asked  where  what  he  called  the  heroical  spirit  of  Mencius 
could  be  seen.  "  We  have  only  to  compare  his  words  with 
those  of  Confucius,"  he  said,  "  and  we  shall  perceive  it.  It 
is  like  the  comparison  of  ice  or  crystal  with  a  precious  stone. 
The  ice  is  bright  enough,  but  the  precious  stone,  without  so 
much  brilliancy,  has  a  softness  and  richness  all  its  own."^ 
The  scholar  Yang  Kwei-shan  -  says  : — "The  great  object  of 
Mentius  in  his  writings  is  to  rectify  men's  hearts,  teaching 
them  to  preserve  their  heart  and  nourish  their  nature,  and  to 
recover  their  lost  heart.  When  he  discourses  of  benevolence, 
righteousness,  propriety,  and  knowledge,  he  refers  to  the 
principles  of  these  in  the  heart  commiserating,  feeling  shame 
and  dislike,  affected  with  modesty  and  complaisance,  approv- 

'  This  is  probably  the  original  of  what  appears  in  the  "  Memoires  concern- 
ant  les  Chinois,"  in  the  notice  of  Mencius,  vol.  lii.,  and  which  Thornton 
(vol.  ii.,  pp.  216,  217)  has  faithfully  translated  therefrom  in  the  following 
terms  : — "  Confucius,  through  prudence  or  modesty,  often  dissimulated  ;  he 
did  not  always  .say  what  he  might  have  said  :  Mang-t-sze,  on  the  contrarj', 
was  incapable  of  constraining  hinlself  ;  he  spoke  what  he  thought,  and  with- 
out the  least  fear  or  reserve.  He  resembles  ice  oi,  the  purest  water,  through 
which  we  can  see  all  its  defects  as  well  as  its  beauties  :  Confucius,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  like  a  precious  gem,  which  though  not  so  pellucid  as  ice,  has 
more  strength  and  solidity."  The  former  of  these  sentences  is  quite  alien 
from  the  style  of  Chinese  thinking  and  ex-pression. 

*  One  of  the  great  scholars  of  the  Sung  dynasty,  a  friend  of  the  two  Ch'ing. 
He  has  a  place  in  the  temijles  of  Confucius. 


42  MENCirS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

ing  and  disapproving.  AVhen  he  speaks  of  the  evils  springing 
from  perverted  speakings,  he  says — 'Growing  first  in  the 
mind,  they  prove  injurious  to  government/  AVhcn  he 
shows  how  a  prince  should  be  sei-ved,  he  says — '  Correct 
what  is  wrong  in  his  mind.  Once  rectify  the  prince,  and 
the  kingdom  will  be  settled.-'  With  him  the  thousand 
changes  and  ten  thousand  operations  of  men  all  come  from 
the  mind  or  heart.  If  a  man  once  rectify  his  hoait,  little 
else  will  remain  for  him  to  do.  In  '  The  Great  Learning,' 
the  cultivation  of  the  person,  the  regulation  of  the  family, 
the  government  of  the  State,  and  the  tranquillization  of  the 
empire,  all  have  their  root  in  the  rectifying  of  the  heart 
and  the  making  the  thoughts  sincere.  If  the  heart  bo 
rectified,  we  recognize  at  once  the  goodness  of  the  nature. 
On  this  account,  whenever  Mencius  came  into  contact  with 
people,  he  testified  that  man's  nature  is  good.  When  Ow- 
yang  Yung-shuh^  says,  that,  in  the  lessons  of  the  sages, 
man's  nature  does  not  occupy  the  first  place,  he  is  wrong. 
There  is  nothing  to  be  put  before  this.  Yaou  and  Shun  are 
the  models  for  ten  thousand  ages  simply  because  they  fol- 
lowed their  nature.  And  to  follow  our  nature  is  just  to 
accord  with  Heavenly  principle.  To  nse  plans  and  arts, 
away  from  this,  though  they  may  be  successful  in  great 
achievement,  is  the  selfishness  of  human  desii'es,  and  as  far 
removed  from  the  mode  of  action  of  the  sage,  as  earth  is 
from  heaven."  I  shall  close  these  testimonies  with  a  sen- 
tence from  Choo  He  himself.  He  says  : — "  Mencius,  when 
compared  with  Confucius,  always  appears  to  speak  in  too 
lofty  a  style  ;  but  when  we  hear  him  ])roclaiming  the  good- 
ness of  man's  nature,  and  celebrating  Yaou  and  Shun,  then 
we  likewise  perceive  the  solidity  of  his  discourses." 

4.  The  judgment  concerning  our  philosopher  contained 
in  the  above  quotations  will  approve  itself  to  every  one  who 
coiTectness  of  hjx.s  carefullv  perused  his  Works.  The  lonyr 
inonicft.  Men-  passage  from  Yang  Kwei-shan  is  especially 
I'urriuJsappoar  Valuable,  and  puts  the  principal  characteristic 
in  his  exj.osi-      of  ^lencius'  teachings  in  a  clear  light.    Whether 

tions  of  doc-  IT-         ••!  i-i- 

tmi«.  those  teaclnngs  have  the  intrinsic  value  winch  is 

ascribed  to  them  is   another  question.     But  Mencius'  posi- 

'  Also  one  of  China's  greatest  scholars.      lie  has  now  a  place  in  the  tem- 
ples oi  CoufuciuB. 


HIS    INFTA'ENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  43 

tiou  with  reference  to  "  the  doctrines  of  the  sagos  "  is  cor- 
rectly assigned.  We  are  not  to  look  for  new  truths  in  him. 
And  this  does  not  lead  his  countrymen  to  think  less  highly 
of  him.  I  ventured  to  lay  it  down  as  one  grand  cause  of 
the  position  and  influence  of  Confucius,  that  he  was  simply 
the  preserver  of  the  monuments  of  antiquity,  and  the  exem- 
pli fier  and  expounder  of  the  maxims  of  the  golden  age  of 
China.     In  this  Mencius  must  share  with  him. 

But  while  we  are  not  to  look  to  Mencius  for  new  truths, 
the  peculiarities  of  his  natural  character  were  more  striking 
than  those  of  his  master.  There  was  an  element  of  "  the 
heroical  "  about  him.  He  was  a  dialectician,  moreover.  If 
he  did  not  like  disputing,  as  he  protested  that  he  did  not, 
yet,  when  forced  to  it,  he  showed  himself  a  master  of  the 
art.  An  ingenuity  and  subtlety  which  we  cannot  but  enjoy 
often  mark  his  reasonings.  We  have  more  sympathy  with 
him  than  with  Confucius.  He  comes  closer  to  us.  He  is  not 
so  awe-ful,  but  he  is  more  admirable.  The  doctrines  of  the 
sages  take  a  tinge  from  his  mind  in  passing  through  it,  and 
it  is  with  that  Mencian  character  about  them  that  they  are 
now  held  by  the  cultivated  classes  and  by  readers  generally. 

I  will  now  call  attention  to  a  few  passages  illustrative  of 
these  remarks.  Some  might  prefer  to  search  them  out  for 
themselves  in  the  body  of  the  volume,  and  I  am  far  from 
intending  to  exhaust  the  subject.  There  will  be  many 
readers,  however,  pleased  to  have  the  means  of  forming  an 
idea  of  the  man  for  themselves  brought  within  small  com- 
pass. My  next  object  will  be  to  review  his  doctrine  con- 
cerning man's  mental  constitution  and  the  nourishment  of 
the  passion-nature,  in  which  he  is  said  to  have  rendered 
special  service  to  the  cause  of  truth.  That  done,  I  will 
conclude  by  pointing  out  what  I  conceive  to  be  his  chief 
defects  as  a  moral  and  political  teacher.  To  the  opinions 
of  Yang  Choo  and  Mih,  which  he  took  credit  to  himself  for 
assailing  and  exposing,  it  will  be  necessary  to  devote  another 
chapter. 

5.  It  was  pointed  out  in  treating  of  the  opinions  of  Con- 
fucius, that  he  allowed  no  "right  divine"  to  a  sovereign, 
independent  of  his  exercisino^  a  benevolent  rule.      «„„„:_„„    , 

f,„   .    ^  .        ^  ,  .  Specimens  of 

ihis  was  one  of  the  topics,  however,  of  which  Jicuoius'  opin- 

1  ■,  TTr-.i     11  •  ,1  •.     ious,  and  man- 

lie  was  sJiy.      VVitn  Mencius,  on  the  contrary,  it  ner  of  advocat- 

was  a  favourite  theme.     The  degeneracy  of  the  "*^  *^'^'"" 


44  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPIXIOXS. 

times  and  the  ardour  of  Lis  disposition  prompted  him  equally 
to  the  free  expression  of  his  convictions  about  it. 

"  The  people,"  he  said,  "  are  the  most  important  element  [in  a  countn']  ; 
the  spirits  of   the  land  and    grain  are  the  next  ;  the  ruler  is  the  lightest. 

"When  the  ruler  endangers  the  altars  of  the  spirits  of  the 
nient  — ThTpco-  ^'"'"^^  '^^'^  grain,  he  is  changed,  and  another  appointed  in  his 
pie  more  im-  place.      When  the  sacrificial  victims  have  heen  perfect,  the 

portant  than  millet  in  its  vessels  all  pure,  and  the  sacrifices  offered  at  their 

the  ruler.  -r       i.  ^i  j  i  i.         .1 

proper  seasons,  if  yet  there  ensue  drought,  or  the  waters  over- 
flow, the  altars  of  the  spirits  of  the  land  and  grain  are  changed,  and  others 
appointed."  ' 

"  The  people  are  the  most  important  element  in  a  countnj, 
and  the  ruler  is  the  lightest ;  " — that  is  certainly  a  bold  and 

An  unworthy  riuj^iug  affirmation.  Mcucius  was  not  afraid  to 
Thl-on^ro^put  follow  it  to  the  conclusion  that  the  ruler  who 
to  death.  was  excrcising  an  injurious  rule  should  be  de- 

throned. His  existence  is  not  to  be  allowed  to  interfere 
with  the  general  good.  Killing  in  such  a  case  is  no  murder. 
King  Seuen  once  asked,  "  Was  it  so  that  T'ang  banished 
Keeh,  and  that  king  Woo  smote  Chow  ?  "  Mencius  replied, 
''It  is  so  in  the  records.'^  The  king  asked,  "May  a  min- 
ister then  put  his  sovereign  to  death  ?  "  Our  philosopher\s 
reply  was  : — "  He  who  outrages  the  benevolence  proper  to 
his  nature  is  called  a  robber  ;  he  who  outrages  righteousness 
is  called  a  ruffian.  The  robber  and  ruffian  we  call  a  mere 
fellow.  I  have  heard  of  the  cutting  off  of  the  fellow  Chow, 
but  I  have  not  heard  in  his  case  of  the  putting  a  ruler  to 
death."  2 

With  regard  to  the  ground  of  the  relation  between  ruler 
and  people,  Mencius  refers  it  very  clearly  to  the  will  of  God. 

The  (?rouiid  of  In  One  place  he  adopts  for  his  own  purpose  the 
tweenS^ud  language  of  king  Woo  in  the  Shoo-king :- 
people.  "  Heaven,  having  produced  the  inferior  people, 

made  for  them  rulers  and  instructors,  Avitli  the  purpose 
that  they  should  be  assisting  to  God,  and  therefore  gave 
them  distinction  throughout  the  four  quarters  of  the  larxl."  ^ 
But  the  question  arises — How  can  this  will  of  Heaven  be 
known  ?  Mencius  has  endeavoured  to  answer  it.  He  says  : 
— "  Heaven  gives  the  empire,  but  its  appointment  is  not 
conferred  with  specific  injunctions.    Heaven  does  not  speak. 

'  Bk  VII.  Pt  II.  xiv.  ■'  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  viii. 

=  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  iii.  7. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  45 

It  sliows  its  will  by  a  man's  personal  conduct  and  liis  con- 
duct of  affairs."  The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  :  — 
"  Heaven  sees  according  as  the  people  see  ;  Heaven  hears 
according  as  the  people  hear."  ^ 

It  may  not  be  easy  to  dispute  these  principles.  I  for  one 
have  no  hesitation  in  admitting  them.  Their  application, 
however,  must  always  be  attended  with  diffi-  An  unworthy 
culty.  Here  is  a  sovereign  who  is  the  very  fhroned^by  his'' 
reverse  of  a  minister  of  God  for  good.  He  relatives. 
ought  to  be  removed,  but  who  is  to  remove  him  ?  Mencius 
teaches  in  one  passage  that  the  duty  is  to  be  performed  by 
his  relatives  who  are  also  ministers. 

King  Seuen  of  Ts'e  asked  him  about  the  office  of  chief  ministers. 
Mencius  said,  ""\Miich  chief  ministers  is  your  Majesty  asking  about?" 
'•  Are  there  differences  among  them  ?  "  inquired  the  king.  "  Tliere  are," 
was  the  reply  ;  "'  tliere  are  the  cliief  ministers  wiio  are  noble  and  relatives  of 
the  ruler,  and  there  are  those  wlio  are  of  a  different  surname."  The  king 
said,  "  I  beg  to  Hsk  about  tlie  chief  ministers  who  are  noble  and  relative.^ 
of  the  ruler."  Mencius  answered,  "  If  the  ruler  have  great  faults,  they  ought 
to  remonstrate  with  him,  and  if  he  do  not  listen  to  them  when  they  have 
done  so  again  and  again,  they  ought  to  appoint  another  in  his  place."  The 
king  on  this  looked  moved,  and  changed  countenance.  Mencius  said,  '•  Let 
uot  your  Majesty  think  what  I  say  strange.  You  asked  me,  and  I  did  not 
dare  to  reply  but  correctly."  ^ 

This  plan  for  disposing   of    an  unworthy  sovereign    has 
been  acted   on  in  China  and  in  other  countries.     It  is  the 
best  that  can  be  adopted  to  secure  the  throne       virtuous  min- 
in  the  ruling  House.     But  where  there  are  no    minister°of*'^° 
relatives  that  have  the  virtue  and  power  to  play    ?";'?''*^°'  ™=*y 

1  •  11  o     -\  r  •  1  detlirone  a 

such  a  part,  what  is  to  be  done  r  Mencius  has    ruier. 
two  ways  of  meeting  this  ditticulty.      Contrary  to  his  gen- 
eral rule  for  the  conduct  of  ministers  who  are  not  relatives, 
lie  allows  that  even  they  may,  under  certain  conditions,  take 
summary  measures  with  their  sovereign. 

His  disciple  Kung-sun  Cii'ovv  said  to  him,  "E  Yin  said,  'I  cannot  be  near 
so  disobedient  a  person,'  and  therewith  he  banished  T'ae-keah  to  T'ung. 
The  peoi)le  were  much  pleased.  Wlien  T'ae-koah  became  virtuous,  he 
brought  liim  back,  and  the  people  were  again  much  pleased.  When  worthies 
are  ministers,  may  they  indeed  banish  their  rulers  in  this  way  when  they 
are  not  virtuous  ?  "  Mencius  replied,  "If  they  have  the  mind  of  E  Yin, 
they  may.     If  they  have  uot  that  mind,  it  would  be  usurpation."  ^ 


'  Bk  V.  Pt  I.  V.  ^  Bk  V.  Ft  II.  ix. 

'  Bk  VII.  Pt  I.  xx.\!. 


46  MENCIUS   AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

His  grand  device,  however,  is  what  he  calls  "'  the  minister 
of  Heaven."  When  the  sovereign  has  become  worthless 
and  useless,  his  hope  is  that  Heaven  will  raise  up  some  o.ne 
for  the  help  of  the  people; — some  one  who  shall  so  occupy 
in  his  original  subordinate  position  as  to  draw  all  eyes  and 
hearts  to  himself.^  Let  him  then  raise  the  standard,  not  of 
rebellion  but  of  righteousness,^  and  he  cannot  help  attain- 
ing to  the  highest  dignity.  So  it  was  with  the  great  T^ang ; 
so  it  was  with  the  kingfs  Wan  and  Woo.  Of  the  last  Men- 
cius  says  : — "  There  was  one  man  " — i.e.,  the  tyrant  Chow — 
"  pursuing  a  violent  and  disorderly  course  in  the  land,  and 
king  Woo  was  ashamed  of  it.  By  one  display  of  his  anger, 
he  gave  repose  to  all  the  people."  ^  He  would  have  been 
glad  if  any  one  of  the  princes  of  his  own  time  had  been 
able  to  vault  in  a  similar  wa}!-  to  the  royal  throne,  and  he 
went  about  counselling  them  to  the  attempt.  ''Let  your 
Majesty,"  said  he  to  king  Seuen,  "  in  like  manner,  by  one 
burst  of  anger,  give  repose  to  all  the  people  of  the  empire." 
This  was  in  fact  advising  to  rebellion,  but  the  philosopher 
would  have  recked  little  of  such  a  charge.  The  House  of 
Chow  had  forfeited  in  his  view  its  title  to  the  kingdom. 
Alas  !  among  all  the  princes  he  had  to  do  with,  he  did  not 
find  one  who  could  be  stirred  to  so  honourable  an  action. 

We  need  not  wonder  that  Mencius,  putting  forth  the 
above  views  so  boldly  and  broadly,  should  not  be  a  favourite 
with  the  rulers  of  China.  His  sentiments,  professed  by  the 
literati,  and  known  and  read  by  all  the  people,  have  oper- 
ated powerfully  to  compel  the  good  behaviour  of"  the  powers 
that  be."  It  may  be  said  that  they  encourage  the  aims  of 
selfish  ambition,  and  the  lawlessness  of  the  licentious  mob. 
I  grant  it.  They  are  lessons  for  the  virtuous,  and  not  for 
the  lawless  and  disobedient,  but  the  government  of  China 
would  have  been  more  of  a  grinding  despotism,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  them. 

On  the  readiness  of  the  people  to  be   governed  Mencius 

only  differs  from   Confucius  in   the  more  vehement  style  in- 

The  iiiiiuencc    which  he  oxprcssos  his  views.     He   does  not 

of  personal  cha-  t         1 1  i  l^  •     a  c  i 

racter  in  a  ruler,     dwell   SO  much    on  the  mtluence   01  personal 
virtue,  and  I  pointed  out,  in  the  sketch  of  his  Life,  how  he 

'  Bk  II.  rt  I.  V. 

*  "  Raise  rigliteous  soldiers  ;  " — this  is  the  profession  of  all  rebel  leaders 
in  China.  ''  Bk  I.  Pt  II.  ill.  7. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  47 

all  but  compromised  liis  character  in  liis  communications 
with  king  Seuen,  telling  him  that  his  love  of  women,  of  war, 
and  of  money  might  be  so  regulated  as  not  to  interfere  with 
his  exercise  of  true  royal  government.  Still  he  speaks  at 
times  correctly  and  emphatically  on  this  subject.  He  quotes 
Confucius'  language  on  the  influcTice  generally  of  superiors 
on  inferiors, — that  "  the  relation  between  them  is  like  that 
between  the  wind  and  grass  ;  the  grass  must  bend  when  the 
wind  blows  upon  it ;  ^'^  and  he  says  himself : — "It  is  not 
enough  to  remonstrate  with  a  ruler  on  account  of  the  mal- 
employment  of  ministers,  nor  to  blame  errors  of  government. 
It  is  only  the  great  man  who  can  correct  what  is  wrong  in 
the  ruler's  mind.  Let  the  ruler  be  benevolent,  and  all  his 
acts  will  be  benevolent.  Let  the  ruler  be  righteous,  and  all 
his  acts  will  be  righteous.  Let  the  ruler  be  correct,  and  all 
his  acts  will  be  correct.  Once  rectify  the  ruler,  and  the  State 
will  be  firmly  settled."  " 

But  the  misery  which  he  saw  around  him,  in  consequence 
of  the  prevailing  anarchy  and  constant  wars  between  State 
and  State,  led  Mencins  to  insist  on  the  necessity 
of  what  he  called  "  a  benevolent  government."  goverament! 
The  king  Seang  asked  him,  "  Who  can  unite  all  '^"^  '^^  ^^•=''*^- 
under  the  sky  under  one  sway  ?  "  and  his  reply  was,  "  He 
who  has  no  pleasure  in  killing  men  can  so  unite  it.'^  ^  His 
being  so  possessed  with  the  sad  condition  of  his  time  like- 
wise gave  occasion,  we  may  suppose,  to  the  utterance  of 
another  sentiment,  sufficiently  remarkable.  "  Never,"  said 
he,  ''  has  he  who  would  by  his  excellence  siibdue  men,  been 
able  to  subdue  them.  Let  a  ruler  seek  by  his  excellence  to 
nourish  men,  and  he  will  be  able  to  subdue  all  under  heav- 
en. It  is  impossible  that  any  one  should  attain  to  the 
true  royal  sway  to  whom  the  hearts  of  all  under  heaven 
are  not  subject.'^  *  The  highest  style  of  excellence  will  of 
course  have  its  outgoings  in  benevolence.  Apart  from  that, 
it  will  be  powerless,  as  Mencius  says.  His  words  are  akin  to 
those  of  Paul : — "  Scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will  one  die  : 
yet  peradventure  for  a  goodman  some  would  even  dare  to  die." 

On  the  effects  of  a  benevolent  rule  he  says : — 

"  Keeh  and  Chow's  losing  the  kingdom  arose  from  their  losing  the  people  ; 
and  to  lose  the  people  means  to  lose  their  hearts.     There  is  a  way  to  get  tlie 

'  Bk  III.  Pt  I.  ii.  4.  -  Bk  TV.  rt  I.  XX. 

'  Bk  I.  I't  I.  vi.  *  Bk  IV.  Pt  II.  xvi. 


48  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

kingdom  : — get  the  people,  and  the  kingdom  is  got.  There  is  a  way  to  get 
the  people  :— get  their  hearts,  and  the  people  are  got.  There  is  a  way  to  get 
their  hearlfe  : — it  is  simply  to  collect  for  them  what  they  desire,  and  not  to 
lay  on  them  what  they  dislike.  The  people  turn  to  a  l>euevolent  rule  as 
water  flows  downwards,  and  as  wild  beasts  run  to  the  wilds.  As  the  otter 
aids  the  deep  waters,  driving  the  fish  into  them,  and  as  the  hawk  aids  the 
thickets,  driving  the  little  birds  to  them,  so  Keeh  and  Chow  aided  T'ang  and 
Woo,  driving  the  peo[)le  to  them.  If  among  the  present  rulers  throughout 
the  kingdom  there  were  one  who  loved  benevolence,  all  the  other  rulers 
would  aid  him  by  driving  the  people  to  him.  Although  he  wished  not  to 
exercise  the  royal  sway,  he  could  not  avoid  doing  so." 

Two  principal  elements  of  this  benevolent  rule,  much 
insisted  on  by  Mencius,  deserve  to  be  made  prominent. 
They  are  to  be  found  indicated  in  the  Analects,  and  in  the 
older  classics  also,  but  it  :vas  reserved  for  our  philosopher 
To  make  the  to  sot  tlicm  forth,  sharply  defined  in  his  own 
ous'^'indTo'"'  style,  and  to  show  the  connexion  between  them. 
educate  them,      Tliev  are  : — that  the  people  be   made  well  off, 

are  important  ,*'.  ,  .  ,'^,  ,,         „ 

elements  in  a  be-  and  that  they  be  educated;  and  the  lormer  is 
nevoient  rule.      neccssary  in  order  to  the  efficiency  of  the  other. 

Once,  when  Confucius  was  passing  through  Wei  in  com- 
pany with  Yen  Yew,  he  was  struck  with  the  populousness 
of  the  State.  The  disciple  said,  "  Since  the  people  are  thus 
numerous,  what  more  shall  be  done  for  them  ?  "  Confucius 
answered,  "  Enrich  them."  "  And  when  they  have  been 
enriched,  what  more  shall  be  done  for  them  ?  "  The  reply 
was — "Teach  thom."  ^  This  brief  conversation  contains 
the  germs  of  the  ideas  on  which  Mencius  delighted  to  dwell. 

We  read  in  one  place  : — 

"  Let  it  be  seen  to  that  their  fields  of  grain  and  hemp  are  well  cultivated, 
and  make  the  taxes  on  them  light  :— so  the  people  may  be  made  rich. 

"Let  it  be  seen  to  that  they  use  their  resources  of  food  seasonably,  and 
expend  them  only  on  the  prescribed  ceremonies  : — so  they  will  be  more  than 
can  be  consumed. 

"The  people  cannot  live  without  water  ami  fire  ;  yet  if  you  knock  at  a 
man's  door  in  thi;  dusk  of  the  evening,  and  ask  for  water  and  fire,  tliere  is 
no  man  who  will  not  give  them,  such  is  the  great  abundance  of  them.  A 
sage  would  govern  the  kingdom  so  as  cause  pulse  and  grain  to  be  as  abundant 
as  water  and  lire.  When  pulse  and  grain  are  as  abundatit  as  water  and  fire, 
how  shall  there  be  among  the  people  any  that  are  uot  virtuous  ?  "  ■* 

Again  he  says  : — 

"  In  good  years  the  children  of  the  people  are  most  of  them  good,  and  in 
bad  years  they  are  most  of  them  evil."* 

'  Bk  IV.  Pt  I.  ix.  *  Con.  Ana..  XIII.  ix. 

»  Bk  Vn.  Pt  I.  xxiii.  *  I3k  VL  Pt  I.  vii. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  49 

It  is  in  his  conversations,  however,  with  king  Seuen  of 
Ts'e  and  duke  Wan  of  TTing,  that  we  find  the  fullest  expo- 
sition of  the  points  in  hand. 

"  They  are  only  men  of  education  who,  without  a  certain  livelihood,  are 
able  to  maintain  a  fixed  heart.  As  to  the  people,  if  they  have  not  a  certain 
livelihood,  it  follows  that  th"y  will  not  have  a  tixed  heart.  And  if  they  have 
not  a  fixed  heart,  there  is  nothing  which  they  will  not  do  in  the  way  of  self- 
abandonment,  of  moral  dellection,  of  depravity,  and  of  wild  license.  When 
they  have  thus  been  involved  in  crime,  to  follow  them  up  and  punish  them: 
— this  is  to  entrap  the  people.  Therefore  an  intelligent  ruler  will  regulate 
the  livelihood  of  the  people,  so  as  to  make  sure  that,  above,  they  .shall  have 
sufficient  wherewith  to  serve  their  parents,  and,  below,  sutticient  where- 
with to  support  their  wives  and  children  ;  that  in  good  years  they  shall 
always  be  abundantly  satisfied,  and  that  in  bad  years  they  shall  escape 
the  danger  of  pcrishiug.  After  this  he  may  urge  them,  and  thej'  will  pro- 
ceed to  what  is  good,  for  in  this  case  the  people  will  follow  after  that  with 
readiness."  ' 

It  is  not  necessary  to  remark  here  on  the  measures  which 
Mencius  recommends  in  order  to  secure  a  certain  livelihood 
for  the  people.  They  embrace  the  regulation  both  of  agri- 
culture and  commerce.^  And  education  should  be  directed 
simply  to  illusti-ate  tiie  human  relations.^  What  he  says  on 
these  subjects  is  not  without  shrewdness,  though  many  of 
his  recommendations  are  inappropriate  to  the  present  state 
of  society  in  China  itself  as  well  as  in  other  countries.  But 
his  principle,  that  good  government  should  contemplate  and 
will  be  seen  in  the  material  well-being  of  the  people,  is 
worthy  of  all  honour.  Whether  government  should  inter- 
fere to  secure  the  education  of  the  people  is  questioned  by 
not  a  few.  The  religious  denomination  to  which  I  have  the 
honour  to  belong  has  distinguished  itself  by  opposing  such 
a  doctrine* in  England, — more  zealously  perhaps  than  wisely."* 
But  when  Mencius  teaches  that  with  the  mass  of  men  edu- 
cation will  have  little  success  where  the  life  is  embittered 
by  a  miserable  poverty,  he  shows  himself  well  acquainted 
with  human  nature.  Educationists  now  seem  generally  to 
recognize  it,  but  I  think  it  is  only  within  a  century  that  it 
has  assumed  in  Europe  the  definiteness  and  importance 
with  which  it  appeared  to  Mencius  here  in  China  two  thou- 
sand years  ago. 

'   Bk  I.  rt  I.  vii.  20,  21 :  Bk  III.  Ft  I.  iii.  3. 
-■  Bk  III.  Pt  I.  iii.  ;  Bk  I.  Ft  II.  iv. ;  Bk  II.  Ft  I.  v.  :  et  al. 
^  Bk  HI.  Ft  I,  iii.  10.  ■*  Its  views  are  now,  in  1874,  very  different. 

VOL.   II.  4 


50  MEXCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

We  saw  liow  Mencius^  when  lie  was  residing  in  T^^ng-, 
came  into  contact  with  a  class  of  enthusiasts,  who  advocated 
a  return  to  the  primitive  state  of  society, 

"  ^\^len  Adam  delved  and  Eve  span." 

They  said  that  wise  and  able  princes  should  cultivate  the 
ground  equally  and  along  with  their  people,  and  eat  the 
Necessityfora  fruit  of  their  lab  our, — that  "to  have  granaries, 
bou^°and  that  arsenals,  and  treasuries  was  an  oppressing  of 
co.Xcted"Va  *^®  people.''  Moncius  exposed  these  errors 
lettered  class.  vcry  happily,  showiug  the  necessity  to  society 
of  a  division  of  labour,  and  that  the  conduct  of  government 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  a  lettered  class. 

"  I  suppose,"  he  said  to  a  follower  of  the  strange  doctrines,  "  that  Heu 
Hing  sows  grain  and  eats  the  produce.  Is  it  not  so  ?  "  "It  is  so,"  was  the 
answer.  "  I  suppose  that  he  also  weaves  cloth,  and  wears  his  own  manufac- 
ture. Is  it  not  so  ?  "  "  No  ;  Heu  wears  clothes  of  haircloth."  "  Does  ho 
wear  a  cap?"  "He  wears  a  cap."  "What  kind  of  cap?"  "A  plain 
cap."  "  Is  it  woven  by  himself  ?  "  "  No  ;  he  gets  it  in  exchange  for  grain." 
"Why  does  Heu  not  weave  it  himself?"  "That  would  injure  his  hus- 
bandry." "  Does  Heu  cook  his  food  in  boilers  and  earthen-ware  pans,  and 
does  he  plough  with  an  iron  share  ?  "  "  Yes."  "  Does  he  make  those  articles 
liimself  ?  "  "  No  ;  he  gets  them  in  exchange  for  grain."  On  these  admissions 
Mencius  proceeds  : — "  The  getting  those  various  articles  in  exchange  for 
grain  is  not  oppressive  to  the  potter  and  the  founder,  and  the  potter  and  the 
founder  in  their  turn,  in  exchanging  their  various  articles  for  grain,  are  not 
oppressive  to  the  husbandman.  How  should  such  a  thing  be  supposed  / 
But  why  does  not  Heu,  [on  his  principles,]  act  the  potter  and  founder, supply- 
ing him.self  with  the  articles  which  he  uses  solely  from  his  own  establish- 
ment ?  Why  does  he  go  confusedly  dealing  and  exchanging  with  the  handi- 
craftsmen ?  Why  does  he  not  sjjare  himself  so  much  trouble  ? "  His  oppo- 
nent attempted  a  reply  : — "The  business  of  the  handicraftsman  can  by  no 
means  be  carried  on  along  with  the  business  of  husbandry."  Mencius  resum- 
ed : — "Then,  is  it  the  government  of  the  empire  whicii  alone  can  be  carried 
along  with  the  practice  of  hu.sbandry  ?  Great  men  have  their  proper  busi- 
nes.s,  and  little  men  Iftxve  their  proper  business.  Moreover,  in  the  case  of 
an}'  single  individual,  whatever  articles  he  can  require  are  ready  to  his  hand, 
being  jiroduced  i)y  the  various  handicraftsmen  ; — if  he  n)ust  lirst  make  them 
for  his  own  use,  this  way  of  doing  would  keep  all  the  people  running 
about  upon  the  roads.  Hence  there  is  the  saying  : — '  Some  men  labour  with 
their  minds,  and  some  with  their  strength.  Tho.se  who  labour  with  their 
mind.-i  govern  others  ;  those  who  labour  with  their  strength  are  govern- 
ed by  others.  Those  who  are  governed  by  others  support  them  ;  those 
who  govern  others  are  supported  by  them.'  This  is  a  principle  universally 
recognized."' 

'  Bk  III,  Pt  iv. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  61 

Sir  John  Davis  has  observed  that  this  is  exactly  Pope's 
line, 

"And  those  who  think  still  govern  those  who  toil."  ' 

Mencius  goes  on  to  illustrate  it  very  clearly  by  referring  to 
the  labours  of  Yaou  and  Shun.  His  opponent  makes  a 
feeble  attempt  at  the  end  to  say  a  word  in  favour  of  the 
new  doctrines  he  had  embraced  : — ■ 

"  If  Heu's  doctrines  were  followed  there  would  not  be  two  prices  in  the 
market,  nor  any  deceit  in  the  kingdom.  If  a  boy  were  sent  to  tlie  market, 
no  one  would  impose  on  him  ;  linen  and  silk  of  the  same  length  would  be 
of  the  same  price.  So  it  would  be  with  bundles  of  hemp  and  silk,  being  of 
the  same  weight ;  with  the  different  kinds  of  grain,  being  the  same  in  quan- 
tity ;  and  with  shoes  which  were  the  same  in  size."  Mencius  meets  this  with 
a  decisive  reply  : — "  It  is  the  nature  of  things  to  be  of  unequal  quality  ; 
some  are  twice,  some  five  times,  some  ten  times,  some  a  hundred  times, 
some  a  thousand  times,  some  ten  thousand  times  as  valuable  as  others 
If  you  reduce  them  all  to  the  same  standard,  that  must  throw  the  empire 
into  confusion.  If  large  shoes  were  of  the  same  price  with  small  shoes, 
who  would  make  them  ?  For  people  to  follow  the  doctrines  of  Heu 
would  be  for  them  to  lead  one  another  on  to  practise  deceit.  How  can  they 
avail  for  the  government  of  a  State  ?  " 

There  is  only  one  other  subject  which  I  shall  here  notice, 
with  Mencius'  opinions  upon  it, — the  position  namely,  which 
he  occupied  himself  with  reference  to  the  princes  .  Mencius'  poai- 
of  his:  time.  He  calls  it  that  of  "  a  Teacher,''  er°"  ^^ 
but  that  term  in  our  language  very  inadequately  represents 
it.  He  wished  to  meet  with  some  ruler  who  would  look  to 
him  as  ''guide,  philosopher,  and  friend,'"  regulating  him- 
self by  his  counsels,  and  thereafter  committing  to  him  the 
entire  administration  of  his  government.  Such  men,  he 
insisted,  there  had  been  in  China  from  the  earliest  ao-es. 
Shun  had  been  such  to  Yaou  ;  Yu  and  Kaou  Yaou  had  been 
such  to  Shun  ;  E  Yin  had  been  such  to  T'ang;  T'ae-kuno- 
Wang  had  been  such  to  king  Wiln ;  Chow-kung  had  been 
such  to  the  kings  Woo  and  Shing  ;  Confucius  might  have 
been  such  to  any  prince  who  knew  his  merit ;  Tsze-sze  was 
such,  in  a  degree,  to  the  dukes  Hwuy  of  Pe  and  Muh  of 
Loo.^  The  wandering  scholars  of  his  own  day,  who  went 
from  court  to  court,  sometimes  with  good  intentions  and 
sometimes  with  bad,  pretended  to  this  character;  but  Men- 

'  The  Chinese,  vol.  ii.  p.  56. 
"  See  Bk  V.  Pt  II.  iii,  vu. :  et  al. 


52  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

cius  held  them  in  abhorrence.  They  disgraced  the  charac- 
ter and  prostituted  it,  and  he  stood  forth  as  its  vindicator 
and  true  exemplifier. 

Never  did  Christian  priest  lift  up  his  mitred  front,  or 
show  his  shaven  crown,  or  wear  his  Geneva  gown,  more 
loftily  in  courts  and  palaces  than  Mencius,  the  Teacher,  de- 
meaned himself.  We  have  seen  what  struggles  sometimes 
arose  between  him  and  the  princes  who  would  fain  have  had 
him  bend  to  their  power  and  place. 

"  Those,"  said  he,  "  who  give  counsel  to  the  great  should  despise  them, 
and  not  look  at  their  pomp  and  display.  Halls  several  fathoms  high,  with 
beams  projecting  several  cubits  : — these,  if  my  wishes  were  to  be  realized,  I 
would  not  have.  Food  sp:-ead  before  me  over  ten  cubits  square,  and  attend- 
ant girls  to  the  amount  of  hundreds  : — these,  though  my  wislies  were  realized, 
I  would  not  have.  Pleasure  and  wine,  and  the  dash  of  hunting,  with  thou- 
sands of  chariots  following  after  me  : — these,  though  my  wishes  were  realized, 
I  would  not  have.  What  they  esteem  are  what  I  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  ;  what  I  esteem  are  the  rules  of  the  ancients. — Why  should  I  stand  in 
awe  of  them  ?  " ' 

Before  we  bring  a  charge  of  pride  against  Mencius  on 
account  of  this  language  and  his  conduct  in  accordance  with 
it,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  literati  in  China  do  in  reality 
occupy  the  place  of  priests  and  ministers  in  Christian  king- 
doms. Sovereign  and  people  have  to  seek  the  law  at  their 
lips.  The  ground  on  which  they  stand, — "  the  rules  of  the 
ancients,^' — affords  but  poor  footing  compared  with  the 
Word  of  God  ;  still  it  is  to  them  the  truth,  the  unalterable 
law  of  life  and  duty,  and,  as  the  expounders  of  it,  they  have 
to  maintain  a  dignity  which  will  not  compromise  its  claims. 
That  "  scholars  are  the  first  and  head  of  the  four  classes  of 
the  people,^'  is  a  maxim  universally  admitted.  I  do  desi- 
derate in  Mencius  any  approach  to  humility  of  soul,  but  I 
would  not  draw  my  illustrations  of  the  defect  from  the  bold- 
ness of  his  speech  and  deportment  as  "  a  Teacher.^' 

But  in  one  respect  I  am  not  sure  but  that  our  philosopher 

failed  to  act  worthy  of  the  character  wffich  he  thus  assumed. 

nie  charge       The  grcat  men  to  whom  he  Avas  in  the  habit  of 

Sgoa'the"^     referring  as  his  patterns  nearly  all  rose   from 

vriiices.  docp  povcrty  to  tlaeir  subsequent  eminence. 

'  Blv  VIT.  Pt  II.  xxxi\^  Tliis  passage  was  written  on  the  pillars  of  a 
hall  in  College  street.  East,  where  the  gospel  was  first  preached  publicly  in 
their  own  tongue  to  the  people  of  Canton,  in  February,  1853. 


HTS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  63 

*'  Shim  rose  to  the  Empire  from  araonp;  the  channeled  fields  ;  Foo  Tueh 
was  called  to  office  from  the  midst  of  his  building-frames  ;  Kaou  Kih  from 
his  fish  and  salt."  '  "  E  Yin  was  a  farmer  in  Sin.  When  T'ang  sent  persons 
witli  presents  of  silk,  to  entreat  him  to  enter  his  sers'ice,  be  said,  with  an  air 
of  indifference  and  self-satisfaction,  '  What  can  I  do  with  those  silks  with 
which  T'ang  invites  me  ?  Is  it  not  best  for  me  to  abide  in  the  channeled 
fields,  and  there  delight  myself  with  the  principles  of  Yaou  and  Shun? '  "  * 

It  does  not  appear  that  any  of  those  worthies  accepted 
favours  while  they  were  not  in  ofl&ce,  or  from  men  whom 
they  disapproved.  With  Mencius  it  was  very  different  :  he 
took  largely  from  the  princes  whom  he  lectured  and  de- 
nounced. Possibly  he  might  plead  in  justification  the  ex- 
ample of  Confucius,  but  he  carried  the  practice  to  a  greater 
extent  than  that  sage  had  ever  done, — to  an  extent  which 
staggered  even  his  own  disciples  and  elicited  their  frequent 
inquiries.     For  instance  : — 

P'ang  Kang  asked  him,  saying,  "  Is  it  not  an  extravagant  procedure  to 
go  from  one  prince  to  another  and  live  upon  them,  followed  by  several  tens 
of  carriages,  and  attended  by  several  hundred  men  ?  "  Mencius  replied,  "  If 
there  be  not  a  proper  ground  for  taking  it,  a  single  bamboo-cup  of  rice  may 
not  be  received  from  a  man.  If  there  be  such  a  proper  ground,  then  Shun's 
receiving  the  empire  from  Yaou  is  not  to  be  considered  excessive.  Do  you 
think  it  was  excessive?"  "No,"  said  the  other,  "but  for  a  scholar  per- 
forming no  service  to  receive  his  support  notwithstanding  is  improper." 
Mencius  answered,  "  If  you  do  not  have  an  intercommunication  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  labour,  and  an  interchange  of  men's  services,  so  that  one  from 
his  overplus  may  suppty  the  deficiency  of  another,  then  husbandmen  will 
have  a  superfluit}'  of  grain,  and  women  will  have  a  superfluitj'  of  cloth.  If 
3'ou  have  such  an  interchange,  carpenters  and  carriage-wrights  may  all  get 
their  food  from  j^ou.  Here  now  is  a  man  who,  at  home,  is  filial,  and,  abroad, 
respectful  to  his  elders,  and  who  watches  over  the  principles  of  the  ancient 
kings,  awaiting  the  rise  of  future  learners ; — and  yet  you  will  refuse  to  sup- 
port him.  How  is  it  that  you  give  honour  to  the  carpenter  and  carriage- 
wright,  and  slight  him  who  practises  benevolence  and  righteousness  ?  " 
P'ling  Kang  said,  "  The  aim  of  the  carpenter  and  carriage-wright  is  by  their 
trades  to  seek  for  a  living.  Is  it  also  the  aim  of  the  superior  man  in  his 
practice  of  principles  to  seek  for  a  living  ?  "  "What  have  you  to  do,"  re- 
turned Mencius,  "  with  his  purpose  ?  He  is  of  service  to  you.  He  deserves 
to  be  supported,  and  should  be  supported.  And  let  me  ask — Do  you  remui 
nerate  a  man's  intention,  or  do  you  remunerate  his  service  ?  "  To  this  Kang 
replied,  "  I  remunerate  his  intention."  Mencius  said,  "  There  is  a  man  here 
who  breaks  your  tiles  and  draws  unsightly  figures  on  jour  walls  ; — his  pur- 
pose maj'  be  thereby  to  seek  for  his  living,  but  will  j^ou  indeed  remunerate 
him  ?  "  "  No,"  said  Kang  ;  and  Mencius  then  concluded  :  "  That  being  the 
case,  it  is  not  the  purpose  which  you  remunerate,  but  the  work  done."  ^ 

'  Bk  VI.  Pt  II.  XV.  1.  2  gj^  y_  pt  J  Yjj_  2,  3_ 

^  Bk  III.  Pt  II.  iv. 


54  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

The  ingenuity  of  Mcncius  in  the  above  conversation  will 
not  be  questioned.  The  position  from  which  he  starts  in  his 
defence,  that  society  is  based  on  a  division  of  labour  and  an 
interchange  of  services,  is  sound,  and  he  fairly  hits  and  over- 
throws his  disciples  on  the  point  that  we  remunerate  a  man 
not  for  his  aim  but  for  his  work  done.  But  he  does  not 
quite  meet  the  charge  against  himself.  This  will  better  ap- 
pear from  another  brief  conversation  with  Kung-sun  Ch^ow 
on  the  same  subject. 

"  It  is  said,  in  the  Book  of  Poetry,"  observed  Chow, 

"  '  He  will  not  eat  the  bread  of  idleness.' 

How  is  it  that  we  see  superior  men  eating  without  labouring  ?  "  Mencius 
replied,  "  When  a  superior  man  resides  in  a  country,  if  the  sovereign 
employ  his  counsels,  he  comes  to  tranquillity,  wealth,  honour,  and  glory  ;  if 
the  young  in  it  follow  his  instructions,  they  become  filial,  obedient  to  their 
elders,  true-hearted,  and  faithful. — What  greater  example  can  there  be  than 
this  of  not  eating  the  bread  of  idleness  ?  "  ' 

The  argument  here  is  based  on  the  supposition  that  the 
superior  man  has  free  course,  is  appreciated  by  the  sovereign, 
and  venerated  and  obeyed  by  the  people.  But  this  never  was 
the  case  with  Mencius.  Only  once,  the  shoi't  time  that  he  was 
in  T'ang,  did  a  ruler  listen  favourably  to  his  counsels.  His 
lessons,  it  may  be  granted,  were  calculated  to  be  of  tho 
greatest  benefit  to  the  communities  where  he  was,  but  it  is 
difficult  to  see  the  "  work  done,^'  for  which  he  could  claim 
the  remuneration.  His  reasoning  might  very  well  be  applied 
to  vindicate  a  government's  extending  its  patronage  to 
literary  men,  where  it  recognized  in  a  general  way  the  advan- 
tages to  be  derived  from  their  pursuits.  Still  more  does 
it  accord  with  that  employed  in  western  nations  whei'e  ec- 
clesiastical establishments  form  one  of  the  institutions  of  a 
country.  The  members  belonging  to  them  must  have  their 
maintenance,  independently  of  the  personal  character  of  tho 
rulers.  But  Mencius'  position  was  more  that  of  a  reformer. 
His  claims  were  of  those  of  his  personal  merit.  It  seems 
to  me  that  P'ang  Kang  had  reason  to  doubt  the  propriety 
of  his  course,  and  characterize  it  as  extravagant. 

Another  disciple,  Wan  Chang,  pressed  him  very  closely 
with  the  inconsistency  of  his  taking  freely  the  gifts  of  the 
princes  on  whom  ho  was  wont  to  pass  sentence  so  roundly. 

'  Bk  VII.  Pt  I.  xxxii. 


HIS    INFLUENCE   AND   OPINIONS.  5o 

Mencius  had  insisted  that,  where  the  donor  offered  his  gift 
on  a  ground  of  reason  and  in  a  manner  accordant  with  pro- 
priety, even  Confucius  would  have  received  it. 

"  Here  now,"  said  Chang,  "  is  one  who  stops  and  robs  people  outside  the 
city-gates.  He  offers  his  gift  on  a  ground  of  reason  and  in  a  proper  manner  ; 
— would  it  be  right  to  receive  it  so  acquired  by  robbery  ?  "  The  philosopher 
of  course  said  it  would  not,  and  the  other  pursued  : — "  The  rulers  of  the 
present  day  take  from  their  people  just  as  a  robber  despoils  his  victim. 
Y(;t  if  they  put  a  good  face  of  propriety  on  their  gifts,  the  superior  man 
receives  them.  I  venture  to  a.sk  you  to  explain  this."  Mencius  answered  : 
— "  Do  you  think  that,  if  there  should  arise  a  truly  royal  sovereign,  he  would 
collect  the  rulers  of  the  present  day  and  put  them  all  to  death  ?  Or  would 
he  admonish  them,  and  then,  on  their  not  changing  their  ways,  put  them  to 
death  ?  Indeed  to  call  every  one  who  takes  what  does  not  properly  belong 
to  him  a  robber,  is  pushing  a  point  of  resemblance  to  the  utmost,  and  insist- 
ing on  the  most  refined  idea  of  righteousness."  ' 

Here  again  we  must  admire  the  ingenuity  of  Mencius  ; 
but  it  amuses  us  more  than  it  satisfies.  It  was  very  well 
for  him  to  maintain  his  dignity  as  "  a  Teacher,'^  and  not 
go  to  the  princes  when  they  called  him,  hut  his  refusal  would 
have  had  more  weight,  if  he  had  kept  his  hands  clean  from 
all  their  offerings.  I  have  said,  above  that  if  less  awe-ful 
than  Confucius,  he  is  more  admirable.  Perhaps  it  would  be 
better  to  say  he  is  more  brilliant.  There  is  some  truth  in 
the  saying  of  the  scholar  Ch'ing,  that  the  one  is  the  glass 
that  glitters,  and  the  other  the  gem  that  is  truly  valuable. 

Without  dwelling  on  other  characteristics  of  Mencius,  or 
culling  from  him  other  striking  sayings, — of  which  there  are 
many, — I  proceed  to  exhibit  and  discuss  his  doctrine  of  the 
goodness  of  human  nature. 

6.  If  the  remarks  which  I  have  just  made  on  the  inter- 
course of  Mencius  with  the  pi-inces  of  his  day  have  lowered 
him  somewhat  in  the  estimation  of  my  readers,  Mencius"  view 
his  doctrine  of  humannature,  and  the  force  with  ofhtiman 
Avhich  he  advocates  it,  will  not  fail  to  produce  ti'ty  with  that  of 
a  high  appreciation  of  him  as  a  moralist  and  ^i^^^op  ^^^er. 
thinker.  In  concluding  my  exhibition  of  the  opinions  of 
Confucius  in  the  former  volume,  I  have  observed  that  "  he 
threw  no  light  on  any  of  the  questions  which  have  a  world- 
wide interest."  This  Mencius  did.  The  constitiition  of 
man's  nature,  and  how  far  it  supplies  to  him  a  rule  of  con- 

'  Bk  V.  Pt  II.  iv. 


56  MENCmS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

duct  and  a  law  of  duty,  are  inquiries  than  wliicli  tliere  can 
hardly  be  any  others  of  more  importance.  They  were  large- 
ly discussed  in  the  Schools  of  Greece.  A  hundred  vigorous 
and  acute  minds  of  modern  Europe  have  occupied  themselves 
with  them.  It  will  hardly  be  questioned  in  England  that 
the  palm  for  clear  and  just  thinking  on  the  subject  belongs 
to  Bishop  Butler,  but  it  will  presently  be  seen  that  his  views 
and  those  of  Mencius  ai'e,  as  nearly  as  possible,  identical. 
There  is  a  difference  of  nomenclature  and  a  combination  of 
parts,  in  which  the  advantage  is  with  the  Christian  prelate. 
Felicity  of  illustration  and  charm  of  style  belong  to  the  Chi- 
nese philosopher.     The  doctrine  in  both  is  the  same. 

The  utterances  of  Confucius  on  the  subject  of  our  nature 
were  few  and  brief.  The  most  remarkable  is  where  he  says  : 
View  of  Con-  — "  Man  is  born  for  uprightness.  If  a  man  be 
fucuis.  without  uprightness  and  yet  live,  his  escape 

[from  death]  is  the  effect  of  mere  good  fortune.^'  ^  This  is 
in  entire  accordance  with  Mencius^  view,  and  as  he  appeals 
to  the  sage  in  his  own  support,^  though  we  cannot  elsewhere 
find  the  words  which  he  quotes,  we  may  believe  that  Con- 
fucius would  have  approved  of  the  sentiments  of  his  follower, 
and  frowned  on  those  who  have  employed  some  of  his  say- 
ings in  confirmation  of  other  conclusions.^  I  am  satisfied 
in  my  own  mind  on  this  point.  His  repeated  enunciation 
of  "the  golden  rule,^*  though  only  in  a  negative  form,  is  suf- 
ficient evidence  of  it. 

The  opening  sentence  of  ''  The  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,'' — 
"What  Heaven  has  conferred  is  called  the  nature  ;  an  ac- 
viewofTsze-sze.  cordauco  witli  this  nature  is  called  the  path  ; 
the  regulation  of  the  path  is  called  instruction,"  finds  a 
much  better  illusti-ation  from  Mencius  than  from  Tsze-sze 
himself.  The  germ  of  his  doctrine  lies  in  it.  We  saw 
reason  to  discard  the  notion  that  he  was  a  pupil  of  Tsze-sze  ; 
but  he  was  acquainted  with  his  treatise  just  named,  and 
as  he  has  used  some  other  parts  of  it,  we  may  bo  surprised 
that  in  his  discussions  on  human  nature  he  has  made  no  re- 
ference to  the  above  passage. 

What  gave  occasion  to  his  dwelling  largely  on  the  theme 
was  the  prevalence  of  wild  and  injurious  speculations  about 

'  Ana.,  VI.  xvii.  "^  Bk  VI.  Pt  I.  vi.  8  ;  viii.  4. 

'  See  the  annotations  of  the  editor  of  Yang-tsze's  works  in  the  "  Complete 
"Works  of  the  Ten  Tszc" 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS. 


57 


it.     In  nothing   did   the  disorder  of  the  age       prevalent 
more  appear.     Kung-too,  one  of  his  disciples,    nature'' in 'jieu- 
once  went  to  him  and  said  : —  ""'*'  *™'^' 

"The  philosopher  Kaou  says: — 'Man's  nature  is  neither  good  nor  bad.' 
Some  say  : — 'Man's  nature  may  be  made  to  practise  good,  and  it  may  be 
made  to  practise  evil ;  and  accordtngly,  under  Wan  and  Woo,  the  people 
loved  what  was  good,  while,  under  Yew  and  Le,  they  loved  what  was  cruel.' 
Others  say  : — '  The  nature  of  some  is  good,  and  the  nature  of  others  is  bad. 
Hence  it  was  that  under  such  a  sovereign  as  Yaou  there  yet  appeared  Seang  ; 
that  with  such  a  fatlier  as  Koo-sow  there  yet  appeared  Shun  ;  and  that  with 
Chow  for  their  sovereign,  and  the  son  of  their  elder  brother  besides,  there 
■were  found  K'e,  the  viscount  of  Wei,  and  the  prince  Pe-kan.'  And  now  you 
eay  : — '  The  nature  is  good.'     Then  are  all  those  opinions  wrong  ?  "  ' 

"  The  nature  of  man  is  good : " — this  was  Mencius'  doctrine. 
By  many  writers  it  has  been  represented  as  entirely  antagon- 
istic to  "Christianity;  and,  as  thus  broadly  and  briefly  enun- 
ciated, it  sounds  startling  enough.  As  fully  explained  by 
himself,  however,  it  is  not  so  very  terrible.  Butler's  scheme 
has  been  designated  "the  system  of  Zeno  baptized  into 
Christ."^  That  of  Mencius,  identifying  closely  with  the 
master  of  the  Porch,  is  yet  more  susceptible  of  a  similar 
transformation. 

But  before  endeavouring  to  make  this  statement  good,  it 
will  be  well  to  make  some  observations  on  the  opinion  of  the 
philosopher  Kaou.  He  was  a  contemporary  of  yjew  of  the 
Mencius,  and  they  came  into  argumentative  col-  Kaou. 
lision.  One  does  not  see  immediately  the  difference  between 
his  opinion,  as  stated  by  Kung-too,  and  the  next.  Might 
not  man's  nature,  though  neither  good  nor  bad,  be  made  to 
practise  the  one  or  the  other?  Kaou's  view  went  to  deny 
q,ny  essential  distinction  between  good  and  evil, — virtue  and 
vice.  A  man  might  be  made  to  act  in  a  way  commonly  called 
virtue  and  in  a  way  commonly  called  evil,  but  in  the  one  ac- 
tion there  was  really  nothing  more  approvable  than  in  the 
other.  "Life,"  he  said,  "was  what  was  meant  by  nature."^ 
The  phenomena  of  benevolence  and  righteousness  were  akin 
to  those  of  walking  and  sleeping,  eating  and  seeing.  This 
extravagance  afforded  scope  for  Mencius'  favourite  mode  of 
argument,  the  redudio  ad  absurdam.  He  showed,  on  Kaou's 

'  Bk  VI.  Pt  I.  vi.  1—4. 
*  Wardlaw's  Christian  Ethics,  edition  of  1833,  p.  119. 
3  Bk  VI.  Pt  I.  iii. 


58  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

pi'inciples,  tLat  ^'tlie  nature  of  a  dog  was  like  the  nature  of 
an  ox,  and  tiie  nature  of  an  ox  like  the  nature  of  a  man." 

The  two  first  conversations^  between  them  are  more  par- 
ticularly worthy  of  attention,  because,  while  they  are  a  con- 
Mcncius'   ex-    futation  of  his  opponent,  they  indicate  clearly 
posureof  Kaous    our  philosoplicr's  owu  theorv.     Kaou  compared 

errors,  and  \  ^     '■       ^  .,,  ,     ■'  -,   ,  , 

statement  of  his  man  s  uaturc  to  a  Willow  tree,  and  benevolence 
own  doctrine.  ^^^  righteousncss  to  the  cups  and  bowls  that 
might  be  fashioned  from  its  wood.  Mencius  replied  that  it 
was  not  the  nature  of  the  willow  to  produce  cups  and  bowls ; 
they  might  be  made  from  it  indeed,  by  bending  and  cutting 
and  otherwise  injuring  it ;  but  must  humanity  be  done  such 
violence  to  in  order  to  fashion  the  virtues  from  it .?  Kaou 
again  compared  the  nature  to  water  whirling  round  in  a  cor- 
ner ; — open  a  passage  for  it  in  any  direction,  and  it  will  flow 
forth  accordingly.  ''Man^s  nature,"  said  he,  "is  indifferent 
to  good  and  evil,  just  as  the  water  is  indifferent  to  the  east 
and  west.'^  Mencius  answered  him  : — "  Water  indeed  will 
flow  indifferently  to  the  east  or  west,  but  will  it  flow  indiffer- 
ently up  or  down  ?  The  tendency  of  man's  nature  to  good 
is  like  the  tendency  of  water  to  flow  downwards.  There  are 
none  but  have  this  tendency  to  good,  just  as  all  water  flows 
downwards.  By  striking  water  and  causing  it  to  leap  up, 
you  may  make  it  go  over  your  forehead,  and,  by  damming 
and  leading  it,  you  may  force  it  up  a  hill ;  but  are  such  move- 
ments according  to  the  nature  of  water  ?  It  is  the  force  ap- 
plied which  causes  them.  When  men  are  made  to  do  what 
is  not  good,  their  nature  is  dealt  witli  in  this  way.^' 

Mencius  has  no  stronger  language  than  this,  as  indeed  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find  any  stronger,  to  declare  his  belief 
in  the  goodness  of  human  nature.  To  many  Cliristian  readers 
it  proves  a  stumbling-block  and  offence.  But  I  venture  to 
think  that  this  is  without  sufficient  reason.  He  is  speaking 
of  our  nature  in  its  ideal,  and  not  as  it  actually  is, — as  we  may 
ascertain  from  the  study  of  it  that  it  ought  to  be,  and  not  as 
it  is  made  to  become.  My  rendering  of  the  sentences  last 
quoted  may  be  objected  to,  becauseof  my  introduction  of  the 
terra  tendency  ;  but  I  have  Mencius' express  sanction  for  the 
representation  I  give  of  his  meaning.  Jieplying  to  Kung- 
too's  question,  whether  all  the  other  opinions  prevalent  about 
man's  nature  were  wrong,  and  his  own,  that  it  is  good,  cor- 

'  Bk  VI.  Pt  I.  i.  ii. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  59 

rect,  lie  said  : — "From  tlie  feelings  proper  to  it,  we  see  that 
it  is  constituted  for  tlie  practice  of  what  is  good.  This  is 
what  I  mean  in  saying  that  the  nature  is  good.  If  men  do 
what  is  not  good,  the  blame  cannot  be  imputed  to  their  na- 
tural powers.^' ^  Those  who  find  the  most  fault  with  him,, 
will  hardly  question  the  truth  of  this  last  declaration.  When 
a  man  does  wrong,  whose  is  the  blame, — the  sin  ?  He  might 
be  glad  to  roll  the  guilt  on  his  Maker,  or  upon  his  nature, — 
which  is  only  an  indirect  charging  of  his  Maker  with  it  ;— 
but  it  is  his  own  burden,  which  he  must  bear  himself. 

The  proof  by  which  Mencius  supports  his  view  of  human 
nature  as  formed  only  for  virtue  is  twofold.     First,  he  main- 
tains that  there  are  in  mail  a  natural  principle       Proofs  that 
of  benevolence,  a  natural  principle  of  righteous-    ^^ed  for  ""^^  ^^ 
ness,  a  natural   principle  of  propinety,  and   a    jirtue— First 

'  .        .     ,     ^  „         i       -  /.       ^  •'  '  ,         from  its  moral 

natural  principle  oi  apprehendmg  moral  truth,    coustitnents. 
"These,''  he  says,  "are  not  infused  into  us  from  without. 
We  are  certainly  possessed  of  them ;  and  a  different  view 
is  simply  from  want  of  reflection."^     In  further  illustration 
of  this  he  argued  thus  : — 

"All  men  have  a  mind  which  cannot  bear  to  see  the  sufferings  of  others. 
My  meaning  may  be  illustrated  thus  : — Even  now-a-days,"  i.  e.,  in  these 
degenerate  times,  *'  if  men  suddenly  see  a  child  about  to  fall  into  a  well,  they 
will,  without  exception  experience  a  feeling  of  alarm  and  distress.  They  will 
feel  so,  not  as  a  ground  on  which  they  ma)-  gain  the  favour  of  the  child's 
parents,  nor  as  a  ground  on  which  the}'  ma}'  seek  the  praise  of  their  neigh- 
bours and  friends,  nor  from  a  dislike  to  the  reputation  of  having  been  un- 
moved by  such  a  thing.  From  this  case  we  may  see  that  the  feeling  of 
commiseration  is  essential  to  man,  that  the  feeling  of  shame  and  dislike  is 
essential  to  man,  that  the  feeling  of  modesty  and  complaisance  is  essential  to 
man,  and  that  the  feeling  of  approval  and  disapproval  is  essential  to  man. 
These  feelings  are  the  principles  respectively  of  benevolence,  righteousness, 
propriety,  and  the  knowledge  [of  good  and  evil].  Men  have  these  four 
principles  just  as  they  have  their  four  limbs."  ■* 

Let  all  this  be  compared  with  the  language  of  Butler  in 
his  three  famous  8crmo7is  nj)on  Human  Nature.  He  shows 
in  the  first  of  these  : — "  First,  that  there  is  a  natural  princi- 
ple of  benevolence  in  man ;  secondly,  that  the  several  pas- 
sions and  affections,  which  are  distinct  both  from  benevolence 
and  self-love,  do  in  general  contribute  and  lead  us  to  public 
good  as  really  as  to  private;  and  thirdly,  that  there  is  a 

'  Bk  YI.  Pt  I.  vi.  5,  G.  '  Bk  VI.  Pt  I.  vi.  7 

••'  Bk  II.  Pt  r.  vi.  3,  4,  5,  6. 


60  MENCroS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

principle  of  reflection  in  men,  by  which,  they  distinguish 
between,  approve  and  disapprove,  their  own  actions/^  ^  Is 
there  anything  more  in  this  than  was  apprehended  and  ex- 
pressed by  Mencius  ?  Butler  says  in  the  conclusion  of  his 
first  discourse  that  "  men  follow  their  nature  to  a  certain 
degree  but  not  entirely ;  their  actions  do  not  come  up  to 
the  whole  of  what  their  nature  leads  them  to ;  and  they 
often  violate  their  nature/^  This  also  Mencius  declares  in 
his  own  forceful  manner  : — ''When  men  having  these  four 
principles,  yet  say  of  themselves  that  they  cannot  develope 
them,  they  play  the  thief  with  themselves,  and  he  who  says 
of  his  prince  that  he  cannot  develope  them,  plays  the  thief 
with  his  prince."  ^  "  Men  differ  from  one  another  in  regard  to 
the  principles  of  their  nature ; — some  as  much  again  as 
others,  some  five  times  as  much,  and  some  to  an  incalculable 
amount : — it  is  because  they  cannot  carry  out  fully  their 
natural  powers."^ 

So  much  for  the  first  or  preliminary  view  of  human 
nature  insisted  on  by  Mencius,  that  it  contains  principles 
which  are  disinterested  and  virtuous.  But  there  wants 
something   more    to    make  good   the  position  that  virtue 

'  I  am  indebted  to  Butler  for  fully  understanding  Mencius'  fourth  feeling, 
that  of  approving  and  disapproving,  which  he  calls  "  the  principle  of  know- 
ledge," or  wisdom.  In  the  notes  on  II.  I't  I.  vi.  5, 1  have  said  that  he  gives  to  this 
term  "  a  moral  sense."  It  is  the  same  with  Butler's  principle  of  reflection, 
by  which  men  distinguish  between,  and  approve  or  disapprove,  their  own 
actions. — I  have  heard  gentlemen  speak  contemptuously  of  Mencius'  case  in 
point,  to  prove  the  existence  of  a  feeling  of  benevolence  in  man.  "  This," 
they  have  said,  "  is  Mencius'  idea  of  virtue,  to  save  a  child  from  falling  into 
a  well.  A  mighty  display  of  virtue,  truly  !  "  Such  language  arises  from 
misconceiving  Mencius'  object  in  putting  the  case.  "  If  there  be,"  says  But- 
ler, "  any  affection  in  human  nature,  the  object  and  end  of  which  is  the  good 
of  another,  this  is  itself  benevolence.  Be  it  ever  so  short,  be  it  in  ever  so  low 
a  degree,  or  ever  so  unhappily  confined,  it  proves  the  assertion  and  points 
out  what  we  were  designed  for,  as  really  as  though  it  were  in  a  higher  degree 
and  more  extensive."  "  It  is  sufficient  tliat  the  seeds  of  it  be  implanted  in 
our  nature."  The  illustration  from  a  child  falling  into  a  well  must  be  pro- 
nounced a  happy  one.  How  much  lower  Mencius  could  go  may  be  seen  from 
his  conversation  with  king  Scuen,  Bk  I.  I't  I.  vii.,  wliom  he  leads  to  a 
con.^cio'usness  of  bis  commiserating  mind  from  the  fact  that  he  had  not  been 
able  to  bear  the  frightened  appearance  of  a  bull  which  was  being  led  by  to 
be  killed,  and  ordered  it  to  be  spared.  The  kindly  heart  that  was  moved  by 
the  suffering  of  an  animal  had  only  to  be  carried  out,  to  suffice  for  the  lovo 
and  protection  of  all  within  the  four  seas. 

»  Bk  II.  Pt  I.  vi.  6.  '  Bk  VI.  Ft  I.  vi.  7. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OriNIONS.  61 

ouglit  to  be  supreme,  and  that  it  is  for  it,  in       Second  proof 
opposition  to  vice,  that  our  nature  is  formed.    natureY^formed 
To  use  some  of  the '' hcentious   talk"  Avhich    for  virtue  :-that 

It  IS  a  constitu- 

Butler  puts  into  the  mouth  of  an  opponent : —  tion,  where  the 
' '  Virtue  and  religion  require  not  only  that  we  do  sht-uid  ruie"he°^ 
good  to  others,  when  we  are  led  this  way,  by  '"^'''"• 
benevolence  and  reflection  happening  to  be  stronger  than 
other,  principles,  passions,  or  appetites  ;  but  likewise  that 
the  lohole  character  be  formed  upon  thought  and  reflection; 
that  every  action  be  directed  by  some  determinate  rule,  some 
other  rule  than  the  strength  or  prevalence  of  any  principle 
or  passion.  What  sign  is  there  in  our  nature  (for  the  in- 
quiry is  only  about  what  is  to  be  collected  from  thence)  that 
this  was  intended  by  its  Author  ?  Or  how  does  so  various 
and  fickle  a  temper  as  that  of  man  appear  adapted  thereto  ? 
....  As  brutes  have  various  instincts,  by  which  they  are 
carried  on  to  the  end  the  Author  of  their  nature  intended 
them  for,  is  not  man  in  the  same  oondition,  with  this  dif- 
ference only,  that  to  his  instincts  (i.e.,  appetites  and  pas- 
sions) is  added  the  principle  of  reflection  or  conscience  ? 
And  as  brutes  act  agreeably  to  their  nature  in  following 
that  principle  or  particular  instinct  which  for  the  present  is 
strongest  in  them  ;  does  not  man  likewise  act  agreeably  to 
his.  nature,  or  obey  the  law  of  his  creation,  by  following 
that  principle,  be   it  passion  or  conscience,  which  for  the 

present  happens  to  be  strongest   in  him  ? Let   every 

one  then  quietly  follow  his  nature ;  as  passion,  reflection, 
appetite,  the  several  parts  of  it,  happen  to  be  the  strongest ; 
but  let  not  the  man  of  virtue  take  it  upon  him  to  blame  the 
ambitious,  the  covetous,  the  dissolute  ;  since  these,  equally 
Avith  him,  obey  and  follow  their  nature.^'  ^ 

To  all  this  Butler  replies  by  showing  that  the  principle  of 
reflection  or  conscience  is  "  not  to  be  considered  merely  as 
a  principle  in  the  heart,  which  is  to  have  some  influence  as 
well  as  others,  but  as  a  faculty,  in  kind  and  in  nature, 
supreme  over  all  others,  and  which  bears  its  own  authority 
of  being  so;"  that  the  difference  between  this  and  the 
other  constituents  of  human  nature  is  not  "  a  difierence  in 
strength  or  degree,"  but  "a,  difierence  in  nature  and  i)i 
land  ; "  that  "  it  was  placed  within  to  be  our  proper 
governor ;  to  direct  and  regulate  all  under  principles,  pas- 

'  See  Sennon  Second. 


62  MEXCIUS    AXD    HIS   OPINIOXS. 

sions  and  motives  of  action  : — this  is  its  right  and  office  ; 
thus  saci'cd  is  its  authority."  It  follows  from  the  view  of 
human  nature  thus  established^  that  "  the  inward  frame  of 
man  is  a  sijstem  or  constitution ;  whose  several  parts  are 
united,  not  by  a  physical  principle  of  individuation,  but  by 
the  respects  they  have  to  each  other,  the  chief  of  which  is 
the  subjection  which  the  appetites,  passions,  and  particular 
atfectious  have  to  the  one  supreme  principle  of  reflection  or 
conscience."  ^ 

Now,  the  substance  of  this  reasoning  is  to  be  found  in 
Mencius.  Human  nature — the  inward  frame  of  man — is 
with  him  a  system  or  constitution  as  much  as  with  Butler. 
He  says,  for  instance  : — 

*'  There  is  no  part  of  himself  which  a  man  does  not  love  ;  and  as  he  loves 
all,  so  he  should  nourish  all.  There  is  not  an  inch  of  skin  which  he  does 
not  love,  and  so  there  is  not  an  inch  of  skin  which  he  will  not  nourish. 
For  examining  whethlr  his  way  op  nourishing  be  good  or  not, 
what  other  rule  is  there  bit  this,  that  he  determine  by  reflect- 
ing on  himself  where  it  should  be  applied  ? 

"Some  parts  of  the  body  are  noble,  and  some  ignoble:  some  great  and 
some  small.  The  great  must  not  be  injured  for  the  small,  nor  the  noble  for 
the  ignoble.  He  who  nourishes  the  little  belonging  to  him  is  a  little  man, 
and  he  who  nourishes  the  great  is  a  great  man."  * 

Again : — 

"  Tliose  who  follow  that  part  of  themselves  which  is  great  are  great  men  ; 
those  who  follow  that  part  which  is  little  are  little  men."  ^ 

The  great  part  of  ourselves  is  the  moral  elements  of  our 
constitution  ;  the  lower  part  is  the  appetites  and  passions 
that  centre  in  self.     He  says  finely  : — 

"  There  is  a  nobilitj'  of  Heaven,  and  there  is  a  nobility  of  man.  Benevo- 
lence, righteousness,  self-oonsecratiou,  and  lidelity,  with  unwearied  joy  in  the 
goodness  [of  these  virtues]: — these  constitute  the  nobility  of  Heaven.  To 
be  a  duke,  a  minister,  or  a  great  officer  ; — this  constitutes  the  nobility  of 
man."  * 

There  is  one  passage  very  striking  : — 

"  For  the  mouth  to  desire  tastes,  the  eye  colours,  the  ear  sounds,  the  nose 
odours,  and  the  four  limbs  ease  and  rest : — these  things  are  natural.  But 
there  is  the  appointment  [of  Heaven]  in  connexion  with  them  ;  and  the 
superior  man  does  not  say  [in  his  pursuit  of  them],  '  It  is  my  nature.' 

•  See  note  to  Sermon  lliird.  *  Bk  VI.  Ft  I.  xiv, 

'•'  lb.,  cb.  XV.  *  lb.,  ch.  xvi. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  63 

[The  exercise  of]  love  between  father  and  son,  [the  observance  of]  right- 
eousness between  ruler  and  minister,  the  rules  of  ceremony  between  host  and 
guest,  the  [displaj'  of]  knowledge  in  [recognizing]  the  able  and  virtuous, 
and  [the  fullilling]  the  heavenly  course  by  the  sage  : — these  are  appointed 
[by  Heaven].  But  there  is  [an  adaptation  of  our]  nature  [for  them]  ;  and 
the  superior  man  does  not  say,  [in  reference  to  them,]  '  There  is  a  [limiting] 
appointment  [of  Heaven].'  "  ' 

From  these  paragraphs  it  is  quite  clear  that  what  Mencius 
considered  as  deserving  properly  to  be  called  the  nature  of 
man,  was  not  that  by  which  he  is  a  creature  of  appetites 
and  passions,  but  that  by  which  he  is  lifted  up  into  the 
higher  circle  of  intelligence  and  virtue.  By  the  phrase, 
"  the  appointment  of  Heaven,"  most  Chinese  scholars  under- 
stand the  will  of  Heaven,  limiting  in  the  first  case  the 
gratification  of  the  appetites,  and  in  the  second  the  exercise 
of  the  virtues.  To  such  limitation  Mencius  teaches  there 
ought  to  b?  a  cheerful  submission  so  far  as  the  appetites  are 
concerned,  but  where  the  virtues  are  in  question,  we  are  to 
be  striving  after  them  notwithstanding  adverse  and  op- 
posing circumstances.  They  are  our  nature,  what  we  were 
made  for,  what  we  have  to  do.  I  will  refer  but  to  one  other 
specimen  of  his  teaching  on  this  subject.  ''The  will,''  he 
said,  using  that  term  for  the  higher  moral  nature  in  activity, 
— "  the  will  is  the  leader  of  the  passion-nature.  The  pas- 
sion-nature pervades  and  animates  the  body.  The  will  is 
first  and  chief,  and  the  passion-natiare  is  subordinate  to  it.''  ^ 

My  readers  can  now  judge  for  themselves  whether  I  ex- 
aggerated at  all  in  saying  that  Mencius'  doctrine  of  human 
nature  was,  as  nearly  as  possible,  identical  with  that  of 
Bishop  Butler.  Sir  James  Mackintosh  has  said  of  the  ser- 
mons to  which  I  have  made  reference,  and  his  other  cognate 
discourses,  that  in  them  Butler  "  taught  truths  more  capa- 
ble of  being  exactly  distinguished  from  the  doctrines  of 
his  predecessors,  more  satisfactorily  established  by  him, 
more  comprehensively  applied  to  particulars,  more  rationally 
connected  with  each  other,  and  therefore  more  worthy  of 
the  name  of  discovery,  than  any  with  which  we  are  acquaint- 
ed; if  we  ought  not,  with  some  hesitation,  to  except  the 
first  steps  of  the  Grecian  philosophers  towards  a  Theory  of 
Morals."  ^     It  is  to   be  wished  that  the  attention  of  this 

'  Bk  VII.  Ft  II.  xxiv.  ^  Bk  II.  Ft  I.  ii.  9. 

'  Encyclopaedia  Britanuica,  Second  Frelimiuary  Dissertation  ;  on  Butler. 


64  MENCIUS.  AND   HIS    OPINIONS. 

great  scholar  had  been  called  to  the  writings  of  our  philo- 
sopher. Mencius  was  senior  to  Zeno,  though  a  portion  of 
their  lives  synchronized.  Butler  certainly  was  not  indebted 
to  him  for  the  views  Avhich  he  advocated ;  but  it  seems  to 
me  that  Mencius  had  left  him  nothing  to  discover. 

But  the  question  now  arises — "  Is  the  view  of  human  na- 
ture propounded  by  Mencius  correct  ?  "     So  far  as  yet  ap- 

The  proper  use  pcars,  I  SCO  not  how  the  qucstiou  can  be  an- 
^ews'thus  far  swcrcd  othcrwisc  than  in  the  affirmative.  Man 
considered.  -yyas  formcd  for  virtuc.     Be  it  that  his  conduct 

is  very  far  from  being  conformed  to  virtue,  that  simply  fast- 
ens on  him  the  shame  of  guilt.  Fallen  as  he  may  be, — 
fallen  as  I  believe  and  know  he  is, — his  nature  ^ill  bears  its 
testimony,  when  properly  interrogated,  against  all  unright- 
eousness. Man,  heathen  man,  a  Gentile  without  the  law,  is 
still  a  law  to  himself.  So  the  apostle  Paul  affirms  ;  and  to 
no  moral  teacher  of  Greece  or  Rome  can  we  appeal  for  so 
grand  an  illustration  of  the  averment  as  we  find  in  Mencius. 
I  would  ask  those  whom  his  sayings  offend,  whether  it  would 
have  been  better  for  his  countrymen  if  he  had  taught  a  con- 
trary doctrine,  and  told  them  that  man's  nature  is  bad,  and 
that  the  more  they  obeyed  all  its  lusts  and  passions,  the  more 
would  they  be  in  accordance  with  it,  and  the  more  pursuing 
the  right  path  ?  Such  a  question  does  not  need  a  reply. 
The  proper  use  of  Mencius'  principles  is  to  reprove  the  Chi- 
nese—  and  ourselves  as  well — of  the  thousand  acts  of  sin  of 
which  they  and  we  are  guilty,  that  come  within  their  sweep 
and  under  their  condemnation. 

From  the  ideal  of  man  to  his  actualism  there  is  a  vast  de- 
scent.    Between  what  he  ought  to  be  and  what  he  is,  the 

How  Mencius  coutrast  is  mclaucholy.  "Benevolence,"  said 
admitted  much  our  philosophcr,  ''  is  tlic  chai'actcristic  of 
how  he  account-  man."  ^  It  is  "  the  wido  house  in  which  the 
*"i  f"'-  it.  ^fj,,] J   siiould   dwell,"   while  j^t'oi^rietj/  is  "  the 

correct  position  in  which  the  world  should  ever  be  found," 
and  righteousness  is  "  the  great  path  which  men  should  ever 
be  pursuing."  ''^  In  opposition  to  this,  however,  hatred,  im- 
proprieties, unrighteousness,  are  constant  phenomena  of 
human  life.  We  find  men  hateful  and  hating  one  another, 
•quenching  the  light  that  is  in  them,  and  walking  in  darkness 
to  perform  all  deeds  of  shame.     '*  There  is  none  that  doeth 

'  Bk  VII.  Pt  II.  xvi.  '  Bk  III.  Tt  II.  ii.  3. 


HIS    mFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  65 

good ;  no,  not  one."  Mencius  would  have  denied  this  last 
sentence,  claiming  that  the  sages  should  be  excepted  from 
it;  but  he  is  ready  enough  to  admit  the  fact  that  men  in 
general  do  evil  and  violate  the  law  of  their  nature.  They 
sacrifice  the  noble  portion  of  themselves  for  the  gratification 
of  the  ignoble ;  they  follow  that  part  which  is  little,  and  not 
that  which  is  great.  He  can  say  nothing  further  in  explan- 
ation of  the  fact.  He  points  out  indeed  the  effect  of  injuri- 
ous circumstauces,  and  the  power  of  evil  example;  and  he 
has  said  several  things  on  these  subjects  worthy  of  notice  : — • 

"It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  king  is  not  wise  !  Suppose  the  case 
of  the  most  easily  gi-owing  thing  in  the  world  ; — if  you  let  it  have  one  day's 
genial  heat,  and  then  expose  it  for  ten  days  to  cold,  it  will  not  be  able  to  grow. 
It  is  but  seldom  that  I  have  an  audience  of  the  king,  and  when  I  retire,  there 
come  all  those  who  act  upon  him  like  the  cold.  Though  I  succeed  in  bringing 
out  some  buds  of  goodness,  of  what  avail  is  it  ?  "  '  "  In  good  years  the 
children  of  the  people  are  most  of  them  good,  while  in  bad  years  the  most  of 
them  abandon  themselves  to  evil.  It  is  not  owing  to  their  natural  powers 
conferred  on  them  by  Heaven  that  they  are  thus  difterent : — the  abandonment 
is  owing  to  the  circumstances  through  which  they  allow  their  minds  to  be 
ensnared  and  drowned  in  evil.  There  now  is  barley: — let  it  be  sown  and 
covered  up  ;  the  ground  being  the  same,  and  the  time  of  sowing  likewise  the 
same,  it  grows  rapidly  up,  and  when  the  full  time  is  come,  it  is  all  found 
to  be  ripe.  Although  there  may  be  inequalities  [of  produce],  that  is  owing 
to  [the  difference  of]  the  soil  as  rich  or  poor,  the  unequal  nourishment  afford- 
ed by  the  rains  and  dews,  and  to  the  different  ways  in  which  man  has  per- 
formed his  business."  ^ 

The  inconsistencies  in  human  conduct  did  not  escape  his 
observation.  After  showing  that  there  is  that  in  human  na- 
ture which  will  sometimes  make  men  part  with  life  sooner 
than  with  righteousness,  he  goes  on  : — "  And  yet  a  man  will 
accept  of  ten  thousand  chung  without  any  consideration  of 
propriety  and  righteousness.  What  can  they  add  to  him  ? 
When  he  takes  them,  is.it  not  that  he  may  obtain  beautiful 
mansions,  that  he  may  secure  the  services  of  wives  and  con- 
cubines, or  that  the  poor  and  needy  may  be  helped  by  him  ?  " 
The  scalpel  is  used  here  with  a  bold  and  skilful  hand.  The 
lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of 
life  are  laid  bare,  nor  does  he  stop  till  he  has  exposed  the 
subtle  workings  of  the  delusion  that  the  end  may  sanctify 
the  means,  that  evil  may  be  wrought  that  good  may  come. 
He  pursues  : — "  In  the  foi-nier  case  the  offered  bounty  was 

'  Bk  VI.  rt  I.  ix.  '  lb.  ch.  vii. 

VOL.   II.  5 


66  MENCIUS   AND    HIS    OPmiONS. 

not  received  though  it  would  liave  saved  from  death,  and 
now  the  emolument  is  taken  for  the  sake  of  beautiful 
mansions  The  bounty  that  would  have  preserved  from 
death  was  not  received^  and  the  emolument  is  taken  to  get 
the  services  •  of  wives  and  concubines.  The  bounty  that 
Avould  have  saved  from  death  was  not  received,  and  the 
emolument  is  taken  that  one's  poor  and  needy  acquaintance 
may  be  helped.  Was  it  then  not  possible  likewise  to  decline 
this  ?  This  is  a  case  of  what  is  called — '  Losing  the  proper 
nature  of  one's  mind.'  "  * 

To  the  principle  implied  in  the  concluding  sentences  of 

this    quotation   Mencius  most   pertinaciously  adheres.     He 

Original  bad-      will  not  allow  that  oi'iginal  badness  can  be  pre- 

predicated*from    dicatcd  of  humau  nature   from  any  amount  of 

actual  evil.  actual  wickedncss. 

"  The  trees."  said  he,  "  of  the  New  mountain  were  once  beautiful. 
Being  situated,  liowever,  in  the  suburbs  of  [the  capital  of]  a  large  btate, 
they  were  hewn  down  with  axes  and  bills : — and  could  they  retain  their 
beauty?  Still,  through  the  growth  from  the  vegetative  life  day  and  night, 
and  the  nourishing  influence  of  the  rain  and  dew,  they  were  not  without 
buds  and  sprouts  springing  forth ; — but  then  came  the  cattle  and  goats, 
and  browsed  ujoon  them.  To  these  things  is  owing  the  bare  and  striiit 
appearance  [of  the  mountain],  and  when  people  see  this  they  think  it  was 
never  finely  wooded.  But  is  this  the  proper  nature  of  the  mountain  ?  And 
.so  even  of  what  properly  belongs  to  man: — shall  it  be  said  that  the  miud 
[of  any  man]  was  without  benevolence  and  righteousness?  The  way  iu 
which  a  man  loses  his  proper  goodness  of  mind  is  like  the  way  in  which 
those  trees  were  denuded  by  axes  and  bills.  Hewn  down  day  after  day,  can 
the  mind  retain  its  excellence .'  I'ut  there  is  some  growth  of  its  life  day 
and  night,  and  in  the  [calm]  air  of  the  morning,  just  between  night  and  day, 
the  mind  feels  in  a  degree  the  desires  and  aversions  wl)ich  are  proper  to 
humanity  ;  but  the  feeling  is  not  strong,  and  then  it  is  fettered  and  destroyed 
by  what  the  man  does  during  the  day.  This  fettering  tak(!s  place  again 
and  again  ;  the  restorative  influence  of  the  night  is  not  sutticient  to  preserve 
[the  proper  goodness  of  the  mind]  ;  and  when  this  proves  insufficient  for 
that  purpose,  the  nature  becomes  not  much  different  from  that  of  the  irra- 
tional animals,  and  when  people  see  this,  they  think  that  it  never  had  those 
powers  [which  I  assert].  But  does  this  condition  represent  the  feelings 
proper  to  humanity  ?  "  ^ 

Up  to  this  point  I  fail  to  perceive  anything  in  Mencius' 
view  of  human  nature  that  is  contrary  to  the  teachings  of 
our  Christian  Scriptures,  and  that  may  not  be  employed  with 
advantage  by  the  missionary  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the 

'  Bk  VI.  Pt  I.  xii.  7,  8.  '  Bk  VI.  Pt  I.  ch.  viii.  1,  2. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    Ax\D    OPINIONS.  07 

Chinese.  It  is  far  from  covering  what  we  know  to  be  tlie 
whole  duty  of  man,  yet  it  is  defective  rather  than  erroneous. 
Deferring  any  consideration  of  this  for  a  brief  space,  I  now 
inquire  whether  Mencius,  having  an  ideal  of  the  goodness 
of  human  nature,  held  also  that  it  had  been  and  could  be 
realized  ?     The    answer    is  that  he  did.     The       ™      .    , 

T  ■  1        n  1     •  -I  ^  actual 

actual  realization  he  found  m  the  sages,   and    perfection  of 
he  contended  that  it  was  within  the  reach  of    poLlbfe  p^^ec- 
every  individual.  ,  t^"'^'^^^"- 

"  All  things  which  are  the  same  in  kind,"  he  says,  "  are  like  one  another  ; 
— why  should  we  doubt  in  regard  to  man,  as  if  he  were  a  solitary  exceptioa 
to  this  ?  The  sage  and  we  are  the  same  in  kind.  The  feet,  the  mouths, 
the  eyes  of  the  sages  were  not  different  from  those  of  other  people,  neither 
were  their  minds."'  "  Is  it  so,"  he  was  once  asked,  "that  all  men  may  be 
Yaous  and  Shuns  ? "  and  he  answered,  "  It  is,"  adding  by  way  of  explana- 
tion : — "  To  walk  slowly,  keeping  behind  his  elders,  is  to  perform  the  part 
of  a  younger  brother,  and  to  walk  quickly  and  i^recede  his  elders  is  to  violate 
that  duty.  Now,  is  it  what  a  man  cannot  do, — to  walk  slowly  ?  It  is 
WHAT  HE  DOES  NOT  DO.  The  course  of  Yaou  and  Shun  was  simply  that  of 
filial  piety  and  fraternal  duty.  Do  j'ou  wear  the  clothes  of  Yaou,  repeat  the 
words  of  Yaou,  and  do  the  actions  of  Yaou  ; — and  you  will  just  be  a  Yaou."  * 

Among  the  sages,  however,  Mencius  made  a  distinction. 
Yaou  and  Shun  exceeded  all  the  rest,  unless  it  might  be 
Confucius.  Those  three  never  came  short  of,  never  went  be- 
yond, the  law  of  their  nature.  The  ideal  and  the  actual 
were  in  them  always  one  and  the  same.  The  others  had 
only  attained  to  perfection  by  vigorous  effort  and  culture. 
Twice  at  least  he  has  told  us  this.  "  Yaou  and  Shun  were 
what  they  were  by  nature;  T'^ang  and  Woo  were  so  by  re- 
turning [to  natural  virtue] ."  ^  The  actual  result,  however, 
was  the  same,  and  therefore  he  could  hold  them  all  up  as 
models  to  his.  countrymen  of  the  style  of  man  that  they 
ought  to  be  and  might  be.  AVhat  the  compass  and  square 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  workman,  enabling  him  to  form 
perfect  circles  and  squares,  that  the  sages,  "  perfectly  ex- 
hibiting the  human  relations,"  might  be  to  every  earnest 
individual,  enabling  him  to  perfect  himself  as  they  were 
perfect.  * 

Here  we  feel  that  the  doctrine  of  Mencius  wants  an  ele- 
ment which  Revelation  supplies.     He  knows  nothing  of  the 

'  Bk  YI.  Pt  I.  ch.  vii.  .3.  *  I,b.  Vt  II.  ii.  1,  4,  5. 

'  Bk  VII.  Pt  I.  XXX.  1  ;  Pt  II.  xxxiii.  1.  "  Bk  IV.  Pt  I.  ii.  1. 


68  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

Mencius'  doc-  fact  that    "  by  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 

no^cknowiedg-  worlcl,  and  death  by  sin  ;  and  so  death  passed  " 

ment  of  the  imi-  (passodon,   extended,    bniXd^v)   "to   all    men, 

to  evil.   His  because  all    smned.        We  have  our   ideal    as 

ideal  has  been  11  i  ^      j.    i}       j.i        ^•     •  ^•±  c    •, 

realized  by  Well  as  lie  ;   Dut  lor  the  living  reality  ol  it  we 

b?reiii^1iby^  must  go  back  to  Adam,  as  he  was  made  by 
^-  God  in  His  own  image,  after  His  likeness.     In 

him  the  model  is  soon  shattered,  and  we  do  not  discover  it 
again,  till  God's  own  Son  appears  in  the  world,  made  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  yet  without  sin.  While  He  died  for 
our  transgressions,  He  left  us  also  an  example,  that  we 
should  walk  in  His  steps  ;  and  as  we  do  so,  we  are  carried 
on  to  glory  and  virtue.  At  the  same  time  we  find  a  law  in 
our  members  warring  against  the  law  in  our  minds,  and 
bringing  us  into  captivity  to  sin.  However  we  may  strive 
after  our  ideal,  we  do  not  succeed  in  reaching  it.  The  more 
we  grow  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  see  in  Him  the 
glory  of  humanity  in  its  true  estate,  the  greater  do  we  feel 
our  own  distance  to  be  from  it,  and  that  of  ourselves  Ave 
cannot  attain  to  it.  There  is  something  wrong  about  us  ;  we 
need  help  from  without  in  order  to  become  even  what  our 
nature,  apart  from  Revelation,  tells  us  we  ought  to  be. 

When  Mencius  therefore  points  us  to  Yaou,  Shun,  and 
Confucius,  and  says  that  they  were  perfect,  we  cannot 
accept  his  statement.  Understanding  that  he  is  speaking 
of  them  only  in  the  sphere  of  human  relations,  we  must  yet 
believe  that  in  many  things  they  came  short.  One  of  them, 
the  greatest  of  the  three  in  Mencius'  estimation,  Confucius, 
again  and  again  confesses  so  of  himself.  He  was  seventy 
years  old,  he  says,  before  he  could  follow  what  his  heart 
desired  without  transgressing  what  was  right.^  It  might 
have  been  possible  to  convince  the  snge  that  he  was  under 
a  delusion  in  this  important  matter  even  at  that  advanced 
age ;  but  what  his  language  allows  is  sufficient  to  upset 
Mencius'  appeal  to  him.  The  image  of  sagely  perfection  is 
broken  by  it.  ^  It  proves  to  be  but  a  brilliant  and  unsub- 
stantial phanta.sm  of  our  philosopher's  own  imagining. 

When  he  insists  again,  that  every  individual  may  become 
what  he  fancies  that  the  sages  were, — i.e.,  perfect,  living  in 
love,  walking  in  righteousness,  observant  of  propriety, 
approving  whatsoever  is  good,  and  disapproving  whatever  is 

'  Cou.  Ana.,  II.  iv.  G. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  69 

evil, — he  ispusLing  liis  doctrine  beyond  its  proper  Timits ;  lie 
is  making  a  use  of  it  of  which  it  is  not  capable.  It  supplies 
a  law  of  conduct,  and  I  have  set  it  forth  as  entitled  to  our 
highest  admiration  for  the  manner  in  which  it  does  so ;  but 
law  only  gives  the  knowledge  of  what  we  are  required  to  do: — 
it  does  not  give  the  power  to  do  it.  We  have  seen  how  when 
it  was  necessary  to  explain  accurately  his  statement  that  the 
nature  of  man  is  good,  Mencius  defined  it  as  meaning  that 
"  it  is  constituted  for  the  practice  of  that  which  is  good.'' 
Because  it  is  so  constituted,  it  follows  that  every  man  ought 
to  practise  what  is  good.  But  some  disorganization  may  have 
happened  to  the  nature ;  some  sad  change  may  have  come 
over  it.  The  very  fact  that  man  has,  in  Mencius'  own 
words,  to  recover  his  "  lost  mind,"  ^  shows  that  the  object 
of  the  constitution  of  the  nature  has  not  been  realized. 
Whether  he  can  recover  it  or  not,  therefore,  is  a  question 
altogether  different  from  that  of  its  proper  design. 

In  one  place,  indeed,  Mencius  has  said  that  "  the  great 
man  is  he  who  does  not  lose  his  child' fe-heart."  ^  I  can  only 
suppose  that,  by  that  expression — "  the  child' s-heart,"  he 
intends  the  ideal  goodness  which  he  affirms  of  our  nature. 
But  to  attribute  that  to  the  child  as  actually  existing  in  it 
is  absurd.  It  has  neither  done  good  nor  evil.  It  possesses 
the  capacity  for  either.  It  will  by  and  by  awake  to  the 
consciousness  that  it  ought  to  follow  after  the  one,  and 
eschew  the  other ;  but  when  it  does  so, — I  should  rather  say 
when  he  does  so,  for  the  child  has  now  emerged  from  a  mere 
creature  existence,  and  assumed  the  functions  of  a  moral 
being,  he  will  find  that  he  has  already  given  himself  to 
inordinate  affection  for  the  objects  of  sense ;  and  in  the 
23ursuit  of  gratification  he  is  reckless  of  what  must  be 
acknowledged  to  be  the  better  and  nobler  part,  reckless  also 
of  the  interest  and  claims  of  others,  and  w^henever  thwarted 
glows  into  passion  and  fury.  The  youth  is  more  pliant  than 
the  man  in  whom  the  dominion  of  self-seeking  has  become 
ingrained  as  a  habit ;  but  no  sooner  does  he  become  a  sub- 
ject of  law,  than  he  is  aware  of  the  fact,  that  when  he  would 
do  good,  evil  is  present  with  him.  The  boy  has  to  go  in 
search  of  his  "  lost  heart,"  as  truly  as  the  man  of  fourscore. 
Eveu  in  him  there  is  an  "  old  man,  corrupt  according  to  the 
deceitful  lusts,"  which  he  has  to  put  off. 

'  Ek  VI.  Pt  I.  xi.  i.  *  Bk  IV.  Pt  II.  xii. 


70  MENCIUS   AND  HIS    OPINIONS.  > 

Butler  had  an  immense  advantage  over  Mencius,  arising 
from  his  knowledge  of  tlie  truths  of  Revelation.  Many,  ad- 
Butier's  ad-  miring  his  sermons,  have  yet  expressed  a  mea- 
Mencius,  and  suro  of  dissatisfjictionj  because  he  does  not  in 
maki\\e°Mme°*  them  make  explicit  reference  to  the  condition 
application  of        of  man  as  fallen  and  depraved.     That  he  fully 

tlicir  common  n-ni/-  i  tt  it 

principles.  admitted  the  tact  we  know.    He  says  elsewhere  : 

— "Mankind  are  represented  in  Scripture  to  be  in  a  state  of 
ruin ;  ^'  "  If  mankind  are  corrupted  and  depraved  in  their 
moral  character,  and  so  are  unfit  for  that  state  which  Christ* 
is  gone  to  prepare  for  his  disciples  ;  and  if  the  assistance  of 
God's  Spirit  be  necessary  to  renew  their  nature,  in  the  de- 
gree requisite  to  their  being  qualified  for  that  state  ;  all 
which  is  implied  in  the  express,  though  figurative  declara- 
tion, Ejxept  a  7nan  he  horn  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  see  the 
Jcuigdom  of  God."  .  .  .  }  How  is  it,  then,  that  there  is  no 
mention  of  this  in  the  sermons  ?  Dissatisfaction,  I  have 
said,  has  been  expressed  on  account  of  this  silence,  and  it 
would  have  taken  the  form  of  more  pointed  utterance,  and 
more  decided  condemnation,  but  for  the  awe  of  his  great 
name, -and  the  general  appreciation  of  the  service  he  ren- 
dered to  Christianity  in  his  work  on  The  'Anahigi/  of  Jieh'(jiun 
to  the  Course  of  Nature.  But,  in  truth,  dissatisfaction  at  all  is 
out  of  place. .  Butler  wrote  his  sermons  as  he  wrote  his 
Analogy,  in  consequence  of  the  peculiar  necessity  of  his 
times.  More  particularly  against  Hobbes,  denying  all  moral 
sentiments  and  social  aflfections,  and  making  a  regard  to  per- 
sonal advantage  the  only  motive  of  human  action,  it  was  his 
business  to  prove  that  man's  nature  is  of  a  very  different 
constitution,  comprehending  disinterested  affections,  and 
above  all  the  supreme  element  of  conscience,  which,  ''had  it 
strength  as  it  has  right,  would  govern  the  world:"  He  proves 
this,  and  so  accomplishes  his  work.  He  had  merely  to  do 
with  the  ideal  of  humanity.  It  did  not  belong  to  him  to 
dwell  on  the  actual  feebleness  of  man  to  perform  what  is  good. 
He  might  have  added  a  few  paragraphs  to  this  effect;  but 
it  was  not  the  character  of  his  miud  to  go  beyond  the  task 
which  he  had  set  himself.  What  is  of  importance  to  be  ob- 
served here  is,  that  he  does  not  make  the  application  of  their 
common  principles  which  Mencius  does.  He  knows  of  no 
perfect  men  ;  he  does  not  tell  his  readers  that  they  have 
'  The  Analogy  of  Religion  ;  Part  II.  chap.  I. 


HIS    INFLUENCE    AND    OPINIONS.  71 

merely  to  set  about  following  their  nature,and,  witkoutany  aid 
from  witliout,  tlioy  will  surely  and  easily  go  on  to  perfection. 
Mencius  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  his  ignorance  of  what  is 
to  us  the  Doctrine  of  the  Fall.  He  had  no  means  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  it.  We  have  to  regret,  however,  that  his 
study  of  human  nature  produced  in  him  no  deep  Mencius*  lack- 
feelinq   on   account   of  men's  proneness  to  go    ing  in  humUity 

■  TT  ij.  •  p     ^"fl  sympathy 

astray.  He  never  betrays  any  consciousness  or  -with  human 
his  own  weakness.  In  this  respect  he  is  again  "'^"'"' 
inferior  to  Confucius,  and  far  from  being,  as  I  have  said  of 
him  in  another  aspect  of  his  character,  "^more  admirable" 
than  he.  In  the  ibrmer  volume  I  have  shown  that  we  may 
sometimes  recognize  in  what  the  sage  says  of  himself  the  ex- 
pressions of  a  genuine  humility.  He  acknowledges  that  he 
comes  short  of  what  he  knows  he  ought  to  be.  We  do  not 
meet  with  this  in  Mencius.  His  merit  is  that  of  the  specu- 
lative thinker.  His  glance  is  searching  and  his  penetration 
deep ;  but  there  is  wanting  that  moral  sensibility  which  would 
draw  us  to  him,  in  our  best  moments,  as  a  man  of  like  passions 
with  ourselves.  The  absence  of  humility  is  naturally  accom- 
panied with  a  lack  of  si/mpathy.  There  is  a  hardness  about 
his  teachings.  •  He  is  the  professor,  performing  an  operation 
in  the  class-room,  amid  a  throng  of  pupils  who  are  admiring 
his  science  and  dexterity,  and  who  forgets  in  the  triumph  of 
his  skill  the  suffering  of  the  patient.  The  transgressors  of 
their  nature  are  to  Mencius  the  "tyrants  of  themselves,"  or 
"  the  self-abandoned.''  The  utmost  stretbh  of  his  commi- 
seration is  a  contemptuous  "Alas  for  them  !"^  The  radical 
defect  of  the  orthodox  moral  school  of  China,  that  there  only 
needs  a  knowledge  of  duty  to  insure  its  performance,  is  in 
him  exceedingly  apparent.  Confucius,  Tsze-sze,  and  Mencius 
most  strangely  never  thought  of  calling  this  principle  in  ques- 
tion. It  is  always  as  in  the  formula  of  Tsze-sze: — "Given 
the  sincerity,  and  there  shall  be  the  intelligence;  given  the 
intelligence,  and  there  shall  be  the  sincerity." 

I  said  above  that  Mencius'  doctrine  of  human  nature  was 
defective,  inasmuch  as  even  his  ideal  does  not  cover  the 
whole  field  of  duty.  He  says  very  little  of  what  we  owe 
to  God.  There  is  no  glow  of  natural  piety  in  Mencius'  ideal 
his  pages.  Instead  of  the  name  God,  contain-  doesn'otembrace 
ing  in  itself  a  recognition  of  the  divine  person-  ^^^^  ^  ^°^ 
'  Bk  IV.  Pt  I.  X. 


rl  MEXCmS    AND    HIS    OPINIONS. 

ality  and  supremacy,  we  hear  from  liim  more  commonly,  as 
from  Confucius,  of  Heaven.  Butler  lias  said  : — "  By  the 
love  of  God,  I  would  understand  all  those  regards,  all  those 
affections  of  mind,  which  are  due  immediately  to  Him  from 
such  a  creature  as  man,  and  which  rest  in  Him  as  their 
end."  ^  Of  such  affections  Mencius  knows  nothing.  In 
one  place  he  speaks  of  "  delighting  in  Heaven,"  ^  but  he  is 
speaking,  when  he  does  so,  of  the  sovereign  who  with  a 
great  State  serves  a  small  one,  and  the  delight  is  seen  in 
certain  condescensions  to  the  weak  and  unworthy.  Never 
once,  where  he  is  treating  of  the  nature  of  man,  does  he 
make  mention  of  any  exercise  of  the  mind  as  due  directly 
to  God.  The  services  of  religion  come  in  China  under  the 
principle  of  propriety,  and  are  only  a  cold  foi'malism ;  but, 
even  here,  other  things  come  with  Mencius  before  them. 
We  are  told  : — "  The  richest  fruit  of  love  is  this,  —  the 
service  of  one's  parents ;  the  richest  fruit  of  righteousness 
is  this, — the  obeying  one's  elder  brothers  ;  the  richest  fruit 
of  wisdom  is  this, — the  knowing  those  two  things,  and  not 
departing  from  them  ;  the  richest  fruit  of  propriety  is  this, 
— the  ordering  and  adorning  those  two  things.'^  ^  Hoav  dif- 
ferent is  this  from  the  reiterated  declaration  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, that  "the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom!" 
The  first  and  great  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord,  thy  God,  with  aiy  thy  heart  and  soul  and  mind  and 
strength,"  was  never  thought  of,  much  less  delivered,  by 
any  Chinese  philosopher  or  sage.  Had  Mencius  aj^pi-e- 
hended  this,  and  seen  how  all  our  duties  to  our  fellow-men 
are  to  be  performed  as  to  God,  he  could  not  have  thought 
so  highly  as  he  did  of  man^s  powers;  a  suspicion  might 
have  grown  up  that  there  is  a  shadow  on  the  light  which  he 
has  in  himself. 

This  absence  of  the  recognition  of  man's  highest  obliga- 
tions from  Mencius'  ideal  of  our  nature  is  itself  a  striking 

'  First  Sermon  Upon  the  Love  of  God. 

"  Bk  I.  Ft  II.  ii.  a. 

^  Bk  IV.  Pt  1.  xxvii.  My  friend,  the  Rev.  Mr  Moule,  of  Ningpo,  has 
Bupplied  me  with  the  following  interesting  coincidence  with  the  sentiments 
of  Mencius  in  this  passage,  from  one  of  the  letters  of  Charles  Lamb  to 
Coleridge,  dated  Nov.  14t,li,  179G  : — "Oh,  my  friend,  cultivate  the  filial  feel- 
ings ;  and  let  no  one  think  himself  relieved  from  the  kind  charities  of  rela- 
tionship ;  these  shall  give  him  peace  at  the  last ;  these  are  the  best  founda- 
tion for  evenj  S2>ccies  of  benevolence." 


HIS    INFLUENCE   AND    OriNIONS.  73 

illustration  of  man's  estrangement  from  God.     His  talking 
of  Heaven  has  combined  with  the   similar  practice  of   his 
master  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  grosser  conceptions  of  the 
modern  literati,  who  would  often  seem  to  deny  the  divine 
personality  altogether,  and    substitute    for   both  God   and 
Heaven  a  mere  principle  of  order  or  fitness  of  things.     It 
has  done  more  :  it  has  left  the  people  in  the  mass  to  become 
an  easy  prey  to  the  idolatrous  fooleries  of  Buddhism.     Yea, 
the  unreligiousness  of  the  teachers  has  helped  to  deprave 
still  more  the  religion  of  the  nation,   such    as    it  is,  and 
makes  its  services  a  miserable  pageant  of  irreverent  forms. 
It  is   time   to  have  done  with  this  portion  of  my  theme. 
It  may  be  thought  that  I  have   done   Mencius  more  than 
justice  in  the  first  part  of  my  remarks,  and  less  than  justice 
at  the  last ;  but  I  hope  it  is  not  so.     A  very  important  use 
is  to  be  made  both  of  what  he  succeeds  in,  and  where  he 
fails,  in  his  discoursing  upon  human  nature.     His  principles 
may  be,  and,  I  conceive,  ought  to  be,  turned  against  him- 
self.    They  should  be  pressed  to  produce  the  con\dction  of 
sin.     There  is  enough  in  them,  if  the  conscience  be  but 
quickened  by  the   Spirit  of  God,  to  make  the  haughtiest 
scholar  cry  out,  "  0  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall 
deliver  me  from  this  body  of   death  ? "     Then  may  it  be 
said  to  him  with   effect,  "  Behold  the   Lamb  of  God,  who 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  !  "    Then  may  Christ,  as  a 
new  and  true  exemplar  of  all  that  man  should  be,  be  dis- 
played, "  altogether  lovely,"  to  the  trembling  mind  !     Then 
may  a  new  heart  be  received  from  Him,  that  shall  thrill  in 
the  acknowledgment  of  the  claims  both  of  men  and  God, 
and   girding  up    the  loins  of  the  mind,   address  itself   to 
walk  in  all  His  commandments  and  ordinances  blameless  ! 
One  thing  should  be  plain.     In  Mencius'  lessons  on  human 
duty  there  is  no  hope  for  his  countrymen.     If  they  serve  as 
a  schoolmaster  to  bring  them  to  Christ,  they  will  have  done 
their  part ;  but  it  is  from  Christ  alone  that  the  help  of  the 
Chinese  caa  come. 

7.  Besides  giving  more  explicit  expression  to  the  doctrine 
o^  the  goodness  of  man's  nature  than  had  been  done  before 
hill,  Men<}ius  has  the  ci'cdit  also  of  calling  attention  to  tJte 
nourUhmetd  of  the  i-)as^iion-naf}irc.  It  may  be  questioned 
whether  I  translate  his  language  exactly  by  this  phrase. 
What  I  render  the  jpcusion-naiure,  Julien  renders  by  "  vital  is 


7-t  MENCIUS    AND    HIS    OriXIONS. 

sjjiritns."  The  philosopher  says  himself  that  it  is  difficult 
to  describe  what  he  intends.  Attempting  such  a  descrip- 
tion, he  says  : — "  This  is  it  : — It  is  exceedingly  great  and 
exceedingly  strong.  Being  nourished  by  rectitude,  and 
sustaining  no  injury,  it  fills  up  all  between  heaven  and 
earth.  This  is  it : — It  is  the  mate  and  assistant  of  righte- 
ousness and  reason.  Without  it  man  is  in  a  state  of  starva- 
tion. It  is  produced  by  the  accumulation  of  righteous 
deeds  ;  it  is  not  to  be  taken,  as  by  surprise,  by  incidental 
acts  of  righteousness.  If  the  mind  does  not  feel  com- 
placency in  the  conduct,  tJiis  is  starved."  ^  From  such  pre- 
dicates we  may  be  sure  that  it  is  not  anything  merely  or 
entii-ely  physical  of  which  he  is  speaking.  "  The  righteous,^^ 
said  Solomon,  "  are  bold  as  a  lion."  The  Hebrew  saying  is 
very  much  in  Mencius^  style.  That  boldness  is  the  result 
of  the  nourishment  for  which  he  thought  he  had  a  peculiar 
aptitude.  Strong  in  it  and  in  a  knowledge  of  words,  a 
faculty  of  discovering  the  moral  aberrations  of  others  from 
their  forms  of  speech,  he  was  able  to  boast  of  possessing 
"  an  unperturbed  mind ;  "  he  could  "  sit  in  the  centre  "  of 
his  being,  "  and  enjoy  bright  day,"  whatever  clouds  and 
storms  gathered  around  him. 

The  nourishment,  therefore,  of  "  the  passion-nature," 
"  the  vital  spirit,"  or  whatever  name  we  choose  to  give  to 
the  subject,  is  only  an  efiect  of  general  good- doing.  This 
is  the  practical  lesson  from  all  Mencius'  high-sounding 
words.     He  has  illustrated  it  amusingly  : — 

"  There  was  a  man  of  Rung,  who  was  grieved  that  his  growing  corn  was 
not  longer,  and  pulled  it  up.  Having  done  this,  he  returned  home,  looking 
very  Avearied,  and  .said  to  his  people,  '  I  am  tired  to-day.  I  have  been  help- 
ing the  corn  to  grow  long.'  His  son  ran  to  look  at  it,  and  found  the  corn 
all  withered.  There  are  few  in  the  world,  who  do  not  assist  the  corn  [of 
their  i>assion-nature]  to  grow  long.  Some  consider  it  of  no  benefit  to  them, 
and  let  it  alone  : — they  do  not  weed  their  corn.  Those  who  assist  it  to  grow 
long,  pull  out  their  corn.  What  they  do  is  not  only  of  no  benefit  to  the 
nature,  but  it  also  iojures  it."  ^ 

This  portion  of  IMencius'  teaching  need  not  detain  us. 
He  has  put  a  simple  truth  in  a  striking  way.  That  is  his 
merit.  It  hardly  seems  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify 
the  use  which  has  been  made  of  it  in  vindicating  a  place  for 
him  among  the  sages  of  his  country'. 

'  Bk  II.  Pt  I.  ii.  13—15.  2  j3k  II.  Pt  I.  ii.  16. 


HIS    IXFLITEXCE    AXD    OPIXIONS.  7o 

8.  I  said  I  should  end  the  discussion  of  Mencius^  opin- 
ions by  pointing  out  what  I  conceive  to  be  his  chief  defects 
as  a  moral  and  political  teacher.  His  defects,  however,  in 
the  former  respect  have  been  already  not  lightly  touched 
on.  So  far  as  they  were  the  consequence  of  his  ig-norance, 
without  the  light  which  Revelation  sheds  on  the  whole  field 
of  human  duty,  and  the  sanctions,  which  it  discloses,  of  a 
future  state  of  retribution,  I  do  not  advance  any  charge 
against  his  character.  That  he  never  indicates  any  wish  to 
penetrate  into  futurity,  and  ascertain  what  comes  after  death  ; 
that  he  never  indicates  any  consciousness  of  human  weak- 
ness, nor  moves  his  mind  Godward,  longing  for  more  light : 
— these  are  things  which  exhibit  strongly  the  contrast 
between  the  mind  of  the  East  and  the  VYest.  His  self- 
sufficiency  is  his  great  fault.  To  know  ourselves  is  com- 
monly supposed  to  be  an  important  step  to  humility  ;  but 
it  is  not  so  with  him.  He  has  spoken  remarkably  about 
the  effects  of  calamity  and  difficulties.  He  says  : — "  When 
Heaven  is  about  to  confer  a  great  office  on  a  man,  it  first 
exercises  his  mind  with  suffering,  and  his  sinews  and  bones 
with  toil ;  it  exposes  his  body  to  hunger,  and  subjects 
him  to  extreme  poverty ;  it  confounds  his  undertakings. 
By  all  these  methods  it  stimulates  his  mind,  hardens  his 
nature,  and  supplies  his  incompetencies."  ^  Such  have 
beeti  the  effects  of  Heaven's  exercising  some  men  with 
calamities  ;  but  if  the  issue  has  been  a  fitting  for  the  highest 
offices,  there  has  been  a  softening  of  the  nature  rather  than 
a  hardening  of  it.  Mencius  was  a  stranger  to  the  humbling 
of  the  lofty  looks  of  man,  and  the  bowing  down  his  haughti- 
ness, that  the  Lord  alone  may  be  exalted. 

His  faults  as  a  political  teacher  are  substantially  the  same 
as  those  of  Confucius.  More  than  was  the  case  with  his 
sayings  of  a  political  character,  the  utterances  of  Mencius 
have  reference  to  the  condition  and  needs  of  his  own  age. 
They  were  for  the  time  then  being,  and  not  for  all  time. 
He  knew  as  httle  as  Confucius  of  any  other  great  and  inde- 
pendent nation  besides  his  own ;  and  he  has  left  one  maxim 
which  is  deeply  treasured  by  the  rulers  and  the  people  of 
China  at  the  present  day,  and  feeds  the  supercilious  idea 
which  they  are  so  unwilling  to  give  up  of  their  own  supeii- 
ority  to   foreigners.     "  I  have  heard,"   said  he,   "  of  men 

'  Bk  VI.  Pt  II.  XV. 


76  MEXCIUS    AXD    IILS    OPINIONS. 

using  [tlie  doctrines  of]  our  great  land  to  change  bar- 
barians, but  I  have  never  yet  heard  of  any  being  changed 
by  barbarians."  ^'  I  have  heard  of  birds  leaving  dark 
valleys  to  remove  to  lofty  trees,  but  I  have  not  heard  of 
their  descending  from  lofty  trees  to  enter  into  dark  val- 
leys." ^  Mongol  and  Tartar  sway  has  not  broken  the 
charm  of  this  dangerous  flattery,  because  only  in  warlike 
energy  were  the  Mongols  and  Tartars  superior  to  the 
Chinese,  and  when  they  conquered  the  country  they  did 
homage  to  its  sages.  During  the  last  foui'-and-thirty  years, 
Christian  Powers  have  come  to  ask  admission  into  China, 
and  to  claim  to  be  received  as  her  equals.  They  do  not 
wish  to  conquer  her  territory,  though  they  have  battered 
and  broken  her  defences.  With  fear  and  trembling  their 
advances  are  contemplated.  The  feeling  of  dislike  to  them 
arises  from  the  dread  of  their  power,  and  suspicion  of  their 
faith.  It  is  feared  that  they  come  to  subdue ;  it  is  known 
that  they  come  to  change.  The  idol  of  Chinese  superiority 
is  about  to  be  broken.  Broken  it  must  be  ere  long,  and  a 
new  generation  of  thinkers  will  arise,  to  whom  Mencius 
will  be  a  study  but  not  a  guide. 

■  Bk  III.  Pt  I.  iv.  12,  15. 


77 


APPENDIX. 


I  HAVE  ttouglit  it  ■would  be  interesting  to  many  readers 
to  append  here  the  Essays  of  two  distinguished  scholars  of 
China  on  the  subject  of  Human  Nature.  The  one  is  in  di- 
rect opposition  to  Mencius^  doctrine ;  according  to  the  other, 
his  doctrine  is  insufficient  to  explain  the  phenomena.  The 
author  of  the  first,  Seun  K^ing,  was  not  much  posterior  to 
Moncius.  He  is  mentioned  as  in  office  under  king  Seang  of 
Ts'e  (b.c.  271-264),  and  he  lived  on  to  the  times  of  the 
Ts'in  dynasty.  His  Works  which  still  remain  form  a  con- 
siderable volume.  The  second  essay  is  from  the  work  of 
Hah  Yu,  mentioned  above,  Ch.  I.  Sect.  IV.  3.  I  shall  not 
occupy  any  space  with  criticisms  on  the  style  or  sentiments 
of  the  writers.  If  the  translation  appear  at  times  to  be  in- 
elegant or  obscure,  the  fault  is  perhaps  as  much  in  the 
original  as  in  myself.  A  comprehensive  and  able  sketch  of 
"  The  Ethics  of  the  Chinese,  with  special  reference  to  the 
Doctrines  of  Human  Nature  and  Sin,""  by  the  Rev.  Griffith 
John,  was  read  before  the  North- China  Branch  of  the  Ptoyal 
Asiatic  Society,  in  November,  1859,  and  has  been  published 
separately.  The  essaj^s  of  Seun  and  Han  are  both  reviewed 
in  it. 


T.     THAT  THE  ]S"ATUEE  IS  EVIL. 

BY  THE  PHILOSOPHER  SEUN. 

The  nature  of  man  is  evil ;  the  good  which  it  shows  is 
factitious.  There  belongs  to  it,  even  at  his  birth,  the  love 
of  gain,  and  as  actions  are  in  accordance  with  this,  conten- 
tions and  robberies  grow  up,  and  self-denial  and  yielding  to 


^b  THE    rniLOSOPHER    SEUN. 

others  arc  not  to  be  found ;  there  belong  to  it  envy  and  dis- 
like, and  as  actions  are  in  accordance  with  these,  violence 
and  injuries  spring  uj),  and  self-devotedness  and  faith  are 
not  to  be  found;  there  belong  to  it  the  desires  of  the  ears 
and  the  eyes,  leading  to  the  love  of  sounds  and  beauty,  and 
as  the  actions  are  in  accordance  with  these,  lewdness  and 
disorder  spring  up,  and  righteousness  and  propriety,  with 
their  various  orderly  displays,  are  not  to  be  found.  It  thus 
appears,  that  the  following  man's  nature  and  yielding  obedi- 
ence to  its  feelings  will  assuredly  conduct  to  contentions  and 
robberies,  to  the  violation  of  the  duties  belonging  to  every 
one's  lot,  and  the  confounding  of  all  distinctions,  till  the 
issue  will  be  in  a  state  of  savagism ;  and  that  there  must  be 
the  influence  of  teachers  and  laws,  and  the  guidance  of 
propriety  and  righteousness,  from  which  will  spring  self- 
denial,  yielding  to  others,  and  an  observance  of  the  well- 
ordered  regulations  of  conduct,  till  the  issue  will  be  in  a 
state  of  good  government. — From  all  this,  it  is  plain  that 
the  nature  of  man  is  evil ;  the  good  which  it  shows  is  fac- 
titious. 

To  illustrate. — A  crooked  stick  must  be  submitted  to  the 
pressing- frame,  to  soften  and  bend  it,  and  then  it  becomes 
straight ;  a  blunt  knife  must  be  submitted  to  the  grindstone 
and  whetstone,  and  then  it  becomes  sharp  ;  so,  the  nature  of 
man,  being  evil,  must  be  submitted  to  teachers  and  laws,  and 
then  it  becomes  correct)  it  must  be  submitted  to  propriety  and 
righteousness,  and  then  it  comes  under  g'overnment.  If 
men  were  without  teachers  and  laws,  their  condition  would 
be  one  of  deflection  and  insecurity,  entirely  incorrect ;  if 
they  were  without  propriety  and  righteousness,  their  con- 
dition would  be  one  of  rebellious  disorder,  rejecting  all 
government.  The  sage  kings  of  antiquity  understanding 
that  the  nature  of  man  was  thus  evil,  in  a  state  of  hazardous 
deflection,  and  incorrect,  rebellious  and  disorderly,  and  refus- 
ing to  be  governed,  they  set  up  the  principles  of  righteous- 
ness and  proj)riety,  and  framed  laws  and  regulations  to 
straighten  and  ornament  the  feelings  of  that  nature  and  cor- 
rect them,  to  tame  and  change  those  same  feelings  and  guide 
them,  so  that  they  might  all  go  forth  in  the  way  of  moral 
government  and  in  agreement  with  reason.  Now,  the  man 
who  is  transformed  by  teachers  and  laws,  gathers  on  himself 
the  ornament  of  learning,  and  proceeds  in  the  path  of  pro- 


THAT   THE    NATURE   IS    EVIL.  70 

priety  and  rigliteousness,  is  a  superior  man ;  and  be  who 
gives  the  reins  to  his  nature  and  its  feelings,  indulges  its 
resentments,  and  walks  contrary  to  pi'opriety  and  righteous- 
ness, is  a  mean  man.  Looking  at  the  subject  in  this  way, 
we  see  clearly  that  the  nature  of  man  is  evil ;  the  good 
which  it  shows  is  factitious. 

Mencius  said,  "  Man  has  only  to  learn,  and  his  nature 
becomes  good  ; "  but  I  reply, — It  is  not  so.  To  say  so 
shows  that  he  had  not  attained  to  the  knowledge  of  man's 
nature,  nor  examined  into  the  difference  between  what  is 
natural  in  man  and  what  is  factitious.  The  natural  is  what  the 
constitution  spontaneously  moves  to  : — it  needs  not  to  be 
learned,  it  needs  not  to  be  followed  hard  after  ;  propriety  and 
righteousness  are  what  the  sages  have  given  birth  to : — it  is  by 
learning  that  men  become  capable  of  them,  it  is  by  hard  prac- 
tice that  they  achieve  them.  That  which  is  in  man,  not  need- 
ing to  be  learned  and  striven  after,  is  what  I  call  natural ; 
that  in  man  which  is  attained  to  by  learning,  and  achieved 
by  hard  striving,  is  what  I  call  factitious.  This  is  the  distinc- 
tion between  those  two.  By  the  nature  of  man,  the  eyes 
are  capable  of  seeing,  and  the  cars  are  capable  of  hearing. 
But  the  power  of  seeing  is  inseparable  from  the  eyes,  and 
the  power  of  hearing  is  inseparable  from  the  ears; — it  is 
plain  that  the  faculties  of  seeing  and  heai'ing  do  not  need 
to  be  learned.  Mencius  says,  "  The  nature  of  man  is  good, 
but  all  lose  and  ruin  their  nature,  and  therefore  it  becomes 
bad;"  but  I  say  that  this  representation  is  erroneous. 
♦  Man  being  boru  with  his  nature,  when  he  thereafter  departs 
from  its  simple  constituent  elements,  he  must  lose  it.  From 
this  consideration  we  may  see  clearly  that  man's  nature  is 
evil.  What  might  be  called  the  nature's  being  good  would 
be  if  there  were  no  departing  from  its  simplicity  to  beautify 
it,  no  departing  from  its  elementary  dispositions  to  sharpen 
it.  Suppose  that  those  simple  elements  no  more  needed 
beautifying,  and  the  mind's  thoughts  no  more  needed  to 
be  turned  to  good,  than  the  power  of  vision  which  is  in- 
separable from  the  eyes,  and  the  power  of  hearing  which 
is  inseparable  from  the  ears,  need  to  be  learned,  [then  we 
might  say  that  the  nature  is  good,  just  as]  we  say  that  the 
eyes  see  and  the  ears  hear.  It  is  the  nature  of  man,  when 
hungry,  to  desire  to  be  filled  ;  when  cold,  to  desire  to  be 
warmed;  when  tired,  to  desire  rest : — these  are  the  feelings 


80  THE    PHILOSOPHER    SEUN. 

and  nature  of  man.  But  now,  a  man  is  hungry,  and  in  tlie 
presence  of  an  elder  he  does  not  dare  to  eat  before  him, — 
he  is  yielding  to  that  elder ;  he  is  tired  with  labour,  and  he 
does  not  dare  to  ask  for  rest, — he  is  working  for  some  one. 
A  son's  yielding  to  his  father  and  a  younger  brother  to  his 
elder,  a  son's  labouring  for  his  father  and  a  younger  brother 
for  his  elder, — these  two  instances  of  conduct  are  contrary 
to  the  nature  and  against  the  feelings ;  but  they  are  accord- 
ing to  the  course  laid  down  for  a  filial  son,  and  the  refined 
distinctions  of  propriety  and  righteousness.  It  appears 
that  if  there  were  an  accordance  with  the  feelings  and  the 
nature,  there  would  be  no  self-denial  and  yielding  to  others. 
Self-denial  and  yielding  to  others  are  contrary  to  the  feelings 
and  the  nature.  In  this  way  we  come  to  see  how  clear  it 
is  that  the  nature  of  man  is  evil ;  the  good  which  it  shows 
is  factitious. 

An  inquirer  will  ask,  "  If  man's  nature  be  evil,  whence  do 
propriety  and  righteousness  arise  1  "  I  reply, — All  pro- 
priety and  righteousness  are  the  artificial  production  of  the 
sages,  and  are  not  to  be  considered  as  growing  out  of  the 
nature  of  man.  It  is  just  as  when  a  potter  makes  a  vessel 
from  the  clay ; — the  vessel  is  the  product  of  the  workman's 
art,  and  is  not  be  considered  as  growing  out  of  his  nature. 
Or  it  is  as  when  another  workman  cuts  and  hews  a  vessel 
out  of  wood ; — it  is  the  product  of  his  art,  and  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  growing  out  of  his  nature.  The  sages  pon- 
dered long  in  thought  and  gave  themselves  to  practice,  and 
so  they  succeeded  in  producing  propriety  and  righteousness, 
and  setting  up  laws  and  regulations.  Thus  it  is  that  pro- 
priety and  righteousness,  laws  and  regulations,  are  the  arti- 
ficial product  of  the  sages,  and  are  not  to  be  considered  as 
growing  properly  from  the  nature  of  man. 

If  we  speak  of  the  fondness  of  the  eyes  for  beauty,  or  of 
the  mouth  for  [pleasant]  flavours,  or  of  the  mind  for  gain,  or 
of  the  bones  and  skin  for  the  enjoyment  of  ease ; — all  these 
grow  out  of  the  natui-al  feelings  of  man.  The  object  is 
presented  and  the  desire  is  felt ;  there  needs  no  effort  to 
produce  it.  But  when  the  object  is  presented,  and  the 
affection  does  not  move  till  after  hard  effort,  I  say  that  this 
effect  is  factitious.  Those  cases  prove  the  difference  be- 
tween what  is  produced  by  nature  and  what  is  produced  by 
art. 


THAT    THE    NATURE    IS   EVIL,  81 

Thus  the  sages  transformed  their  nature,  and  commenced 
their  artificial  Avork.  Having  commenced  this  work  with 
their  nature,  they  produced  pi^opriety  and  righteousness. 
When  propriety  and  righteousness  were  produced,  they 
proceeded  to  frame  laws  and  regulations.  It  appears, 
therefore,  that  propriety  and  righteousness,  laws  and  regu- 
lations, were  given  birth  to  by  the  sages.  Wherein  they 
agree  with  all  other  men  and  do  not  difler  from  them,  is 
their  nature  ;  wherein  they  differ  from  and  exceed  other 
men,  is  this  artificial  work. 

Now  to  love  gain  and  desire  to  get ; — this  is  the  .natural 
feeling  of  men.  Suppose  the  case  that  there  is  an  amount 
of  property  or  money  to  be  divided  among  brothers,  and  lot 
this  natural  feeling  to  love  gain  and  desire  to  get  come  into 
play  ; — why,  then  the  brothers'  will  be  opposing,  and  snatch- 
ing from  one  another.  But  where  the  changing  influence  of 
propriety  and  righteousness,  with  their  refined  distinctions, 
has  taken  eff"ect,  a  man  will  give  up  to  any  other  man. 
Thus  it  is  that  if  they  act  in  accordance  with  their  natural 
feelings,  brothers  will  quarrel  together  ;  and  if  they  have 
come  under  the  transforming  influence  of  propriety  and  right- 
eousness, men  will  give  up  to  other  men,  to  say  nothing  of 
brothers.  [Again],  the  fact  that  men  wish  to  do  what  is  good, 
is  because  their  nature  is  bad.  The  thin  wishes  to  be  thick; 
the  ugly  wishes  to  be  beautiful ;  the  narrow  wishes  to  be 
wide ;  the  poor  wish  to  be  rich ;  the  mean  wish  to  be  noble  : 
— when  anything  is  not  possessed  inone^s  self,  he  seeks  for  it 
outside  himself  But  the  rich  do  not  wish  for  wealth ;  the 
noble  do  not  wish  for  position  : — when  anything  is  possessed 
by  one's  self,  he  does  not  need  to  go  beyond  himself  for  it. 
When  we  look  at  things  in  this  way,  we  perceive  that  the 
fact  of  men's  wishing  to  do  what  is  good  is  because  their 
nature  is  evil.  It  is  the  case,  indeed,  that  man's  nature  is 
without  propriety  and  benevolence  : — he  therefore  studies 
them  with  vigorous  eifort  and  seeks  to  have  them.  It  is  the 
case  that  by  nature  he  does  not  know  propriety  and  right- 
eousness : — he  therefore  thinks  and  reflects  and  seeks  to 
know  them.  Speaking  of  man,  therefore,  as  he  is  by  birth 
simply,  he  is  without  propriety  and  righteousness,  without 
the  knowledge  of  propriety  and  righteousness.  Without 
propi'iety  and  righteousness,  man  must  be  all  confusion  and 
disorder ;  without  the  knowledge  of  propriety  and  righteous- 
voL.  ir.  6 


82  THE   PHILOSOPHER   SEUN. 

ness,  there  must  ensue  all  the  manifestations  of  disorder. 
Man,  as  he  is  born,  therefore,  has  in  him  nothing  but  the 
elements  of  disorder,  passive  and  active.  It  is  plain  from 
this  contemplation  of  the  subject  that  the  nature  of  man  is 
evil ;  the  good  which  it  shows  is  factitious. 

When  Mencius  says  that  "  Man^s  nature  is  good,'^  I  affirm 
that  it  is  not  so.  In  ancient  times  and  now  throughout 
the  empire,  what  is  meant  by  good  is  a  condition  of  correct- 
ness, regulation,  and  happy  government ;  and  what  is  meant 
by  evil,  is  a  condition  of  deflection,  insecurity,  and  refusing 
to  be  under  government : — in  this  lies  the  distinction  be- 
tween being  good  and  being  evil.  And  now,  if  man^s  nature 
be  really  so  correct,  regulated,  and  happily  governed  in  itself, 
where  would  be  the  use  for  sage  kings?  where  would  be  the 
use  for  propriety  and  righteousness  ?  Although  there  were 
the  sage  kings,  propriety,  and  righteousness,  what  could 
they  add  to  the  nature  so  correct,  regulated,  and  happily 
ruled  in  itself  ?  But  it  is  not  so;  the  nature  of  man  is  bad.  It 
was  on  this  account,  that  anciently  the  sage  kings,  under- 
standing that  man's  nature  was  bad,  in  a  state  of  deflection 
and  insecurity  instead  of  being  correct,  in  a  state  of  rebellious 
disorder  instead  of  one  of  happy  rule,  set  up  therefore  the  ma- 
jesty of  princes  and  governors  to  awe  it ;  and  set  forth 
propriety  and  righteousness  to  change  it;  and  framed  laws 
and  statutes  of  correctness  to  rule  it ;  and  devised  severe 
punishments  to  restrain  it : — so  that  its  outgoings  might  be 
under  the  dominion  of  rule,  and  in  accordance  Avith  what  is 
good.  This  is  [the  true  account  of]  the  governance  of  the  sage 
kings,  and  the  transforming  power  of  propriety  and  right- 
eousness. Let  us  suppose  a  state  of  things  in  which  there 
shall  be  no  majesty  of  princes  and  governors,  no  influence 
of  propriety  and  righteousness,  no  rule  of  laws  and  statutes, 
no  restraints  of  punishment : — what  would  be  the  relations 
of  men  with  one  another,  all  under  heaven  ?  The  strong 
would  be  injuring  the  weak,  and  spoiling  them  ;  the  many 
would  be  tyrannizing  over  the  few,  and  hooting  them  ;  a  uni- 
versal disorder  and  mutual  destruction  would  speedily  ensue. 
"When  we  look  at  the  subject  in  this  way,  we  see  clearly 
that  the  nature  of  man  is  evil ;  the  good  which  it  shows  is 
factitious. 

lie  who  would  speak  well  of  ancient  times  must  have  cer- 
tain references  in  the  present ;    he  who  would  speak  well  of 


THAT   THE    NATURE    IS    EVIL.  83 

Heaven  must  substantiate  what  he  says  out  of  man.  In  dis- 
course and  argument  it  is  an  excellent  quality  when  the 
divisions  which  are  made  can  be  brought  together  like  the 
halves  of  a  token.  When  it  is  so,  the  arguer  may  sit  down, 
and  discourse  of  his  pi'inciples ;  and  he  has  only  to  rise  up, 
and  they  may  be  set  forth  and  displayed  and  carried  into 
action.  When  Mencius  says  that  the  nature  of  man  is  good, 
there  is  no  bringing  together  in  the  above  manner  of  his 
divisions.  He  sits  down  and  talks,  but  there  is  no  getting 
up  to  display  and  set  forth  his  principles,  and  put  them  in 
operation  : — is  not  his  error  very  gross  ?  To  say  that  the 
nature  is  good  does  away  with  the  sage  kings,  and  makes  an 
end  of  propriety  and  righteousness  ;  to  say  that  the  nature 
is  bad  exalts  the  sage  kings,  and  dignifies  propriety  and  right- 
eousness. As  the  origin  of  the  pressing-boards  is  to  be 
found  in  the  crooked  wood,  and  the  origin  of  the  carpenter^s 
marking  line  is  to  be  found  in  things'  not  being  straight ; 
so  the  rise  of  princes  and  governors,  and  the  illustration  of 
propriety  and  righteousness,  are  to  be  traced  to  the  badness 
of  the  nature.  It  is  clear  from  this  view  of  the  subject  that 
the  nature  of  man  is  bad ;  the  good  which  it  shows  is  fac- 
titious. 

A  straight  piece  of  wood  does  not  need  the  pressing- 
boards  to  make  it  straight ; — it  is  so  by  its  nature.  A 
crooked  piece  of  wood  must  be  submitted  to  the  pressing- 
boards  to  soften  and  straighten  it,  and  then  it  is  straight ; — it 
is  not  straight  by  its  nature.  So  it  is  that  the  nature  of 
man,  being  evil,  must  be  submitted  to  the  rule  of  the  sage 
kings,  and  to  the  transforming  influence  of  propriety  and 
righteousness,  and  then  its  outgoings  are  under  the  domin- 
ion of  rule,  and  in  accordance  with  what  is  good.  This 
shows  clearly  that  the  nature  of  man  is  bad;  the  good 
which  it  shows  is  factitious. 

An  inquirer  may  say  [again],  "  Propriety  and  righteousness, 
though  seen  in  an  accumulation  of  factitious  deeds,  do  yet 
belong  to  the  nature  of  man  ;  and  thus  it  was  that  the  sages 
were  able  to  produce  them."  I  reply, — It  is  not  so.  A  potter 
takes  a  piece  of  clay,  and  produces  a  dish  from  it ;  but  are  that 
dish  and  clay  the  nature  of  the  potter  ?  A  carpenter  plies  his 
tools  upon  a  piece  of  wood,  and  produces  a  vessel ;  but  are 
that  vessel  and  wood  the  nature  of  the  carpenter?  So  it  is 
with  the  sages  and  propriety  and  righteousness ;  they  pro- 


84  THE    PHILOSOPHER    SEUN. 

cluced  them,  just  as  the  potter  works  with  the  clay.  It  is  plain 
that  there  is  no  reason  for  saying  that  propriety  and  right- 
eousness, and  the  accumulation  of  their  factitious  actions, 
belong  to  the  proper  nature  of  man.  Speaking  of  the  nature 
of  man,  it  is  the  same  in  all, — the  same  in  Yaou  and  Shun, 
and  in  Keeh  and  in  the  robber  Chih,  the  same  in  the  superior 
man  and  in  the  mean  man.  If  you  say  that  propriety  and 
righteousness,  with  the  factitious  actions  accumulated  from 
them,  are  the  nature  of  man,  on  what  ground  do  you  pro- 
ceed to  ennoble  Yaou  and  Yu,  to  ennoble  [generally]  the 
superior  man  ?  The  ground  on  which  we  ennoble  Yaou, 
Yu,  and  the  superior  man,  is  their  ability  to  change  the 
nature,  and  to  produce  factitious  conduct.  That  factitious 
conduct  being  produced,  out  of  it  there  are  brought  pro- 
priety and  righteousness.  The  sages  stand  indeed  in  the 
same  relation  to  propriety  and  righteousness,  and  the  facti- 
tious conduct  resulting  from  them,  as  the  potter  does  to  his 
clay  : — we  have  a  product  in  either  case.  This  representa- 
tion makes  it  clear  that  propriety  and  righteousness,  with 
their  factitious  results,  do  not  properly  belong  to  the  nature 
of  man.  [On  the  other  hand],  that  which  we  consider  mean 
in  Keeh,  the  robber  Chih,  and  the  mean  man  generally,  is 
that  they  follow  their  nature,  act  in  accordance  with  its  feel- 
ings, and  indulge  its  resentments,  till  all  its  outgoings  are 
a  greed  of  gain,  contentions,  and  rapine. — It  is  plain  that 
the  nature  of  man  is  bad ;  the  good  which  it  shows  is 
factitious. 

Heaven  did  not  make  favourites  of  Tsang,  K'een,  and 
Heaou-ke,  and  deal  unkindly  with  the  rest  of  men.  How  then 
was  it  that  they  alone  were  distinguished  by  the  greatness 
of  their  filial  deeds,  that  all  which  the  name  of  filial  piety 
implies  was  complete  in  them  ?  The  reason  was  that  they 
were  subject  to  the  restraints  of  propriety  and  righteous- 
ness. 

Heaven  did  not  make  favourites  of  the  people  of  Ts'^e  and 
Loo,  and  deal  unkindly  with  the  people  of  Ts'in.  How 
then  was  it  that  the  latter  were  not  equal  to  the  former  in 
the  rich  manifestation  of  the  filial  piety  belonging  to  the 
righteousness  of  the  relation  between  father  and  son,  and 
the  respectful  observance  of  the  proprieties  belonging  to 
the  separate  functions  of  husband  and  wife  ?  The  reason 
was  that  the  people  of  Ts'iu  followed  the  feelings  of  their 


THAT    THE   NATURE    IS    EVIL.  85 

nature,  indulged  its  resentments,  and  contemned  propriety 
and  righteousness.  We  are  not  to  suppose  that  they  were 
different  in  their  nature. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  the  saying,  that  "  Any  traveller 
on  the  road  may  become  like  Yu  ?  "  I  answer, — All  that 
made  Yu  what  he  was  was  his  practice  of  benevolence, 
righteousness,  and  his  observance  of  laws  and  rectitude. 
But  benevolence,  righteousness,  laws,  and  rectitude,  are  all 
capable  of  being  known  and  being  practised.  Moreover, 
any  traveller  on  the  road  has  the  capacity  of  knowing  these, 
and  the  ability  to  practise  them  : — it  is  plain  that  he  may 
become  like  Yu.  If  you  say  that  benevolence,  righteous- 
ness, laws,  and  rectitude,  are  not  capable  of  being  known 
and  practised,  then  Yu  himself  could  not  have  known,  could 
not  have  practised  them.  If  you  will  have  it  that  any  tra- 
veller on  the  road  is  really  without  the  capacity  of  knowing 
these  things,  and  the  ability  to  practise  them,  then,  in  his 
home,  it  will  not  be  competent  for  him  to  know  the 
righteousness  that  should  rule  between  father  and  son,  and, 
abroad,  it  will  not  be  competent  for  him  to  know  the  recti- 
tude that  should  rule  between  ruler  and  minister.  But  it  is 
not  so.  There  is  no  one  who  travels  along  the  road  but 
may  know  both  that  righteousness  and  that  rectitude: — it 
is  plain  that  the  capacity  to  know  and  the  ability  to  practise 
belong  to  every  traveller  on  the  way.  Let  him,  therefore, 
with  his  capacity  of  knowing  and  ability  to  practise,  take 
his  ground  on  the  knowableness  and  practicableness  of 
benevolence  and  righteousness  ; — and  it  is  clear  that  he 
may  become  like  Yu.  Yea,  let  any  traveller  on  the  way 
addict  himself  to  the  art  of  learning  with  all  his  heart  and 
the  entire  bent  of  his  will,  thinking,  searching,  and  closely 
examining  ; — let  him  do  this  day  after  day,  through  a  long 
space  of  time,  accumulating  what  is  good,  and  he  will  pene- 
trate as  far  as  a  spiritual  Intelligence,  he  will  become  a 
ternion  with  Heaven  and  Earth.  It  follows  that  [the  charac- 
ters of]  the  sages  were  what  any  man  may  reach  by  accumu- 
lation. 

It  may  be  said  : — "  To  be  sage  may  thus  be  reached  by 
accumulation; — why  is  it  that  all  men  cannot  accumulate  [to 
this  extent  ?  ]  "  I  reply, — They  may  do  so,  but  they  cannot 
be  made  to  do  so.  The  mean  man  might  become  a  superior 
man,  but  he  is  not  willing  to  be  a  superior  man.     The  supe- 


86  THE    PHILOSOPHER   SETIN, 

rior  man  miglit  become  a  mean  man,  but  he  is  not  willing  to 
be  a  mean  man.  It  is  not  that  the  mean  man  and  the  supe- 
rior man  may  not  become  the  one  the  other ;  their  not  be- 
coming the  one  the  other  is  because  it  is  a  thing  which  may 
be,  but  cannot  be  made  to  be.  Any  traveller  on  the  road 
may  become  like  Yu  : — the  case  is  so  ;  that  any  traveller  on 
the  road  can  really  become  like  Yu  : — this  is  not  a  necessary 
conclusion.  Though  any  one,  however,  cannot  really  become 
like  Yu,  that  is  not  contrary  at  all  to  the  truth  that  he  may 
become  so.  One's  feet  might  travel  all  over  the  world,  but 
there  never  was  one  who  was  really  able  to  travel  all  over 
the  world.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  mechanic,  the 
farmer,  and  the  merchant,  from  practising  each  the  business 
of  the  others,  but  there  has  never  been  a  case  when  it  has 
really  been  done.  Looking  at  the  subject  in  this  way,  we 
see  that  what  may  be  need  not  really  be  ;  and  although  it 
shall  not  really  be,  that  is  not  contrary  to  the  truth  that  it 
might  be.  It  thus  appears  that  the  difference  is  wide  be- 
tween what  is  really  done  or  not  really  done,  and  what 
may  be  or  may  not  be.  It  is  plain  that  these  two  cases  may 
not  become  the  one  the  other. 

Yaou  asked  Shun  Avhat  was  the  character  of  the  feelinsfs 
proper  to  man.  Shun  replied,  "  The  feelings  proper  to  man 
are  very  unlovely  ;  why  need  you  ask  about  them  ?  When 
a  man  has  got  a  wife  and  children,  his  filial  piety  withers 
away  ;  under  the  influence  of  lust  and  gratified  desires,  his 
good  faith  to  his  friends  withers  away  ;  when  he  is  full  of 
dignities  and  emoluments,  his  loyalty  to  his  ruler  withers 
away.  The  natural  feelings  of  man  !  The  natural  feelings 
of  man  !  They  are  very  unlovely.  Why  need  y  ou  ask  about 
them  ?  It  is  only  in  the  case  of  men  of  the  highest  worth 
that  it  is  not  so.'' 

There  is  a  knowledge  characteristic  of  the  sage  ;  a  know- 
ledge characteristic  of  the  scholar  and  superior  man  ;  a 
knowledge  charactei'istic  of  the  mean  man  ;  and  a  knowledge 
characteristic  of  the  more  servant.  In  much  speech  to  show 
his  cultivation  and  maiutain  consistency,  and  though  he  may 
discuss  for  a  whole  day  the  reasons  of  a  subject,  to  have  a 
unity  pervading  the  ten  thousand  changes  of  discourse  ; — 
this  is  the  knowledge  of  the  sage.  To  speak  seldom,  and  in 
a  brief  and  sparing  manner,  and  to  bo  orderly  in  his  reason- 
ing, as  if  its  parts  were  connected  with  a  string ; — this  is  the 


THAT    THE    NATURE    IS    EVIL.  87 

knowledge  of  tlie  scliolar  and  superioi'  man.  Flattering 
words  and  disorderly  conduct,  with  undertakings  often  fol- 
lowed by  regrets  ; — those  mark  the  knowledge  of  the  mean 
man.  Hasty,  officious,  smart,  and  swift,  but  without  consist- 
ency ;  versatile,,  able,  of  extensive  capabilities,  but  without 
use ;  decisive  in  discourse,  rapid,  exact,  but  the  subject  un- 
important ;  regardless  of  right  and  wrong,  taking  no  account 
of  crooked  and  straight,  to  get  the  victory  over  others  the 
guiding  object : — this  is  the  knowledge  of  the  mere  servant. 

There  is  bravery  of  the  highest  order;  bravery  of  the  mid- 
dle order  ;  bravery  of  the  lowest  order.  Boldly  to  take  up 
his  position  in  the  place  of  the  universally  acknowledged 
Mean  ;  boldly  to  carry  into  practice  his  views  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  ancient  kings ;  in  a  high  situation,  not  to  defer  to  a 
bad  ruler,  and,  in  a  low  situation,  not  to  follow  the  current  of 
a  bad  people ;  to  consider  that  there  is  no  poverty  where 
there  is  virtue,  and  no  wealth  whei'e  virtue  is  not ;  when  ap- 
preciated by  the  world,  to  desire  to  shai*e  in  all  men's  joys  and 
sorrows ;  when  unknown  by  the  world,  to  stand  up  grandly 
alone  between  heaven  and  earth,  and  have  no  fears  : — this  is 
the  bravery  of  the  highest  order.  To  be  reverently  observ- 
ant of  propriety,  and  sober-minded  ;  to  attach  importance 
to  adherence  to  fidelity,  and  set  little  store  by  material 
wealth  ;  to  have  the  boldness  to  push  forward  men  of  worth 
and  exalt  them,  to  hold  back  undeserving  men,  and  get  them 
deposed ; — this  is  the  bravery  of  the  middle  order.  To  be 
devoid  of  self-respect  and  set  a  great  value  on  wealth ;  to 
feel  complacent  in  calamity,  and  always  have  plenty  to  say 
for  himself;  saving  himself  in  any  way  without  regard  to 
right  and  wrong ;  whatever  be  the  real  state  of  a  case,  mak- 
ing it  his  object  to  get  the  victory  over  others  : — this  is 
the  bravery  of  the  lowest  order. 

The  fan-joh,  the  hni,  and  the  shoo  were  the  best  bows  of 
antiquity  ;  but  Avithout  their  regulators,  they  could  not  adjust 
themselves.  The  fsung  of  duke  Hwan,  the  keueh  of  T'ae- 
kung,  the  liih  of  king  Wiin,  the  hwuh  of  prince  Chwang,  the 
Ican-ti^eang,  moli-yay  keu-keneh,  and  lyUnh-leu  of  tloh-leu  : — 
these  were  the  best  swords  of  antiquity  ;  but  without  the 
grindstone  and  whetstone,  they  would  not  have  been  sharp  ; 
without  the  sti-ength  of  the  arms  that  wielded  them,  they 
would  not  have  cut  anything. 

The  hwa,  the  Veto,  the  le,  the  li'c,  the  seen,  the  lei,  the  hih, 


88  HAN   WAN-KUNG. 

aud  the  iirh: — these  were  the  best  horses  of  antiquity;  hut  ■ 
there  were  still  necessary  for  them  the  restraints  in  front  of 
bit  and  bridle,  the  stimulants  behind  of  cane  and  whip,  and 
the   management   of    a   Tsaou-foo,    and   then    they    could 
accomplish  a  thousand  le  in  one  day. 

So  it  is  with  man  : — granted  to  him  an  excellent  capacity 
of  nature  and  the  faculty  of  intellect,  he  must  still  seek  for 
good  teachers  under  whom  to  place  himself,  and  make  choice 
of  friends  with  whom  he  may  be  intimate.  Having  got 
good  masters  and  placed  himself  under  them,  Avhat  he  will 
hear  will  be  the  doctrines  of  Yaou,  Shun,  Yu,  and  T'ang ; 
having  got  good  friends  and  become  intimate  with  them, 
what  he  will  see  will  be  deeds  of  self-consecration,  fidelity, 
reverence,  and  complaisance  : — he  will  go  on  from  day  to 
day  to  benevolence  and  righteousness,  without  being  con- 
scious of  it ;  a  natural  following  of  them  will  make  him  do 
so.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  live  with  bad  men,  what  he  will 
hear  will  be  the  language  of  deceit,  calumny,  imposture,  and 
hypocrisy ;  what  he  will  see  will  be  the  conduct  of  filthi- 
ness,  insolence,  lewdness,  corruptness,  and  greed  : — he  will 
be  going  on  from  day  to  day  to  punishment  and  disgrace, 
without  being  conscious  of  it;  a  natural  following  of  them 
will  make  him  do  so. 

The  Recoi-d  says,  ''  If  you  do  not  know  your  son,  look  at 
his  friends  ;  if  you  do  not  know  your  ruler,  look  at  his  con- 
fidants.^^ All  is  the  influence  of  association  !  All  is  the 
influence  of  association  ! 


II.  AN  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  MAN. 

BY  HAN  WAN-KUNG. 

The  NATURE  dates  from  the  date  of  the  life ;  the  feelings 
date  from  contact  with  external  things.  There  are  three 
grades  of  the  nature,  and  it  has  five  characteristics.  There 
are  also  three  grades  of  the  feelings,  and  they  have  seven 
characteristics.  To  explain  myself  j — The  three  grades  of 
the  nature  are — the  Superior,  the  Middle,  and  the  Inferior. 
The  superior  grade  is  good,  and  good  only ;  the  middle  grade 


AN  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  MAN.        89 

is  capable  of  being  led  :  it  may  rise  to  tlie  superior,  or  sink 
to  the  inferior  ;  the  inferior  is  evil,  and  evil  only.  The  five 
characteristics  of  the  nature  are — Benevolence,  Eighteous- 
ness.  Propriety,  Sincerity,  and  Knowledge.  In  the  iSuperior 
Grade,  the  first  of  these  characteristics  is  supreme,  and  the 
other  four  are  practised.  In  the  Middle  Grade,  the  first  of 
these  characteristics  is  not  wanting :  it  exists,  but  with  a 
little  tendency  to  its  opposite ;  the  other  four  are  in  an  ill- 
assorted  state.  In  the  Inferior  Grade  there  is  the  opposite 
of  the  first  characteristic,  and  constant  rebelhousness 
against  the  other  four.  The  grade  of  the  nature  regulates  the 
manifestation  of  the  feelings  in  it.  [Again]: — The  three 
grades  of  the  feelings  are  the  Superior,  the  Middle,  and  the 
Inferior ;  and  their  seven  characteristics  are — Joy,  Anger, 
Sorrow,  Fear,  Love,  Hatred,  and  Desire.  In  the  Superior 
Grade,  these  seven  all  move,  and  each  in  its  due  place  and 
degree.  In  the  Middle  Grade,  some  of  the  characteristics 
are  in  excess,  and  some  in  defect ;  but  there  is  a  seeking  to 
give  them  their  due  place  and  degree.  In  the  Inferior 
Grade,  whether  they  are  in  excess  or  defect,  there  is  a  reck- 
less acting  according  to  the  one  in  immediate  predominance. 
The  grade  of  the  feelings  regulates  the  influence  of  the  nature 
in  reference  to  them. 

Speaking  of  the  nature,  Mencius  said  : — "  Man's  nature  is 
good;''  the  philosopher  Seun  said: — "  Man's  nature  is  bad ;  " 
the  philosopher  Yang  said  : — "  In  the  nature  of  man  good 
and  evil  are  mixed  together."  Now,  to  say  that  the  nature, 
good  at  first,  subsequently  becomes  bad ;  or  that,  bad  at 
first,  it  subsequently  becomes  good ;  or  that,  mixed  at  first, 
it  subsequently  becomes — it  may  be  good,  it.  may  be  bad  : 
— in  each  of  these  cases  only  the  nature  of  the  middle 
grade  is  dealt  with,  and  the  superior  and  inferior  grades  are 
neglected.  Those  philosophers  are  right  about  one  grade, 
and  wrong  about  the  other  two. 

When  Shuh-yu  was  boim,  his  mother  knew,  as  soon  as 
she  looked  at  him,  that  he  would  fall  a  victim  to  his  love  of 
bribes.  When  Yang  Sze-go  was  born,  the  mother  of 
Shuh-heang  knew,  as  sOon  as  she  heard  him  cry,  that  he 
would  cause  the  destruction  of  all  his  kindred.  AYlien 
Yueh-tseaou  was  born,  Tsze-wan  considered  it  was  a  great 
calamity,  knowing  that  through  him  the  ghosts  of  the  Joh- 
gaou  family  would  all  be  famished. — With  such  cases  before 


90  HAN    WAN-KUNQ. 

US,  can  it  be  said  that  tlie  nature  of  man  {i.e.,  all  men)  is 
good  ? 

WTien  How-tseili  was  born,  his  mother  had  no  suffering ; 
and  as  soon  as  he  began  to  creep,  he  displayed  all  elegance 
and  intelligence.  When  king  Wiin  was  in  his  mother's 
womb,  she  experienced  no  distress ;  after  his  birth,  those 
who  tended  him  had  no  trouble  j  when  he  began  to  learn, 
his  teachers  had  no  vexation  : — with  such  cases  before  us, 
can  it  be  said  that  the  nature  of  man  {i.e.,  all  men)  is  evil  ? 

Choo  was  the  son  of  Yaou,  and  Keun  the  son  of  Shun ; 
Kwan  and  Ts'ae  were  sons  of  king  Wan.  They  were  in- 
structed to  practise  nothing  but  what  was  good,  and  yet 
they  turned  out  villains.  Shun  was  the  son  of  Koo-sow, 
and  Yu  the  son  of  KSviin.  They  were  instructed  to  prac- 
tise nothing  but  what  was  bad,  and  yet  they  turned  out 
sages. — With  such  cases  before  us,  can  it  be  said  that  in 
the  nature  of  man  (i.e.,  all  men)  good  and  evil  are  blended 
together  ? 

Having  these  things  in  view,  I  say  that  the  three  philoso- 
phers, to  whom  I  have  referred,  dealt  with  the  middle  grade 
of  the  nature,  and  neglected  the  superior  and  the  inferior ; 
that  they  were  right  about  the  one  grade,  and  wrong  about 
the  other  two. 

It  may  be  asked,  ^'  Is  it  so,  then,  that  the  superior  and 
inferior  grades  of  the  nature  can  never  be  changed  ?  "  I 
reply,— The  nature  of  the  superior  grade,  by  application  to 
learning,  becomes  more  intelligent,  and  the  nature  of  the 
inferior  grade,  through  awe  of  power,  comes  to  have  few 
faults.  The  superior  nature,  therefore,  may  be  taught,  and 
the  inferior  nature  may  be  restrained ;  but  the  grades  have 
been  pronounced  by  Confucius  to  be  unchangeable. 

It  may  be  asked,  "  How  is  it  that  those  who  now-a-days 
speak  about  the  nature  do  so  differently  from  this  ? "  I 
reply, — Those  who  now-'a-days  speak  about  the  nature  blend 
with  their  other  views  those  of  Laou-tsze  and  Buddhism  ; 
and  doing  so,  how  could  they  speak  otherwise  than  differ- 
ently from  me  ? 


THE    OPINIONS   OF   YANG    CHOO.  91 


CHAPTER  III. 

OF  YANG  CHOO  AND  MIH  TEIH. 
SECTION  I. 


THE    OPINIONS    OF    TANG   CHOO. 

1.  "  The  words  of  Yang  Choo  and  Mih  Teih,"'  said  Mencius,  "  fill  the 
empire.  If  3'ou  listen  to  people's  dii^coiirses  throughout  it,  j'ou  will  find  that 
they  have  adopted  the  views  of  the  one  or  of  the  other.  Now,  Yang's  prin- 
ciple is — '  Each  one  for  himself,'  which  does  not  acknowledge  the  claims 
of  the  sovereign.  Mill's  principle  is — '  To  love  all  equally,'  which  does 
not  acknowledge  the  peculiar  atfection  due  to  a  father.  To  acknowledge 
neither  king  nor  fatlier  is  to  be  in  the  state  of  a  beast.  If  their  principles 
are  not  stopped,  and  the  principles  of  Confucius  set  forth,  their  perverse 
speakings  will  delude  the  people,  and  stop  up  the  path  of  benevolence  and 
righteousness. 

''  I  am  alarmed  by  these  things,  and  address  myself  to  the  defence  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  former  sages,  and  to  oppose  Yang  and  Mih.  I  drive  away 
their  licentious  expressions,  so  that  such  perverse  speakers  may  not  be  able 
to  show  themselves.  When  sages  shall  rise  up  again,  they  will  not  change 
my  words."  ' 

His  opposition  to  Yang  and  Mih  was  thus  one  of  the  great 
labours  of  Mencius^  Hfe,  and  what  he  deemed  the  success  of 
it  one  of  his  great  achievements.  His  countrymen  generally 
accede  to  the  justice  of  his  claim  ;  though  there  have  not  been 
wanting  some  to  say — -justly,  as  I  think  and  will  endeavour 
to  show  in  the  next  section — that  Mih  need  not  have  incur- 
red from  him  such  heavy  censure.  For  Yang  no  one  has  a 
word  to  say.  His  leading  principle  as  stated  by  Mencius  is 
certainly  detestable,  and  so  far  as  we  can  judge  from  the 
slight  accounts  of  him  that  are  to  be  gathered  from  other 
quarters,  he  seems  to  have  been  about  "the  least  erecttd 
spirit,^^  who  ever  professed  to  reason  concerning  the  life  and 
duties  of  man. 

'  Bk  III.  Pt  II.  ix.  9,  10. 


92  YANG    CHOO   AND    MIH    TEIH. 

2.  The  generally  received  opinion  is  that  Yang  belonged 
to  the  period  of  "The  Warring  States/'  the  same  era  of 
Chinese  history  as  Mencius.  He  was  named  Choo,  and 
styled  Tsze-keu.  In  a  note,  p.  159  of  my  larger  work,  I 
have  supposed  that  he  was  of  the  times  of  Confucius  and 
Laou-tsze,  having  then  before  me  a  passage  of  the  Taouist 
philosopher  Chwang,  in  which  he  gives  an  account  of  an  in- 
terview between  Laou-tsze  and  Yang  Choo.  That  interview, 
however,  must  be  an  invention  of  Chwang.  The  natural 
impression  which  we  receive  from  all  the  references  of  Men- 
cius is  that  Yang  must  have  been  posterior  to  Confucius,  and 
that  his  opinions  had  come  into  vogue  only  in  the  times  of 
our  philosopher  himself.  This  view  would  be  placed  beyond 
doubt  if  we  could  receive  as  genuine  the  chapter  on  Yang, 
which  is  contained  in  the  writings  of  the  philosopher  Leeh. 
And  so  far  we  may  accept  it,  as  to  believe  that  it  gives  the 
sentiments  which  were  attributed  to  him  in  the  1st  century 
before  our  era.  The  leading  principle  ascribed  to  him  by 
Mencius  nowhere  appears  in  it  in  so  many  words,  but  the 
general  tenor  of  his  language  is  entirely  in  accordance 
with  it.     This  will  appear  from  the  following  specimens  :  — 

"  Yang  Choo  said,  '  A  hundred  years  are  the  extreme  limit 
of  longevity  ;  and  not  one  man  in  a  thousand  enjoys  such  a 
period  of  Hfe.  Suppose  the  case  of  one  who  does  so  : — in- 
fancy borne  in  the  arms,  and  doting  old  age,  will  nearly 
occupy  the  half;  what  is  forgotten  in  sleep,  and  what  is  lost 
in  the  waking  day,  will  nearly  occupy  the  half;  pain  and 
sickness,  sorrow  and  bitterness,  losses,  anxieties,  and  fears 
will  nearly  occupy  the  half.  There  may  remain  ten  years  or 
so  ;  but  I  reckon  that  not  even  in  them  will  be  found  an 
hour  of  smiling  self-abandonment,  without  the  shadow  of 
solicitude. — What  is  the  hfe  of  man  then  to  be  made  of  ? 
What  pleasure  is  in  it  ? 

'' '  [Is  it  to  be  prized]  for  the  pleasure  of  food  and  dress  ? 
or  for  the  enjoyments  of  music  and  beauty  ?  But  one  can- 
not be  always  satisfied  with  those  pleasures ;  one  cannot  be 
always  toying  with  beauty  and  listening  to  music.  And 
then  there  are  the  restraints  of  punishments  and  the  stimu- 
lants of  rewards;  the  urgings  and  the  repressings  of  fame 
and  laws: — these  make  one  strive  restlessly  for  the  vain 
praise  of  an  hour,  and  calculate  on  the  residuary  glory  after 
death ;  they  keep   him,  as  with  body  bent,  on  the   watch 


THE   OPINIONS    OF   YANG   CHOO.  93 

against  what  his  ears  hear  and  his  eyes  see,  and  attending 
to  the  right  and  the  wrong  of  his  conduct  and  thoughts.  In 
this  way  he  loses  the  real  pleasure  of  his  years,  and  cannot 
allow  himself  for  a  moment. — In  what  does  he  differ  from  an 
individual  manacled  and  fettered  in  an  inner  prison  ?  The 
people  of  high  antiquity  knew  both  the  shortness  of  life,  and 
how  suddenly  and  completely  it  might  be  closed  by  death, 
and  therefore  they  obeyed  the  movements  of  their  hearts, 
refusing  not  what  it  was  natui'al  for  them  to  like,  nor  seek- 
ing to  avoid  any  pleasui-e  that  occurred  to  them.  They  paid 
no  heed  to  the  incitements  of  fame  ;  they  enjoyed  themselves 
according  to  their  nature ;  they  did  not  resist  the  common 
tendency  of  all  things  to  self- enjoyment ;  they  cared  not  to 
be  famous  after  death.  They  managed  to  keep  clear  of 
punishment ;  as  to  fame  and  praise,  being  first  or  last,  long 
life  or  short  life,  these  things  did  not  come  into  their  calcu- 
lations.'' " 

"  Yang  Choo  said,  '  Whei'ein  people  differ  is  the  mat- 
ter of  life ;  wherein  they  agree  is  death.  While  they  are 
alive,  we  have  the  distinctions  of  intelligence  and  stupidity, 
honourableness  and  meanness  ;  when  they  are  dead,  we  have 
so  much  stinking  rottenness  decaying  away  : — this  is  the 
common  lot.  Yet  intelligence  and  stupidity,  honourable- 
ness.and  meanness,  arc  not  in  oner's  power ;  neither  is  that 
condition  of  putridity,  decay,  and  utter  disappearance.  A 
man^s  life  is  not  in  his  own  hands,  nor  is  his  death ;  his  in- 
telligence is  not  his  own,  nor  is  his  stupidity,  nor  his  honour- 
ableness, nor  his  meanness.  All  are  born  and  all  die ; — the 
intelligent  and  the  stupid,  the  honoui^able  and  the  mean. 
At  ten  years  old  some  die  ;  at  a  hundred  years  old  some  die. 
The  virtuous  and  the  sage  die  ;  the  ruffian  and  the  fool  also 
die.  Alive,  they  were  Yaou  and  Shun ;  dead  they  were  so 
much  rotten  bone.  Alive  they  were  Keeh  and  Chow ;  dead, 
they  were  so  much  rotten  bone.  AVlio  could  know  any  dif- 
ference between  their  rotten  bones  ?  While  alive,  therefore, 
let  us  hasten  to  make  the  best  of  life  ;  what  leisure  have  we 
to  be  thinking  of  anything  after  death  ? '  " 

"  Mrmg-sun  Yang  asked  Yang-tsze,  saying,  *'  Here  is  a 
man  who  sets  a  high  value  on  his  life,  and  takes  loving  care 
of  his  body,  hoping  that  he  will  not  die : — does  he  do  right? ' 
'  There  is  no  such  thing  as  not  dying,^  was  the  reply. 
'But    if    he  does  so,  hoping    for  long    life,  is  he  right  ? ' 


94  YANG    CHOO   AND    MIH    TEIH. 

Yangf-tsze  answered,  '  One  cannot  be  assured  of  long  life. 
Setting  value  upon  life  will  not  preserve  it ;  taking  care  of 
the  body  will  not  make  it  greatly  better.  And,  in  fact,  why 
should  long  life  be  made  of?  There  ai-e  the  five  feelings 
with  their  likings  and  dislikings, — now  as  in  old  time  ;  there 
are  the  four  limbs,  now  at  ease,  now  in  danger, — now  as  in 
old  time  ;  there  are  the  various  experiences  of  joy  and  sor- 
row,— now  as  in  old  time ;  there  are  the  various  changes 
from  order  to  disorder,  and  from  disorder  to  order, — now  as 
in  old  time  : — all  these  things  I  have  heard  of,  and  seen, 
and  gone  through.  A  hundred  years  of  them  would  be 
more  than  enough,  and  shall  I  wish  the  pain  protracted 
through  a  longer  life  ? '  Mang-sun  said,  *  If  it  be  so, 
early  death  is  better  than  long  life.  Let  a  man  go  to  tram- 
ple on  the  pointed  steel,  or  throw  himself  into  the  caldron 
or  flames,  to  get  what  he  desires  '  Yang-tsze  answered, 
'  No.  Being  once  born,  take  your  life  as  it  comes,  and  en- 
dure it,  and,  seeking  to  enjoy  yourself  as  you  desire,  so 
await  the  approach  of  death.  When  you  are  about  to  die, 
treat  the  thing  with  indifference  and  endure  it ;  and  seeking 
to  accomplish  your  departure,  so  abandon  yourself  to  anni- 
hilation. Both  death  and  life  should  be  treated  with  indif- 
ference ;  they  should  both  be  endured  : — why  trouble  ones- 
self  about  earliness  or  lateness  in  connexion  with  them  ?  '  " 
"K'in-tsze  asked  Yang  Choo,  saying,  '  If  you  could  benefit 
the  world  by  parting  Avitli  one  hair  of  your  body,  would  you 
do  it  ?  '  '  The  world  is  not  to  be  benefited  by  a  hair,^  re- 
plied Yang.  The  other  urged,  '  But  suppose  it  could  be, 
what  would  you  do  ?  '  To  this  Yang  gave  no  answer,  and  K'in 
went  out,  and  reported  what  had  passed  to  Mang-sun  Yang. 
Mang-sun  said, '  You  do  not  understand  our  Master's  mind  : 
—let  me  explain  it  to  you.  If  by  enduring  a  slight  wound  in 
the  flesh,  you  could  get  ten  thousand  pieces  of  gold,  would  you 
endure  it  ?  '  'I  would.'  '  If  by  cutting  oif  one  of  your 
limbs,  you  could  get  a  kingdom,  would  you  do  it  ? '  K'in 
was  silent ;  and  after  a  little,  Mang-sun  Yang  resumed,  '  To 
part  with  a  hair  is  a  slighter  matter  than  to  receive  a  wound 
in  the  flesh,  and  that  again  is  a  slighter  matter  than  to  lose 
a  limb  : — that  you  can  discern.  But  consider  : — a  hair  may 
be  multiplied  till  it  become  as  important  as  the  piece  of  flesh, 
and  the  piece  of  flesh  may  bo  multiplied  till  it  becomes  as 
important  as  a  limb.     A  single  hair  is  just  one  of  the  ten 


THE    OPINIONS    OF   YANG   CHOO.  95 

thousand  portions  of  the  body ; — why  should  you  make  light 
of  it  ?  '  ^, K'in-tsze  replied,  'I  cannot  answer  you.  If  I 
could  refer  your  words  toLaou  Tan  or  Kwan  Yin,  they  would 
say  that  you  were  right  ;  but  if  I  could  refer  my  words  to 
the  great  Yu  or  Mih  Teih,  they  would  say  that  I  was  right/ 
Mang-sun  Yang,  on  this,  turned  round,  and  entered  into 
conversation  Avith  his  disciples  on  another  subject. " 

"  Yang  Choo  said,  '  The  empire  agrees  in  considering 
Shun,  Yu,  Chow-kung,  and  Confucius  to  have  been  the 
most  admirable  of  men,  and  in  considering  Keeh  and  Chow 
to  have  been  the  most  wicked. 

"  •  Now,  Shun  had  to  plough  the  ground  on  the  south  of  the 
Ho,  and  to  play  the  potter  by  the  Luy  lake.  His  four  limbs 
had  not  even  a  temporary  rest ;  for  his  mouth  and  belly  he 
could  not  find  pleasant  food  and  warm  clothing.  No  love 
of  his  parents  rested  upon  him  ;  no  affection  of  his  brothers 
and  sisters.  When  he  was  thirty  years  old,  he  had  not  been 
able  to  get  the  permission  of  his  parents  to  maiTy.  When 
Yaou  at  length  resigned  to  him  the  throne,  he  was  advanced 
in  age ;  his  wisdom  was  decayed ;  his  son  Shang-keun 
proved  without  ability;  and  he  had  finally  to  resign  the 
throne  to  Yu.  Sorrowfully  came  he  to  his  death.  Of  all 
mortals  never  was  one  whose  life  was  so  worn  out  and  em- 
poisoned as  his.  KSvan  was  required  to  reduce  the  deluged 
land  to  order ;  and  when  his  labours  were  ineffectual,  he 
was  put  to  death  on  mount  Yu,  and  Yu  [his  son]  had  to 
undertake  the  task,  and  serve  his  enemy.  All  his  energies 
were  spent  on  his  labours  with  the  land ;  a  child  was  born 
to  him,  but  he  could  not  foster  it;  he  passed  his  door  Avith- 
out  entering;  his  body  became  bent  and  withered;  the  skin 
of  his  hands  and  feet  became  thick  and  callous.  When  at 
length  Shun  resigned  to  him  the  throne,  he  lived  in  a  low, 
mean  house,  while  his  sacrificial  apron  and  cap  were  elegant. 
"Sorrowfully  came  he  to  his  death.  Of  all  mortals  never 
:was  one  whose  life  was  so  saddened  and  embittered  as  his. 
'On  the  death  of  king  Woo  [his  son],  king  Shing  was  young 
jand  weak.  Chow^-kung  had  to  undertake  all  the  imperial 
duties.  The  duke  of  Shaou  was  displeased,  and  evil  reports 
spread  through  the  empire.  Chow-kung  had  to  reside  three 
years  in  the  east ;  he  slew  his  elder  brother,  and  banished 
his  younger  ;  scarcely  did  he  escape  with  his  life.  Sorrow- 
fully came  he  to  his  death.     Of  all  mortals  never  was  one 


96  YANG  CHOO  AND  MIH  TEIH. 

whose  life  was  so  full  of  hazards  and  terrors  as  his.  Confu- 
cius understood  the  ways  of  the  ancient  emperors  and  kings. 
He  responded  to  the  invitations  of  the  princes  of  his  time. 
The  tree  was  cut  down  over  him  in  Sung ;  the  traces  of  his 
footsteps  were  removed  in  Wei ;  he  was  reduced  to  extremi- 
ty in  Shang  and  Chow ;  he  was  surrounded  in  Ch'in  and 
Ts'ae ;  he  had  to  bend  to  the  Head  of  the  Ke  family ;  he 
was  disgraced  by  Yang  Hoo.  Sorrowfully  came  he  to  his 
death.  Of  all  mortals  never  was  one  whose  life  was  so  agi- 
tated and  hurried  as  his. 

" '  Those  four  sages,  during  their  life,  had  not  a  single  day's 
joy.  Since  their  death  they  have  had  a  [grand]  fame  that 
will  last  through  myriads  of  ages.  But  that  fame  is  what  no 
one  who  cares  for  what  is  real  would  choose.  Celebrate 
them  ; — they  do  not  know  it.  Reward  them  ; — they  do  not 
know  it.  Their  fame  is  no  more  to  them  than  to  the  trunk 
of  a  tree  or  a  clod  of  earth. 

"  '  [On  the  other  hand],  Keeh  came  into  the  accumulated 
wealth  of  many  generations  ;  to  him  belonged  the  honour  of 
the  imperial  seat ;  his  wisdom  was  enough  to  enable  him  to 
set  at  defiance  all  below ;  his  power  was  enough  to  shake 
the  empire.  He  indulged  the  pleasures  to  which  his  eyes 
and  ears  prompted  him  ;  he  carried  out  whatever  it  came 
into  his  thoughts  to  do.  Brightly  came  he  to  his  death.  Of 
all  mortals  never  was  one  whose  life  was  so  luxurious  and 
dissipated  as  his.  [Similarly],  Chow  came  into  the  accumulat- 
ed wealth  of  many  generations  ;  to  him  belonged  the  honour 
of  the  royal  seat;  his  power  enabled  him  to  do  whatever 
he  would;  his  will  was  everywhere  obeyed;  he  indulged  his 
feelings  in  all  his  palaces ;  he  gave  the  reins  to  his  lusts 
through  the  long  night ;  he  never  made  himself  bitter  by 
the  thought  of  propriety  and  righteousness.  Brightly 
came  he  to  his  destruction.  Of  all  mortals  never  was  one 
whose  life  was  so  abandoned  as  his. 

"  *  These  two  villains,  dui-ing  their  life,  had  the  joy  of  grati- 
fying their  desires.  Since  their  death,  they  have  had  the 
[evil]  fame  of  folly  and  tyranny.  But  the  reality  [of 
enjoyment]  is  what  no  fame  can  give.  Reproach  them  ; — 
they  do  not  know  it.  Praise  them  ; — they  do  not  know  it. 
Their  [ill]  fame  is  no  more  to  them  than  to  the  trunk  of  a  tree, 
or  to  a  clod  of  earth. 

"  '  To  the  four  sages  all  admiration  is  given ;  yet  were  their 


THE    OPINIONS    OF    YANG    CHOO.  97 

lives  bitter  to  the  end,  and  their  common  lot  was  death. 
'To  the  two  villains  all  condemnation  is  given ;  yet  their 
lives  were  pleasant  to  the  last,  and  their  common  lot  was 
likewise  death/  " 

3.  The  above  passages  are  suflScient  to  show  the  character 
of  Yang  Choo's  mind  and  of  his  teachings.  It  would  be  do- 
ing injustice  to  Epicurus  to  compare  Yang  with  him,  for 
though  the  Grecian  philosopher  made  happiness  the  chief 
end  of  human  pursuit,  he  taught  also  that  "  we  cannot  live 
pleasurably  without  living  virtuously  and  justly."  The 
Epicurean  system  is,  indeed,  unequal  to  the  capacity,  and 
far  below  the  highest  complacencies,  of  human  nature  ;  but 
it  is  widely  different  from  the  reckless  contempt  of  all  which 
is  esteemed  good  and  great  that  defiles  the  pages  where  Yang 
is  made  to  tell  his  views. 

We  are  sometimes  reminded  by  him  of  fragmentary  utter- 
ance in  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes :— "  In  much  wisdom  is  much 
grief;  and  he  that  increaseth  knowledge  increaseth  sorrow." 
"As  it  happeneth  to  the  fool,  so  it  happeneth  even  to  me; 
and  why  was  I  then  more  wise  ?  Then  I  said  in  my  heart, 
that  this  also  is  vanity.  For  there  is  no  remembrance  of  the 
wise  more  than  of  the  fool  for  ever;  seeing  that  which  now 
is,  in  the  days  to  come  shall  all  be  forgotten.  And  how  dieth 
the  wise  man  ?  As  the  fool.  Therefore  I  hated  life ;  be- 
cause the  work  that  is  wrought  under  the  sun  is  grievous  to 
me  :  for  all  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit."  "There  is  a 
man  whose  labour  is  in  wisdom,  and  in  knowledge,  and  in 
equity.  . .  All  his  days  are  sorrows,  and  his  travail  grief;  yea, 
his  heart  taketh  not  rest  in  the  night : — this  is  also  vanity. 
There  is  nothing  better  for  a  man  than  that  he  should  eat  and 
drink,  and  that  he  should  make  his  soul  enjoy  good  in  his 
labour."  "That  which  befalleth  the  sons  of  men  befalleth 
beasts  ;  even  one  thing  befalleth  them  :  as  the  one  dieth,  so 
dieth  the  other ;  yea,  they  have  all  one  breath  ;  so  that  a 
man  hath  no  pre-eminence  over  a  beast  :  for  all  is  vanity. 
All  go  to  one  place ;  all  are  of  the  dust,  and  all  turn  to  dust 
again. .  .  Wherefore  I  perceive  that  there  is  nothiug  better 
than  that  a  man  should  rejoice  in  his  own  works  ;  for  that  is 
his  portion  :  for  who  shall  bring  him  to  see  what  shall  be 
after  him  ?" 

But  those  thouoj'hts  were  sugf^estions  of  evil  from  which 
the  Hebrew  Preacher  recoiled  in  his  own  mind ;  and  he  put 

VOL.  II.  7 


98  YANG    CIIOO    AND    MIH    TEIH. 

thom  on  record  only  that  he  might  give  their  antidote  along 
with  them.  He  vanquished  them  by  his  faith  in  God  ;  and 
so  he  ends  by  saying,  "  Let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the 
whole  matter. — Fear  God,  and  keep  Ilis  commandments  : 
for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man.  For  God  shall  bring  every 
work  into  judgment  with  every  secret  thing,  whether  it  be 
good,  or  whether  it  be  evil."  Yang  Choo  has  no  redeeming 
qualities.  His  reasonings  contain  no  elements  to  counteract 
the  poison  that  i.s  in  them.  He  never  rises  to  the  thought 
of  God.  There  ai-e,  he  allows,  such  ideas  as  those  of  pro- 
priety and  righteousness,  but  the  effect  of  thom  is  merely  to 
embitter  and  mar  the  enjoyment  of  life.  Fame  is  but  a 
phantom  which  onlv  the  fool  will  pursue.  It  is  the  same 
with  all  at  death.  There  their  being  ends.  After  that  there 
is  but  so  much  putridity  and  rottenness.  With  hira  there- 
fore the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  : — "Let  us  eat  and 
drink;  let  us  live  in  pleasure;  gratify  the  ears  and  eyes; 
get  servants  and  maidens,  music,  beauty,  wine ;  when  the 
day  is  insufficient,  carry  it    on    through    the  night ;   each 

ONE  FOR  HIMSE1>F." 

Mencius  might  well  say  that  if  such  "licentious  talk ^' 
were  not  arrested,  the  path  of  benevolence  and  righteousness 
would  be  stopped  up.  If  Yang's  principles  had  been  enter- 
tained by  the  nation,  every  bond  of  society  would  have  been 
dissolved.  All  the  foundations  of  order  would  have  been 
destroyed.  Vice  would  have  become  rampant,  and  virtue 
would  have  been  named  only  to  be  scorned.  There  would 
have  remained  for  the  entire  State  only  what  Yang  saw  in 
store  for  the  individual  man — "putridity  and  rottenness." 
Doubtless  it  was  owing  to  Mencius'  opposition  that  the  foul 
and  dangerous  current  was  stayed.  He  raised  up  against  it  the 
bulwark  of  human  nature  formed  for  virtue.  He  insisted  on 
benevolence,  righteousness,  propriety,  fidelity,  as  the  noblest 
attributes  of  man's  conduct.  More  was  needed,  but  more  he 
could  not  supply.  If  he  had  had  a  living  faith  in  God,  and 
hnd  been  in  possession  of  His  revealed  will,  the  present  state 
of  China  might  have  been  very  ditt'erent.  He  was  able  to 
warn  his  countrymen  of  the  gulf  into  which  Yang  Choo 
would  have  plunged  them  ;  but  he  could  direct  them  in  the 
way  of  truth  and  duty  only  imperfectly.  He  sent  them  in- 
to the  dark  cave  of  their  own  souls,  and  back  to  the  vague 
lessons  and  imperfect  examples  uf  their  sages;  and  China 


THE    OPINIONS    OP    MIH    TEIH.  99 

has  stag^gered  on,  waxing  feebler  and  feebler,  to  tlie  present 
time.  Her  people  need  to  be  directed  above  tliemseh^es 
and  beyond  the  present.  When  stars  shine  out  to  them  in 
heaven  and  from  eternity,  the  empire  will  perhaps  renew  its 
youth,  and  go  forward  from  strength  to  strength. 


SECTION  11. 

THE    OPINIONS   OP   MIH   TEIH. 


1.  Very  different  from  Yang  Choo  was  Mill  Teih.  They 
stood  at  the  opposite  poles  of  human  thought  and  senti- 
ment ;  and  we  may  wonder  that  Mencius_  should  have 
offered  the  same  stern  opposition  to  the  opinions  of  each  of 
them.  He  did  well  to  oppose  the  doctrine  whose  watch- 
word was — "  Each  one  for  himself; "  was  it  right  to  de- 
nounce, as  equally  injurious,  that  which  taught  that  the 
root  of  all  social  evils  is  to  be  traced  to  the  want  of  mutual 
love  ? 

It  is  allowed  that  Mih  was  a  native  and  oSicer  of  the 
State  of  Sung ;  but  the  time  when  he  lived  is  a  matter  of 
dispute.  Sze-ma  Ts'een  says  that  some  made  him  to  be  a 
contemporary  of  Confucius,  and  that  others  placed  him 
later.  He  was  certainly  later  than  Confucius,  to  whom  he 
makes  many  references,  not  always  complimentaiy,  in  his 
writings.  In  one  of  his  Treatises,  moreover,  mention  is 
made  of  Wun-tsze,  an  acknowledged  disciple  of  Tsze-hea, 
so  that  he  must  have  been  very  little  anterior  to  Mencius. 
This  is  the  impression  also  which  I  receive  from  the  refer- 
ences to  him  in  our  philosopher. 

In  Lew  Hin^s  third  catalogue  the  Mihist  writers  form  a 
subdivision.  Six  of  them  are  mentioned,  including  Mih 
himself,  to  whom  71  p'eeu,  or  Books,  are  attributed.  So 
many  were  then  current  under  his  name;  but  18  of  them 
have  since  been  lost.  He  was  an  original  thinker.  He 
exercised  a  bolder  judgment  on  things  than  Confucius  or 
any  of  his  followers.  Antiquity  was  not  so  sacred  to  him, 
and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  condemn  the  literati — the  ortho- 
dox— for  several  of  their  doctrines  and  practices. 


100  TAXG  CHOO  AND  MIH  TEIH. 

Two  of  his  peculiar  views  are  adverted  to  by  Mencius, 
and  vehemently  condemned.  The  one  is  about  the  regula- 
tion of  funerals,  where  Mih  contended  that  a  spare  simpli- 
city should  be  the  rule/  On  that  I  need  not  dwell.  The 
other  is  the  doctrine  of  "  Universal  Love."  ^  A  lengthy 
exposition  of  this  remains  in  the  Writings  which  go  by 
Mih's  name,  though  it  is  not  from  his  own  pen,  but  that  of 
a  disciple.  Such  as  it  is,  with  all  its  repetitions,  I  give  a 
translation  of  it.  My  readers  will  be  able,  after  perusing 
it,  to  go  on  with  me  to  consider  the  treatment  which  the 
doctrine  received  at  the  hands  of  Mencius. 


UNIVEESAL  LOVE.     PART  I. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  sages  to  effect  the  good  govern- 
ment of  the  empire.  They  must  know,  therefore,  whence 
disorder  and  confusion  arise,  for  without  this  knowledge 
their  object  cannot  be  effected.  We  may  compare  them  to 
a  physician  who  undertakes  to  cure  a  man's  disease : — 
he  must  ascertain  whence  the  disease  has  arisen,  and  then 
he  can  assail  it  with  effect,  while,  without  such  knowledge, 
his  endeavours  will  be  in  vain.  Why  should  we  except  the 
case  of  those  who  have  to  regulate  disorder  from  this  rule  ? 
They  must  know  whence  it  has  arisen,  and  then  they  can 
regulate  it. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  sages  to  effect  the  good  govern- 
ment of  all  under  heaven.  They  must  examine  therefore  into 
the  cause  of  disorder ;  and  when  they  do  so,  they  will  find 
that  it  arises  from  the  want  of  mutual  love.  When  a 
minister  and  a  son  are  not  filial  to  their  sovereign  and  their 
father,  this  is  what  is  called  disorder.  A  son  loves  himself, 
and  does  not  love  his  father ; — he  therefore  wrongs  his 
father  and  advantages  himself:  a  younger  brother  loves 
himself,  and  docs  not  love  his  elder  brother; — he  therefore 

'  Bk  IIT.  Pt  I.  V. 

^  111  the  phrase  for  this  the  former  cliaracter  represents  a  hand  grasping 
two  stalks  of  grain,  so  the  plirase  denotes,  "  a  love  that  grasps  or  unites 
many  in  its  eraliraco."  I  do  not  know  how  to  render  it  better  than  by 
••  universal  love."  Mencius  and  the  literati  generally  find  the  idea  of 
eijuality  in  it  also,  aad  it  is  with  them—"  To  love  all  equally." 


THE  OPINIONS  OF  MIH  TEIH.  101 

wrongs  his  older  brother,  and  advantages  himself:  a  minis- 
ter loves  himself,. and  does  not  love  his  sovereign: — he 
therefore  wrongs  his  sovereign,  and  advantages  himself: — 
all  these  are  cases  of  what  is  called  disorder.  Though  it 
be  the  father  who  is  not  kind  to  his  son,  or  the  elder 
brother  who  is  not  kind  to  his  younger  brother;  or  the 
sovereign  who  is  not  gracious  to  his  minister : — the  case 
comes  equally  under  the  general  name  of  disorder.  The 
father  loves  himself,  and  does  not  love  his  son; — he  therefore 
wrongs  his  son,  and  advantages  himself :  the  elder  brother 
loves  himself,  and  does  not  love  his  younger  brother ; — he 
therefore  wrongs  his  younger  brother,  and  advantages  him- 
self: the  sovereign  loves  himself,  and  does  not  love  his 
minister; — he  therefore  wrongs  his  ministei%  and  advan- 
tages himself.  How  do  these  things  come  to  pass  ?  They 
all  arise  from  the  want  of  mutual  love.  Take  the  case  of 
any  thief  or  robber  : — it  is  just  the  same  with  it.  The  thief 
loves  his  own  house,  and  does  not  love  his  neighbour's 
house  ; — he  therefore  steals  from  his  neighbour's  house  to 
advantage  his  own  :  the  robber  loves  his  own  person,  and 
does  not  love  his  neighbour ; — he  therefore  does  violence  to 
his  neighbour  to  advantage  himself.  How  is  this  ?  It  all 
arises  from  the  want  of  mutual  love.  Come  to  the  case  of 
great  officers  throwing  each  otliei-'s  families  into  confusion, 
and  of  princes  attacking  one  another's  States  : — it  is  just 
the  same  with  them.  The  great  officer  loves  his  own  family, 
and  does  not  love  his  neighbour's ; — he  therefore  throws  his 
neighbour's  family  into  disorder  to  advantage  his  own :  the 
prince  loves  his  own  State,  and  does  not  love  his  neigh- 
bour's ; — he  therefore  attacks  his  neighbour's  State  to  ad- 
vantage his  own.  All  disorder  in  the  empire  has  the  same 
explanation.  When  we  examine  into  the  cause  of  it,  it  is 
found  to  be  the  want  of  mutual  love. 

Suppose  that  universal  mutual  love  prevailed  throughout 
the  kingdom ; — if  men  loved  others  as  they  love  themselves, 

disliking  to  exhibit  what  was  unfilial ^     And  moreover 

would  there  be  those  who  were  unkind  ?  Looking  on  their 
sons,  younger  brothers,  and  ministers  as  themselves,  and 
disliking  to  exhibit  what  was  unkind  ....  the  want  of  filial 
duty  would  disappear.     And  would  there  be  thieves  and  rob- 

'  There  are  evidently  some  omissions  and  confusion  here  in  the  Chinese 
text. 


102  YANG   CHOO   AND    MIH    TEIH. 

bers  ?  Wlien  every  man  regarded  his  neiglibour's  house  as 
his  own,  who  would  be  found  to  steal  ?  When  every  one  re- 
garded his  neighbour's  person  as  his  own,  who  would  be  found 
to  rob  ?  Thieves  and  robbers  would  disappear.  And  would 
there  be  great  officers  throwing  one  another's  families  into 
confusion,  and  princes  attacking  one  anothei-''s  States  ?  When 
officers  regarded  the  families  of  others  as  their  own,  what  one 
would  make  confusion?  When  princes  regarded  other  States 
as  their  own,  what  one  would  begin  an  attack  ?  Great  officers 
throwing  one  another's  families  into  confusion,  and  princes 
attacking  one  another's  States,  would  disappear. 

If,  indeed,  universal  mutual  love  prevailed  throughout  the 
kingdom ;  one  State  not  attacking  another,  and  one  family 
not  throwing  another  into  confusion;  thieves  and  robbers 
nowhere  existing;  rulers  and  ministers,  fathers  and  sons,  all 
being  filial  and  kind  : — in  such  a  condition  the  kingdom 
would  be  well  governed.  On  this  account,  how  may  sages, 
whose  business  it  is  to  effijct  the  good  government  of  the 
kingdom,  do  other  than  prohibit  hatred  and  advise  to  love  ? 
On  this  account  it  is  affirmed  that  universal  mutual  love 
throughout  the  kingdom  will  lead  to  its  happy  order,  and 
that  mutual  hatred  leads  to  confusion.  This  was  what  our 
master,  the  philosopher  Mih,  meant,  when  he  said_,  "  We 
must  not  but  advise  to  the  love  of  others.'^ 


UNIVEESAL  LOVE.    PAET  II. 

Our  Master,  the  philosopher  Mih,  said,  "That  which  bene- 
volent men  consider  to  be  incumbent  on  them  as  their  busi- 
ness, is  to  stimulate  and  promote  all  that  will  be  advantage- 
ous to  the  kingdom,  and  to  take  away  all  that  is  injurious 
to  it.     This  is  what  they  consider  to  be  their  business.^' 

And  what  are  the  things  advantageous  to  the  kingdom,  and 
the  things  injurious  to  it  ?  Our  Master  said,  "  The  mutual 
attacks  of  State  on  State ;  the  mutual  usurp:itions  of  family 
on  family ;  the  mutual  robberies  of  man  on  man  ;  the  want  of 
kindness  on  the  part  of  the  sovereign  and  of  loyalty  on  the 
part  of  the  minister  ;  the  want  of  tenderness  and  filial  duty 
between  father  and  §on  : — these,  and  such  as  these,  are  the 
things  injurious  to  the  empire." 


THE    OPINIONS    OF    MIH    TEIH.  103 

And  from  what  do  we  find,  on  examination,  that  these  in- 
jurious things  are  produced  ?  Is  it  not  from  the  want  of 
mutual  love  ? 

Our  Master  said,  "Yes,  they  are  produced  by  the  want  of 
mutual  love.  Here  is  a  prince  who  only  knows  to  lovehis 
own  State,  and  does  not  love  his  neighbour's  ; — he  therefore 
does  not  shrink  from  raising*  all  the  power  of  his  State  to  at- 
tack his  neighbour.  Here  is  the  chief  of  a  family  who  only 
knows  to  love  it,  and  does  not  love  his  neighbour's; — he 
therefore  does  not  shrink  from  raising  all  his  powers  to  seize 
on  that  other  family.  Here  is  a  man  who  only  knows  to  love 
his  own  person,  and  does  not  love  his  neighbour's ; — he 
therefore  does  not  shrink  from  using  all  his  strength  to  rob 
his  neighbour.  Thus  it  happens  that  the  princes,  not  loving 
one  another,  have  their  battle-fields;  and  the  chiefs  of  families, 
not  loving  one  another,  have  their  mutual  usurpations;  and 
men,  not  loving  one  another,  have  their  mutual  I'obberies ; 
and  sovereigns  and  ministers,  not  loving  one  another,  become 
unkind  and  disloyal ;  and  fathers  and  sons,  not  loving  one 
another,  lose  their  affection  and  filial  duty  ;  and  brothers, 
not  loving  one  another,  contract  irreconcileable  enmities. 
Yea,  men  in  general  not  loving  one  another,  the  sti'ong  make 
prey  of  the  weak  ;  the  rich  do  despite  to  the  poor ;  the  noble 
are  insolent  to  the  mean;  and  the  deceitful  impose  upon  the 
stupid.  All  the  miseries,  usurpations,  enmities,  and  hatreds 
in  the  world,  when  traced  to  their  origin,  will  be  found  to 
arise  from  the  want  of  mutual  love.  On  this  account,  the 
benevolent  condemn  it.'^ 

They  may  condemn  it ;  but  how  shall  they  change  it  ? 

Our  Master  said,  "  They  may  change  it  by  universal 
mutual  love,  and  by  the  interchange  of  mutual  benefits." 

How  will  this  law  of  universal  mutual  love  and  the  inter- 
change of  mutual  benefits  accomplish  this? 

Our  Master  said,  "  [It  would  lead]  to  the  regarding  an- 
other kingdom  as  one's  own ;  another  family  as  one's  own  ; 
another  y)erson  as  one's  own.  That  being  the  case,  the 
princes,  loving  one  another,  would  have  no  battle-fields  ; 
the  chiefs  of  families,  loving  one  anothei",  would  attempt  no 
usurpations  ;  men,  loving  one  another,  would  commit  no 
robberies ;  rulers  and  ministers,  loving  one  another,  would 
be  gracious  and  loj'al ;  fathers  and  sons,  loving  one  another, 
would  be  kind  and  filial ;    brothers,    loving  one  another, 


104  TAXG    CHOO    AND    MIH    TEIH. 

would  be  liarmonious  and  easily  reconciled.  Yea,  men  in 
general  loving  one  another,  the  strong  would  not  make 
prey  of  the  weak ;  the  many  would  not  plunder  the  few ; 
the  rich  would  not  insult  the  poor;  the  noble  would  not  be 
insolent  to  the  mean ;  and  the  deceitful  would  not  impose 
upon  the  simple.  The  way  in  which  all  the  miseries, 
usurpations,  enmities,  and  hatreds  in  the  world  may  be 
made  not  to  arise,  is  universal  mutual  love.  On  this  ac- 
count, the  benevolent  value  and  praise  it.^"" 

Yes;  but  the  scholars  of  the  empire  and  superior  men 
say,  "  True ;  if  there  were  this  universal  love,  it  would  be 
good.  It  is,  however,  the  most  difficult  thing  in  the 
world." 

Our  Master  said,  "  This  is  because  the  scholars  and  su- 
perior men  simply  do  not  understand  the  advantageousness 
[of  the  law],  and  to  conduct  their  reasonings  upon  that.  Take 
the  case  of  assaulting  a  city,  or  of  a  battle-field,  or  of  the 
sacrificing  one's  life  for  the  sake  of  fame ; — this  is  felt  by 
the  people  everywhere  to  be  a  difficult  thing.  Yet,  if  the 
sovereign  be  pleased  with  it,  both  officers  and  people  are 
able  to  do  it : — how  much  more  might  they  attain  to  uni- 
versal mutual  love,  and  the  interchange  of  mutual  benefits, 
which  is  different  from  this  !  When  a  man  loves  others, 
they  fespond  to  and  love  him  ;  when  a  man  benefits  others, 
they  respond  to  and  benefit  him ;  when  a  man  injures 
others,  they  respond  to  and  injure  him  :  when  a  man  hates 
others,  they  respond  to  and  hate  him : — what  difficulty  is 
there  in  the  matter  ?  It  is  only  that  rulers  will  not  carry 
on  the  government  on  this  principle,  and  so  officers  do  not 
carry  it  out  in  their  practice. 

"  Formerly,  the  duke  Wan  of  Tsin  liked  his  officers  to 
be  badly  dressed,  and,  therefore,  they  all  wore  rams'  furs,  a 
leathern  swordbelt,  and  a  cap  of  bleached  cotton.  Thus 
attired,  they  went  in  to  the  prince's  levee,  and  came  out 
and  walked  through  the  court.  Why  did  they  do  this  ? 
The  sovereign  liked  it,  and  therefore  the  ministers  did  it. 
The  duke  Ling  of  Ts'oo  liked  his  officers  to  have  small 
waists,  and,  therefore,  they  all  limited  themselves  to  a 
single  meal.  They  held  in  their  breath  in  putting  on  their 
belts,  and  had  to  help  themselves  up  by  means  of  the  wall. 
In  the  course  of  a  year,  they  looked  black,  and  as  if  they 
would  die  of  starvation.      Why  did  they  do  this  ?      The 


THE    OriNIOXS    OF    MIH    TEIH.  105 

sovereign  liked  it,  and,  therefore,  tlie  ministers  were  able 
to  do  it.  Kow-tseen,  the  king  of  Yueh,  liked  his  ministers 
to  be  brave,  and  taught  them  to  be  accustomed  to  be  so. 
At  a  genei'al  assembly  of  them,  he  set  on  fire  the  ship  where 
they  were,  and  to  try  them,  said,  "  All  the  precious  things 
of  Yueh  are  here."  He  then  with  his  own  hands  beat  a 
drum,  and  urged  them  on.  AVhen  they  heard  the  drum 
thundering,  they  rushed  confusedly  about,  and  trampled  in 
the  fire,  till  more  than  a  hundred  of  them  perished,  when 
he  struck  the  gong,  and  called  them  back. 

"  Now,  little  food,  bad  clothes,  and  the  sacrifice  of  life 
for  the  sake  of  fame, — these  are  what  it  is  difficult  for 
people  to  approve  of  Yet,  when  the  sovereign  was  pleased 
with  it,  they  were  all  able  [in  those  cases]  to  bring  them- 
selves to  them.  How  much  more  could  they  attain  to 
universal  mutual  love,  and  the  interchange  of  mutual 
benefits,  which  is  different  from  such  things  !  When  a  man 
loves  others,  they  respond  to  and  love  him ;  when  a  man 
benefits  ochers,  they  respond  to  and  benefit  him;  when  a 
man  hates  others,  they  respond  to  and  hate  him  ;  when  a 
man  injures  others,  they  respond  to  and  injure  him.  It  is 
only  that  rulers  will  not  carry  on  their  government  on  this 
principle,  and  so,  officers  do  not  carry  it  out  in  their 
practice." 

Yes ;  but  now  the  officers  and  superior  men  say, ''''  Granted; 
the  universal  practice  of  mutual  love  would  be  good  ;  but  it 
is  an  impracticable  thing.  It  is  like  taking  up  the  T'ae 
mountain,  and  leaping  with  it  over  the  Ho  or  the  Tse." 

Our  Master  said,  "  That  is  not  the  proper  comparison  for 
it.  To  take  up  the  T'ae  mountain,  and  leap  with  it  over 
the  Ho  or  the  Tse,  may  be  called  an  exercise  of  most  extra- 
ordinary strength ;  it  is,  in  fact,  what  no  one,  from  antiquity 
to  the  present  time,  has  ever  been  able  to  do.  But  how 
widely  different  from  this  is  the  practice  of  universal  mutual 
love,  and  the  interchange  of  mutual  benefits  ! 

"  Anciently,  the  sage  kings  practised  this.  How  do  we 
know  that  they  did  so  ?  When  Yu  reduced  the  empire  to 
order : — in  the  west  he  made  the  western  Ho  and  the  Joo- 
tow,  to  carry  off  the  waters  of  K'^eu-sun-wang ;  in  the  north, 
he  made  the  Fang-yuen,  the  Koo,  How-che-te,  and  the  Tow 
of  Foo-f^o ;  setting  up  also  the  Te-ch'^oo,  and  chiselling  out 
the  Lung-mun,  to   benefit  Yen,   Tae,  Hoc,   Mih,   and  the 


106  TANG   CHOO   AND    MIH    TEIH. 

people  of  tlie  Avestern  Ho ;  in  the  east,  he  drained  the  waters 
to  Liih-fimg  and  the  marsh  of  Mang-choo,  reducing  them  to 
nine  channels,  to  limit  the  waters  of  the  eastei'n  country, 
and  benefit  the  people  of  K'e-chow  ;  and  in  the  south,  he 
made  the  Kiiang,  the  Han,  the  Hwae,  the  Joo,  the  course  of 
the  eastern  current,  and  the  five  lakes,  to  benefit  King, 
Ts'oo,  and  Yueh,  the  people  of  the  wild  south.  These  were 
the  doings  of  Yu ;  and  I  am  now  for  practising  the  [same] 
universal  [mutual  love] . 

"  When  king  Wan  brought  the  western  country  to  good 
order,  his  light  spread,  like  the  sun  or  the  moon,  over  its 
four  quarters.  He  did  not  permit  great  States  to  insult 
small  ones ;  he  did  not  permit  the  multitude  to  oppress  the 
fatherless  and  the  widow ;  he  did  not  permit  violence  and 
power  to  take  from  the  husbandmen  their  millet,  pannicled 
millet,  dogs,  and  swine.  Heaven,  as  if  constrained,  visited 
king  Wan  Avith  blessing.  The  old  and  childless  were 
enabled  to  complete  their  years;  the  solitary  and  brother- 
less  could  yet  mingle  among  the  living ;  the  young  and 
pai'entless  found  those  on  whom  they  could  depend,  and 
grew  up.  These  were  the  doings  of  king  Wan  ;  and  I  am 
now  for  practising  the  same  universal  [mutual  love]. 

"  King  Woo  tunneled  through  the  T'ae  mountain.  The 
Eecord  says,  'There  is  a  way  through  the  mountain,  made 
by  me,  the  descendant  of  the  kings  of  Chow  :-^l  have  ac- 
complished this  great  work.  I  have  got  my  virtuous  men, 
and  rise  up  full  of  reverence  for  Shang,  Hea,  and  the  tribes 
of  the  south,  the  east,  and  the  north.  Though  he  has  his 
multitudes  of  relatives,  they  arc  not  equal  to  my  virtuous 
men.  If  guilt  attach  to  the  people  anywhere  throughout 
the  empire,  it  is  to  be  ref[uired  of  me,  the  One  man.'  This 
describes  the  doings  of  king  Woo,  and  I  am  now  for  prac- 
tising the  [same]  universal  mutual  love. 

"If,  now,  the  rulers  of  the  kingdom  truly  and  sincerely  wish 
all  in  it  to  be  rich,  and  dislike  any  being  poor;  if  they 
desire  its  good  government,  and  dislike  disorder ;  they 
ought  to  practise  universal  mutual  love,  and  the  interchange 
of  mutual  benefits.  This  was  the  law  of  the  sage  kings; 
it  is  the  way  to  effect  the  good  government  of  the  kingdom  ; 
it  may  not  but  be  striven  after.'^ 


THE    OriNIONS    OF   MIH    TEIH.  107 


UNIVERSAL  LOVE.     PAET  III. 

Our  Master,  the  philosopher  Mih,  said,  "  The  business  of 
benevolent  men  requires  that  they  should  strive  to  stimulate 
and  promote  what  is  advantageous  to  the  empire,  and  to 
take  away  what  is  injurious  to  it/' 

Speaking,  now,  of  the  present  time,  what  are  to  be  ac- 
counted the  most  injurious  things  to  the  empire  ?  They 
are  such  as  the  attacking  of  small  States  by  great  ones  ;  the 
inroads  on  small  families  of  great  ones ;  the  plunder  of 
the  weak  by  the  strong ;  the  oppression  of  the  few  by  the 
many ;  the  scheming  of  the  crafty  against  the  simple ;  the 
insolence  of  the  noble  to  the  mean.  To  the  same  class  be- 
long the  ungraciousness  of  rulers,  and  the  disloyalty  of 
ministers ;  the  unkinduess  of  fathers,  and  the  want  of  filial 
duty  on  the  part  of  sons.  Yea,  there  is  to  be  added  to 
these  the  conduct  of  the  mean  men,  who  employ  their 
edged  weapons  and  poisoned  stuff,  water  and  fire,  to  rob  and 
injure  one  another. 

Pushing  on  the  inquiry  now,  let  us  ask  whence  all  these 
injurious  things  arise.  Is  it  from  loving  others  and  advan- 
taging others?  It  must  be  answered  "No;''  and  it  must 
likewise  be  said,  "  They  arise  clearly  from  hating  others 
and  doing  violence  to  others."  [If  it  be  further  asked] 
whether  those  who  hate  and  do  violence  to  others  hold  the 
principle  of  loving  all,  or  that  of  making  distinctions,  it 
must  be  replied,  "  They  make  distinctions."  So  then,  it  is 
this  principle  of  making  distinctions  between  man  and  man, 
which  gives  rise  to  all  that  is  most  injurious  in  the  empire. 
On  this  account  we  conclude  that  that  principle  is  wrong. 

Our  Master  said,  "  He  who  condemns  others  must  have 
whereby  to  change  them."  To  condemn  men,  and  have  no 
means  of  changing  them,  is  like  saving  them  from  fire  by 
plunging  them  in  water.  A  man's  language  in  such  a  case 
must  be  improper.  On  this  account  our  Master  said,  "  There 
is  the  principle  of  loving  all,  to  change  that  which  makes 
distinctions."     If,  now,  we  ask,  "  And  how  is  it  that  universal 


108  YANG    CHOO   AND    MIH   TEIH. 

love  can  cliange  ftlie  consequences  of]  that  other  principle 
which  makes  distinctions  ? "  the  answer  is,  "  If  princes 
were  as  much  for  the  States  of  others  as  for  their  own,  what 
one  among  them  would  raise  the  forces  of  his  State  to 
attack  that  of  another  ? — he  is  for  that  other  as  much  as  for 
himself.  If  they  were  for  the  capitals  of  others  as  much  as 
for  their  own,  what  one  would  raise  the  forces  of  his  capital 
to  attack  that  of  another  ? — he  is  for  that  as  much  as  for  his 
own.  If  chiefs  regarded  the  families  of  others  as  their  own, 
what  one  would  lead  the  power  of  his  family  to  throw  that 
of  another  into  confusion  ? — he  is  for  that  other  as  much  as 
for  himself.  If,  now,  States  did  not  attack,  nor  holders  of 
capitals  smite,  one  another,  and  if  families  were  guilty  of  no 
miutual  aggressions,  would  this  be  injurious  to  the  empire,  or 
its  benefit  ?  "  It  must  be  replied,  "  This  would  be  advan- 
tageous to  the  empire."  Pushing  on  the  inquiry,  now,  let 
us  ask  whence  all  these  benefits  arise.  Is  it  from  hating 
others  and  doing  violence  to  others  ?  It  must  be  answered, 
"  No  ;  "  and  it  must  likewise  be  said,  "  They  arise  clearly 
from  loving  others  and  doing  good  to  others.^'  [If  it  be 
further  asked]  whether  those  who  love  others  and  do  good 
to  others  hold  the  principle  of  making  distinctions  between 
man  and  man,  or  that  of  loving  all,  it  must  be  replied, 
"  They  love  all."  So  then  it  is  this  principle  of  universal 
mutual  love  which  really  gives  rise  to  all  that  is  most  bene- 
ficial to  the  empire.  On  this  account  we  conclude  that  that 
principle  is  right. 

Our  Master  said,  a  little  ago,  "  The  business  of  benevolent 
men  requires  that  they  should  strive  to  stimulate  and  pro- 
mote what  is  advantageous  to  the  kingdom,  and  to  take  away 
what  is  injurious  to  it."  We  have  now  traced  the  subject 
up,  and  found  that  it  is  the  principle  of  universal  love  which 
produces  all  that  is  most  beneficial  to  the  kingdom,  and  the 
principle  of  making  distinctions  which  produces  all  that  is 
injurious  to  it.  On  this  account  what  our  Master  said 
— "  The  principle  of  making  distinctions  between  man  and 
man  is  wrong,  and  the  principle  of  universal  love  is  right," 
turns  out  to  be  correct  as  the  sides  of  a  square. 

If,  now,  we  just  desire  to  promote  the  benefit  of  the  king- 
dom, and  select  for  that  purpose  the  principle  of  universal 
love,  then  the  acute  ears  and  piercing  eyes  of  people  will  hear 
and  see  for  one  another  ;  and  the  strong  limbs  of  people  will 


THE    OPINIONS    OF   MIH    TEIH.  109 

move  and  be  ruled  for  one  another ;  and  men  of  principle 
will  instruct  one  another.  It  will  come  about  that  the  old, 
who  have  neither  wife  nor  children,  will  get  supporters  who 
will  enable  them  to  complete  their  years  ;  and  the  young 
and  weak,  who  have  no  parents,  will  yet  find  helpers  that 
shall  bring  them  up.  On  the  contrary,  if  this  principle  of 
universal  love  is  held  not  to  be  correct,  what  benefits  will 
arise  from  such  a  view  ?  What  can  be  the  reason  that  the 
scholars  of  the  empire,  whenever  they  hear  of  this  principle 
of  universal  love,  go  on  to  condemn  it  ?  Plain  as  the  case 
is,  their  words  in  condemnation  of  this  principle  do  not  stop  ; 
— they  say,  "  It  may  be  good,  but  how  can  it  be  carried  into 
practice  ?  " 

Our  Master  said,  '*  Supposing  that  it  could  not  be  practis- 
ed, it  seems  hard  to  go  on  likewise  to  condemn  it.  But 
how  can  it  be  good,  and  yet  incapable  of  being  put  into 
practice  ? '' 

Let  us  bring  forward  two  instances  to  test  the  matter. — 
Let  any  one  suppose  the  case  of  two  individuals,  the  one  of 
whom  shall  hold  the  principle  of  making  distinctions,  and 
the  other  shall  hold  the  principle  of  universal  love.  The 
former  of  these  will  say,  "  How  can  I  be  for  the  person  of 
my  friend  as  much  as  for  my  own  person  ?  how  can  I  be  for 
the  parents  of  my  friend  as  much  as  for  my  own  parents  ?  " 
Reasoning  in  this  way,  he  may  see  his  friend  hungry,  but 
he  will  not  feed  him  ;  cold,  but  he  will  not  clothe  him  ;  sick, 
but  he  will  not  nurse  him  ;  dead,  but  he  will  not  bury  him. 
Such  will  be  the  language  of  the  individual  holding  the  prin- 
ciple of  distinction,  and  such  will  be  his  conduct.  The  lan- 
guage of  the  other,  holding  the  principle  of  universality,  will 
be  different,  and  also  his  conduct.  He  will  say,  "  I  have 
heard  that  he  who  wishes  to  play  a  lofty  part  among  men, 
will  be  for  the  person  of  his  friend  as  much  as  for  his  own 
person,  and  for  the  parents  of  his  friend  as  much  as  for  his 
own  parents.  It  is  only  thus  that  he  can  attain  his  distinc- 
tion ?  Reasoning  in  this  way,  when  he  sees  his  friend  hungry, 
he  will  feed  him  ;  cold,  he  will  clothe  him  ;  sick,  he  will 
nurse  him  ;  dead,  he  will  bury  him.  Such  will  be  the  lan- 
guage of  him  who  holds  the  principle  of  universal  love,  and 
such  will  be  his  conduct. 

The  words  of  the  one  of  these  individuals  are  a  condemn- 
ation  of  those  of  the   other,  and  their  conduct  is  directly 


no  TANG    CHOO    AND    MIH    TEIH. 

contrary.  Suppose  now  that  tlieir  words  are  perfectly  sin- 
cere, and  that  their  conduce  will  be  carried  out, — that  their 
words  and  actions  will  correspond  like  the  parts  of  a  token, 
every  word  being  carried  into  effect ;  and  let  us  proceed  to 
])ut  the  following  questions  on  the  case  : — Here  is  a  plain  in 
the  open  country,  and  an  officer,  with  coat  of  mail,  gorget, 
and  helmet,  is  about  to  take  part  in  a  battle  to  be  fought  in 
it,  where  the  issue,  whether  for  life  or  death,  cannot  be  fore- 
known ;  or  here  is  an  officer  about  to  be  despatched  on  a  dis- 
tant co7nmission  from  Pa  to  Yueh,  or  from  Ts'e  to  King,  where 
the  issue  of  the  journey,  going  and  coming,  is  quite  uncer- 
tain : — on  either  of  these  suppositions,  to  whom  will  the 
officer  entrust  the  charge  of  his  house,  the  support  of  his 
parents,  and  the  care  of  his  wife  and  children  ? — to  one  who 
holds  the  principle  of  universal  love  ?  or  to  one  who  holds 
that  which  makes  distinctions  ?  I  apprehend  there  is  no  one 
under  heaven,  man  or  Avoman,  however  stupid,  though  he 
may  condemn  the  principle  of  universal  love,  but  would  at 
such  a  time  make  one  who  holds  it  the  subject  of  his  tru.st. 
This  is  in  words  to  condemn  the  principle,  and  when  there 
is  occasion  to  choose  between  it  and  the  opposite,  to  approve 
it; — words  and  conduct  are  herein  contradiction.  I  do  not 
know  how  it  is,  that,  throughout  the  empire,  scholars  con- 
demn the  principle  of  universal  love,  whenever  they  hear  it. 

Plain  as  the  case  is,  their  words  in  condemnation  of  it  do 
not  cease,  but  they  say,  "  This  principle  may  suffice  perhaps 
to  guide  in  the  choice  of  an  officer,  but  it  will  not  guide  in 
the  choice  of  a  sovereign.'^ 

Let  ns  test  this  by  taking  two  illustrations  : — Let  any  one 
suppose  the  case  of  two  sovereigns,  the  one  of  whom  shall 
hold  the  principle  of  mutual  love,  and  the  other  shall  hold 
the  principle  which  makes  distinctions.  In  this  case,  the 
latter  of  them  will  say,  "  How  can  I  be  as  much  for  the  per- 
sons of  all  my  people  as  for  ray  own  ?  This  is  much  opposed 
to  human  feelings.  The  life  of  man  upon  the  earth  is  but  a 
very  brief  space  ;  it  may  be  compared  to  the  rapid  movement 
of  a  team  of  horses  whirling  past  any  particular  spot.'* 
Reasoning  in  this  way,  he  may  see  his  people  hungry,  but 
he  will  not  feed  them  ;  cold,  but  he  will  not  clothe  them  ; 
sick,  but  he  will  not  nurse  them  ;  dead,  but  he  will  not  bury 
them.  Such  will  1)0  the  language  of  the  sovereign  who  holds 
the  principle  of  distinctions,  and  such  will   be  his  conduct. 


THE    OPINIONS    OF    MTH    TEIH.  Ill 

Different  will  be  the  language  and  conduct  of  the  other  who 
holds  the  principle  of  universal  love.  He  will  say,  "  I  have 
heard  that  he  who  would  show  himself  a  [virtuous  and]  intel- 
ligent sovei'cign,  ought  to  make  his  people  the  first  considera- 
tion, and  think  of  himself  only  after  them."  Reasoning  in 
this  way,  when  he  sees  any  of  the  people  hungry,  he  will  feed 
them  ;  cold,  he  will  clothe  thein ;  sick,  he  will  nurse  them; 
dead,  he  will  bury  them.  Such  will  be  the  language  of  the 
sovereign  who  holds  the  principle  of  universal  love,  and  such 
his  conduct.  If  we  compare  the  two  sovereigns,  the  words 
of  the  one  are  condemnatory  of  those  of  the  other,  and  their 
actions  are  opposite.  Let  us  suppose  that  their  words  are 
equally  sincere,  and  that  their  actions  will  be  made  g'ood, — ■ 
that  their  words  and  actions  will  correspond  like  the  parts 
of  a  token,  every  word  being  carried  into  effect ;  and  let  us 
proceed  to  put  the  following  questions  on  the  case  : — 
Here  i-!  a  year  when  a  pestilence  walks  abroad  among  the 
people  ;  many  of  them  suffer  from  cold  and  famine ;  multi- 
tudes die  in  the  ditches  and  water-channels.  If  at  such  a  time 
they  might  make  an  election  between  the  two  sovereigns 
whom  we  have  supposed,  which  would  they  prefer  ?  I  ap- 
prehend there  is  no  one  under  heaven,  however  stupid, 
though  he  may  condemn  the  principle  of  universal  love,  but 
would  at  such  a  time  prefer  to  be  under  the  sovereign  who 
holds  it.  This  is  in  words  to  condemn  the  principle,  and, 
when  there  is  occasion  to  choose  between  it  and  the  opposite, 
to  approve  it ; — words  and  conduct  are  here  in  contradiction. 
I  do  not  know  how  it  is  that  throughout  the  empire  scholars 
condemn  the  pi'inciple  of  universal  love,  whenever  they  hear  it. 

Plain  as  the  case  is,  their  words  in  condemnation  of  it  do 
not  cease ;  but  they  say,  "  This  universal  [mutual  love]  is 
benevolent  and  righteous.  That  we  grant,  but  how  can  it 
be  practised  ?  The  impi-acticability  of  it  is  like  that  of  taking 
up  the  T'ae  mountain,  and  leaping  with  it  over  the  Keang 
or  the  Ho.  We  do,  indeed,  desire  this  universal  love,  but  it 
is  an  impracticable  thing  !  " 

Our  Master  said,  "  To  take  up  the  T'^ae  mountain,  and  leap 
with  it  over  the  Keang  or  the  Ho,  is  a  thing  which  never  has 
been  done,  from  the  highest  antiquity  to  the  present  time, 
since  men  wei'e  ;  but  the  exercise  of  mutual  love  and  the  in- 
terchange of  mutual  benefirs, — this  was  practised  by  the 
ancient  sages  and  six  kings. ^' 


112  TANG   CHOO   AND    MIH    TEIH. 

How  do  you  know  that  the  ancient  sages  and  the  six  kings 
practised  this  ? 

Our  Master  said,  "  I  was  not  of  the  same  age  and  time 
with  them,  so  that  I  could  myself  have  heard  their  voices, 
or  seen  their  faces  ;  but  I  know  what  I  say  from  what  they 
have  transmitted  to  posterity,  written  on  bamboo  or  cloth, 
cut  in  metal  or  stone,  engraven  on  their  vessels," 

It  is  said  in  "The  Great  Declaration," — "King  Wan  was 
like  the  sun  or  like  the  moon ;  suddenly  did  his  brightness 
shine  through  the  four  quarters  of  the  western  region." 

According  to  these  words,  king  Wan  exercised  the 
principle  of  universal  love  on  a  vast  scale.  He  is  compared 
to  the  sun  or  moon  which  shines  on  all,  without  partial 
favour  to  any  spot  under  the  heavens  ; — such  was  the  uni- 
versal love  of  king  Wtin."  What  our  Master  insisted  on  was 
thus  exemplified  in  him. 

Again,  not  only  does  "  The  Great  Declaration "  speak 
thus ; — we  find  the  same  thing  in  "  The  Declaration  of  Yu." 
Yu  said,  "  Ye  multitudes,  listen  all  to  my  words.  It  is  not 
only  I  who  dare  to  say  a  word  in  favour  of  war ; — against 
this  stupid  prince  of  Meaou  we  must  execute  the  punish- 
ment appointed  by  Heaven.  I  am  therefore  leading  your 
hosts,  and  go  before  you  all  to  punish  the  prince  of  Meaou." 

Thus  Yu  punished  the  prince  of  Meaou,  not  to  increase 
his  own  riches  and  nobility,  nor  to  obtain  happiness  and 
emolument,  nor  to  gratify  his  ears  and  eyes; — he  did  it, 
seeking  to  promote  what  was  advantageous  to  the  empire, 
and  to  take  away  what  was  injurious  to  it.  It  appears  from 
this  that  Yu  held  the  principle  of  universal  love.  What 
our  Master  insisted  on  may  be  found  in  him. 

And  not  only  may  Yu  thus  be  appealed  to; — we  have 
"  The  words  of  T'ang"  to  the  same  effect.  T'ang  said,  "I, 
the  child  Le,  presume  to  use  a  dark-coloured  victim,  and  an- 
nounce to  Thee,  0  supreme  Heavenly  Sovereign. — Now  there 
is  a  great  drought,  and  it  is  right  I  should  be  held  respon- 
sible for  it.  I  do  not  know  but  that  I  have  offended  against 
the  Powers  above  and  below.  But  the  good  I  dare  not  keep 
in  obscurity,  and  the  sinner  I  dare  not  pardon.  The  ex- 
amination of  this  is  with  Thy  mind,  0  God.  If  the  people 
throughout  the  empire  commit  offences,  it  is  to  be  required 
of  me.  If  I  commit  offences,  it  does  not  concern  the  people." 
From  these  words  we  perceive  that  T'ang,  possessing  the 


THE  OPINIONS  OF  MIR  TEIH,  113 

difuity  of  supi'cme  king,  and  the  wealth  of  the  king-Juni,  yet 
did  not  shrink  from  offering  himself  as  a  sacrifice  which  might 
bo  acceptable  to  God  and  [other]  spiritual  Beings."  It 
appears  from  this  that  T'ang  held  the  principle  of  universal 
love.  AVhat  our  Master  insisted  on  was  exemplified  in  T'ang. 
And  not  only  may  we  appeal  in  this  way  to  the  "  Declara- 
tions," "  Charges,"  and  "  The  Words  of  T'ang,"— we  find 
the  same  thing  in  "  The  Poems  of  Chow."  One  of  those 
poems  says, 

"  Wide  and  long  is  the  Eoyal  way,  It  is  straight  as  an  arrow, 

Without  dedection,  without  injii^^tice.  It  is  smooth  as  a  whetstone. 

The  Royal  way  is  plain  and  level,  The  officers  tread  it ; 

Without  injustice,  without  deflection.  The  lower  people  see  it." 

Is  not  this  speaking  of  the  [Royal]  way  in  accordance  with 
our  style  ?  Anciently,  Wan  and  Woo,  acting  with  exact 
justice  and  impartiality,  rewarded  the  worthy  and  pimished 
the  oppressive,  allowing  no  favouritism  to  influence  them 
towards  their  own  relatives.  It  appears  from  this  that  Wan 
and  Woo  held  the  principle  of  universal  love.  What  our 
Master  insisted  on  was  exemplified  in  them. — How  is  it  that 
the  scholars  of  the  empire  condemn  this  universal  love, 
whenever  they  hear  of  it  ?  Plain  as  the  case  is,  the  words 
of  those  who  condemn  the  principle  of  universal  love  do  not 
cease.  They  say,  "  It  is  not  advantageous  to  the.  entire 
devotion  to  parents  which  is  required; — it, is  injurious  to 
filial  piety."  Oar  Master  said,  "Let  us  bring  this  objection 
to  the  test: — A  filial  sou,  having  [the  happiness  of]  his  parents 
at  heart,  considers  how  it  is  to  be  secured.  Now,  does  he, 
so  considering,  wish  men  to  love  and  benefit  his  parents  ? 
or  does  he  wish  them  to  hate  and  injure  his  parents  ?  "  On 
this  view  of  the  question,  it  must  be  evident  that  he  wishes 
men  to  love  and  benefit  his  parents.  And  what  must  he 
himself  fir.st  do  in  order  to  gain  this  object  ?  If  I  first  ad- 
dress myself  to  love  and  benefit  men's  parents,  will  they  for 
that  return  love  and  benefit  to  my  parents  ?  or  if  I  first  ad- 
dress myself  to  hate  men's  parents,  will  they  for  that  return 
love  and  benefit  to  my  parents  ?  It  is  clear  that  I  must 
first  address  myself  to  love  and  benefit  men's  parents,  and 
they  will  return  to  me  love  and  benefit  to  my  parents.  The 
conclusion  is  that  a  filial  sou  has  no  alternative. — He  must 
address  himself  in  the  first  place  to  love  and  do  good  to  the 
VOL.  n.  8 


114  YANG   CHOO    AND    MIH   TEIH. 

parents  of  otters.  If  it  be  supposed  that  this  is  an  acci- 
dental course,  to  be  followed  on  emergency  by  a  filial  son, 
and  not  sufficient  to  be  regarded  as  a  general  rule,  let  us 
bring  it  to  the  test  of  what  we  find  in  the  Books  of  the 
ancient  kings.     It  is  said  in  the  Ta  Ya, 

"  Every  word  find  its  answer  ;  He  threw  me  a  peach  ; 

Every  action  its  recompense.  I  returned  him  a  plum." 

These  words  show  that  he  who  loves  others  will  be  loved, 
and  that  he  who  hates  others  will  be  hated.  How  is  it  that 
the  scholars  of  the  empire  condemn  this  principle  of  uni- 
versal love,  when  they  hear  it  ? 

Is  it  that  they  deem  it  so  difficult  as  to  be  impracticable  ? 
But  there  have  been  more  difficult  things,  which  yet  have 
been  done.  [For  instance],  king  Ling  of  King  was  fond  of 
small  waists.  In  his  time,  the  officers  of  King  restricted 
thentselves  to  a  handful  of  rice,  till  they  required  a  stick  to 
raise  themselves,  and  in  walking  had  to  hold  themselves  up 
by  the  wall.  Now,  it  is  a  difficult  thing  to  restrict  one's- 
self  in  food,  but  they  were  able  to  do  it,  because  it  would 
please  king  Ling. — It  needs  not  more  than  a  generation  to 
change  the  manners  of  the  people,  such  is  their  desire  to 
move  after  the  pattern  of  their  superiors. 

[Again],  Kovv-tseen  the  king  of  Yueh,  was  fond  of 
bravery.  He  spent  three  yeai's  in  training  his  officers  to  be 
brave;  and  then,  not  knowing  fully  whether  they  were  so,  he 
set  fire  to  the  ship  where  they  were,  and  urged  them  for- 
ward by  a  drum  into  the  flames.  They  advanced,  one  rank 
over  the  bodies  of  another,  till  an  immense  number  perished 
in  the  water  or  the  flames  ;  and  it  was  not  till  he  ceased  to 
beat  the  drum,  that  they  retired.  Those  officers  of  Yueh 
might  bo  pronounced  to  be  full  of  reverence.  To  sacrifice 
one^s  life  in  the  flames  is  a  difficult  thing,  but  they  were 
able  to  do  it,  because  it  would  please  their  king. — It  needs 
not  more  than  a  generation  to  change  the  manners  of  the 
people,  such  is  their  desire  to  move  after  the  pattern  of 
their  superiors.  [Once  more] ,  duke  Wan  of  Tsiu  was  fond 
of  garments  of  coarse  flax.  In  his  time,  the  officers  of  Tsin 
wore  wide  clothes  of  that  fabric,  with  rams'  furs,  leathern 
swordbclts,  and  coarse  canvas  sandals.  Thus  attired,  they 
went  in  to  the  duke's  levee,  and  went  out  and  walked 
throufjh    the   court.     It   is   a  difficult  thincr   to   wear   such 


THE    OPINIONS    OF   MIH   TEIS.  115 

clothes,  but  they  were  able  to  do  it,  because  it  would  please 
duke  Wan. — It  needs  but  a  generatiou  to  change  the  man- 
ners of  the  people,  such  is  their  desire  to  move  after  the 
pattern  of  their  superiors. 

Now,  little  food,  a  burning  ship,  and  coarse  clothes, — 
these  are  among  the  most  difficult  things  to  endure  ;  but 
because  the  ruler  would  be  pleased  with  the  enduring 
them,  they  were  able  [in  those  cases]  to  do  it.  It  needs  no 
more  than  a  generation  to  chang-e  the  manners  of  the  people. 
Why  ?  Because  such  is  their  desii-e  to  move  after  the  pat- 
tern of  their  superiors.  And  now,  as  to  universal  mutual 
love,  it  is  an  advantageous  thing  and  easily  practised, — 
beyond  all  calculation.  The  only  reason  why  it  is  not  prac- 
tised is,  in  my  opinion,  because  superiors  do  not  take 
pleasure  in  it.  If  superiors  were  to  take  pleasure  in  it, 
stimulating  men  to  it  by  rewards  and  praise,  and  awing  them 
from  opposition  to  it  by  punishments  and  fines,  they  would, 
in  my  opinion,  move  to  it, — the  practice  of  universal  mutual 
love,  and  the  interchange  of  mutual  benefits, — as  fire  rises 
upwards,  and  as  water  fiows  downwards  : — nothing  Avould  be 
able  to  check  them.  This  universal  love  was  the  way  of  the 
sage  kings  ;  it  is  the  principle  to  secure  peace  for  kings, 
dukes,  and  great  men ;  it  is  the  means  to  secure  plenty  of 
food  and  clothes  for  the  myriads  of  the  people.  The  best 
course  for  the  superior  man  is  to  well  understand  the  prin- 
ciple of  universal  love,  and  exert  himself  to  practise  it.  It 
requires  the  ruler  to  be  gracious,  and  the  minister  to  be 
loyal ;  the  father  to  be  kind,  and  the  son  to  be  filial ;  the 
elder  brother  to  be  friendly,  and  the  younger  to  bo  obedient. 
Thei'efore  the  superior  man,  with  whom  the  chief  desire  is 
to  see  gracious  rulers  and  loyal  ministers ;  kind  fathers 
and  filial  sons;  friendly  elder  brothers  and  obedient  younger 
ones,  ought  to  insist  on  the  indispensableness  of  the  practice 
of  universal  love.  It  was  the  way  of  the  sage  kings  ;  it  would 
be  the  most  advantageous  thing  for  the  myriads  of  the 
people. 

2.  Notwithstanding  the  mutilations  and  corruptions  in 
the  text  of  the  preceding  Essay,  its  general  scope  is  clearly 
discernible,  and  we  obtain  from  it  a  sufficient  account  of 
Mih^s  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  "  Universal  Love."  We 
have  now  to  consider  the  opposition  offered  to  this  doctrine 


116  TANG    CHOO    AND    MIH    TEIH. 

by  Mcncius.  He  was  not  the  firsts  however,  to  be  startled 
and  offended  by  it.  The  Essa}'-  shows  that  it  was  resented 
as  an  outrage  on  the  system  of,  orthodox  belief  during  all 
the  lifctirae  of  Mih  and  his  immediate  disciples.  Men  of 
learning  did  not  cease  to  be  clamorous  against  it.  From 
the  allusions  made  by  Mencius  to  its  prevalence  in  his  days, 
it  would  appear  that  it  had  overcome  much  of  the  hostility 
which  it  at  first  encountered.  He  stepped  forward  to  do 
battle  with  it;  and  though  he  had  no  new  arguments  to  ply, 
such  was  the  effect  of  his  onset,  that  "  Universal  Love  " 
has  ever  since  been  considered,  save  by  some  eccentric 
thinkers,  as  belonging  to  the  Limbo  of  Chinese  Vanity, 
among  other  things  "  abortive,  monstrous,  or  unkindly 
mixed. ^' 

We  may  approach  the  question  conveniently  by  observing 
that  Mih's  attempts  to  defend  his  principle  were  in  several 
points  far  from  the  best  that  could  be  made.  His  references 
to  the  examples  of  Yu,  T'ang,  and  the  kings  WJln  and  Woo, 
are  of  this  nature.  Those  worthies  well  performed  the 
work  of  their  generation.  They  punished  the  oppressor, 
and  delivered  the  oppressed.  Earnest  sentiments  of  justice 
and  benevolence  animated  their  breasts  and  directed  their 
course.  But  they  never  laid  down  the  doctrine  of  "  Uni- 
versal Love,''  as  the  rule  for  themselves  or  others. 

When  he  insists,  again,  that  the  people  might  easily  be 
brought  to  appreciate  and  practise  his  doctrine,  if  their 
rulers  would  only  set  thorn  the  example,  he  shows  the  same 
overweening  idea  of  the  influence  of  superiors,  and  the 
same  ignorance  of  human  nature,  which  I  have  had  occasion 
to  point  out  in  both  Confucius  and  Mencius.  His  refer- 
ences to  duke  Wan  of  Tsin,  king  Ling  of  Ts'oo,  and 
Kow-tseen  of  Yueh,  and  his  argument  from  what  they  are 
said  to  have  effected,  only  move  us  to  smile.  And  when  he 
teaches  that  men  are  to  be  aivcd  to  love  one  another  "  hif 
jmuisJitiioits  and  fines,"  we  feel  that  he  is  not  understandiiig 
fully  what  he  says  nor  whereof  he  affirms. 

Still,  he  has  broadly  and  distinctly  laid  it  down,  that  if 
men  would  only  universally  love  one  another,  the  evils 
which  disturb  and  embitter  human  society  would  disappear. 
1  do  not  say  that  he  has  taught  the  dutij  of  universal  love. 
His  argument  is  conducted  on  the  ground  of  cxpediennj . 
Whether  he  had  in  his  own  mind  a  truer^  nobler  foundation 


THE    OPINIONS    OP   MIH    TEIH.  117 

for  liis  principle,  docs  not  immediately  appear.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  his  doctrine  was  that  men  were  to  be  exhorted  to. 
love  one  another, — to  love  one  another  as  themselves.  Ac- 
cording to  him,  "  princes  should  be  as  much  for  the  States  of 
others  as  for  their  own.  One  prince  should  be  for  every 
other  as  for  himself."  So  it  oug-ht  to  be  also  with  the 
heads  of  clans,  with  ministers,  with  parents,  and  with  men 
g'enei'ally. 

Here  it  was  that  Mencius  joined  issue  with  him.  He 
affirmed  that  "  to  love  all  equally  did  not  acknowledge  the 
peculiar  affection  due  to  a  parent."  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  Mill  himself  nowhere  saj^s  that  his  principle  was  that 
of  loving  all  equally.  His  disciples  drew  this  conclusion 
from  it.  In  the  third  Book  of  Mencius'  Works,  Ave  find 
one  of  them,  E  Che,  contending  that  the  expression  in  the 
Shoo-king,  about  the  ancient  kings  acting  towards  the 
people  "as  if  they  were  watching  over  an  infant,"  sounded 
to  him  as  if  love  were  to  be  ivithout  difference  of  degree,  the 
manifestation  of  it  simply  commencing  with  pur  parents. 
To  this  Mencius  replied  conclusively  by  asking,  "  Does  E 
really  think  that  a  man's  affection  for  the  child  of  his 
brother  is  merely  like  his  affection  for  the  child  of.  his 
neighbour  ?  "  With  still  more  force  might  he  have  asked, 
''Is  a  man's  affection  for  his  father  merely  like  his  affection 
for  the  fjither  of  his  neighbour  ?  "  Such  a  question,  and 
the  necessary  reply  to  it,  are  implied  in  his  condemnation  of 
Mih's  system,  as  being  "  without  fathej',"  that  is,  denying 
the  peculiar  affection  due  to  a  father.  If  Mih  had  really 
maintained  that  a  man's  father  was  to  be  no  more  to  him 
than  the  father  of  any  other  body,  or  if  his  system  had 
necessitated  such  a  consequence,  Mencius  would  only  have 
done  his  duty  to  his  country  in  denouncing  him,  and  expos- 
ing the  ftillacy  of  his  reasonings.  As  the  case  is,  he  would 
have  done  better  if  he  had  shown  that  no  such  conclusion 
necessarily  flows  from  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Love,  or 
its  preceptive  form  that  we  are  to  love  our  neighbour  as 
ourselves. 

Of  course  it  belonged  to  Mih  himself  to  defend  his  views 
from  the  imputation.  But  what  he  has  said  on  the  point  is 
not  satisfactory.  In  reply  to  the  charge  that  his  principle 
was  injurious  to  filial  piety,  he  endeavoured  to  show,  that, 
by  acting  on  it,  a  man  would  best  secui-e  the  happiness  of 


118  YANG   CHOO    AND   MIH    T£IH. 

his  parents  : — as  he  addressed  himself  in  the  first  place  to 
love,  and  do  good  to,  the  parents  of  others,  they  would 
recompense  to  him  the  love  of,  and  good-doing  to,  his 
parents.  It  might  be  so,  or  it  might  not.  The  reply 
exhibits  strikingly  in  what  manner  Mih  was  conducted  to 
the  inculcation  of  "  universal  love,"  and  that  really  it  had 
in  his  mind  no  deeper  basis  than  its  expediency.  This  is 
his  weak  point ;  and  if  Mencius,  whose  view  of  the  consti- 
tution of  human  nature,  and  the  obligation  of  the  virtues, 
apart  from  all  consideration  of  consequences,  was  more 
comprehensive  and  correct  than  that  of  Mih,  had  founded 
his  opposition  on  this  ground,  we  could  in  a  measure  have 
sympathized  with  him.  But  while  Mih  appeared  to  lose 
sight  of  the  other  sentiments  of  the  human  mind  too  much, 
in  his  exclusive  contemplation  of  the  power  of  love,  he  did 
not  doubt  but  his  principle  would  make  sons  more  filial, 
and  ministers  more  devoted,  and  subjects  more  loyal.  The 
passage  which  I  have  just  referred  to,  moreover,  does  not 
contain  the  admission  that  the  love  was  to  be  witlwut  any 
difference  of  degree.  The  fact  is,  that  he  hardly  seems  to 
have  realized  the  objection  with  which  Mencius  afterwards 
pressed  the  advocacy  of  his  principle  by  his  followers.  If 
he  did  do  so,  he  blinked  the  difficulty,  not  seeing  his  way 
to  give  a  full  and  precise  reply  to  it. 

This  seems  to  be  the  exact  state  of  the  case  between  the 
two  philosophers. — Mih  stumbled  on  a  truth,  which,  based 
on  a  right  foundation,  is  one  of  the  noblest  that  can 
animate  the  human  breast,  and  affords  the  surest  remedy 
for  the  ills  of  society.  There  is  that  in  it,  however,  which 
is  startling,  and  liable  to  misrepresentation  and  abuse. 
Mencius  saw  the  difficulty  attaching  to  it,  and  unable  to 
sympathize  with  the  generosity  of  it,  set  liiniself  to  meet  it 
with  a  most  vehement  opposition.  Nothing,  certainly, 
could  be  more  absurd  than  his  classing  Yang  Choo  and  Mih 
Teih  together,  as  equally  the  enemies  of  benevolence  and 
righteousness.  When  ho  tries  to  ridicule  Mih,  and  talks 
contemptuously  about  him,  \\o\v,  if  he  could  have  benefited 
the  kingdom,  by  toiling  till  he  had  rubbed  off  every  hair  of 
his  body,  he  would  have  done  it, — this  only  raises  up  a 
barrier  between  himself  and  us.  It  reminds  us  of  the 
hardness  of  nature  which  I  have  elsewhere  charged  against 
him. 


THE    OPINIONS    OP    MIH    TEIH.  119 

3.  Confucius,  I  think,  might  have  dealt  more  fairly  and 
generously  with  Mih.  In  writing  of  him,  I  called  attention 
to  his  repeated  enunciation  of  "the  golden  rule"  in  a  nega- 
tive form, — "What  you  do  not  wish  done  to  yourself,  do  not 
do  to  others."  ^  In  one  place,  indeed,  he  rises  for  a  moment 
to  the  full  apprehension  of  it,  and  recognizes  the  duty  of 
taking  the  initiative, — of  behaving  to  others  in  the  first  in- 
stance as  he  would  that  they  should  behave  to  him.^  Now, 
what  is  this  but  the  practical  exercise  of  the  principle  of  uni- 
versal love  ?  "All  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them:" — this  is  simply 
the  manifestation  of  the  requirement,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself."  Confucius  might  have  conceded, 
therefore,  to  Mih,  that  the  rule  of  conduct  which  he  laid  down 
was  the  very  best  that  could  be  propounded.  If  he  had 
gone  on  to  remove  it  from  the  basis  of  expediency,  and  place 
it  on  a  better  foundation,  he  would  have  done  the  greatest 
service  to  his  countrymen,  and  entitled  himself  to  a  place 
among  the  sages  of  the  world. 

On  this  matter  I  am  happy  to  find  myself  in  agreement 
with  the  "prince  of  literature,"  Han  Yu.  "  Our  literati," 
says  he,  "find  fault  with  Mih  because  of  what  he  has  said 
on  '  The  Estimation  to  be  attached  to  Concord,^  ^  on  '  Uni- 
versal Love,'  on  'The  Estimation  to  be  given  to  Men  of 
Worth,'  on    'The  Acknowledging   of    Spiritual     Beings,'* 

»  Vol.  I.,  Proleg.,  p.  111. 

*  Seje  Proleg.  on  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  p.  48. 

^  This  i.s  the  title  of  one  of  Mih's  Essays,— forming  the  third  Book  of  his 
"Works.  Generalizing  after  his  fashion,  he  traces  all  evils  up  to  a  want  of 
concord,  or  agreement  of  opinion  :  and  goes  on  to  assert  that  the  sovereign 
must  be  recognized  as  the  "Infallible  Head,"  to  lay  down  the  rule  of  truth 
and  right,  saying.  "  What  the  sovereign  approves,  all  must  approve  ;  what  the 
sovereign  condemns,  all  must  condemn."  It  is  an  unguarded  utterance  ;  and 
taken  absolutely,  apart  from  its  connexion,  may  be  represented  very  much 
to  Jlih's  disadvantage.  See  "  Supplemental  Observations  on  the  Four  Books," 
on  llencius.  Book  I.  art.  lix.  Tiie  coincidence  between  this  saying  and  the 
language  of  Hobbes  is  remarkable, — "  Quod  legislator  pneceperit,  id  pro 
bono,  quod  vetuerit,  id  pro  malo  ha'l)e]ndum  esse."     {De  Cive,  cap.  xii.  1.) 

^  This  is  found  in  the  8th  Book  of  Mih.  The  first  and  second  parts  of  the 
essay,  however,  are  unfortunately  lost.  In  the  third  he  tells  several  queer 
ghost  stories,  and  adduces  otlier  proofs,  to  show  the  real  existence  of  spirit- 
ual Beings,  and  that  thej'  take  account  of  men's  actions  to  reward  or  to 
punish  them.  He  found  another  panacea  for  the  ills  of  the  kingdom  in  this 
truth.     His  doctrine  here,  however,  is  held  to  be  inconsistent  with  Confu- 


120  YANG    CHOO    AND    MIH    T£in. 

and  on  'Confucius'  being  in  awe  of  great  men,  and,  wlicn 
lie  resided  in  any  State,  not  blaming  its  great  officers/^  But 
when  the  Cli'un  Ts'^ew  finds  fault  with  assuming  ministers,  is 
not  this  attaching  a  similar  value  to  concord  ?  When  Con- 
fucius speaks  of  'overflowing  in  love  to  all,  and  cultivating 
the  friendship  of  the  good,'  and  of  how  '  the  extensive  con- 
ferring of  benefits  constitutes  a  sage,'  does  he  not  teach 
universal  love  ?  When  he  advises  '  the  esteem  of  the 
worthy ; '  when  he  arranged  his  disciples  into  '  the  four 
classes,'  so  stimulating  and  commending  them ;  when  he 
says  that  '  the  superior  man  dislikes  the  thought  of  his 
name  not  being  mentioned  after  death  :' — does  not  this  show 
the  estimation  he  ga,ve  to  men  of  worth  ?  When  '  he  sacri- 
ficed as  if  the  spiritual  Beings  were  present,'  and  condemned 
'  those  who  sacrificed  as  if  they  were  not  really  sacrificing,' 
when  he  said, '  When  I  sacrifice,  I  shall  receive  blessing  : ' — 
was  not  this  acknowledging  spiritual  Beings  ?  The  literati 
and  Mih  equally  approve  of  Yaou  and  Shun,  and  equally 
condemn  Kcieh  and  Chow  ;  they  equally  teach  the  cultivation 
of  the  person,  and  the  rectifying  of  the  heart,  reaching  onto 
the  good  government  of  the  kingdom,  with  all  its  States  and 
families  : — why  should  they  be  so  hostile  to  each  other  ?  In 
my  opinion,  the  discussions  which  we  hear  are  the  work  of 
their  followers,  vaunting  on  each  side  the  sayings  of  their 
Teacher ;  there  is  no  such  contrariety  between  the  real  doc- 
trines of  the  two  Teachers.  Confucius  would  have  used  Mih  ; 
and  Mih  would  have  used  Confucius.  If  they  would  not 
have  used  each  other,  they  could  not  have  been  K'ung  and 
Mih." 

4.  It  seems  proper,  in  closing  this  discussion  of  Mih's 
views,  to  notice  the  manner  in  which  the  subject  of  "uni- 
versal love"  appears  in  Christianity.  Its  whole  law  is  com- 
prehended in  the  one  word — Love ;  but  how  wide  is  the 
scope  of  the  term  compared  with  all  which  it  ever  entered 
into  the  mind  of  Chinese  sage  or  philosopher  to  conceive  ! 

It  is  most  authoritative  where  the  teachers  of  China  are 
altogether  silent,  and  commands  :• — "  I'hou  shalt  love  the 
Lord,  thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 

cius'  reply  to  Fan  Ch'e,  Ana.  VI.  xx.,  that  wisdom   consists  in  respecting 
spiritual  Beings,  but  at  the  same  time  iicei)ing  aloof  from  them.     As  between 
Confucius  and  Jlili,  on  this  point  we  would  aj^ree  rather  with  the  latter.     He 
holds  an  important  truth,  mingled  with  superstition  ;  the  sage  is  sceptical, 
'   Han  avoids  saying  anything  on  this  point. 


THE    OPINIONS    OF    MIH    TEIII.  121 

and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind."  For  the 
Divine  Being  Christianity  thus  demands  from  all  men  su- 
preme love  ; — the  love  of  all  that  is  majestic,  awing  the  soul ; 
the  love  of  all  that  is  beautiful,  wooing  the  heart;  the  love 
of  all  that  is  good,  possessing  and  mastering  the  entire  na- 
ture. Such  a  love,  existing,  would  necessitate  obedience  to 
every  law,  natural  or  revealed.  Christianity,  however,  goes 
on  to  specify  the  duties  which  every  man  owes,  as  the  com- 
plement of  love  to  God,  to  his  fellow-men  : — "Owe  no  man 
anything,  but  to  love  one  another,  for  he  that  loveth  another 
hath  fulfilled  the  law.  For  this — 'Thou  shalt  not  commit 
adidtery,'  'Thou  shalt  not  kill,'  '  Thou  shalt  not  steal,' 
'Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness,'  'Thou  shalt  not  covet;' 
andif  there  be  any  other  commandment: — the  whole  is  briefly 
comprehended  in  this  saying,  'Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bour as  thyself  "  This  commandment  is  "like  to"  the  other, 
only  diflering  from  it  in  not  requiring  the  supreme  love  which 
is  due  to  God  alone.  The  rule  Avliich  it  prescribes, — such 
love  to  others  as  we  feel  for  ourselves, — is  much  more  de- 
finitely and  intelligibly  expressed  than  anything  we  find  in 
Mih,  and  is  not  liable  to  the  cavils  with  which  his  doctrine 
was  assailed.  Such  a  love  to  men,  existing,  would  neces- 
sitate the  performance  of  every  relative  and  social  duty;  we 
could  not  help  doing  to  others  as  we  would  that  they  should 
do  to  us. 

Mih's  universal  love  was  to  find  its  scope  and  consumma- 
tion in  the  good  government  of  China.  He  had  not  the  idea 
of  man  as  man,  any  more  than  Confucius  or  Mencius.  How 
.  can' that  idea  be  fully  realized,  indeed,  where  there  is  not  the 
right  knowledge  of  one  living  and  true  God,  the  creator  and 
common  parent  of  all  ?  The  love  which  Christianity  incul- 
cates is  a  law  of  humanity  ;  paramount  to  all  selfish,  personal 
feelings ;  paramount  to  all  relative,  local,  national  attach- 
ments ;  paramount  to  all  distinctions  of  race  or  of  religion. 
Apprehended  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  it  will  go  forth  even  to 
the  love  of  enemies ;  it  will  energize  in  a  determination  to 
be  always  increasing  the  sum  of  others'  happiness,  limited 
only  by  the  means  of  doing  so. 

But  I  stop.  These  prolegomena  are  the  place  for  dis- 
quisition ;  but  I  deemed  it  right  to  say  thus  much  hero  of 
that  true,  universal  love,  which  at  once  gives  glory  to  God 
and  effects  peace  on  earth. 


THE  WOEKS  or  MENCIUS. 


BOOK  I. 

KING    HWUY    OF   LEANG.       PART    I. 

-     Chapter  I.     1.  Mencius  [went  to]  see   king   Hwuy  of 
Leang. 

The  title  of  the  Work  in  Chinese  is  simply  Mang-tsze,  or  "  The  Philosopher 
Mang;"  thus  simply  hearing  the  name,  or  surname  rather,  of  him  whose 
conversations  and  opinions  it  relates,  and  which,  it  is  said,  were  compiled  in 
their  present  form  by  himself.  He  is  always  called  Mang-tsze,  or  Mencius, 
throughout  the  work,  and  not  '"the  Jlaster,"  which  epithet  is  confined  to 
Confucius.  See  on  the  Analects,  I.  i.  See  also  the  sketch  of  Mencius'  life 
in  the  Prolegomena. 

The  title  of  this  Book  in  Chinese  is — "King  Hwuy  of  Leang;  in  chapters 
and  sentences.  Parts  1.  and  II."  Like  the  Books  of  the  Confucian  Analects, 
those  of  this  work  are  headed  by  two  or  three  words  at  or  near  the  commence- 
ment of  them.  Each  Book  is  divided  into  two  parts.  This  arrangement 
was  made  by  Chaou  K'e,  who  has  been  spoken  of  in  the  Prolegomena,  and 
to  him  are  due  also  the  divisions  into  chapters,  and  sentences  or  paragraphs 
containing,  it  may  be,  many  sentences. 

Ch.  I.  Benevolence  and  Eighteousness  Mencius'  only  topics  with 

THE  PRINCES  OF  HIS  TIME  ;  ANL>  THE  ONLY  PKINCIi'LES  AVHICH  CAU  MAKE  A 
COUNTRY  PROSPEROUS. 

Pin:  1.  "  King  Hwuy  of  Leang." — In  the  time  of  Confucius.  Tsin  was  one  of  the 
great  States,  perhaps  the  greatest  State,  of  tbe  kingdom, — hut  the  power  of 
it  was  usurped  hy  six  great  families  or  clans.  By  B.C.  4j2,  three  of  these 
were  ub.sorbed  by  the  other  three,  the  clans,  namely,  of  Wei,  Chaou,  and  Han, 
which  continued  to  encroach  on  the  small  remaining  authority  of  their 
princes,  till  at  last  they  divided  the  whole  territory  among  themselves.  King 
Wei-leeh,  in  B.C.  402,  granted  to  the  chief  of  each  family  the  title  of  Mar- 
quis. Wei,  called  also,  from  the  name  of  its  capital,  Leang,  occupied  what 
had  been  the  south-eastern  part  of  Tsin,  Han  and  Chaou  lying  to  the  west 
and  north-west  of  it.  The  Leang,  where  Mencius  visited  king  Hwuy,  is  said 
to  have  been  in  the  present  district  of  Ts'eang-foo,  department  K'ae-fung. 
Hwuy — "  of  soft  disposition  and  kind  to  the  people  " — was  the  posthumous  or 
6acritiuial  epithet  of  the  king,  whose  name  was  Yung.     He  had  usurped  the 


12-i  THE   WORKS    OF    JIENCIUS.  [eK    I, 

2.  The  king  said^  "Venerable  Sir,  since  you  Lave  not 
counted  it  far  to  come  herCj  a  distance  of  a  thousand  Jc, 
may  I  presume  that  you  are  likewise  provided  with 
[counsels]  to  profit  my  kingdom  ?  " 

3.  Mencius  replied,  "Why  must  your  Majesty  use  that 
word  'profit^?  What  I  am  likewise  provided  with  are 
[counsels  to]  benevolence  and  righteousness ;  and'  these 
are  my  only  topics. 

4.  "  If  your  Majesty  say,  'What  is  to  be  done  to  profit 
my  kingdom  ?  '  the  great  officers  will  say,  '  What  is  to  bo 
done  to  profit  our  families?'  and  the  [inferior]  officers  and 
the  common  people  will  say,  '  What  is  to  be  done  to  profit 
our  persons  ?  '  Superiors  and  inferiors  will  try  to  take  the 
profit  the  one  from  the  other,  and  the  kingdom  will  be  en- 
dangered. In  the  kingdom  of  ten  thousand  chariots,  the 
murderer  of  his  ruler  will  be  [the  chief  of]  a  family  of  a 
thousand  chariots.     In  the  State  of  a  thousand  chariots,  the 

title  of  king,  as  the  princes  of  many  other  States  did  about  the  same  time, 
before  Mencius  visited  him,  which  it  is  said  was  in  tlie  S.lth  year  of  his 
government,  U.C.  'ioij.  The  philosopher,  it  is  supposed,  visited  him  on  in- 
vitation. 

Par.  2.  Jlencius,  we  have  seen,  was  a  native  of  Tsow  in  Loo,  the  name  of 
which  still  remains  in  the  Tsow  district  of  the  department  Yen-chow,  in  Shan- 
tung. Tlie  king  in  complimentary  style  calls  the  distance  from  Tsow  to  Leang 
a  thousand  le,  though  in  reality  it  was  not  half  so  much.  The  "venerable  Sir," 
with  which  he  salutes  the  philosopher,  should  also  be  taken  as  compliment- 
ary, and  we  cannot  draw  any  inference  from  it  as  to  the  age  of  Mencius  at 
this  time.  The  "  likewise  "  has  led  to  much  speculation  to  bring  out  its  mean- 
ing. Some  think  that  the  king  is  referring  to  the  many  scholars  of  that  age, 
who  made  it  their  business  to  wander  from  State  to  State  to  counsel  the 
princes,  so  that  his  meaning  was  : — '♦  You  also,  like  other  scholars,"  &c.  Then 
when  Mencius  in  reply  uses  the  same  term,  they  think  that  he  is  referring  to 
the  ancient  sages  as  his  models  : — "  I  aha,  like  theiu,"  &c.  This  is  too  far- 
fetched. I  suppose  that  the  king's  "  likewise  "  follows  the  clause  "  You  liave 
come  a  thousand  It-,'"  and  means,  '■  That  is  one  favour,  but  you  probably  have 
others  to  confer  also."  Then  Mencius'  "  likewise  "  refers  to  the  king's,  and  = 
"You  say  I  likewise  have  counsels  to  profit  you.  What  I  likewise  have  'i& 
benevolence,"  &c. 

Far.  3.  Benevolence  is  defined  by  Choo  lie  as  "  the  virtue  of  the  mind, 
the  principle  of  love,"  and  righteousness  as"  the  regidation  of  the  mind,  the 
litness  of  things."  Mencius  had  in  mind  the  benevolent  government  of  which 
he  speaks  at  length  in  many  places.  See  especially  the  7th  chapter  of  this 
Part. 

Par.  4.  By  *'  the  kingdom  of  ten  thousand  chariots  "  is  meant  the  royal 
domain,  which,  according  to  the  theory  of  the  kingdom,  could  send  into  the 
field  10,000  chariots ;  and  by  "  the  chief  of  a  family  of  a  thousand  chariots," 


IT   I.    CH.  II.]  KING    H\TUY    OF   LEANG.  125 

murderer  of  his  ruler  will  be  [tlie  cMef  of]  a  family  of  a 
hundred  chariots.  To  have  a  thousand  in  ten  thousand, 
and  a  hundred  in  a  thousand,  cannot  be  regarded  as  not  a 
large  allowance;  but  if  righteousness  be  put  last  and  profit 
first,  they  will  not  be  satisfied  without  snatching  all. 

5.  "  There  nev^er  was  a  man  trained  to  benevolence  who 
neglected  his  parents.  There  never  was  a  man  trained  to 
righteousness  who  made  his  ruler  an  after-consideration. 

6.  "Let  your  Majesty  likewise  make  benevolence  and 
rig'hteoiisness  your  only  themes ; — why  must  you  speak  of 
profit  ?  " 

II.  1.  "When  Mencius  [another  day]  was  seeing  king 
Hwuy  of  Leang,  the  king  [went  and]  stood  [with  him]  by 
a  pond,  and,  looking  round  on.  the  wild  geese  and  deer, 
large  and  small,  said,  "  Do  wise  and  good  [princes]  also 
take  pleasure  in  these  things  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "Being  wise  and  good,  they  then 
have  pleasure  in  these  things.  If  they  are  not  wise  and 
good,  though  they  have  these  things,  they  do  not  find 
pleasure. 

S.  "  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry  : — 

'  When  he  planned  the  commencement  of  the  Marvellous  tower, 
He  planned  it,  and  defined  it, 
And  the  people  in  crowds  undertook  the  work, 
And  in  no  time  completed  it. 
"When  he  planned  the  commencement,  [he  said],  "  Be  not  in  a  hurry  ;  " 

one  of  the  king's  principal  ministers,  whose  territor_v,  which  was  in  the  royal 
domain,  was  supposed  to  be  able  to  send  forth  a  thousand  chariots.  "  A  State 
of  a  thousand  chariots  "  was  one  of  the  largest  of  the  feudal  States,  and  "  the 
chief  of  a  family  of  a  hundred  chariots  "  was  one  of  its  principal  ministers, 
the  head  of  a  powerful  clan. 

Par.  5.  In  the  "  likewise  "  here  Mencius  turns  the  tables  on  the  king.  Let 
him  follow  the  example  of  the  philosopher,  confident  in  tlie  truth  of  the 
positions  which  he  had  stated. 

CH.   II.     rilTLERS  MUST    SHARE    THEIR    PLEASURES  WITH    THE    PEOPLE. 

They  can  only  be  happy  when  they  rule  over  happy  suiuects. 

Pwr.  1,  2.  Par.  1  must  be  supplemented  as  I  have  done.  Mencius 
would  go  to  the  court ;  and  then  the  king  would  go  with  him,  or  have  left 
orders  for  him  to  be  brought  to  the  park.  Observe  the  "  also  "  in  the  king's 
(jnestioii,  and  the  "  then  "  in  Mencius'  reply. 

Par.  H.  Here  is  an  instance  of  a  wise  and  good  prince  hajipy  with  his 
happy  subjects  in  his  park  and  tower  and  pond.     See  the  Book  of  Poetrj', 


126  THE   WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    I. 

But  the  people  came  as  if  they  were  his  children. 

The  king  was  in  the  Marvellous  park, 

Where  tlie  does  were  Ij'ing  down,— 

The  does  so  sleek  and  fat ; 

With  the  white  birds  glistening. 

The  king  was  by  the  Marvellous  pond  ; — 

How  full  was  it  of  lishes  leaping  about !  ' 

King  Wan  used  the  strength  of  the  people  to  make  his 
tower  and  pond,  and  the  people  rejoiced  [to  do  the  work], 
calling  the  tower  '  the  Marvellous  tower/  and  the  pond  '  the 
Marvellous  pond/  and  being  glad  that  he  had  his  deer,  his 
lishes,  and  turtles.  The  ancients  caused  their  people  to 
have  pleasure  as  well  as  themselves,  and  therefore  they 
could  enjoy  it. 

4.  "  In  the  Declaration  of  T'ang  it  is  said,  '  0  sun,  when 
wilt  thou  expire  ?  AVe  will  die  together  with  thee.''  The 
jjeople  wished  [for  Kceh's  death,  though]  they  should  die 
with  him.  Although  he  had  his  tower,  his  pond,  birds  and 
animals,  how  could  he  have  pleasure  alone  ?  " 

III.  1.  King  Hwuy  of  LiJang  said,  "  Small  as  my  virtue 
is,  in  [the  government  of]  my  kingdom,  I  do  indeed  exert 
my  mind  to  the  utmost.  If  the  year  be  bad  inside  the  Ho, 
I  remove  [as  many  of]  the  people  [as]  I  can  to  the  east  of  it, 
and  convey  grain  to  the  country  inside.  If  the  year  be  bad 
on  the  east  of  the  inver,  I  act  on  the  same  plan.  On  exam- 
ining the  governmental  methods  of  the  neighbouring  king- 

III.  i.  VIII.  The  last  sentence  shows  what  we  arc  to  understand  by  a  prince's 
sharing  his  pleasure  with  his  subjects. 

Par.  4.  Here  is  an  instance  of  an  oppressive  prince,  and  of  his  discon- 
tented subjects.  They  were  weary  of  their  lives,  aod  would  die  with  him, 
rather  than  live  on  as  they  were  ;  liow  could  he  be  happy  in  such  circum- 
stances?    See  the  Shoo,  IV.  i.  3. 

Ch.  III.  IIai.f  mrasurks  are  op  little  use.    If  a  prince  carry  out 

FAITHFULLY  THE  GREAT  PRINCIPLES  OF  KOYAL  GOVERNMENT,  THE  PEOPLE 
WILL  MAKE  HIM  KING. 

Par.  1.  A  prince  was  wont  to  speak  of  himself  as  "the  small  or  deficient 
man,"  and  so  king  Hwuy  calls  himself  here.  I  have  translated  it  V)y  "small 
as  my  virtue  i.s,  I ;  "  but  hereafter  I  will  generally  translate  the  phrase  simply 
by  I.  "  Inside  the  Ho  "  and  "  East  of  the  Ho  "  were  the  names  of  two  tracts 
in  Wei.  The  former  remains  in  the  district  of  Ho-nuy  (meaning  inside  the 
Ho),  in  the  department  of  Hwae-k'ing,  Ho-nan.  The  latter,  according  to  the 
geographers,  should  be  found  in  the  present  Hiiae  Chow,  Shan-se  ;  but  this 
Beems  too  far  away  from  the  other. 


PT    I.    CH.  III.]  KING   HWUT    OF    LEANG.  127 

doms,  I  do  not  find  there  is  any  [ruler]  who  exerts  his 
mind  as  I  do.  And  yet  the  people  of  the  neighbouring- 
kings  do  not  decrease,  nor'  do  my  people  increase ; — how 
is  this  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "Your  Majesty  loves  war;  allow  me 
to  take  an  illustration  from  war.  [The  soldiers  move  for- 
ward at]  the  sound  of  the  drum  ;  and  when  the  edges  of 
their  weapons  have  been  crossed,  [on  one  side]  they  throw 
away  their  butf-coats,  trail  their  weapons  behind  them,  and 
run.  Some  run  a  hundred  paces  and  then  stop  ;  some  run 
fifty  paces  and  stop.  What  would  you  think  if  these,  be- 
cause [they  had  run  but]  fifty  paces,  should  laugh  at  [those 
who  ran]  a  hundred  paces  ?  "  The  king  said,  "  They  can- 
not do  so.  They  only  did  not  run  a  hundred  paces  ;  but 
they  also  ran/^  [Mencius]  said,  ''  Since  your  Majesty 
knows  this,  you  have  no  ground  to  expect  that  your  people 
will  become  more  numerous  than  those  of  the  neighbouring 
kingdoiMS. 

3.  ''  If  the  seasons  of  husbandry  be  not  interfered  with, 
the  grain  will  be  more  than  can  be  eaten.  If  close  nets  are 
not  allowed  to  enter  the  pools  and  ponds,  the  fish  and  tui-tles 
will  be  more  than  can  be  consumed.  If  the  axes  and  bills 
enter  the  hill-forests  [only]  at  the  proper  times,  the  wood 
will  be  more  than  can  be  used.  When  the  grain  and  fish  and 
turtles  are  more  than  can  be  eaten,  and  there  is  more  wood 
than  can  be  used,  this  enables  the  people  to  nourish  their 
living  and  do  all  offices  for  their  dead,  without  any  feeling 
against  any.  [But]  this  condition,  in  which  [the  people] 
nourish  their  living,  and  do  all  offices  to  their  dead  without 
having  any  feeling  against  any,  is  the  first  step  in  the  Royal 
way. 

4.  "  Let  mulberry-trees  be  planted  about  the  homesteads 
with  their  five  acres,  and  persons  of  fifty  years  will  be  able 

Par.  3  contains  the  first  principles  of  Royal  government,  in  contrast  with 
the  king's  expedients  as  detailed  by  him  in  par.  1.  The  seasons  of  hus- 
bandry were  spring,  summer,  and  autumn.  The  government  should  under- 
take no  military  expeditions  or  public  works  in  them.  Close  nets  would 
take  the  small  fish,  whereas  these,  if  left  untouched,  would  grow  and  increase. 
Generally  the  time  to  take  firewood  from  the  forests  was  when  the  growth 
for  the  year  was  over  ;  but  there  were  many  regulations  on  this  point. 

Par.  4  continues  the  description  of  the  measures  of  Royal  government  to 
secure  plenty  for  the  people.  What  I  translate  by  "  acre  "  was  anciently  a  spacj 
of  100  paces  square, — very  large  paces  apparently,  of  six  cubits  each,  but  the 


128  THE    WORKS    Of    MENCIUS.  [bK    I. 

to  wear  silk.  In  keeping  fowls,  pigs,  dogs,  and  swine,  let 
not  their  times  of  breeding  be  neglected,- and  persons  of 
seventy  years  will  be  able  to  eat  flesh.  Let  there  not  be 
taken  away  the  time  that  is  proper  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
lield-allotment  of  a  hundred  acres,  and  the  family  of  several 
mouths  will  not  suffer  from  hunger.  Let  careful  attention 
be  paid  to  the  teaching  in  the  various  schools,  with  repeated 
inculcation  of  the  filial  and  fraternal  duties,  and  gray-haired 
men  will  not  be  seen  upon  the  roads,  carrying  burdens  on 
their  backs  or  on  their  heads.  It  has  never  been  that  [the 
ruler  of  a  State]  where  these  results  were  seen,  persons  of 
seventy  wearing  silk  and  eating  flesh,  and  the  black-haired 
people  suffering  neither  from  hunger  nor  cold,  did  not 
attain  to  the  Royal  dignity. 

5.  "  Your  dogs  and  swine  eat  the  food  of  men,  and  you 
do  not  know  to  store  up  [of  the  abundance].  There  are 
people  dying  from  famine  on  the  roads,  and  you  do  ■  not 
know  to  issue  [your  stores  for  their  relief].  When  men 
die,  you  say,  '  It  is  not  owing  to  me ;  it  is  owing  to  the 
year.'  In  what  does  this  differ  from  stabbing  a  man  and 
killing  him,  and  then  saying,  '  It  was  not  I ;  it  was  the 
weapon  '  ?    Let  your  M.ujesty  cease  to  lay  the  blame  on  the 

cubit  was  not  so  long  as  it  is  now.  The  land  was  marked  off  in  squares  of  900 
acres,  of  which  we  shall  read  more  at  lengtli  by  and  by,  tlie  middle  square 
containing  wliat  was  called  "  the  public  Held,"  belonging  to  the  government. 
The  other  eight  s<iuares  were  allotted  to  eight  families,  each  one  having  100 
acres,  which  it  cultivated  for  itself,  and  all  uniting  in  the  cultivation  of  the  cen- 
tral or  government  square.  But  from  this  20  acres  were  cut  off,  and  assigned 
in  portions  of  21  acres  to  the  farmers,  to  build  their  huts  on,  and  cultivate 
vegetables,  &c.  The  same  amount  of  2.V  acres  was  assigned  to  each  family 
in  their  villages,  where  they  lived  in  winter  when  their  labours  were  not  re- 
iiuired  in  the  fields.  Thus  each  family  had  live  acres  where  they  might  build 
their  dwellings  and  field-huts,  and  cultivate  their  kitchen-vegetables ;  and 
on  this  space  also  they  reared  their  mulberry-trees  round  their  houses  and 
hifts.  In  this  way  the  large  portion  of  the  ground  was  left  for  grain  pro- 
duce, while  they  could  nourish  enow  of  silk-worms  trt  i)roduce  the  silk 
which  they  rcqtiired  for  the  use  of  those  who  were  CA)  years  of  age  and  over. 
The  sayini^  that  ])ersoiis  of  70  years  might  eat  tlesh  means  that  they  might 
always  have  it  at  tlu^ir  meals,  and  in  no  stinted  supply.  On  the  schools,  see 
III.  I't  I.  iii.  10.  Education  thus  completes  Mencius'  theory  of  Itoyal  gov- 
ernment, the  elements  in  which  were,  provision  for  the  maintenance  of  all, 
the  comfort  of  the  .aged,  and  a  moral  education  and  training  for  the  young. 
Par.  .5.  Application  to  king  Hwuy  of  the  above  principles.  The  two 
first  sentences  refer  to  the  bad  years  of  his  opening  reniarks.  If  he  took 
proper  advantage  of  the  goo*  years,  he  would  not  be  obliged  to  resort  to  such 
extreme  expedients  in  bad  ouus. 


FT  I.    CII.  IV.]  KIXG    HWUY   OF    LEANG.  129 

year,  and  instantly  tlie  people^  all  under  the  sky^  will  como 
to  you." 

IV.  1.  King  Hwuy  of  Lcang  said,  "I  wish  quietly  to 
receive  youi-  instructions." 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  Is  there  any  difference  laetween 
killing  a  man  with  a  stick  and  with  a  sword  ?  "  "  There  is 
no  difference,"  was  the  answer. 

3.  [Mencius  continued,]  "  Is  there  any  difference  be- 
tween doing  it  with  a  sword  and  with  governmental  mea- 
sures t  "     "  There  is  not/'  was  the  answer  [again]. 

4.  [Mencius  then]  said,  "  In  [your]  stalls  there  are  fat 
beasts  ;  in  [your]  stables  there  are  fat  horses.  [But]  your 
people  have  the  look  of  hunger,  and  in  the  fields  there  are 
those  who  have  died  of  famine.  This  is  leading  on  beasts  to 
devour  men. 

5.  "  Beasts  devour  one  another,  and  men  hate  them  [for 
doing  so].  When  he  who  is  [called]  the  parent  of  the 
people  conducts  his  government  so  as  to  be  chargeable 
with  leading  on  beasts  to  devour  men,  where  is  that  parental 
relation  to  the  people  ? 

6.  "  Chung-ne  said,  '  Was  he  not  without  posterity  who 
first  made  wooden  images  [to  bury  with  the  dead]  ?  '  [So 
he  said,]  because  that  man  made  the  semblances  of  men  and 

CH.  IV.  A  CONTINUATION  OP  THE  KORIIER  CHAPTER,  AND  FURTHER 
EXPOSURE  OP  THI';  CHARACTEK  OF  KING  HWUY"S  GOVEIiNMENT. 

Par.  2.  The  "  stick"  may  be  a  staff  or  a  club,  and  "  the  sword  "  aii}'  sharp- 
edged  wen]  ion. 

Par.  4.  The  first  sentence  is  literally — "  The  stalls  have  fat  flesh,"  and  by 
stalls  we  are  to  understand  the  house  or  houses  where  cattle  were  fed  for  the 
king's  table.  "  Tiie  fields  "  are  literally — "  the  wilds  ;"  meaning  here  the  open 
countuy,  away  from  the  capital,  and  generally  away  from  cities  and  towns. 
The  •'  leading  on  beasts  to  devour  men"  is  merely  a  forcible  way  of  describing 
the  king's  measures,  careful  for  the  good  condition  of  his  cattle  and  horses, 
and  so  negligent  of  the  well-being  of  his  people. 

Par.  i).  In  high  antiquity,  it  is  said,  bundles  of  straw  were  formed  to  re- 
present men  imperfectly,  and  then  buried  with  the  dead,  as  attendants  upon 
them.  After  the  rise  of  the  Chow  dynasty,  wooden  figures,  with  si)rings  in 
them  by  which  they  could  move,  were  used  for  those  bundles  ;  and  thi.s.  as  Con- 
fucius liiouglit,  led  to  tlie  practice  of  burying  living  persons  with  tlie  dead, 
and  ho  liranded  tlie  inventor  of  the  images  as  in  the  te.\t.  Jlencius  thought  his 
words  suited  his  purpose, and  used  tiieiu  accordingly.  We  know  that  the  i)rac- 
tice  of  burying  living  persons  witii  the  dead  existed  in  China  in  the  time  of  Con- 
fucius, and  has  been  practised  even  in  the  present  dynasty ;  and  the  true 
VOL.   II.  9 


130  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIU8.  [bK    T. 

used  them   [for  that  purpose]; — what  shall  be  thought  of 
him  who  causes  his  people  to  die  of  hunger  ?  " 

V,  1.  King  Hwuy  of  Leang  said,  "There  was  not  in 
the  kingdom  a  stronger  State  than  Ts'in,  as  you,  venerable 
Sir,  know.  But  since  it  descended  to  me,  on  the  east  we 
were  defeated  by  Ts'e,  and  then  my  eldest  son  pen  shed  ; 
on  the  west  we  lost  seven  hundred  le  of  territory  to  Ts'in ; 
and  on  the  south  we  have  sustained  disgi-ace  at  the  hands  of 
Ts'oo.  I  have  brought  shame  on  my  departed  predecessors, 
and  wish  on  their  account  to  wipe  it  away  once  for  all. 
What  course  is  to  be  pursued  to  accomplish  this  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "With  a  territory  [only]  a  hundred 
le  square  it  has  been  possible  to  obtain  the  Jloyal  dignity. 

3.  "  If  your  Majesty  will  [indeed]  dispense  a  benevolent 
government  to  the  people,  being  sparing  in  the  use  of 
punishments  and  fines,  and  making  the  taxes  and  levies  of 
produce  light,  [so  causing  that]  the  fields  shall  be  ploughed 
deep,  and  the  weeding  well  attended  to,  and  that  the  able- 
bodied,  during  their  days  of  leisure,  shall  cultivate  their 
filial  piety,  fraternal  duty,  faithfulness,  and  ti-uth,  serving 
thereby,  at  home,  their  fathers  and  elder  brothers,  and, 
abroad,  their  elders  and  superiors;  you  will  then  have 
a  people  who  can  be  employed  with  sticks  which  they  have 

explanation  of  it  is  very  different  from  that  suggested  by  the  sage's  words. 
Chung-ne  ; — see  the  Life  of  Confucius  in  Volume  I. 

Cn.  V.  How  A  RULER  MIGHT  BEST  MAKE  IirMSELP  STRONO,  AND  REOART) 
WITH  INDIFB'ERENCE  ANY  EFFORTS  OF  HIS  ENEMIES  TO  ATTACK  OR  INJURE 
HIM. 

Far.  1.  In  the  note  on  par.  1,  cli.  i.  I  have  spoken  of  tlie  breaking  up  of 
the  old  State  of  Tsin  into  the  three  States  of  Wei  or  Leang,  Chaou,  and  Han. 
They  were  often  called  "the  three  Tsin;"  and  here  king  Hwuy  appears  to 
call  Wei  alone  by  the  name  of  Tsin.  Ts'e  was  the  most  powerful  State,  at 
this  time  styled  kingdom,  lying  north  and  east  from  Wei ;  Ts'in  was  on  the 
west  of  it  ;  and  Ts'oo  on  the  south. 

Prir.  2.  The  case  wliich  Jlencius,  probably,  had  in  view  here  was  that  of 
king  Wiin,  the  founder  of  the  Ciiow  dynasty. 

Par.  :i.  Here  among  the  elements  of  a  benevolent  government,  there  ap- 
pear a  gentle  rule  and  light  taxation.  These  being  exercised,  the  people 
woidd  feel  free  to  give  their  strength  to  agriculture,  and  have  leisure  to 
attend  to  their  social  and  moral  duties,  and  would  moreover  be  ruled  by  a 
most  jiowerful  gratitude  to  their  ruler.  Mencius"  doctrine  of  the  goodness  of 
Imman  nature,  though  it  is  not  expressed,  underlies  all  this. 


PT  I.    CH.  VI.]  KING    HWDY   OF    LEANQ.  131 

prepared  to  oppose  tlae  strong  buff-coats  and  sharp  weapons 
of  [the  troops  of]  Ts'in  and  Ts'oo. 

4.  "  [The  rulers  of]  those  [States]  rob  their  people  of 
their  time,  so  that  they  cannot  plough  and  weed  their  fields 
in  order  to  support  their  parents.  Parents  suffer  from  cold 
and  hunger ;  elder  and  younger  brothers,  wives  and  chil- 
dren, are  separated  and  scattered  abroad. 

5.  "  Those  [rulers]  drive  their  people  into  pitfalls  or 
into  the  water;  and  your  Majesty  will  go  to  punish  them. 
In  such  a  case,  who  will  oppose  your  Majesty  ? 

•  6.  "  In  accordance  with  this  is  the  saying, — '  The  benevo- 
lent has  no  enemy ! '  I  beg  your  Majesty  not  to  doubt 
[what  I  said].^' 

VI.  1.  Mencius  had  an  interview  with  king  Seang  of 
Leang. 

2.  When  he  came  out,  he  said  to  some  persons,  "  When  I 
looked  at  him  from  a  distance,  he  did  not  appear  like  a 
ruler ;  when  I  drew  near  to  him,  I  saw  nothing  venerable 
about  him.  Abruptly  he  asked  me,  '  How  can  the  kingdom, 
all  under  the  sky,  be  settled  ?  ' 

2.  "  I  replied,  'It  will  be  settled  by  being  united  under 
one  [sway] .' 

8.   "  '  Who  can  so  unite  it  ?  ^  [he  asked]. 

4.  "  I  replied,  '  He  who  has  no  pleasure  in  killing  men 
can  so  unite  it.' 

5.  "  '  Who  can  give  it  to  him  ?  '  [he  asked] . 

Par.  6.  The  remarkable  saying  about  "the  benevolent"  has  a  special 
reference  to  a  benevolent  ruler  such  as  Mencius  had  sketched  ;  but  I  have 
jireferred  to  retain  it  in  the  translation  without  any  limitation.  The  con- 
cluding remark  was  designed  to  caution  the  king  against  regarding  the  philo- 
sopher's remarks  as  merely  transcendental. 

Ch.  VI.  Disappointment  of  Mencixjs  with  king  Seang  of  Wei.    Br 

WHAT  RULER  THE  WHOLE    KINGDOM  MIGHT    HE  UNITED  UNDER  ONE  SWAY. 

Pav.  1.  Seang  was  the  son  of  king  Hwuy.  The  tirst  year  of  his  reTgn  is 
commonly  assigned  to  B.C.  317  ;  but  this  cannot  be  regarded  as  certain. 
Scang's  name  was  Hih,  As  a  posthumous  epithet,  Seang  has  various  mean- 
ings : — "  Land-enlarger  and  Virtuous  ;  "  "  Successful  in  arms  ;  "  "  Successful 
in  the  conduct  of  aOairs."'  Tlie  interview  here  recorded  seems  to  have  taken 
place  immediately  after  Hilrs  accession,  and  Mencius,  it  is  said,  was  so  dis- 
appointed by  it  that  he  soon  after  left  the  country. 

Par.  5.  "  Who  can  give  it  to  him  ? "  is  by  the  Chinese  critics  understood 
as  =   <'  Who  can  go  to  him  ? "  I  prefer  my  own  meaning,  which  accords 


132  THE  WORKS  OF  irENcius,  [bk  I. 

6.  "I  replied,  ^  All  under  heaven  will  give  it  to  him. 
Does  your  Majesty  know  the  way  of  the  growing  grain  ? 
During  the  seventh  and  eighth  months,  when  drought  pre- 
vails, the  plants  become  dry.  Then  the  clouds  collect 
densely  in  the  heavens,  and  send  down  torrents  of  rain,  so 
that  the  grain  erects  itself  as  if  by  a  shoot.  When  it  does 
so,  who  can  keep  it  back  ?  Now  among  those  who  are 
shepherds  of  men  throughout  the  kingdom,  there  is  not  one 
who  does  not  find  pleasure  in  killing  men.  If  there  wei'O 
one  who  did  not  find  pleasure  in  killing  men,  all  the  people 
under  the  sky  would  be  looking  towards  him  with  out- 
stretched necks.  Such  being  indeed  the  case,  the  people 
would  go  to  him  as  water  flows  downwards  with  a  rush, 
■which  no  one  can  repress." 

AIL  1.  King  Seuen  of  Ts'e  asked,  saying,  "May  I  be 
informed  by  you  of  the  transactions  of  Hwan  of  Ts'e  and 
Wan  of  Tsin  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  There  were  none  of  the  disciples  of 

equally  well  with  tlie  scope  of  the  chapter,  and  is  supported  by  the  usage  of 
the  original  term  in  V.  i.  V. 

Ch.  VII.  Loving  and  protecting  the  people  is  the  grand  charac- 

TKRISTIC  OF    llOYAL    GOVERNMENT  ;  AND   THK  SURE   PATH   TO   THE    KOYAL 
DIGNITY.       How  THIS  PRINCIPLE  WOULD  BE  JIANII'KSTED. 

This  long  and  interesting  chapter  has  been  arranged  in  five  parts.  In  the 
first  ])art,  parr.  1 — 5,  Mencins  unfolds  the  principle  of  Koyal  government, 
and  tells  the  king  of  Ts'e  that  he  possessed  it.  In  the  second,  parr.  G— 8,  ho 
leads  the  king  on  to  understand  his  own  mind,  and  how  he  might  exercise 
the  koyal  government.  In  the  third,  parr.  !) — 12,  he  unfolds  how  the  king 
might  and  ouglit  to  carry  out  the  kindly  heart  which  was  natural  to  him. 
In  the  fourth,  p'arr.  13  — 18,  he  shows  the  absurdity  of  the  king's  expecting 
to  gain  his  end  by  the  course  he  was  pursuing,  and  how  rapid  would  be  the 
response  to  an  opposite  one.  In  the  last  j)art  he  shows  the  government 
that  loves  and  protects  the  people  in  full  di'velopment,  and  crowned  with 
Koyal  sway. 

l\ir.  1.  Seuen  was  the  second  of  the  T"cen  family  who  ruled  in  Ts'e  with 
the  title  of  king.  The  date  of  his  accession  is  UvOt  fully  ascertained,  but  it  is 
generally  placed  in  B.C.  H32.  His  name  was  P'eih-keaiig.  The  epithet 
tjeuon  means — "A  skilful  questioner  and  univer.-a  ly  informed,"  or"  Hage, 
good,  and  universally  informed."  Hwan  of  Ts'e  and  W'iin  of  Tsin  were  the 
greatest  of  the  five  presiding  iirinccs,  who  played  so  consjiicuous  a  part  in  the 
Ch'un  Ts'ew  peri(jd,  which  Confucius  lias  chronicled.  From  king  Seuen's 
(jiK'.stion,  it  would  appear  that  he  wished  to  distinguish  himself  as  Hwan  had 
don.'. 

I'ur.  2.   Mencius,  no  doubt,  could  have  discoursed  sufficiently  about   the 


PT  I.    CH.  VII.]  KING    HWUY    OP    LEANG.  133 

Chung-ne  who  spoke  about  the  affairs  of  Hwan  and  Wiin, 
and  therefoi'e  they  liavo  not  been  transmitted  to  [these] 
after-ages;  your  servant  has  not  heard  of  them.  If  you 
will  have  me  speak,  let  it  be  about  [the  principles  of  attain- 
ing to}  the  Royal  sway/' 

3.  [The  king]  said,  "  Of  what  kind  must  his  virtue  be 
who  can  [attain  to]  the  Royal  sway  'r*  "  [Meucius]  said,  "  If 
he  loves  and  protects  tliB  people,  it  is  impossible  to  prevent 
him  from  attaining  it." 

4.  [The  king]  .said,  "  Is  such  an  one  as  poor  I  competent 
to  love  and  protect  the  people  ?  "  "  Yes,"  was  the  reply. 
"  From  what  do  you  know  that  I  am  competent  to  that  ?  " 
*' I  have  heard,''  said  [Mencius],  "from  Hoo  Heih  the 
followinof  incident: — 'The  king-,'  said  he,  'was  sittinsT 
aloft  in  the  hall,  when  some  people  appeared  leajiing  a  bull 
past  below  it.  The  king  saw  it,  and  asked  where  the  bull 
was  going,  and  being  answered  that  they  were  going  to 
consecrate  a  bell  with  its  blood,  he  said,  "  Let  it  go,  I  cannot 
bear  its  frightened  appearance  as  if  it  were  an  innocent 
person  going  to  the  place  of  death.''  They  asked  in  reply 
whether,  if  they  did  so,  they  should  omit  the  consecration 
of  the  bell  :  but  [the  king]  said,  "  How  can  that  be  omitted  ? 
Change  it  for  a  sheep."  '  I  do  not  know  whether  this  inci- 
dent occurred.'' 

5.  "  It  did,"  said  [the  king],  and  [Mencius]  replied, 
"  The  heart  seen  in  this  is  sufficient  to  carry  you  to  the 
Ro3^al  sway.  The  people  all  supposed  that  your  Majesty 
grudged  [the  animal],  but  your  servant  knows  surely  that 

affairs  of  Hwan  and  Wan,  but  he  did  not  wish  to  do  so,  and  tiierefore  gave 
this  evasive  replj'.  To  have  a  real  king  was  the  necessity  of  his  time  ;  but 
there  was  more  of  loyalty  in  the  idea  of  a  presiding  jii'hicu  than  in  the 
counsels  which  our  philosopher  gave. 

P/ii:  3.  "  To  love  and  protect  the  people  "  lay  at  the  foundation  of  the 
"benevolent  government  "  of  which  Mencius  always  spoke. 

Ptir.  4.  Hoo  Heih  must  have  been  an  officer  of  the  court  of  Ts'e.  The 
nail  here  mentioned  was  jirobabl}'  that  where  the  king  was  giving  audience 
to  his  ministers.  In  the  court  below  the  hall,  the  parlies  would  appear  lead- 
ing the  bull  past.  When  a  bell  was  cast  they  killed  an  animal,  and  with  its 
blood  smeared  over  the  crevices.  But  the  act  was  a  religious  one,  and  a  con- 
eecration  of  the  bell  'for  religious  or  other  important  use.  Almost  all 
things  coimected  with  their  worship  were  among  the  ancient  Chinese  puri- 
fied with  blood, —  their  temples  and  the  vessels  used  in  tliem. 

Par.  5.  Mencius  would  tlius  bring  home  to  the  king  the  conviction  that 
benevolence  was  natural  to  him.     He  often  reasons  on  the  constitution  of 


lot  TUE    WORKS    OF  MENCIUS.  [bK  I. 

ifc  was  3^our  Majesty's  not  being  able  to  beai*  [the  sight  of 
the  croature^s  distress  which  made  you  do  as  you  did]/^ 

6.  The  king  said,  "You  are  right;  and  3'et  there  really 
was  [an  appearance  of]  what  the  people  imagined.  [But] 
though  Ts'e  be  narrow  and  small,  how  should  I  grudge  a 
bull  ?  Indeed  it  was  because  I  could  not  bear  its  frightened 
appearance,  as  if  it  were  an  innocent  person  going  to  the 
place  of  death,  that  therefore  I  chang-ed  it  for  a  sheep." 

7.  Mencius  said,  "  Let  not  your  Majesty  deem  it  strange 
that  the  people  should  think  you  grudged  the  animal. 
AVhen  you  changed  a  large  one  for  a  small,  liow  should  they 
know  [the  true  reason]  ?  If  you  felt  pained  by  its  [being 
led]  without  any  guilt  to  the  place  of  death,  what  was  there 
to  choose  between  a  bull  and  a  sheep  ?  "  The  king  laughed 
and  said,  "  What  really  was  my  mind  in  the  matter  ?  I  did 
not  grudge  the  value  of  the  bull,  and  yet  I  changed  it  for  a 
sheep  !  There  was  reason  in  the  people's  saying  that  I 
grudged  [the  creature]/' 

8.  [Mencius]  said,  ''  There  is  no  harm  [in  their  saying 
so] .  It  was  an  artifice  of  benevolence.  You  saw  the  bull, 
and  had  not  seen  the  sheep.  So  is  the  superior  man 
affected  towards  animals,  that,  having  seen  them  alive,  he 
cannot  bear  to  see  them  die,  and,  having  heard  their  [dying] 
cries,  he  cannot  bear  co  eat  their  tlesh.  On  this  account  he 
keeps  away  from  his  stalls  and  kitchen."' 

9.  The  king  was  pleased  and  said,  "  The  Ode  says, 

'  What  other  men  have  in  tlieir  minds, 
I  can  measure  by  reflection.' 

This  might  be  spoken  of  you,  my  Master.  I  indeed  did 
the  thing,  but  when  I  turned  ray  thoughts  inward  and 
sought  for  it,  I  could  not  discover  my  own  mind.  When 
3'Ou,  Master,  spoke  those  words,  the  movements  of  com- 
])assion  began  to  work  in  my  mind.  [But]  how  is  it  that 
this  heart  has  in  it  what  is  equal  to  the  attainment  of  the 
Jtoyal  sway  ?  " 

liuman  nature  as  he  does  here.  He  pursues  the  subject  in  the  parr,  of  the 
second  part  of  the  chapter. 

Par.  7.  The  kinji;  here  is  nonplussed,  and  hardly  knows  wh:it  was  his 
own  mind  in  tlie  matter  ;  but  in  ]>ar.  8  Mencius  relieves  him  from  his  per- 
j)b'xity. 

Par.  9.  See  the  She.  II.  v.  Ode  IV.  4. 


FT    I.    CH.  VII.l  KING    HWUY    OF    LEANG.  135 

10.  [Mcncius]  said,  "  Suppose  a  man  were  to  make  this 
statement  to  your  Majesty,  *  My  strength   is  sufficient   to    -k 
lift  three  thousand  catties,  but  it  is  not  sufficient  to  lift  one    Jf 
feather;  my  eyesight  is  sharp  enough  to  examine  the  point 

of  an  autumn  hair,  but  I  do  not  see  a  waggon-load  of 
faggots,'  wouUl  your  Majesty  allow  what  he  said  ?  "  "  No," 
was  the  [king's]  remark,  [and  Mencius  proceeded],  "Now 
here  is  kindness  sufficient  to  reach  to  animals,  and  yet  no 
benefits  are  extended  from  it  to  the  people  ; — how  is  this  ? 
is  an  exception  to  be  made  here  ?  The  truth  is,  the 
feathei*'s  not  being  lifted  is  because  the  strength  was  not 
used ;  the  waggon-load  of  firewood's  not  being  seen  is 
because  the  eyesight  was  not  nsed ;  and  the  people's  not 
being  loved  and  protected  is  because  the  kindness  is  not  , 
used.  Therefore  your  Majesty's  not  attaining  to  the  Royal 
sway  is  because  you  do  not  do  it,  and  not  because  you  ax-e 
not  able  to  do  it." 

11.  [The  king]  asked,  "  Hxdw  may  the  difference  between 
him  who  does  not  do  [a  thing]  and  liim  who  is  not  able  to 
do  it  be  graphically  set  forth  ?  "  [Mencius]  replied,  "  In  /^ 
such  a  tiling  as  taking  the  T'ae  mountain  under  your  arm,  **% 
and  leaping  with  it  over  the  North  sea,  if  you  say  to  people, 
'I. am  not  able  to  do  it,'  that  is  a  real  .case  of  not  being 
able.    In  such  a  matter  as  breaking  off  a  branch  from  a  tree 

at  the  order  of  a  superior,  if  you  say  to  people,  '  I  am  not 
able  to  do  it,'  it  is  not  a  case  of  not  being  able  to  do  it. 
And  so  your  Majesty's  not  attaining  to  the  Koyal  sway  is  not 
such  a  case  as  that  of  taking  the  T'ae  mountain  under  your 
arm  and  leaping  over  the  North  sea  with  it ;  but  it  is  a  case 
like  that  of  breaking  off  a  branch  from  a  tree. 

12.  "  Treat  with  the  reverence  due  to  age  the  elders  in 

Parr.  10,  11,  contain  the  famous  distinction  of  physical  and  moral 
nbilit}'  ;  and  I  like  Mencius'  way  of  putting  it.  The  case  of  a  thing  that 
might  easily  be  done,  and  yet  is  not  done,  is  very  differently  understood.  I 
have  followed  Choc  He  in  taking  the  terms  in  what  is  their  natural  mean- 
ing,— "  breaking  oft"  the  branch  of  a  tree."  Ch'aou  Ke  understood  them  as 
meaning  "  the  rubbing  or  manipulating  the  elbow  or  any  other  joint  of  the 
arm  ;  " — a  service  which  was  often  required  from  servants  b)'^  their  masters. 
Maou  K'e-ling'and  others  cry  out  against  Choo's  interpretation,  showing  there- 
by, it  seems  to  me,  only  their  own  want  of  the  critical  faculty. 

Par.  12.  Compare  with  the  opening  sentence  what  is  said  in  *'The  Great 
Learning,"  Comm.,  Chapters  ix,  and  x.  The  Ode  quoted  is  the  She,  III.  1. 
VI. 


136  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIDS.  [bK  I. 

your  own  family,  so  that  those  in  the  families  of  others  shall 
be  similarly  treated ;  treat  with  the  kindness  due  to  }^uth 
the  young  in  your  own  family,  so  that  those  in  the  families 
of  others  shall  be  similarly  treated  : — do  this  and  the  king- 
dom may  be  made  to  go  round  in  your  palm.  It  is  said  in 
the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  Hi^  example  acted  on  his  wife, 
Extended  to  his  brethren, 
And  was  felt  by  all  the  clans  and  States ;  ' 

telling  us  how  [King  Wan]  simply  took  this  [kindly] 
heart,  and  exercised  it  towards  those  parties.  Therefore 
the  carrying  out  the  [feeling  of]  kindness  [by  a  ruler]  will 
suffice  for  the  love  and  protection  of  all  within  the  four  seas ; 
and  if  he  do  not  carry  it  out,  he  will  riot  be  able  to  protect 
his  wife  and  children.  The  way  in  which  the  ancients  came 
greatly  to  surpass  other  men  was  no  other  than  this,  that 
they  carried  out  w^ell  what  they  did,  so  as  to  afi'ect  others. 
Now  your  kindness  is  sufficient  to  reach  to  animals,  and  yet 
no  benefits  are  extended  from  it  to  the  people.  How  is 
this  ?     Is  an  exception  to  be  made  here  ? 

■  13.  "B}'  weighing  we  know  what  things  are  light,  and 
what  heavy.  By  measuring  we  know  what  things  are  long, 
and  what  short.  All  things  are  so  dealt  with,  and  the  mind 
requires  specially  to  be  so.  I  beg  your  Majesty  to  measure  it. 

14.  "Your  Majesty  collects  your  equipments  of  war, 
endangers  your  soldiers  and  officers,  and  excites  the  resent- 
ment of  the  various  princes  : — do  these  things  cause  you 
pleasure  in  your  mind  l'  " 

15.  The  king  said,  "  No.  IIoav  should  I  derive  pleasure 
from  these  things  ?  My  object  in  them  is  to  seek  for  what 
I  greatly  desire." 

It).  [Mencius]  said,  "  May  I  hear  from  you  what  it  is  that 
your  Majesty  greatly  desires  ?  "  Tho  I'^Jug'  laughed,  and 
did  not  speak.  [Mencius]  resumed,  "  [Are  ypu  led  to 
desire  it],  because  you  have  not  enough  of  rich  and  sweet 
[food]  for  your  mouth  ?  or  because  you  have  not  enough  of 

In  Parr.  14 — 18,  Mencius  measures  or  weighs  the  king's  mind  for  him, 
and  shows  the  object  he  is  bent  on,  with  the  absurdity  of  seeking  for  it  by 
the  course  which  he  pursued,  and  also  how  rapid  would  be  the  response  to  a 
different  course.  All  the  people  in  the  kingdom,  high  and  low,  would  wish 
to  be  his  subjects. 


PT    I,    CII.  VII.]  KING    HWUY    OF    LEANQ.  137 

light  and  warm  [clothing]  for  your  body  ?  or  because  you 
have  not  enow  of  beautifully  coloured  objects  to  satisfy  your 
eyes  ?  or  because  there  are  not  voices  and  sounds  enow  to 
fill  your  ears  ?  or  because  you  have  not  enow  of  attendants 
and  favourites  to  stand  before  you  and  receive  your  orders  ? 
Your  Majesty's  vai-ious  officers  are  sufficient  to  supply  you 
with  all  these  things.  How  can  your  Majesty  have  such  a 
desire  on  account  of  them?''  "No,"  said  the  king,  "my 
desire  is  not  on  account  of  them."  [Mencius]  observed, 
"  Then,  what  your  Majesty  greatly  desires  can  be  known. 
You  desire  to  enlarge  your  territories,  to  have  Ts'in  and 
Ts'oo  coming  to  your  court,  to  rule  the  Middle  States,  and  to 
attract  to  you  the  barbarous  tribes  that  surround  them.  But 
to  do  what  you  do  in  order  to  seek  for  what  you  desire  is 
like  climbing  a  tree  to  seek  for  fish." 

]  7.  "  Is  it  so  bad  as  that  ?  "  said  [the  king].  "  I  appre- 
hend it  is  worse,"  was  the  reply.  "  If  you  climb  a  tree  to 
seek  for  fish,  although  you  do  not  get  the  fish,  you  have  no 
subsequent  calamity.  But  if  you  do  what  you  do  in  order 
to  seek  for  what  you  desire,  doing  it  even  with  all  your 
heart,  you  will  assuredly  afterwards  meet  with  calamities." 
The  king  said,  "  May  I  hear  [what  they  will  be]  ?  "  [Men- 
cius] replied,  "  If. the  people  of  Tsow  were  fighting  with,  the 
people  of  Ts'oo,  which  of  them  does  your  Majesty  think 
would  conquer  ?  "  "  The  people  of  Ts'oo  would  conquer," 
was  the  answer,  and  [Mencius]  pursued,  "  So  then,  a  small 
State  cannot  contend  with  a  great,  few  cannot  contend  with 
many,  nor  can  the  weak  contend  with  the  strong.  The 
territory  within  the  seas  would  embrace  nine  divisions,  each 
of  a  thousand  le  square.  All  Ts'e  together  is  one  of  them. 
If  with  one  part  you  try  to  subdue  the  other  eight,  what  is 
the  difference  between  that  and  Tsow's  contending  with 
Ts'oo?  [With  the  desire  which  you  have],  you  must  turn 
back  to  the  proper  course  [for  its  attainment]. 

18.  "Now  if  your  Majesty  will  institute  a  government 
whose  action  shall  all  be  benevolent,  this  will  cause  ail  the 
officers  in  the  kingdom  to  wish  to  stand  in  your  Majesty's 
court,  the  farmers  all  to  wish  to  plough  in  j^our  Majesty's 
fields,  the  merchants,  both  travelling  and  stationary,  all  to 
wish  to  store  their  goods  in  your  Majesty's  market-places, 
travellers  and  visitors  all  to  wish  to  travel  on  your  Majesty's 
roads,  and  all   under  heaven  who  feel  aggrieved  by  their 


138  THE    WORKS    OP    MENCIUS.  [bK  I. 

rulers  to  wish  to  come  and  complain  to  your  Majesty. 
When  they  are  so  bent,  who  will  be  able  to  keep  them 
back  ?  " 

19.  The  king  said,  '' 1  am  stupid,  and  cannot  advance  to 
this.  [But]  1  wish  you,  my  Master,  to  assist  my  intentions. 
Teach  me  clearly,  and  although  I  am  deficient  in  intelligence 
and  vigour,  I  should  like  to  try  at  least  [to  institute  such  a 
government] ." 

20.  [Mencius]  rephed,  "They  are  only  men  of  education, 
who,  without  a  certain  livelihood,  are  able  to  maintain  a 
fixed  heart.  As  to  the  people,  if  they  have  not  a  certain 
livelihood,  they  will  be  found  not  to  have  a  fixed  heart. 
And  if  they  have  not  a  fixed  heart,  there  is  nothing  which 
they  will  not  do  in  the  way  of  self-abandonment,  of  moral 
defltjction,  of  depravity,  and  of  wild  license.  When  they  have 
thus  been  involved  in  crime,  to  follow  them  up  and  punish 
them,  is  to  entrap  the  people.  How  can  such  a  thing  as 
entrapping  the  people  be  done  under  the  rule  of  a  benevo- 
lent man  '( 

21.  "  Therefore  an  intelligent  ruler  will  regulate  the  live- 
lihood of  the  people,  so  as  to  make  sure  that,  above,  they 
shall  have  sufficient  wherewith  to  serve  their*  parents,  and, 
below,  sufficient  wherewith  to  support  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren ;  that  in  good  years  they  shall  always  be  abundantly 
satisfied,  and  that  in  bad  years  they  shall  not  be  in  danger 
of  perishing.  After  this  he  may  urge  them,  and  they  will 
proceed  to  what  is  good,  for  in  this  case  the  people  will 
follow  after  that  with  readiness. 

22.  "  But  now,  the  livelihood  of  the  people  is  so  regulated, 
that,  above,  they  have  not  sufficient  wherewith  to  serve 
their  parents,  and,  below,  they  have  not  sufficient  where- 
with to  support  their  wives  and  children;  [even]  in  good 
years  their  lives  are  always  embittered,  and  in  bad  years 
they  are  in  danger  of  perishing.  In  such  circumstances 
their  only  object  is  to  escape  from  death,  and  they  are  afraid 
they  will  not  succeed  in  doing  so; — what  leisure  have  they 
to  cultivate  propriety  and  righteousness  ? 

Prir.  20,  brings  in  the  Rulijects  of  "  a  fixed  heart,"  or  a  mind  alwnys  firm 
to  do  what  is  good,  and  of  "a  certain  livelihood,"  or  a  sure  provision  of  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  of  the  necessity  of  the  latter  to  the  former.  We  shall 
meet  with  these  topics  ia  Meucius  again  and  again. 


Pr    II.    CH.  1.]  KING    HWUY    OF    LEANG.  139 

23.  "  If  your  Majesty  wislies  to  carry  out  [a  benevolent 
government],  wliy  not  turn  back  to  what  is  the  essential 
step  [to  its  attainment]  ? 

24.  "  Let  mulberry-trees  be  planted  about  the  homesteads 
with  their  five  acres,  and  persons  of  fifty  years  will  be  able 
to  wear  silk.  In  keeping  fowls,  pigs,  dogs,  and  swine,  let 
not  their  times  of  breeding  be  neglected,  and  persons  of 
seventy  years  will  be  able  to  eat  flesh.  Let  there  not  be 
taken  away  the  time  that  is  proper  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
field-allotment  of  a  hundred  acres,  and  the  family  of  eight 
mouths  will  not  suffer  from  hunger.  Let  careful  attention 
be  paid  to  the  teaching  in  the  various  schools,  with  repeated 
inculcation  of  the  filial  and  fraternal  duties,  and  gray-haired 
men  will  not  be  seen  upon  the  roads,  carrying  burdens  on 
their  backs  or  on  their  heads.  It  has  never  been  that  [the 
ruler  of  a  State]  where  these  results  were  seen,  the  old 
wearing  silk  and  eating  flesh,  and  the  black-haired  people 
suflering  neither  from  hunger  nor  cold,  did  not  attain  to  the 
Royal  dignity." 


BOOK  I. 


KING    HWUY    OF    LEANG.       PART    II. 

Chapter  I.  1.  Chwang  Paou,  [having  gone  to]  see 
Mencius,  said  to  him,  "  I  had  an  audience  of  the  king.  His 
Majesty  told  me  about  his  loving  music,  and  I  was  not  pre- 

Par.  2?>.  "  The  essential  step  to  a  benevolent  government"  is  the  sure  pro- 
vision of  the  nece-ssaries  of  life,  and  the  elements  of  moral  instruction. 
Ptn:  24.  Compare  par.  4  of  ch.  iii.     The  two  are  nearly  identical. 

Cn.  I.  How  THE  LOVE  OF  MUSIC  MAY  BE  MADE  SUBSERVIENT  TO  GOOD 
GOVERXMEXT,  AXD  WHEX    SHARED  WITH  THE    PEOPLE    LEAD    ON    TO    THE 

Royal  sway.  The  chapter  is  a  good  specimen  of  Meacius''  manner.  The 
moral  of  it  i.s  the  same  as  that  of  chapter  ii.  Part  I.  Mencius  slips  cleverly 
from  the  point  in  hand  to  introduce  his  own  notions,  and  tries  to  win  king 
Seuen  over  to  benevolent  government  bj-  his  vice  itself.  It  is  on  this  account 
that  Chinese  thinUer.s  say  tliat  Mencius  was  wanting  in  the  consistency  of 
a  moral  teacher,  aiid  refuse  to  rank  him  with  Confucius. 

Par.  1.  Tiie  king  here  was,  it  is  understood,  king  Seuen  of  last  chapter. 
Chwang  Paou  must  have  bt^en  a  minister  or  officer  about  his  court.  He  was 
evidently  on  good  terms  with  Mencius,  but  his  name  does  not  occur  in  the 


140  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCITJS.  [bK    I. 

pared  with  anything  to  reply  to  liim.  What  do  you  pro- 
nounce concerning-  [that]  love  of  music  ?  "  Mencius  said, 
"  If  the  kino-'s  love  of  music  were  very  great,  the  kingdom 
of  Ts'e  would  be  near  to  [being  well  governed]/' 

2.  Another  day,  Mencius  had  an  audience  of  the  king, 
and  said,  "Your  Majesty,  [I  have  heard,]  told  the  officer 
Chwaftg  about  your  love  of  music ; — was  it  so  ?  "  The  king 
changed  colour,  and  said,  "  I  am  unable  to  love  the  music 
of  the  ancient  kings ;  I  only  love  the  music  that  suits  the 
manners  of  the  [present]  age." 

3.  [Mencius]  said,  "  If  your  Majesty's  love  of  music  were 
very  great,  Ts'e,  I  apprehend,  would  be  near  to  [being  well 
governed].  The  music  of  the  present  day  is  just  like  the 
music  of  antiquity  [for  effecting  that]."  > 

4.  [The  king]  said,  "  May  I  hear  [the  proof  of  what 
you  say]  ?  "  "  Which  is  the  more  pleasant,"  was  the  reply, 
— "  to  enjoy  music  by  yourself  alone,  or  to  enjoy  it  along 
with  others  ?  "  "  To  enjoy  it  along  with  others,"  said  [the 
king],  "And  which  is  the  more  pleasant,"  pursued  [Men- 
cius],— "to  enjoy  music  along  with  a  few,  or  to  t'ujoy  it 
along  with  many  ? "  "  To  enjoy  it  along  with  many," 
replied  [the  king]. 

5.  [Mencius  went  on],  "Will  you  allow  your  servant  to 
speak  to  your  Majesty  about  music  ? 

6.  "  Your  Majesty  is  having  music  here. — The  people  hear 
the  sound  of  your  bells  and  drums,  and  the  notes  of  your 
reeds  and  flutes,  and  they  all,  with  aching  heads,  knit  their 
brows,  and  say  to  one  another,  '  That's  how  our  king  loves 
music  !  But  why  does  he  reduce  us  to  this  extremity  [of 
distress]  ?  Fathers  and  sons  do  not  see  one  another;  elder 
brothers  and  younger  brothers,  wives  and  children,  are 
separated  and  scattered  abroad.'  Again,  your  Majesty  is 
hunting  here.  The  people  hear  the  noise  of  your  carriages 
and  horses,  and  see  the  beauty  of  your  plumes  and  pennons, 
and  they  all,  with  aching  heads,  knit  their  brows,  and  say 
to  one  another,  '  That's  how  our  king  loves  hunting  !     But 

list  of  his  disciples.  The  king  must  have  been  notorious  for  his  love  of 
music,  and  Mencius'  remark  that,  if  his  love  for  it  were  very  great,  Ts'e 
would  be  in  a  happy  state,  only  commends  itself  when  we  find  what  the 
philosopher  included  in  his  idea  of  greatly  loving  music. 

Par.  2.  The  king  changed  colour,  being  conscious  of  the  charges  to  which 
he  was  open  in  connexion  with  his  love  of  music. 


IT    II.    CH.  II.]  KING    HVYUY    OF    LKANG.  141 

■\vliy  does  he  reduce  ns  to  tliis  extremity  of  distress  ?  Fathers 
and  SOBS  do  not  see  one  another  ;  elder  brothers  and  younger 
brothers,  wives  and  children,  are  separated  and  scattered 
abroad.'  This  is  from  no  other  cause,  but  that  you  do  not 
give  the  people  to  have  pleasure  as  well  as  yourself. 

7.  "  Your  Majesty  is  having  music  here. — The  people 
hear  the  sound  of  your  bells  and  drums,  and  the  notes  of 
your  reeds  and  flutes,  and  they  all,  delighted  and  with  joy- 
ful looks,  say  to  one  another,  '  That  sounds  as  if  our  king 
were  free  from  all  sickness  !  What  fine  music  he  is  able  to 
have  ! '  Again,  your  Majesty  is  hunting  here. — The  people 
hear  the  noise  of  your  carriages  and  hoi'ses,  and  see  the 
beauty  of  your  plumes  and  pennons,  and  they  all,  delighted 
and  with  joyful  looks,  say  to  one  another,  '  That  looks  as  if 
our  king  were  free  from  all  sickness  !  How  he  is  able  to 
hunt  ! '  This  is  from  no  other  reason  but  that  you  cause  the 
people  to  have  pleasure  as  well  as  yourself. 

8.  "  If  your  Majesty  now  will  make  pleasui-e  a  thing 
common  to  the  people  and  yourself,  the  Royal  sway  awaits 
you." 

II.  1.  King  Seuen  of  Ts^e  asked,  '^Was  it  so  that  the 
park  of  king  Wan  contained  seventy  square  le  ?  "  Mencius 
replied,  "  It  is  so  in  the  Records. ^^ 

2.  "Was  it  so  large  as  that?"  said  [the  king].  "The 
people,"  said  [Mencius],  "still  considered  it  small."  ''My 
park,"  responded  [the  king],  "contains  [only]  forty  square 
le,  and  the  people  still  consider  it  large.  How  is  this  ?  " 
"The  park  of  king  WUn," — said  [Mencius],  "contained 
seventy  square  le,  but  the  gi'ass-cutters  and  fuel-gatherers 

Par.  8.  This  and  other  similar  passages,  it  is  argued,  are  to  be  understood 
with  refereuce  to  the  great  distress  of  the  times,  which  made  Mencius  express 
himself  as  he  did.  There  was,  no  doubt,  a  great  dift'erenee  between  the 
music  of  antiquity,  and  that  in  which  king  Seuen  delighted  ;  but  if  Seuen 
and  other  princes  could  only  be  led  on  to  make  the  comfort  and  happiness 
of  the  people  their  principal  object,  everything  that  was  wrong  would  rec- 
tify itself. 

Cn.  II.  That  a  rcler  jiust  not  indulge  his  love  foh  parks  and 
HUNTING  TO  THE  DISCOMFORT  OP  THE  PEOPLE.  The  nior.il  of  this  chapter 
is  the  same  as  that  of  the  preceding, — that  a  ruler  must  share  his  pleasures 
with  the  people,  or  see  to  it  that  they  have  pleasures  of  a  similar  kind. 

Par.  1.  This  is  understood  to  have  been  the  park  of  king  Wiin  after  two- 
thirds  of  the  States  of  the  kingdom  had  given  iu  their  adhesion  to  him. 


142  THE    WORKS    OF    MEXCIUS.  [bK    I. 

[had  the  pri\^lege  of]  resorting  to  it,  and  so  also  had  the 
catchers  of  pheasants  and  hares.  He  shared  it  with  the 
people,  and  was  it  not  with  reason  that  they  iooked  on  it  as 
small  ? 

3.  *'  When  I  first  arrived  at  your  frontiers,  I  enquired 
about  the  great  prohibitory  regulations  before  I  would  ven- 
ture to  enter  [the  country]  ;  and  I  heard  that  inside  the 
border-gates  there  was  a  park  of  forty  square  Ic,  and  that 
he  who  killed  a  deer  in  it,  whether  large  or  small,  was  held 
guilty  of  the  same  crime  as  if  he  had  killed  a  man.  In  this 
way  those  forty  square  le  are  a  pit-fall  in  the  middle  of  the 
kingdom.  Is  it  not  with  reason  that  the  people  look  upon 
[your  park]  as  large  ?  " 

III.  1.  Kin^  Seuen  of  Ts'e  asked,  saying,  ^^Is  there 
any  way  [to  regulate  one's  maintenance]  of  intercourse 
with  neighbouring  States  ?^^  Mencius  replied,  "  Thei'e  is. 
But  it  requires  a  benevolent  [ruler]  to  be  able  with  a  great 
State  to  serve  a  small ; — as,  for  instance,  T'ang  served  Koh, 
and  king  Wan  served  the  hordes  of  the  Keun.  And  it  re- 
quires a  wise  [ruler]  to  be  able  with  a  small  State  to  serve 
a  great, — as,  for  instance,  king  T'ae  served  the  Heun-yuh, 
and  Kow-tscen  served  Woo. 

2.  "  He  who  with  a  great   [State]   serves  a  small  is  one 

Par.  3.  Mencius  seems  to  distinn;uish  licre  between  wliat  I  have  called 
"  the  frontiers  "  of  Ts'e,  and  the  hum,  or  the  country  at  the  distance  of  a 
hundred  le  from  the  capital.  Both  at  the  frontiers  and  at  the  point  where 
the  J/aon  commenced,  there  were,  I  believe,  barrier  gates  throufih  which 
travellers  had  to  pass.  He  seems  to  say  that  the  jjark  was  inside  the  circle 
of  the  kaoii.  These  forest  laws  of  Ts'e  were  hardly  worse  than  those 
enacted  by  the  first  Normau  sovereigns  of  England,  when  whoever  killed  a 
deer,  a  boar,  or  even  a  hare,  was  ])uiiished  witii  the  loss  of  his  eyes,  and 
with  death  if  the  statute  was  repeatedly  violated. 

CH.  III.  How  INTERCOtJHSE  WITH  NEIGHBOURING  STATES  MAY  HE 
MAINTAINED,  AND  THE  hOVE  OF  VALOIH  MADE  SUBSEKVIKNT  TO  THE 
GOOD  OF  ;HE  TEOl'LE  AND  THE  GI.ORY  OF  THE  PKINCE. 

Par.  1.  "A  benevolent  ruler  "  here  is  one  who  is  very  slow  to  shed  blood, 
and  will  bear  and  forbear  much  before  he  will  adopt  violent  measures  of 
war  to  endanger  the  lives  of  his  people.  On  the  case  of  T'ang  and  Koh,  see 
III.  ii.  V;  on  that  of  Wan  and  the  hordes  of  the  Keun  we  have  not  much 
information  ; — see  the  fcjhe.  III.  i.  III.  8,  and  VII.  2.  On  king  T'ae  and 
the  Heun-yidi,  see  ch.  xv.  below;  for  Kow-ti-een  and  Woo,  see  Tso's  Ghuen, 
after  XII.  i.  2,  ct  cil.,  and  the  "  History  of  the  various  States,"  Bk  Ixxx. 

I'ur.  2.   Choo   lie   says  ou   tlie   word    "  Heaven  "   here,  "  Heaven   is  just 


n    II.    CH.  III.]  KING    HWUY   OP   LEANQ.  ]  43 

who  delights  in  Heaven ;  and  he  who  with  a  small  [State] 
serves  a  great  is  one  who  feai'S  Heaven.  He  who  delights 
in  Heaven  will  atlect  with  his  love  and  protection  all  under 
the  sky ;  and  he  who  fears  Heaven  will  so  aflect  his  own 
State. 

3.  "  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  I  revere  the  majesty  of  Heaven, 
And  thus  preserve  its  [favour].'  " 

4.  The  king  said,  "A  great  saying!  [But]  I  have  an 
infirmity, — I  love  valour."    . 

5.  [Mencius]  replied,  "I  beg  your  Majesty  not  to  love 
small  valour.  If  a  man  brandishes  his  sword,  looks  fierce, 
and  says,  '  How  dare  he  withstand  me  ?  '  this  is  the  valour 
of  a  common  man,  and  can  only  be  used  against  one  in- 
dividual.   I  beg  your  Majesty  to  change  it  into  great  valour. 

6.  "  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'The  king  rose  nnijestic  in  his  wrath. 
He  marshalled  his  troops, 
To  stop  the  march  to  Keu  ; 
To  consolidate  the  prosperity  of  Chow  ; 
To  meet  the  expectations  of  all  under  heaven.' 

This  was  the  valour  of  king  Wan.  King  Wan,  by  one 
burst  of  his  anger,  gave  repose  to  all  the  people  under 
heaven. 

7.  '^  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  History,  'Heaven,  having 
produced  the  inferior  people,  made  for  them  rulers,  and 
made  for  them  insti-uctors,  with  the  purpose  that  they 
should  be  aiding  to  God,  and  gave  them  distinction  through- 
out the  four  quarters  [of  the  land].  Whoever  are  offenders, 
and  whoever  are  innocent,  here  am  I  [to  deal  with  them]. 

pejaeiple,  i.  e.,  the  reason  of  tilings,  and  nothing  more."  The  iu.st;ince  i?  a 
good  one  of  the  way  in  which  he  and  others  try  to  expunge  the  idea  of  a 
governing  power  and  a  personal  (xod  from  their  classics.  Heaven  is  here 
evidently  the  loving  and  directing  Power  of  the  universe,  or  the  will  of  that 
Power  as  indicated  in  the  course  of  its  Providence. 

Par.  3.  See  the  She,  IV.  i.  [i.]  VII. 

Par.  4.  From  this  par.  Mencius  deals  with  Seuen's  love  of  valour  just  as 
in  ch.  i.  he  deals  with  his  love  of  music. 

Par.  6.  See  the  She,  III.  i.  VII.  .">.  Mencius  gives  the  third  lineciifferently 
from  the  common  reading  in  the  She. 

Par.  7.  See  the  Shoo,  V.  i.  Pt  I.  7,  but  the  quotation  here  is  still  more 
dill'erent  from  the  classical  text.     The  sentiment  that  rulers  and  instructors 


1  14  THE   WORKS    OP    MEN'CIUS.  [bK  I. 

How  tlare  any  under  heaven  give  indulgence  to  tlioir  re- 
fractory wills  ?  '  One  man  was  pursuing  a  violent  and  dis- 
orderly course  in  the  kingdom,  and  king  Woo  was  ashamed 
of  it.  This  was  the  valour  of  king  Woo,  and  he  also,  by  one 
burst  of  his  anger,  gave  repose  to  all  the  jjeople  under 
heaven. 

8.  "  Let  now  your  Majesty,  in  one  burst  of  anger,  give 
repose  to  all  the  people  under  heaven.  The  people  are  only 
afraid  that  your  Majesty  does  not  love  valour." 

IV.  1.  King  Seuen  of  Ts-e  [went  to]  see  Mencius  in 
the  Snow  palace,  and  said  to  him,  '^  Do  men  of  talents 
and  virtue  likewise  find  pleasure  in  [such  a  place  as]  this  ?  " 
Mencius  replied,  "  They  do.  And  if  people  [general- 
ly] do  not  get  [similar  pleasure],  they  condemn  their  su- 
periors. 

2.  "  For  them,  when  they  do  not  get  that,  to  condemn 
their  superiors  is  wrong ;  but  when  the  superiors  of  the 
people  do  not  make  [such]  pleasui^e  a  thing  common  to  the 
people  and  themselves,  they  also  do  wrong. 

o.  "  When  [a  ruler]  rejoices  in  the  joy  of  his  people,  they 
also  rejoice  in  his  joy ;  when  he  soitows  for  the  sorrow  of 
his  people,  they  also  sorrow  for  his  sorrow.  When  his  joy 
extends  to  all  under  heaven,  and  his  sorrow  does  the  same, 
it  never  was  that  in  such  a  case  [the  ruler]  did  not  attain  to 
the  Hoyal  sway. 

aro  intended  to  be  aiding  to  God  is  tlie  same  as  tliat  of  Paul,  in  Romans, 
xiii.  1 — 4,  that  "the  powers  ordained  of  God  are  the  ministers  of  God." 

Ch.  IV.  A  RULER'S  PROarERITY  DEPENDS  ON  HIS  BXEItCISING  A  RE- 
STRAINT ON  HIS  OWN  LOVE  OF  PLEASURE,  AND  SYMPATHIZING  WITH  HIS 
PEOPLE  IN  THEIR  .JOYS  AND    SORROWS  ; — ILLUSTRATED    IJY    THE    EXAMPLE 

OF  DUKE  King  op  I's'e. 

Pur.  1.  The  Snow  palace  was  a  pleasure  palace  of  the  princes  of  Ts'e,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  in  the  present  district  of  Lin-tsze,  department  Ts'ing-chow. 
Most  of  the  critics  say  that  the  kin>r  had  lodijed  Mfuicius  there  and  went  to  see 
Viim  in  it;  and  this  is  tiie  most  natural  inference  from  the  language.  The  king's 
question  was  in  the  same  words  as  that  of  king  Hwuy  of  Leang  in  ch.  ii. 
of  Part  I. ;  but  there  it  had  to  be  understood  of  rulers,  while  here  its  appli- 
cation is  to  Mencius  himself,  and  there  is  in  it  an  undertone  of  self-congra- 
tulation l»y  the  king  on  his  handsome  treatment  of  the  philosopher.  Men- 
ciu<,  iiowever,  starts  otT  from  it  in  his  usual  way  to  introduce  his  great 
theme  of  benevolent  government,  and  benevolent  leeling  towards  the  people 
in  the  prince's  heart;  and  thi.s  is  developed  in  parr.  2  and  3. 


FT    II.    Cn.  IV.]  KING    nWCY    OF   LEAXG.  145 

4.  "  Formerly^  duke  King  of  Ts^e  asked  the  minister  Gan, 
saying,  '  I  wish,  to  make  a  tour  to  Chuen-foo  and  Chaou- 
woo,  and  then  to  bend  my  way  southward,  along  the  shore, 
till  I  come  to  Lang-yay.  AVhat  shall  I  do  specially,  that 
my  tour  may  be  fit  to  be  compared  with  those  made  by  the 
former  kings  ?  ' 

5.  "  The  minister  Gan  replied,  '  An  excellent  inquiry  ! 
When  the  son  of  Heaven  visited  the  feudal  princes,  it  was 
called  "  a  tour  of  inspection  ;  "  that  is,  he  surveyed  the  States 
under  their  care.  When  the  princes  attended  at  his  court, 
it  was  called  "  a  report  of  office  ;  "  that  is,  they  reported 
[their  administration  of]  their  offices.  [Thus]  neither  of 
those  proceedings  was  without  its  proper  object.  [And 
moreover] ,  in  the  spring  they  examined  the  ploughing,  and 
supplied  any  deficiency  [of  seed]  ;  in  the  autumn  they  ex- 
amined the  reaping,  and  assisted  where  there  was  any  defi- 
ciency [of  yield] .     There  is  the  saying  of  the  Hea  dynasty, 

"  If  our  king  go  not  from  home, 
Whence  to  us  will  comfort  come  1 
If  our  king  make  not  his  round, 
Whence  to  us  will  help  be  found  1 " 

That  excursion  and  that  round  were  a  pattern  for  tho 
princes. 

6.  "  '  Now  the  state  of  things  is  different.    A  host  marches 
[in  attendance  on  the  ruler],  and  the  provisions  are  con- 
Par.  4.  On  duke  King  of  Ts'e  and  his  minister  Gan,  see  the  Ana.  XII. 

xi.  ;  V.  xvi. ;  ct  al.  King  was  marquis  of  Ts"e  for  58  jears,  from  B.C.  54G  to 
489.  Mencius  here  presents  his  character  in  a  more  favourable  light  than 
Confucius  does.  Chuen-foo  and  Chaou-woo  were  two  hills  which  must  liave 
been  in  the  north-east  of  Ts'e,  and  looking  on  the  waters  now  called  the 
Gulf  of  Pih-chih-le.  Lang-yay  was  the  name  both  of  a  hill  and  an  ad- 
jacent city,  in  the  present  district  of  Choo-sbing,  department  Ts'iug-chow. 
The  duke  was  bent  evidently  on  pleasure,  and  his  last  words  were  simply 
intended  to  gloss  that  over. 

Par.  .5.  On  the  royal  tours  of  inspection  see  the  Shoo,  II.  i.  8,  9.  Under 
the  Cbow  dynasty  the  kings  were  understood  to  make  such  tours  once  in 
12  3'ears,  and  the  feudal  princes  had  to  present  themselves  in  their  court  once 
in  six  years.  The  spring  and  autumn  movements  were  common  to  the  king 
in  his  domain,  and  to  the  feudal  princes  in  their  States  ;  but  they  are  men- 
tioned here,  as  appears  from  the  conclusion  of  the  paragraph,  with  special 
reference  to  the  king. 

Pat.  6.  What  is  here  called  '•  a  host  "  was  a  body  of  2,500  men,  by  which 
the  ruler  of  a  State  was  accompanied  when  he  went  abroad  ;  but  the  term 
is  often  used  generally  of  a  body  of  followers  or  an  army.  It  is  the  picture 
VOL.    U.  10 


146  THE    WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [bK    I. 

sumed.  The  hungry  are  deprived  of  their  food,  and  there 
is  no  rest  for  those  who  are  called  to  toil.  Maledictions  are 
uttered  by  one  to  another  with  eyes  askance,  and  the  people 
proceed  to  the  commission  of  wickedness.  The  [Koyal] 
orders  are  violated  and  the  people  are  oppressed ;  the  sup- 
plies of  food  and  drink  flow  away  like  water.  The  [rulers] 
yield  themselves  to  the  current ;  or  they  urge  their  way 
against  it;  they  are  wild;  they  are  lost: — [these  things 
proceed]  to  the  grief  of  the  [smaller]  princes. 

•7.  "  '  Descending  along  with  the  current,  and  forgetting  to 
return,'  is  what  I  call  yielding  to  it.  '  Going  against  it,  and 
forgetting  to  return/  is  what  I  called  urging  their  way 
against  it.  '  Pursuing  the  chase  without  satiety'  is  what  I  call 
being  wild.  '  Delighting  in  spirits  without  satiety  •*  is  what  I 
call  being  lost. 

8.  "  '  The  former  kings  had  no  pleasures  to  which  they 
gave  themselves  as  on  the  flowing  stream,  no  doings  which 
might  be  so  characterized  as  wild  and  lost. 

9.  "  '  It  is  for  you,  ray  ruler,  to  take  your  course.' 

10.  "Duke  King  was  pleased.  He  issued  a  grand  proclam- 
ation through  the  State,  and  went  out  [himself]  and  occu- 
pied a  shed  in  the  suburbs.  From  that  time  he  began  to 
open  [his  granaries]  for  the  relief  of  the  wants  [of  the  peo- 
ple] ,  and,  calling  the  grand  music  master,  said  to  him,  '  Make 
for  me  music  to  suit  a  prince  and  his  minister  well  pleased 
with  each  other.'  It  was  then  that  the  Che  Shaou  and 
Ke'oh  Shaou  was  made,  in  the  poetry  to  which  it  was  said, 

'  What  fault  is  it  one's  ruler  to  restrain  ?  ' 

He  who  restrains  his  ruler  loves  him." 

of  a  wretched  State  wliich  appears  in  this  and  the  next  paragraph.  The 
"smaller  princes"  in  the  end  of  this  paragraph  denote  the  lords  of  the 
small,  "  attached  "  principalities  in  the  larger  States,  and  perhaps  also  the 
governors  of  the  cities,  on  whom  requisitions  would  be  made  to  supply -the 
wants  of  the  ruler  and  his  followers. 

J^ar.  9  means  that  his  minister  would  have  duke  King  choose  between  the 
ways  of  the  ancient  kings  and  those  of  the  princes  of  his  time.  Other 
meanings  have  been  assigned  to  it,  but  incorrectly. 

Pur.  10.  I  believe  the  proper  rendering  of  "  issued  a  grand  proclamation  " 
would  1)0  "proclaimed  a  grand  fast;  "  but  I  have  not  ventured  to  give  the 
original  words  a  meaning  which  none  of  the  critics  have  adopted  ; — though 
it  is  (juite  allowable.  The  duke's  own  occupancy  of  the  shed  was  the  way 
he  took  to  "  afflict  his  soul."     Shaou  was  the  name  given  to   a  piece  of 


FT    n.    CH.  v.]  KING    HWUY    OF   LEANG.  147 

V.  1.  King  Senen  of  Ts'e  asked  saying,  "People  all 
tell  me  to  pull  down  the  Brilliant  liall  and  remove  it ; 
— shall  I  pull  it  down,  or  stop  [the  movement  for  that 
object]  ?" 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  The  Brilliant  hall  is  the  hall  appro- 
priate to  the  kings.  If  your  Majesty  wishes  to  practise 
Royal  government,  do  not  pull  it  down/' 

3.  The  king  said,  "  May  I  hear  from  you  what  Royal  gov- 
ernment is  ? '^  "Formerly,'^  was  the  reply,  "king  Wan's 
government  of  K'e  was  the  following  : — From  the  husband- 
man [there  was  required  the  produce  of]  one  ninth  [of  the 
land]  ;  the  descendants  of  officers  were  salaried ;  at  the 
passes  and  in  the  markets,  [strangers]  were  inspected,  but 

music  said  to  be  transmitted  from  the  ancient  Shun,  and  is  used  here  to 
signify  that  made  to  celebrate  the  good  understanding  between  King  and 
his  minister.  It  appears  to  have  consisted  of  two  parts,  one  beginning 
with  the  note  cite,  and  the  other  with  the  note  keoh.  I  do  not  know 
enough  of  music  mj^self  to  explain  these. 

Ch.  V.  On  the  purpose  to  pull  down  the  Brilliant  hall  in  Ts'e. 
Certain  principles  of  Eoyal  government  ;  and  that  neither 
greed  of  substance  nor  love  of  beauty  need  interfere  with  the 
practice  of  it.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  tbis  chapter  Mencius 
suggests,  if  he  does  not  directly  incite  to,  rebellion.  It  is  a  graver  charge 
against  him  that,  after  his  usual  fashion,  he  here  overlooks  the  selfish  vices 
of  the  rulers  of  his  daj',  and  thinks  that,  while  still  practising  them,  thej 
could  be  transformed  into  true  kings. 

Par.  1.  The  "  Brilliant  hall  "  was  a  name  given  to  the  principal  apartment 
of  the  palaces  where  the  kings  in  their  tours  of  inspection,  spoken  of  in  the 
last  chapter,  received  the  feudal  princes  of  the  different  quarters  of  the 
kingdom.  See  the  Le  Ke,  XIV.  The  one  in  the  text  was  near  the  foot  of 
mount  T'ae,  and  had  originally  been  within  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Loo. 
Now  the  territorj^  where  it  was  belonged  to  Ts'e,  and  as  the  Koyal  tours  of 
inspection  had  fallen  into  disuse,  it  was  proposed  to  king  Seuen  to  remove 
the  Brilliant  hall.  • 

Par.  2.  Here  certainly  Mencius  suggests  to  king  Seuen  the  idea  of  his 
superseding  the  kings  of  Chow. 

Par.  3.  K'e  was  a  double-peaked  hill,  giving  its  name  to  the  adjacent 
country  which  formed  the  old  State  of  Chow,  after  the  removal  of  the  tribe, 
under  T'an-foo  afterwards  styled  king  T'ae,  from  its  older  seat  in  Pin.  The 
mountain  gives  its  name  to  the  present  district  of  K'e-shan,.  department 
Fung-ts'eang,  in  the  south-west  of  Shen.-se.  It  was  in  K'e  that  king  Wan  suc- 
ceeded to  his  father,  and  kid  the  foundations  of  the  Koyal  sway,  to  which  his 
son  Woo  attained.  On  the  1st  point  of  "Wan's  government  of  K'e  see  under 
Pt  II.  iii.  4.  According  to  the  2nd,  descfudants  of  meritorious  officers,  if 
mea  of  ability,  received  office,  and  even,  if  they  were  not  so,  they  had  pen- 
sions in  acknowledgment  of  the  services  of  their  fathers.     The  ponds  and 


148  THE    WORKS   OF   MENCIUS.  [bK   I, 

goods  were  not  taxed ;  there  were  no  prohibitions  respecting 
the  ponds  and  weirs  ;  the  wives  and  children  of  criminals 
were  not  involved  in  their  guilt.  There  were  the  old  and 
wifeless,  or  widowers,  the  old  and  husbandless,  or  widows  ; 
the  old  and  childless^  or  solitaries;  and  the  young  and 
fotherless,  or  orphans  : — these  four  classes  are  the  most  des- 
titute under  heaven,  and  have  none  to  whom  they  can  tell 
[their  wants] ,  and  king  Wan,  in  the  institution  of  his  govern- 
ment with  its  benevolent  action,  made  them  the  first  objects 
of  his  regard.     It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  The  rich  may  get  through, 
But  alas  for  the  helpless  and  solitary  ! '  " 

4.  The  king  said,  "  Excellent  words  !  "  [Mencius]  said, 
"  Since  your  Majesty  deems  them  excellent,  why  do  you  not 
put  them  into  practice  ?  "  "I  have  an  infirmity,^'  said  the 
king;  "I  am  fond  of  substance."  "  Formerly,"  replied 
[Mencius],  "duke  Lew  was  fond  of  substance.  It  is  said  in 
the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  He  stored  up  [the  produce]  in  the  fields  and  in  bams ; 
He  tied  up  dried  meat  and  grain 
In  bottomless  bags  and  sacks  ; 

That  he  might  hold  [his  people]  together,  and  glorify  [his  tribe]. 
Then  with  bows  and  arrows  all  ready, 
With  sliields  and  spears,  and  axes,  large  and  small, 
He  commenced  his  march.' 

In  this  way  those  who  remained  in  their  old  seat  had 
their  stores  in  the  fields  and  in  barns,  aud  those  who  marched 
had  their  bags  of  grain.  It  was  not  till  after  this  that  he 
commenced  his  march.  If  your  Majesty  is  fond  of  substance, 
let  the  people  have  the  opportunity  to  gratify  the  same  feel- 
ing, and  what  difficulty  will  there  bo  iiP.  your  attaining  to 
the  Royal  sway  ?  " 

5.  The  king  said,  "  I  have  an  infirmity  ;  I  am  fond  of 
beauty.'^     The  reply  was,  "  Formerly  king  T'ae  was  fond 

weirs  were  free  to  the  people,  with  the  restriction  as  to  the  size  of  their  nets 
referred  to  in  Pt  I.  iii.  3.  It  is  not  said  wliat  n;easures  were  adopted  by 
king  Wan  for  the  relief  of  the  four  destitute  classes  who  are  mentioned. 
They  must  have  been  mainly  provisions  for  tlieir  maintenance. 

The  concluding  lines  are  from  the  She,  II.  iv.  VIH.  13. 

Par.  4.   See  the  She,  III.  ii.  VI.  i. 

Par.  0.  See  the  She,  III.  i.  HI.  2.     We  may  admire  the  ingenuity  of 


PT  II.    Cn.  VI.  VII.]       KING    nWUY    OF    LEANG.  149 

of  beauty,  and  loved  liis  wife.  It  is  said  in  tlie  Book  of 
Poetry^ 

'  The  ancient  duke  T'an-foo 
Came  in  tlic  niornin.ir,  galloping  his  horses, 
Along  the  bank.s  of  the  western  rivers, 
To  the  foot  of  Mount  K'e  ; 
And  there  he  and  the  lady  Keang 
Came,  and  together  looked  out  for  a  site  on  which  to  settle.' 

At  that  time,  in  the  seclusion  of  the  house,  there  were 
no  dissatisfied  women,  and,  abroad,  there  were  no  unmarried 
men.  If  your  Majesty  is  fond  of  beauty,  let  the  people  be 
able  to  gratify  the  same  feeling,  and  what  difficulty  will 
there  be  in  your  attaining  to  the  lloyal  sway  ?  " 

VI.  1.  Mencius  said  to  king  Seuen  of  Ts*^e,  "  [Sup- 
pose that]  one  of  your  Majesty's  servants  were  to  entrust  his 
wife  and  children  to  the  care  of  his  friend,  while  he  went  [him- 
self] into  Ts'^oo  to  travel,  and  that,  on  his  return,  [he  should 
find]  that  [the  friend]  had  caused  his  wife  and  children  to  suf- 
fer from  cold  and  hunger, — how  ought  he  to  deal  with  him  ?  " 
The  king  said,  "  He  should  cast  him  off." 

2.  [Mencius]  proceeded,  "[Suppose  that]  the  chief  criminal 
judge  could  not  regulate  the  officers  of  justice  under  him, 
how  should  he  be  dealt  with  ?  "  The  king  said,  "  He  should 
be  dismissed.'' 

3.  [Mencius  again]  said,  "  When  within  the  four  borders 
[of  your  kingdom]  there  is  not  good  government,  what  is  to 
be  done  ?  "  The  king  looked  to  the  right  and  left,  and  spoke 
of  other  matters. 

VII.  1.  Mencius,  having   [gone  to]  see  king   Seuen  of 

Mencius  in  the  illustrations  in  these  two  paragraphs  ;  but  they  would  have 
little  power  with  a  sensual,  self-indulgent  man  like  kiug  Seuen. 

Cii.  VI.  Bringing  home  his  bad  government  to  the  king  of  Ts'e. 
This  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  bold  manner  in  which  Mencius  was  not 
afraid  to  tell  the  truth  to  the  kings  and  princes  of  his  time. 

Par.  2.  For  the  office  of  "  chief  criminal  judge  "  see  under  the  Analects, 
XVIII.  ii. 

Ch.  VII.  What  is  meant  by  an  ancient  kingdom  ;  axdthe  caution 
to  be  exeeciskd  by  a  ruler  in  raising  men  to  office.  His  great 
care  must  be  to  have  the  sympathy  and  approval  of  the  people. 

l^ur.  1.  If  the  king  had  no  intimate  ministers,  men  who  had  his  familiar 


150  THE    WORKS    OF    MEKCIFS.  [bK  I. 

Ts^e,  said  to  him,  "  When  men  speak  of  '  an  ancient  king- 
dom/ it  is  not  meant  thereby  that  it  has  lofty  trees  in  it, 
but  that  it  has  ministers  [sprung  fi'om  families  that  have 
been  noted  in  it]  for  generations.  Your  Majesty  has  no 
ministers  with  whom  you  are  personally  intimate.  Those 
whom  you  advanced  yesterday  are  gone  to-day,  and  you  do 
not  know  it.'^ 

2.  The  king  said,  "  How  shall  I  know  that  they  have  no 
ability,  and  avoid  employing  them  at  all  ?  " 

3.  The  reply  was,  "  A  ruler  advances  to  office  [new]  men 
of  talents  and  virtue  [only]  as  a  matter  of  necessity.  As  he 
thereby  causes  the  low  to  overstep  the  honourable  and 
strangers  to  overstep  his  relatives,  ought  he  to  do  so  but 
with  caution  ? 

4.  ''When  all  those  about  you  say  [of  a  man],  '  He  is 
a  man  of  talents  and  virtue,'  do  not  immediately  [believe 
them].  When  your  great  officers  all  say,  '  He  is  a  man  of 
talents  and  virtue,^  do  not  immediately  [believe  them]. 
When  your  people  all  say,  '  He  is  a  man  of  talents  and 
virtue,^  then  examine  into  his  character  ;  and,  when  you  find 
that  he  is  such  indeed,  then  afterwards  employ  him.  When 
all  those  about  you  say,  '  He  will  not  do,'  do  not  listen  to 
them.  When  your  great  officers  all  say,  '  He  will  not  do,' 
do  not  listen  to  them.  When  your  people  all  say,  '  He  will 
not  do,'  then  examine  into  his  character;  and  when  you 
find  that  he  will  not  do,  then  afterwards  send  him  away. 

5.  "When  those  about  you  all  say  [of  a  man],  'lie 
deserves  death,'  do  not  listen  to  them.  When  your  groat 
officers  all  say,  '  He  deserves  death,'  do  not  listen  to  them. 
When  your  people  all  say,  '  He  deserves  death,'  then  ex- 
amine into  his  case;  and  when  you  find  that  he  deserves  death, 
then  afterwards  put  him  to  death.  In  accordance  with  this 
we  have  the  saying,  '  The  people  put  him  to  death.' 

6.  "Act  in  this  way  and  you  will  be  the  parent  of  the 
people." 

confidence  and  aflfection,  he  could  not  have  mm  of  old  families  in  hia 
service. 

P/ir.  .3.  The  "  low  "  are  new  men  who  had  not  previou.sly  heen  in  office. 
"  Stranjier.s"  means  literally  "di,stant  in  relationsliii)."  It  appears  from  the 
Ch'un  T.s-t-w  and  T.so  Cluien  that  the  mini.-^turs  in  tlie  different  feudal  States 
Avere  nearly  all  of  families  which  were  olfshoots  from  the  ruling  Houses. 

Far.  6.  See  the  Great  Learning,  Commentary,  x.  3. 


PT  II.    CH.  VIII.  IX.]     KING   HWUY    OF    LEANG.  151 

VIII.  1.  King  Seuen  of  Ts'^e  asked,  saying,  ''  Was  it  so 
that  T'^ang  banished  Keeli,  and  king  Woo  smote  Chow  ?  " 
Mencius  replied,  "  It  is  so  in  the  Records. ^^ 

.  2.  [The  king]  said,  "  May  a  subject  put  his  ruler  to 
death?" 

3.  The  reply  was,  "  He  who  outrages  benevolence  is  called 
a  ruffian  ;  he  who  outrages  righteousness  is  called  a  villain. 
The  ruffian  and  villain  we  call  a  mere  fellow.  I  have  heard 
of  the  cutting  off  of  the  fellow  Chow ;  I  have  not  heai-d  of 
the  putting  a  ruler  to  death  [in  his  case].''' 

IX.  1.  Mencius,  [having  gone  to]  see  king  Seuen. 
of  Ts''e,  said,  "  If  you  are  going  to  build  a  large  mansion, 
you  will  surely  cause  the  Master  of  the  workmen  to  look 
out  for  large  trees  ;  and  when  he  has  found  them,  your 
Majesty  will  be  glad,  thinking  they  will  be  fit  for  the  object. 
Should  the  workmen  hew  them  so  as  to  make  them  too 
small,  then  you  will  be  angry,  thinking  that  they  will  not 
answer  for  the  purpose.  Now  a  man  spends  his  youth  in 
learning  [the  principles  of  right  government],  and,  when 
grown  up  to  vigour,  he  wishes  to  put  them  in  practice  : — if 
your  Majesty  say  to  him,  '  For  the  present  put  aside  what 
you  have  learned,  and  follow  me,'  what  shall  we  say  ? 

2.  "  Here  now  you  have  a  gem  in  the  stone.  Although 
it  be  worth  240,000   [taels],  you  will  surely  employ  your 

Ch.  VIII.  Killing  a  sovereign  is  not  necessarily  rebellion  nob 
MUUDER.     We  have  here  one  of  Mencius'  boldest  utterances. 

Par.  1.  T'ang  was  the  founder  of  the  dynasty  of  Shanjj,  and  Keeh  was  the 
last  of  the  sovereigns  of  Hea,  a  tyrant,  whom  T'ang  defeated  and  banished 
to  Nan-ts'aou,  where  he  died.  Chow  was  the  last  of  the  sovereigns  of 
Shang,  also  a  tyrant  who  burned  himself  to  death,  after  his  defeat  by  king 
Woo  in  the  wild  of  Muh. 

Par.  3.  In  calling  Chow  "  a  mere  fellow  "  Mencius  probably  borrowed 
from  king  Woo,  who  in  the  Shoo,  V.  i.  Part  iii.  4,  calls  Chow,  while  still 
alive,  "  this  solitary  fellow  Show." 

Cn.  IX.  The  absurdity  op  a  ruler's  not  acting  according  to  the 

COUNSEL  OF  THE  MEN  OP  TALENTS  AND  VII£TUE  WHOM  HE  CALLS  TO  AID 
IN   HIS  GOVERX.MENT,  BUT    REQUIRING  THKM    TO    FOLLOW    HIS  OWN    WAYS. 

In  one  point  tlie  illu.-^trations  of  Jlencius  here  fail.  A  prince  is  not  supposed 
to  understand  either  house-building  or  gem-cutting  ; — he  must  delegate  these 
to  other  men  who  do.  But  government  he  ought  to  understand,  and  he  may 
not  delegate  the  responsibility  of  it  to  any  scholars  or  officers.  No  doubt, 
howevei",  there  was  that  about  king  Seuen's  procedures  which  made  our 
philosopher's  lesson  to  him  quite  appropriate. 


152  THE    WORKS   OF   MENCIUS.  [bK  I. 

chief  lapidary  to  cut  and  polisli  it.  But  when  you  come  to 
the  goverumeut  of  your  kingdom,  you  say,  *  For  the  present 
put  aside  what  you  have  learned  and  follow  me  ;' — how  is  it 
that  you  herein  act  differently  from  your  calling  in  the 
lapidary  to  cut  and  polish  the  gem  ?  " 

X.  1.  The  people  of  Ts'e  attacked  Yon,  and  conquered 
it. 

2.  King  Seuen  asked,  saying,  "  Some  toll  me  not  to  take 
possession  of  it,  and  some  tell  me  to  take  possession  of 
it.  For  a  kingdom  of  ten  thousand  chariots  to  attack 
another  of  the  same  strength,  and  to  complete  the  conquest 
of  it  in  fifty  days,  is  an  achievement  beyond  [mere]  human 
strength.  If  I  do  not  take  it,  calamities  from  Heaven  will 
surely  come  upon  me  : — what  do  jo\x  say  to  my  taking  pos- 
session of  it  ?  " 

3.  Mencius  replied,  "  If  the  people  of  Yen  will  be  pleased 
with  your  taking  possession  of  it,  do  so. — Among  the  ancients 
there  was  [one]  who  acted  in  this  way,  namely  king  Woo. 
If  the  people  of  Yen  will  not  be  pleased  Avith  your  taking 
possession  of  it,  do  not.  Among  the  ancients  there  was 
one  who  acted  in  this  way,  namely  king  Wan. 

4.  "  When  with  [the  strength  of]  your  kingdom  of  ten 
thousand  chariots  you  attacked  another  of  the  same  strength, 

Ch.  X.  The  disposal  of  kingdoms  rests  with  the  m.inds  of  the 

PEOPLE.  No  conquest  AND  SUBSEQUENT  ANNEXATION  CAN  BE  VINDI- 
CATED AS  ACCORDING  TO  THE  WILL  OK  HEAVEN,  UNLESS  THE  PEOPLE  OP 
THE  CONQUERED  KINGDOM  ARE  (CONTENT  AND  SATISFIED. 

J^a?:  1.  Yen  lay  north-west  from  Ts'e,  forniinj,' part  of  the  present  pro- 
vince of  Chih-le.  Its  jirinces  liad  in  former  times  heen  marquises  or  earls, 
but  in  the  age  of  Mencius  they,  like  those  of  many  other  States,  had  assumed 
the  title  of  king.  At  the  time  to  which  this  chapter  refers,  though  the  ques- 
tion of  the  chronology  is  much  disputed,  its  king,  a  poor  weakling,  had 
resigned  the  throne  to  his  chief  minister,  and  great  confusion  ensued,  so 
that  the  people  welcomed  the  appearance  of  the  troops  of  Ts'e  and  made  no 
resistance  to  them. 

Par.  2.  King  Seuen  hy  calling  both  Ts'e  and  Yen  "  States  of  10,000 
chariots"  plainly  intimates  tbat  their  rulers  had  taken  the  royal  title,  and 
wished  to  establi.^h  their  sway  over  all  the  land.  ' 

Par.  3.  The  common  saying  is  that  "  King  Wan  had  possession  of  two 
of  the  three  parts  of  the  kingdom."  But  he  did  not  think  that  the  people 
were  prepared  for  the  extinction  of  the  dynasty  of  Shang  or  Yin,  and  left 
the  comi)letion  of  the  fortunes  of  his  house  to  his  son  AVoo. 

Par.  4.  Mencius  disabuses  the  king,  and  gives  a  natural  explanation  of 
the  success  he  hud  met  with. 


PT    II.    CH.  XI.]  KING   HWUY    OF   LEANG.  153 

and  they  met  your  Majesty^s  army  with  baskets  of  rice  and 
vessels  of  congee,  was  there  any  other  reason  for  this  but 
that  they  [hoped  to]  escape  out  of  hre  and  water  ?  If  [you 
make]  the  water  more  deep  and  the  fire  more  fierce,  they  will 
just  in  like  manner  make  another  revolution/' 

XI.  1.  The  people  of  Ts'e  having  attacked  Yen  and  taken 
possession  of -it,  the  [other]  princes  proposed  to  take  mea- 
sures to  deliver  Yen.  King  Seuen  said,  "As  the  princes 
are  many  of  them  consulting  to  attack  me,  how  shall  I 
prepare  myself  for  them  ?  "  Mencius  replied,  "  I  have  heard 
of  one  who  with  seventy  le  gave  law  to  the  whole  kingdom,  but 
I  have  not  heard  of  [a  ruler]  who  with  a  thousand  le  was 
afraid  of  others. 

2.  "  The  Book  of  History  says,  '  When  T'ang  began  liis 
work  of  punishment,  he  commenced  with  Koh.  All  under 
heaven  had  confidence  in  him.  When  the  work  went  on  in 
the  east,  the  wild  tribes  of  the  west  murmured.  When  it 
went  on  in  the  south,  those  of  the  north  murmured.  They 
said,  "  Why  does  he  make  us  the  last  ?  "  The  looking  of  Q^ 
the  people  for  him  was  Ij^  the  looking  in  a  time  of  great  sj 
drought  for  clouds  and  rainbows.  The  frequenters  of  the 
markets  stopped  not;  the  husbandmen  made  no  change  [in 
their  operations]  .  While  he  took  off  their  rulers,  he  con- 
soled the  people.  [His  progress]  was  like  the  falling  of 
seasonable  rain,  and  the  people  were  delighted.'  It  is  said 
[again]  in  the  Book  of  History,  '  We  have  waited  for  our 
prince  [long]  ;  the  prince's  coming  is  our  reviving.' 

o.  "  Now  [the  ruler  of]  Yen  was  tyrannizing  over  his 
people,  and  your  Majesty  went  and  punished  him.  The 
people  supposed  that  you  were  going  to  deliver  them  out  of 
the  water  and  the  fire,  and  with  baskets  of  rice  and  vessels 
of  congee  they  met   your   Majesty's    host.     But  you  have 

Ch.  XI.  Ambitiox  and  greed  only  raise  enemies  and  bring  disas- 
ters. Safety  and  prosperity  lie  in  benevolent  government.  King 
Seuen,  it  appears,  was  unwilling  to  give  up  his  appropriation  of  Yen,  on 
which,  however,  Mencius  insists. 

Par.  1.  When  T'ang  commenced  his  operations  against  Keeh  of  Shang, 
he  was  the  occupant  of  a  small  principality,  being  part  of  the  present  de- 
partment of  Kwei-tih,  Ho-nan. 

P(ir.  2.  See  the  Shoo,  IV.  ii.  6.  But  the  Book  of  the  Shoo,  which  gave 
a  full  account  of  T'ang's  dealings  with  the  chief  of  Koh,  has  been  lost.  See 
the  Preface  to  the  Shoo,  Par.  10, 


154  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    I. 

slain  their  fathers  and  elder  brothers,  and  put  their  sons  and 
younger  brothers  in  chains;  you  have  pulled  down  the 
ancestral  temple  [of  the  rulers] ,  and  are  carrying  away  its 
precious  vessels  : — how  can  such  a  course  be  admitted  ?  [The 
other  States  of]  the  kingdom  were  afraid  of  the  strength 
of  Ts'e  before  ;  and  now  when  with  a  doubled  territory  you 
do  not  exercise  a  benevolent  government,  this  puts  the  arms 
of  the  kingdom  in  motion  [against  you]  . 

4.  "  If  your  Majesty  will  make  haste  to  issue  an  order, 
restoring  [your  captives]  old  and  young,  and  stopping  [the 
removal  of]  the  precious  vessels  ;  [and  if  then]  you  will  con- 
sult with  the  people  of  Yen,  appoint  [for  them]  a  [new]  ruler, 
and  afterwards  withdraw  from  the  country  : — in  this  way 
you  may  still  be  able  to  stop  [the  threatened  attack]." 

XII.  1.  There  had  been  a  skirmish  between  [some 
troops  of]  Tsow  and  Loo,  [in  reference  to  which,]  duke 
Mill  asked,  saying,  "  Of  my  officers  there  were  killed  thirty- 
three  men  and  none  of  the  people  would  die  in  their  defence. 
If  I  would  put  them  to  death,  it  is  impossible  to  deal  so  with 
so  many ;  if  I  do  not  put  them  to  death,  then  there  is  [the 
crime  unpunished  of]  their  looking  on  with  evil  eyes  at  the 
death  of  their  officers,  and  not  saving  them  : — how  is  the 
exigency  of  the  case  to  be  met  ?  '' 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  In  calamitous  years  and  yeai'S  of 
famine,  the  old  and  weak  of  your  people  who  have  been  found 
lying  in  ditches  and  water-channels,  and  the  able-bodied 
who  have  been  scattered  about  to  the  four  quarters,  have 
amounted  to   thousands.     All  the   while,  your  granaries,  0 

Ch.  XII.  The  affections  op  the  people  can  only  be  secured  by 

BENEVOLENT  GOVERNMENT  ;  AS  THEY  ARE  KEALT  WITH  BY  THEIR  RULERS, 
SO  WILL   THEY  DEAL   BY  THEM.       ILLUSTRATED   BY   A  CASE  IN  THE  STATK 

OF  Tsow. 

Par.  1.  Tsow  was  the  principality  of  which  Mencius  was  a  native  ; — see 
in  the  Prolegomena,  at  the  heginning  of  his  Life.  Its  power  was  mnch  in- 
ferior to  that  of  Loo,  and  therefore  th.e  enfjagenicnt  between  their  troops  is 
not  called  a  "battle,"  but  merely  "  a  skirnii.'<h,"  or  "  a  noisy  brush."  Its 
ruler's  precise  rank  at  this  time  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.  He  is 
called  here  by  his  honorary  or  sacrificial  ejiithet  of  "duke  Muh,"  Muh  in 
such  application  meanin<!:,  "Dispcmscr  of  virtue  and  rnaintainer  of  righteous- 
ness, outwardly  showing  inward  feeling." 

Par.  2.  "  Calamitous  years  "  are  years  of  pestilence,  inundations,  fires,  &c. 
The  "  ditches  and  water-channels "  were  numerous,  being  much  used  in 
connexion  with  the  system  of  agriculture.     The  former  are  characterized 


PT  II.  CH.  XIII.  XIV.]    KING    HWC?    OF   LEANG.  155 

prince,  have  boon  stored  with  rice  and  otlier  grain,  and  your 
treasuries  and  arsenals  have  been  full,  and  not  one  of  your 
oflBcers  has  told  you  [of  the  distress] ; — so  negligent  have 
the  superiors  [in  your  State]  been,  and  cruel  to  their  inferiors. 
The  philosopher  Tsang  said,  '  Beware,  beware.  What  pro- 
ceeds from  you  will  i-eturn  to  you.'  Now  at  last  the  people 
have  had  an  opportunity  to  return  [their  conduct]  ;  do  not 
you,  0  prince,  blanae  them. 

3.  "  If  you  will  practise  a  benevolent  government,  then 
the  people  will  love  all  above  them,  and  will  die  for  their 
officers. '^ 

XIII.  1.  Duke  Wan  of  TTmg  asked,  saying,  ''  T'ang  is  a 
small  State,  and  lies  between  Ts^e  and  Ts^oo.  Shall  I  serve 
Ts'e  ?  or  shall  I  serve  Ts^oo  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  This  is  a  matter  in  which  I  cannot 
counsel  you.  If  you  will  have  me  speak,  there  is  but  one 
thing  [I  can  suggest].  Dig  [deep]  your  moats  ;  build 
[strong]  your  walls ;  then  guard  them  along  with  the  peo- 
ple ;  be  prepared  to  die  [in  their  defence] ,  and  [have]  the 
people  [so  that]  they  will  not  leave  you : — this  is  a  course 
which  may  be  put  in  pi-actice."" 

XIV.  1.  Duke  WTm  of  TTmg  asked,  saying,  "The 
people  of  Ts^e  are  going  to  fortify  Seeh,  and  [the  movement] 

as  "  long  and  small,"  the  latter  as  "  deep  and  large."  "  The  philosopher 
Tsang  "  we  became  familiar  with  la  the  Analects  as  one  of  the  principal 
disciples  of  Confucius. 

Ch.  XIIT.  It  is  better  for  a  prixce,  evex  tiiotigh  his  State  be 
small,  to  rely  on  himself  than  to  depend  on,  or  try  to  propitiate, 
greater  powers. 

Par.  1.  T'ang  was  a  small  State,  whose  lords  were  Kes,  marquises,  in  early 
times,  but  now  only  viscounts, — in  the  present  district  of  T'ang,  department 
Yen-chow.  North  of  it  was  the  kingdom  of  Ts'e,  and,  in  the  time  of  Men- 
cius, Ts'oo  had  so  far  extended  its  power  northwards  as  to  threaten  it  from 
the  south.  Wan  is.  the  posthumous  epithet  of  the  viscount  of  this  time, 
meaning  "  Loyally  truthful  and  courteous." 

Par.  2.  Mencius  could  have  given  counsel  on  the  questions  proposed  by 
the  priuce,  but  he  thought  he  could  give  him  better  advice.  He  says  that 
the  course  he  suggested  might  be  put  in  practice,  not  that  it  would  be 
successful. 

Ch.  XIV.  A  PRINCE,  THREATENED  BY  A  POWERFUL  NEIGHBOUR,  WILL 
FIND    HIS   BEST  DEFENCE  AND  CONSOLATION  IN  DOING  WHAT  IS  GOOD  AND 


156  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [rK    I. 

occasions  me  great  alarm ;  wliat  is  the  proper  course  for  me 
to  take  in  the  case  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  Formerly,  when  king  T'ae  dwelt 
in  Pin,  the  Teih  were  [continually]  making  incursions  upon 
it.  He  [therefoi-e]  left  it,  and  went  to  the  foot  of  Mount 
K^e,  and  there  took  up  his  residence.  He  did  not  take  that 
situation  as  having  selected  it; — it  was  a  matter  of  neces- 
sity. 

3.  "  If  you  do  good,  among  your  descendants  in  future 
generations  there  shall  be  one  Avho  will  attain  to  the  Royal 
sway.  The  superior  man  lays  the  foundation  of  the  inhei-it- 
ance,  and  hands  down  the  beginning  [which  he  has  made], 
doing  what  can  be  continued  [by  his  successors].  As  to 
the  accomplishment  of  the  great  result,  that  is  with  Heaven. 
What  is  that  [Ts'e]  to  you,  0  prince  ?  you'  have  simply  to 
make  yourself  strong  to  do  good.^' 

XV.  1.  Duke  Wan  of  TTmg  asked,  saying,  "  T'ang 
is  a  small  State.  I  do  my  utmost  to  servo  the  great  king- 
doms [on  either  side  of  it],  but  I  cailnot  escape  [suffering 
from  them].  What  is  the  proper  course  for  me  to  pursue 
in  the  case  ?  '^  Mencius  replied,  "  Formerly,  when  king 
T'^ae  dwelt  in  Pin,  the  Tcih  were  continually  making  incur- 
sions upon  it.  He  served  them  with  skins  and  silks,  and 
still  he  suffered  fi"om  them.  He  served  them  with  dogs  and 
horses,  and  still  he  suffered  from  them.  He  served  thetn 
with  pearls  and  pieces  of  jade,  and,  still  he  suffered  from  them. 
On  this  he  assembled  his  old  men,  and  announced  to  them, 
saying, '  What  the  Teih  want  is  my  territory,    I  have  heard 

EIGHT.  Mencius  was  at  liis  wit's  end,  I  suppose,  to  give  duke  Wan  an 
answer.  It  was  all  verj'  well  to  t'^ll  hitn  to  do  good,  but  the  promise  of  a 
royal  descendant  would  hardly  afford  iiini  inucli  comfort. 

Par.  1.  Seeh  was  a  small  priuci[)Hlity,  adjoining  T'iing,  and  like  it  referred 
to  the  same  present  district  in  dejjartinent  Yen-chow.  It  had  long  been  in- 
corporated with  Ts'e,  wliich  now  projiosed  to  fortify  its  principal  town,  as  a 
basis  of  operations,  probably,  against  T-iing. 

Par.  2.  See  par.  2  of  next  chapter  on  king  T'ae's  removal  from  Pin  to  K'e. 

Pur.  .3.  In  his  first  sentence  here,  Mencius,  no  doubt,  was  thinking,  and 
would  have  duke  Waa  think,  of  the  kings  Wan  and  Woo,  tlie  desceudants 
of  king  T'ae. 

Cn.  XV.  Two  HONOURABLE  COURSE.S  OPEN  TO  A  PRINCE  THREATENED 
nV  ENEMIES  WHOM  HE  CANNOT  RESIST, — REMOVAL  OR  ABDICATION,  AND 
DEATH  IN  A  GALLANT  DEFENCE, 


PT    II.    Cn.  XVI.]  KING    HWUY    OF   LEANG.  157 

this, — that  the  superior  man  does  not  injure  his  people  for 
that  which  he  nourishes  them  with.  My  children,  why- 
should  you  be  troubled  about  having  no  ruler.  I  will  leave 
this.^  [Accordingly]  he  left  Pin,  crossed  over  Mount  Lcang, 
[built]  a  town  at  the  foot  of  Mount  K'e,  and  dwelt  thei-e. 
The  people  of  Pin  said, '  He  is  a  benevolent  man  ; — we  must 
not  lose  him.^  Those  who  followed  him  [looked]  like  crowds 
going  to  market. 

4.  "  On  the  other  hand  [a  prince]  may  say, '  [  The  country] 
has  been  held  [by  ray  ancestors]  for  generations,  and  is  not 
what  I  can  undertake  to  dispose  of  in  my  person.  I  will  go 
to  the  death  for  it,  and  will  not  leave  it.^ 

5.  "  I  beg  you,  0  prince,  to  make  your  election  between 
these  two  courses.^' 

XVI.  1.  Duke  P^ing  of  Loo  was  about  to  go  out  [one 
day],  when  his  favourite  Tsang  Ts'ang  begged  [to  ask] 
him,  saying,  "  On  other  days,  when  your  lordship  has  gone 
out,  you  have  given  instructions  to  the  officers  as  to  where  you 
were  going.  But  now  the  horses  have  been  put  to  your 
carriage,  and  the  officers  do  not  yet  know  where  you  are  going. 
I  venture  to  request  your  orders.^'  The  duke  said,  "  I  am 
going  to   see  the  philosopher  Mang.^-*     "  "What !  "  said  the 

Par.  2.  Some  of  the  particulars  which  Mencius  gives  here  of  king  T'ae's 
dealings  with  the  Teih  are  also  found  in  Fuh-sang's  Introduction  to  the 
Shoo.  They  were  no  doubt  from  traditional  accounts  still  floating  among 
the  people  towards  the  end  of  the  Chow  dynasty. 

CH.  XVI.    DiSArPOINTMENT  OF  MENCIUS'  PROSPECTS  OF  USEFULNESS  IK 

loo,  and  his  kemarks  upon  it.  a  man's  way  in  life  is  okdered  by 
Heaven  ;  the  instkumentality  of  other  men  in  forwarding  or 
OBSTRUCTING  HIS  0P..TECTS  IS  ONLY  SUBORDINATE.  Mencius'  presence  in 
Loo  at  this  time  is  referred  to  B.C.  301),  and  he  is  supposed  to  have  hence- 
forth given  up  the  idea  of  doing  anything  for  his  age  by  his  labours  with 
its  kings  and  princes.  His  prosi)ects  of  doing  anything  with  duke  P'ing 
could  not  have  been  great,  for  Loo  had  for  a  considerable  time  lost  its  inde- 
pendence, and  the  descendants  of  the  duke  of  Chow  were  suffered  to  drag 
out  an  unhonoured  existence  only  by  the  contemptuous  forbearance  of 
Ts'oo. 

Par.  1.  Yoh-ching,  mentioned  in  par.  2,  was  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  with 
whom  we  shall  meet  again.  He  had  found  employment  at  the  court  of 
P"ing,  and  had  spoken  to  him  of  his  master,  so  that  now  the  duke  was  about 
to  proceed  in  his  carriage  to  invite  Mencius  to  his  court,  as  his  counsellor  and 
guide.  Wishing  to  do  him  honour,  he  woidd  in  the  first  place  visit  him  at 
liis  lodging.     His  favourite  Tsang  Ts'ang  kuew  all  this,  and  took  measures 


158  THE    WORKS   OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   I. 

other.  "  That  you  demean  yourself,  0  prince,  by  what  you 
are  doing,  to  pay  the  first  visit  to  a  common  man,  is,  I  appre- 
hend, because  you  think  that  he  is  a  man  of  talents  and 
virtue.  [Our  rules  of  J  propriety  and  righteousness  must  have 
come  from  such  men ;  but  on  the  occasion  of  this  Mang's 
second  mourning,  his  observances  exceeded  those  of  the 
former.  Do  not  go  to  see  him,  0  prince."  The  duke  said, 
''1  will  not." 

2.  The  officer  Yoh-ching  entered  [the  court],  and  had  an 
audience.  "  Prince,"  said  he,  "  why  have  you  not  gone  to 
see  Mang  K'o  ?  "  "  One  told  me,"  was  the  reply,  "  that 
on  the  occasion  of  Mr  Mang's  second  mourning,  his  observ- 
ances exceeded  those  of  the  former,  and  therefore  I  did 
not  go  to  see  him."  [Yoh-ching]  said,  "How  is  this?  By 
what  your  lordship  calls  '  exceeding,'  you  mean,  I  suppose, 
that  on  the  former  occasion  he  used  the  ceremonies  appro- 
priate to  an  inferior  officer,  and  on  the  latter  those  appro- 
priate to  a  great  officer ;  that  he  first  used  thi-ee  tripods, 
and  afterwards  five."  "  No,"  said  the  duke,  "  I  refer  to  the 
greater  excellence  of  the  coffin,  the  shell,  the  grave-clothes, 
and  the  shroud.'  [Yoh-ching]  replied,  "  That  cannot  be 
called  '  exceeding.'  That  was  the  diff"erence  between  be- 
ing poor  and  being  rich." 

3.  [After  this]  the  officer  Yoh-ching  [went  to]  see  Men- 
cius,  and  said,  "  1  told  the  ruler  about  you,  and  he  was  con- 
sequently coming  to  see  you,  when  his  favourite  Tsang 
Ts'ang  stopped  him,  and  he  did  not  carry  his  purpose  into 
effect."  [Mencius]  said,  "A  man's  advance  is  effected,  it 
may  be,  by  others,  and  the  stopping  him  is,  it  may  be,  from 
the  efforts  of  others.  But  to  advance  a  man  or  to  stop  his 
advance  is  [really]  beyond  the  power  jof  other  men.  My 
not  finding  [the  right  prince]  in  the  marquis  of  Loo,  is  from 
Heaven.  How  could  that  scion  of  the  Tsang  family  cause 
me  not  to  find  [the  ruler  that  would  suit  me]  ?  " 

accordinj^ly  to  prevent  the  meeting  of  the  duke  and  the  philosopher.  The 
lir.st  occasion  of  Mencius'  mourning  was,  it  is  said,  on  the  death  of  liis 
father.  But  according  to  the  received  accounts  JMciicius'  fatlier  died  wlien 
he  was  onlj'  lliree  j'ears  old.  We  must  suppose  that  the  favourite  invented 
the  account  that  he  gave. 

Par.  2.  The  tripods  here  mentioned  contained  the  offerings  of  meat  used 
in  the  funeral,  sacriticial  rites.  The  king  used  nine,  a  feudal  prince  seven, 
a  great  officer  five,  and  a  scholar  or  inferior  officer  three.  To  each  tripod 
belonged  its  apf^ropriate  kind  of  flesh. 


KUNG-SUN    CH'OW.  159 

BOOK  II. 

KUNG-SUN    CH^OW.        PART    I. 

Chapter  I.  1 .  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  said,  "  IMaster,  if  you  were 
to  obtain  the  ordering-  of  the  government  in  Ts'e,  could  you 
promise  yourself  the  accomplishment  of  such  successful  re- 
sults as  were  realized  by  Kwan  Chung  and  the  minister 
Gan  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  said,  "  You,  Sir,  are  indeed  a  [true]  man  of 
Ts'e.  You  know  about  Kwan  Chung  and  the  minister  Gan, 
and  nothing  more. 

3.  "  One  asked  Tsang  Se,  saying,  '  To  which,  my  [good] 
Sir,  do  you  give  the  superiority, — to  yourself  or  to  Tsze-loo  ?  ' 
Tsang  Se  looked  uneasy,  and  said,  '  He  was  an  object  of 
veneration  to  my  grandfather.^  '  Then,'  pursued  the  man, 
*  do  you  give  the  superiority  to  yourself,  or  to  Kwan 
Chung  ? '  Tsang  Se  Hushed  with  anger,  was  displeased, 
and  said,  '  How  do  you  compare  me  to  Kwan  Chung  ?  Con- 
sidering how  entirely  he  possessed  [the  confidence  of]  his 
ruler,  how  long  he  had  the  direction  of  the  government  of 
the  State,  and  how  low  [after  all]  was  what  he  accomplished, 
how  is  it  that  you  compare  me  to  him  ? ' 

4.  "  Thus,"  added  Mencius,   "  Tsang  Se  would  not  play 

Title  of  this  Book.     The  name  of  Kung-sim  Cli'ow,  one  of  Mencius' 

disciples,  heading  tlie  first  chapter,  the  Boole  is  named  from  him  accordingly. 

Ch.  I.  While  Mencius  wished  to  see  a  true'  royal  govekxmext, 

AND  COULD  EASILY  HAVE  REALIZED  IT  HAD  HE  BEEN  IN  OFFICE,  SO  THAT 
THE  KING  OF  Ts'E  WOULD  SOON  HAVE  BECOME  SOVEREIGN  OP  THE  WHOLE 
KINGDOM  FROM  THE  PECULIAR  CIRCUAfSTANCES  OF  THE  TIME,  HE  WOULD 
NOT  HAVE  HAD  RECOURSE  TO  ANY  WAYS  INCONSISTENT  WITH  ITS  IDEA. 

Par.  1.  It  ai)pears  from  par.  2  that  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  was  a  native  of  Ts'e. 
He  must  have  been  a  cadet  of  the  old  ducal  farail)'.  The  sons  of  the  feudal 
princes  were  styled  Kung-tsze,  and  their  sons  again  Kung-sun,  "  ducal 
grandsons."  Tliose  two  characters  might  become  the  surname  of  their  de- 
scendants, who  mingled  with  the  undistinguished  masses  of  the  people. 
Kwan  Qiung, — see  on  Ana.  III.  xxii.  ;  ct  al.  He  was  the  chief  minister  of 
duke  Hwan,  the  famous  leader  of  all  the  feudal  princes.  The  minister 
Gan, — see  on  Ana.  V.  xvi.  ;  et  al.  He  was  mentioned  above  in  Book  I.  ii.  IV. 

Par.  3.  Tsang  Se  was,  according  to  some,  the  son,  according  toothers,  the 
grandson  of  Tsiing  Sin,  one  of  Confucius'  most  famous  disciples.  With  Sin 
and  with  Tsze-loo  the  readers  of  the  Aualects  must  be  familiar. 


160  THE   WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [bK    IT. 

Kwan  Chung,  and  is  it  what  you  desire  for  me,  that  I  should 
do  so  ?  " 

5.  [Kung-sun  Ch^ow]  said,  "  Kwan  Chung  raised  his 
ruler  to  be  the  leader  of  all  the  other  princes,  and  the  minis- 
ter Gan  made  his  ruler  illustrious  ;  and  do  you  still  think 
that  it  would  not  be  enough  for  you  to  do  what  they  did  ?  " 

6.  "To  raise  [the  ruler  of]  Ts^e  to  the  .Royal  dignity 
would  [simply]  be  like  turning  I'ound  the  hand,"  was  the 
reply. 

7.  "  So  !  "  returned  the  other.  "  The  perplexity  of  your 
disciple  is  hereby  very  much  increased  !  And  there  was 
king  Wan,  with  all  the  virtue  which  belonged  to  him,  and 
who  did  not  die  till  he  had  reached  a  hundred  years  ;  yet  his 
influence  had  not  penetrated  to  all  under  heaven.  It  re- 
quired king  Woo  and  the  duke  of  Chow  to  continue  his 
course,  befoi'O  that  influence  greatly  prevailed.  And  now 
you  say  that  the  Royal  dignity  may  be  so  easily  obtained  : — 
is  king  Wan  then  not  worthy  to  be  imitated  ?  " 

8.  [Mencius]  said,  "  How  can  king  Wan  be  matched  ? 
From  T'ang  to  Woo-ting  there  had  arisen  six  or  seven 
worthy  and  sage  sovereigns ;  all  under  heaven  had  been  long 
attached  to  Yin.  The  length  of  time  made  a  change  difli- 
cult,  and  Woo-ting  gave  audience  to  all  the  princes  and 
possessed  the  whole  kingdom,  as  if  it  had  been  a  thing 
which  he  turned  round  in  his  palm.  [Then]  Chow  was  re- 
moved from  Woo-ting  by  no  great  interval  of  time.  There 
were  still  remaining  some  of  the  ancient  families,  and  of  the 
old  manners,  of  the  influence  which  had  emanated  [from  the 
earlier  sovereigns],  and  of  their  good  government.     More-  ■ 

Par.  6.  Here  Mencius  states  his  thesis,  according  to  his  fashion,  in  the 
broadest  and  most  unlimited  manner  ; — giving  him  the  opportunity  to  ex- 
plain and  vindicate  it  as  he  does  ))elow. 

Par.  7.  King  Wan  died  at  the  age  of  97  ; — Ch'ovv  uses  the  round  number 
100.  According  to  the  representations  of  Chinese  writers  two-thirds  of  the 
kingdom  then  acknowledged  his  supremacy.  His  .son  king  Woo  continued 
his  work,  and  overthrew  the  dynasty  of  !Shang,  while  another  son,  the  duke 
of  Chow,  regulated  the  constitution  and  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  new  dynasty  ; 
and  then  the  principles  of  Wan  received  their  full  development. 

I'ar.  8.  P'rom  T'ang  to  Woo-ting  there  were  altogether  18  sovereigns,  or, 
according  to  the  Bamboo  Annals,  20,  exclusive  of  themselves;  and  from 
Woo-ting  to  Chow  there  were  .seven.  In  the  former  period  T'ae-kiiah,  T'ae- 
mow,  Ts'oo-yih,  and  Pwan-kang  are  specified  as  "  worthy  and  sage,"  in  addi- 
tion to  T'ang  and  Woo-ting.  From  Woo-ting  to  Cliow  there  elapsed  about 
a  century  and   a  quarter.     The  viscount  of    Wei  was  an  elder  brother  of 


PT  I.    CH.  I.]  KUNa-SUN   CH^OW.  161 

over,  there  were  tlie  viscount  of  Wei  and  his  second  son,  his 
Royal  Highness  Pe-kan,  the  viscount  of  Ke,  and  Kaou  Kih, 
all  men  of  ability  and  virtue,  who  gave  their  joint  assistance 
to  Chow  [in  his  government].  In  consequence  of  these 
things  it  took  him  a  long  time  to  lose  the  kingdom.  There 
was  not  a  foot  of  ground  which  he  did  not  possess  ;  there 
was  not  one  of  all  the  people  who  was  not  his  subject.  So 
it  was  on  his  side,  while  king  Wan  made  his  beginning 
from  a  territory  of  [only]  a  hundred  square  le,  and  therefore 
it  was  difl&cult  for  him  [immediately  to  attain  to  the  Eoyal 
dignity] . 

9.  "  The  people  of  Ts'e  have  the  saying,  '  A  man  may 
have  wisdom  and  discernment,  but  that  is  not  like  embrac- 
ing the  favourable  opportunity ;  a  man  may  have  [good] 
hoes,  but  that  is  not  like  waiting  for  the  [favourable]  sea- 
sons.' The  present  time  is  one  in  which  [the  Royal  dignity] 
may  be  easily  attained. 

10.  "  In  the  flourishing  periods  of  the  sovereigns  of  Hea, 
of  Yin,  and  of  Chow,  the  [Royal]  territory  did  not  exceed  a 
thousand  le  and  Ts'^e  embraces  as  much.  Cocks  crow  and 
dogs  bark  to  one  another  all  the  way  to  its  four  borders,  so 
that  Ts'e  also  possesses  the  [requisite  number  of]  people. 
No  change  is  needed  for  the  enlargement  of  its  territory,  nor 
for  the  collecting  of  a  population.  If  [its  ruler]  will  put  in 
practice  a  benevolent  government,  no  power  can  prevent  his 
attaining  to  the  Royal  sway. 

11.  "Moreover,  never  was  there  a  time  farther  removed 
than  this  from  the  appearance  of  a  true  king ;  never  Avas 
there  a  time  when  the  suffei'ings  of  the  people  from  op- 
pressive government  were  moi^e  intense  than  this.  The 
hungry  are  easily  supplied  with  food,  and  the  thirsty  with 
drink. 

12.  "Confucius  said,  'The  flowing  progress  of  virtue  is 
more  rapid  than  the  transmission  of  orders  by  stages  and 
couriers.' 

Chow,  and  many  say  by  the  same  mother,  but  she  was  not  queen,  but  only 
a  member  of  the  harem,  when  he  was  born.  Some  critics  will  have  it  that 
the  next  faithful  adherent  of  Chow  who  is  mentioned  was  the  viscount's 
brother  and  not  his  son.  The  viscount  of  Ke  was  a  king's  son  as  well  as 
Pe-kan.  They  were  both,  probably,  uncles  of  Chow.  Kaou  Kih  did  not 
belong  to  the  -oval  House  of  Shang,  but  was  a  faithful  adherent  of  it. 

Pur.  9.  Abilitj-  and  instruments  are  good  ;  but  there  must  also  be  the 
favourable  opportunity. 

VOL.   11.  H 


162  THE    "\V0EK3   OP   MENCIUS.  FbK  II. 

i 

13.  "At  the  present  time,  in  a  countiy  of  ten  thousand  ~ 
chariots,  let  a  benevolent  government  be  exercised,  and 
the  people  will  be  delighted  with  it,  as  if  they  Avere  relieved 
from  hanging  by  the  heels.  With  half  the  merit  of  the  an- 
cients, double  their  achievement  is  sure  to  be  realized.  It  is 
only  at  this  time  that  such  could  be  the  case.'" 

II.  1.  Kung-sun  Ch'^ow  asked  [Mencius],  saying,  "Mas- 
Ch.  II.  That  Mexcius  had  attaixed  to  an  unperturbed  mind  ;  that 

THE  MEANS  BY  WHICH  HE  HAD  DONE  SO  WAS  HIS  KNOWLEDGE  OF  WORDS, 
AND  THE  NOURISHMENT  OF  HIS  PASSION-NATURE  ;  AND  THAT  CONFUCIUS 
WAS  THE  GREAT  OBJECT  OF  HIS  IMITATION,  FOR  THERE  NEVER  HAD  BEEN 
ANOTHER  MAN  WHO  COULD  BE  REGARDED  AS  HIS  EQUAL.  The  cliapter  is 
divided  into  four  parts  ;  the  first,  parr.  1 — 8,  showing  generally  that  there  are 
various  ways  to  attain  an  uni)erturbed  mind  ;  the  second,  parr.  9,  10,  exposing 
the  error  of  the  way  taken  by  the  philosopher  Kaou  ;  the  third,  parr.  II — 17, 
unfolding  Mencius'  own  way  ;  and  the  fourth,  parr.  18 — 28,  showing  that 
Mencius  followed  Confucius,  and  praising  that  sage  as  the  first  of  mortals. 
It  is  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  what  Mencius  says  in  this  chapter  about  the 
nourishment  of  the  passion-nature  tliat  a  place  has  been  accorded  to  him  among 
the  sages  of  China,  or  in  immediate  proximity  to  them.  His  views  are  substan- 
tially these  : — .Man's  nature  is  composite.  He  possesses  moral  and  intellectual 
powers  (comprehended  under  the  terms  "  heart"  and  "mind,"  interchanged 
with  "  will  "),  and  active  powers  (summed  up  under  the  term  k'e,  and  em- 
bracing the  emotions,  desires,  and  appetites).  The  moral  and  intellectual 
powers  should  be  supreme  and  govern,  but  there  is  a  close  connexion  between 
them  and  the  others  which  give  effect  to  them.  The  active  powers  should 
nof  be  stunted,  for  then  the  whole  character  will  be  feeble.  But  on  the 
other  hand  they  must  not  be  allowed  to  take  the  lead.  They  must  get  their 
tone  from  the  mind,  and  the  way  to  develope  them  in  all  their  completeness 
is  to  do  good.  Let  them  be  vigorous,  and  the  mind  clear  and  pure,  and  we 
shall  have  the  man  whom  nothing  external  to  himself  can  perturb, — Horace's 
jiistum  et  tenarcm  projjo.Htti  v'triim,.  In  brief,  if  we  take  the  saniim  corjms 
of  the  Roman  adage  as  not  exj)ressing  merely  the  physical  body,  but  the 
whole  i^hysical  and  emotional  nature,  what  Mencius  exhibits  here  may  be 
said  to  be  '^mrn.i  sana  hi  corpnrc  tirDin." 

The  attentive  reader  will  find  the  above  thoughts  dispersed  through  this 
chapter,  and  be  able  to  separate  them  from  the  irrelevant  matter — that 
especially  relating  to  Confucius — with  which  they  are  set  forth. 

Par.  I.  The  questioner  here  is  the  same  who  discourses  with  our  philcso- 
pher  in  the  precciding  chapter  ; — see  there  on  par.  1.  The  one  chapter  may 
indeed  be  considered  as  the  sequel  of  the  other.  The  disciple  allows  that 
the  master  could  achieve  what  he  had  asserted,  and  asks  whether  the  being 
placed  in  a  position  to  do  so  would  disturb  hia  mind. 

It  was  a  maxim  with  the  ancient  Chinese  that  a  man  wa^in  liis  greatest 
vigour  at  40,  and  able  to  encounter  all  the  difficulties  of  ofticial  service  ;  see 
the  Le  Ke,  I.  Pt  I.  i.  27.  Compare  Confucius'  account  of  himself  in 
Ana.  II.  iv. 


rx  I.    CH.  II.]  KUNG-SUN   CH^OW.  163 

ter,  if  you  were  to  be  appointed  a  liigli  noble  and 
prime  minister  of  Ts'e,  so  as  to  carry  your  principles  into 
practice,  though  you  should  thereupon  [raise  the  ruler  to] 
be  head  of  all  the  other  princes  or  [even]  to  be  king,  it 
would  not  be  to  be  wondered  at ;  but  in  such  a  position 
would  your  mind  be  perturbed  or  not  ?  "  Mencius  replied, 
"  Ko.     At  forty  I  attained  to  an  unperturbed  mind.-" 

2.  [Chow]  said,  "  Then,  Master,  you  are  far  beyond  Mang 
Pun/'  "  [The  mere  attainment  of]  that,''  said  [Mencius], 
''  is  not  difficult.  The  scholar  Kaou  attained  to  an  unper- 
turbed mind  at  an  earlier  period  of  life  than  I  did." 

3.  "  Is  there  any  [proper]  way  to  an  unperturbed  mind  ?  " 
asked  [Chow]  ;   and  the  reply  was,  "  Yes. 

4.  "  Pih-kung  Yew  had  this  way  of  nourishing  his  valour : — 
His  flesh  did  not  shrink  [from  a  wound],  and  his  eyes  did 
not  turn  aside  [from  any  thrusts  at  them] .  He  considered 
that  to  submit  to  have  a  hair  pulled  out  by  any  one  was  as 
great  [a  disgrace]  as  to  be  beaten  in  the  market-place,  and 
that  what  he  would  not  receive  from  [a  common  man  in  his] 
loose  garments  of  hair-cloth,  neither  should  he  receive  from 
the  ruler  of  ten  thousand  chariots.  He  viewed  stabbing  the 
ruler  of  ten  thousand  chariots  just  as  stabbing  a  fellow  in 
cloth  of  hair.  He  feared  not  any  of  the  princes.  A  bad 
word  addressed  to  him  he  always  returned. 

5.  "  The  valour  which  Mang  She-shay  nourished  spoke 
on  this  wise  : — '  I  look  upon  conquering  and  not  conquer- 
ing in  the  same  way.  To  measure  the  enemy  and  then  ad- 
vance ;  to  calculate  the  chances  of  victory  and  then  engage  : 
— this  is  to  stand  in  awe  of  the  opposing  force.  How  can 
I  make  certain  of  conquering  ?  I  can  only  rise  superior  to 
all  fear.' 

6.  "  Mang  She-shay  resembled  the  philosopher  Tsang^  and 

Par.  2.  Mang  Pun  was  a,  celebrated  bravo,  probably  of  Ts'e,  of  whom 
various  feats  of  strength  and  daring  are  recorded.  The  scholar  Kaou  is  pro- 
bablj'  the  same  who  gives  name  to  the  sixth  Book  of  Mencius,  which  see. 

Par.  4.  Pih-kung  Yew  belonged,  probably,  to  the  State  of  Wei,  and  was  a 
cadet  of  one  of  the  principal  clans  in  it,  sprung  from  the  ruling  House. 
Th-ere  was,  however,  a  clan  also  in  Ts'e  with  the  surname  of  Pih-kung. 
Yew  evidently  was  a  bold  and  reckless  fellow. 

Par.  5.  Of  Mang  Siie-shay  we  know  nothing  but  what  we  are  told  here. 
He  was  evidently  a  bold  and  fearless  man. 

Par.  6.  Pih-kung  Yew  thought  of  others,  and  was  determined  to  conquer, 
if  he  could  ;   Mang    tthe-shay   thought   only   of  himself,    and   allowed  no 


164  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    11. 

Pih-kuDg  Yew  resembled  Ts^e-hea.  I  do  not  know  to  the 
valour  of  which  the  superiority  should  be  ascribed;  but 
Mraig  She-shay  attended  to  what  was  of  the  greater  im- 
portance. 

7.  "  Formerly,  the  philosopher  Tsang  said  to  Tsze-seang, 
'  Do  you  love  valour  ?  I  heard  an  account  of  great  valour 
from  the  Master,  [who  said  that  it  speaks  thus]  : — "  If 
on  self-examination  I  find  that  I  am  not  upright,  shall  I  not 
bo  afraid  of  [a  common  man  in  his]  loose  garments  of  hair- 
cloth ;  if  on  self-examination  I  find  that  I  am  upright,  I 
will  go  forward  against  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands." ' 

8.  "  What  Mang  She-shay  maintained,  however,  was  his 
physical  energy  merely,  and  was  not  equal  to  what  the  phi- 
losopher Tsang  maintained,  which  was  [indeed]  of  the 
greater  importance." 

9.  [Ch'ow]  said,  "  May  I  venture  to  ask  [the  difference  be- 
tween] your  unperturbed  mind,  j\laster,  and  that  of  the  scholar 
Kaou  ? ''  [Mencius]  answered,  "  Kaou  says,  '  What  you  do 
not  find  in  words,  do  not  seek  for  in  your  mind;  what  you 
do  not  find  in  your  mind,  do  not  seek  for  by  passion-effort.' 
[This  last] — not  to  seek  by  passion-effort  for  what  you 
do  not  find  in  your  mind — may  be  conceded ;  but  not  to 

fear  to  enter  his  mind.  It  is  on  this  account  that  Mencius  gives  Mang  the 
preference.  The  basis  of  the  reference  to  the  two  disciples  of  Confucius  was 
the  common]}'  received  idea  of  their  several  cliaracters.  Tsang  (see  on 
Ana.  I.  iv.)  was  reflective,  and  dealt  with  himself  ;  Tsze-hea  was  learned  and 
ambitious,  and  would  not  be  inferior  to  others. 

Far.  7.  Tsze-seang  was  a  disciple  of  Tsang.  The  sentiment  of  Confucius  is 
the  same  as  that  of  Solomon,  with  a  characteristic  difference  of  expression  : 
— "  The  wicked  tJee  when  no  man  pursueth  ;  but  the  righteous  are  bold  as 
a  lion." 

Par.  8.  Here  we  first  meet  with  the  eliaracter  It'e,  so  important  in  tliis 
chapter.  Originally  it  was  the  same  in  form  as  another  meaning  "  cloudy 
vapour."  With  the  addition  of  the  character  for  "  rice,"  or  that  for  "  fire,"  it 
should  indicate  "steam  of  rice,"  or  "steam  "  generallj'.  Tlie  sense  in  which 
Mencius  uses  it  is  indicated  in  tlie  translation  and  in  the  preliminary  note. 
That  sense  springs  frcmi  its  being  used  as  corVelate  to  sin,  "  the  mind," 
taken  in  conne.xion  with  the  idea  of  "energy"  inherent  in  it  from  its 
comiiosition.  Thus  it  signifies  the  lower  but  active  portion  of  man's  con- 
stitution ;  and  in  this  paragraph,  that  lower  part  in  its  lowest  sense, — 
animal  vigour  or  courage. 

Par.  9.  Kaou's  principle  seems  to  have  been  this, — indifference  to  every- 
thing external  and  entire  pa.ssivity  of  mind.  Modern  writers  are  fond  of  say- 
ing that  in  his  words  are  to  be  found  the  essence  of  Buddhism,  and  that  his 
aim  was  to  obtain  a  sort  of  Buddhistic  nirvana  ;  and  perhaps  this  helps  148 


FT  I.    CH.  II.]  KUNG-SUN    CH^OW.  165 

seek  in  your  mind  for  wliat  you  do  not  find  in  words  ouglit  not 
to  be  conceded.  For  the  will  is  the  leader  of  the  passion- 
nature  ;  and  the  passion-nature  pervades  and  animates  the 
body.  The  will  is  [first  and]  chief,  and  the  passion-nature  is 
subordinate  to  it.  Therefore  [I]  say,  Maintain  firm  the  will, 
and  do  no  violence  to  the  passion-nature. 

10.  [Cli'ow  observed],  "Since  you  say  that  the  will  is  chief 
and  the  passion-nature  subordinate  to  it,  how  do  you  also 
say,  Maintain  firm  the  will,  and  do  no  violence  to  the  passion- 
nature  ?  "  The  reply  was,  "  When  the  will  is  exclusively 
active,  then  it  moves  the  passion-nature ;  and  when  the 
passion-nature  is  exclusively  active,  it  moves  the  will.  For 
instance  now,  the  case  of  a  man  falling  or  running  is  an  ex- 
ertion of  his  passion-nature,  and  yet  it  moves  his  mind.'^ 

11.  "^  I  venture  to  ask  ^'  [said  Ch'ow  again],  "wherein 
you,  Master,  have  the  superiority."  [Mencius]  said,  "  I 
understand  words.  I  am  skilful  in  nourishing  my  vast, 
flowing,  passion-nature." 

12.  [Ch^ow  pursued,]  "  I  venture  to  ask  what  you  mean 
by  your  vast,  flowing,  passion-nature."  The  reply  was,  "  It 
is  difficult  to  describe  it. 

13.  "  This  is  the  passion-nature  : — It  is  exceedingly  great, 
and  exceedingly  strong.  Being  nourished  by  rectitude  and 
sustaining  no  injury,  it  fills  up  all  between  heaven  and 
earth. 

14.  "  This  is  the  passion-nature  : — It  is  the  mate  and  as- 
sistant of  righteousness  and  reason.  Without  this  [man^s 
nature]  is  in  a  state  of  starvation. 

>  15.  "It  is  produced  by  the  accumulation  of  righteous 
deeds,  and  cannot  be  attained  by  incidental  acts  of  righteous- 

to  a  glimpse  at  his  meaning,  which  is  far  from  being  evident.  Mencius' 
concession  of  the  second  of  his  instructions  is  not  to  be  understood  as  an 
approval  of  it,  hut  simply  that  he  did  not  consider  it  so  objectionable  as  the 
other  ;  and  he  goes  on  to  show  wherein  he  considered  it  to  be  defective. 

Par.  10.  Ch'ow  did  not  understand  what  his  master  had  said  about  the 
relation  between  the  mind  and  the  passion-nature  ;  and  as  the  latter  was 
subordinate,  he  would  have  had  it  disregarded  altogether.  Hence  his  ques- 
tion ;  but  Mencius  shows  that  the  passion-nature  is  really  a  part  of  our 
constitution,  acts  upon  the  mind,  and  is  acted  on  by  it,  and  ought  not  to  be 
disregarded. 

Parr.  11 — 16.  There  is  much  vain  babbling  in  the  Chinese  commentators 
about  ''  the  vast,  flowing,  passion-nature,"  to  show  how  the  /<>'<?  of  heaven 
and  earth  is  the  h'e  also  of  man.  Mencius,  it  seems  to  me,  has  before  his 
mind  the  idea  of  a  perfect  man,  complete  in  all  the  parts  of  his  constitution  ; 


166  THE    WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [bK  II. 

ness.  If  the  mind  do  not  feel  complacency  in  tlie  conduct, 
[the  nature  becomes]  starved.  Hence  it  is  that  I  say  that 
Kaou  has  never  understood  righteousness^  because  he  makes 
it  something  external. 

IG.  "  There  must  be  the  [constant]  practice  [of  righteous- 
ness], but  without  the  object  [of  thereby  nourishing  the 
passion-nature].  Let  not  the  mind  forget  [its  work],  but 
•  let  there  be  no  assisting  the  growth.  Let  us  not  be  like 
^  the  man  of  Sung.  There  was  a  man  at  Sang  who  was 
V  grieved  that  his  growing  corn  was  not  longer,  and  so  he 
^  pulled  it  up.  He  then  returned  home,  looking  very  stupid, 
and  said  to  his  people,  '  I  am  very  tired  to-day  ;  I  have 
been  helping  the  corn  to  grow  long.^  His  son  ran  to  look 
at  it,  and  found  the  corn  all  w^ithered.  There  are  few  people 
in  the  world  who  [do  not  deal  with  their  passion-nature  as 
if  they]  were  thus  assisting  their  corn  to  grow  long.  Some 
indeed  consider  it  of  no  benefit  to  them,  and  neglect  it ; — 
they  do  not  weed  their  corn.  They  who  assist  it  to  grow 
long  pull  out  their  corn.  [What  they  do  is]  not  only  of  no 
benefit  [to  the  nature],  but  it  also  injures  it." 

17.  [bCung-sun  Ch^ovv  further  asked,]  "What  do  you 
mean  by  saying  that  you  understand  words  ?  '^  [Mencius] 
replied,  ^'  When  speeches  are  one-sided,  I  know  how  [the 
mind  of  the  speaker]  is  clouded  over ;  when  they  are  ex- 
travagant, I  know  wherein  [the  mind]  is  snared ;  when  they 
are  all-depraved,  I  know  how  [the  mind]  has  departed  [from 
principle]  ;  when  they  are  evasive,  I  know  how  [the  mind] 
is  at  its   [wit's]  end.      [Those  evils],  growing  in  the  mind, 

and  it  is  tliis  wliich  gives  its  elevation  to  his  languaije,  Tliere  is  much  that 
is  good  and  important  in  wiiat  ho  says.  A  course  of  righteous  action,  where 
the  character  is  at  all  heroical,  as  that  of  Mencius  was,  produces  a  wonder- 
ful boldness  and  vigour  of  character.  While  a  bad  conscience  makes  men 
cowards,  a  good  conscience  operates  as  efifectually  in  the  contrary  direction. 

Par.  17.  With  regard  to  the  first  ground  of  Mencius'  superiority  over 
Kaou, — his  "knowledge  of  words,"  as  he  is  briefer  than  on  the  other,  so,  to 
my  mind,  he  is  less  satisfactory.  Perhaps  he  meant  to  say  that,  however 
great  the  dignity  to  which  he  might  be  raised,  his  knowledge  of  words  and 
ability  to  refer  incorrect  and  injurious  speeches  to  the  mental  defects  from 
which  they  sprang  would  keep  him  from  V)eing  deluded,  and  preserve  hia 
mind  unperturbed.  One  of  the  scholars,  Ch'ing,  uses  this  illustration  :  — 
"  Mencius,  with  his  knowledge  of  words  was  like  a  man  seated  in  a  hall, 
who  can  distinguish  all  the  movements  of  the  people  below  it,  which  he 
could  not  do  if  it  were  necessary  for  him  to  descend  and  mingle  with  the 
crowd." 


PT  I.    CH.  II.]  KUNG-SUN    CH'^OW.  167 

injure  the  [principles  of  the]  government,  and,  displayed  in 
the  ofovernnient,  are  hurtful  to  the  conduct  of  affairs.  When 
a  sage  shall  again  arise,  he  will  certainly  agree  with  [these] 
my  words. ^' 

18.  On  this  Ch'ow  observed,  "  Tsae  Wo  and  Tsze-kung 
were  clever  in  making  speeches  ;  Jen  New,  the  disciple  Min, 
and  Yen  Yuen,  while  their  words  were  good,  were  distin- 
guished for  their  virtuous  conduct.  Confucius  united  both 
the  qualities,  [but  still  he]  said,  '  In  the  matter  of  speeches  I 
am  not  competent.' — Then,  ]\[aster,  have  you  attained  to  be  a 
sage  ? '' 

19.  [Mencius]  replied,  "  Oh  !  what  words  are  these  ?  For- 
merly Tsze-kung  asked  Confucius,  saying,  '  Master,  are  you 
a  sage  ? '  and  was  answered,  '  To  be  a  sage  is  what  I  cannot 
[claim]  ;  but  I  learn  without  satiety,  and  teach  without 
being  tired.'  Tsze-kung  rejoined,  '  You  learn  without  sa- 
tiety ; — that  shows  your  wisdom.  You  teach  without  being 
tired ; — that  shows  your  benevolence.  Benevolent  and  wise  : 
— Master,  you  are  a  sage.'  Now,  since  Confucius  would  not 
accept  the  position  of  a  sage,  what  words  were  those  [you 
spake  about  me]  ?  " 

20.  [Ch'ow  said],  "  Formerly,  it  seems  to  me,  I  have  heard 
that  Tsze-hea,  Tsze-yew,  and  Tsze-chang  had  eacji  one 
member  of  a  sage,  and  that  Jen  New,  the  disciple  JVIin,  and 
Yen  Yuen  had  all  the  members,  but  in  small  proportions,  I 
venture  to  ask  with  which  of  these  you  are  pleased  to  rank 
yourself." 

21.  [Mencius]  replied,  '^  Let  us  drop  [speaking  about] 
these  if  you  please." 

22.  [Ch'ow  then]  asked,  "  ^Yhat  do  you  say  of  Pih-e  and 

The  concluding  remark  gives  rise  to  the  rest  of  the  chapter,  it  seeming  to 
Ch'ow  that  Mencius  placed  himself  by  it  on  the  platform  of  sages. 

Par.  18.  Compare  Ana.  XI.  ii.  2,  to  the  enumeration  in  which  of  the 
excellencies  of  several  of  Confucius' disciples  there  seems  to  be  here  a  refer- 
ence. But  the  point  of  Ch'ow's  question  lies  in  the  remark  of  the  sage 
about  himself,  found  nowhere  else,  and  obscure  enough.  He  thinks  that 
Mencius  is  taking  more  upon  himself  than  Confucius  did. 

Purr.  19 — 21.  Mencius  disclaims  being  regarded  as  a  sage  :  but  does  he 
indicate  that  he  thought  himself  superior  to  all  the  disciples  of  Confucius 
mentioned  by  Ch'ow, — even  to  Yen  Yuen  ?  Hardly  so  much  as  that ;  but 
that  he  would  not  be  content  with  them  as  his  model. 

Parr.  22 — 24.  Pih-e,— see  on  Ana.  V.  xxii.  E  Yin, — see  my  note  on  the 
title  of  Book  IV.  Part  IV.  of  the  Shoo.     Mencius  discourses  fuUy  on  both 


168  THE   WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK   II. 

E  Yin  ?  "  "  Their  ways/'  said  [Mencius],  ^^  were  different 
[from  mine].  Not  to  serve  a  prince  nor  employ  a  people 
whom  he  did  not  approve ;  in  a  time  of  good  government  to 
take  office,  and  in  a  time  of  disorder  to  retire ; — this  was 
[the  way  of]  Pih-e.  [To  say],  '  Whom  may  I  not  serve  as 
my  ruler  ?  Whom  may  I  not  employ  as  my  people  ?  '  In  a 
time  of  good  government  to  take  office,  and  in  a  time  of  dis- 
order to  do  the  same  : — this  was  [the  Avay  of]  E  Yin.  When 
it  was  proper  to  go  into  office,  then  to  go  into  office,  and 
when  it  was  proper  to  keep  aloof  from  office,  then  to  keep 
aloof;  when  it  was  proper  to  continue  in  it  long,  then  to  do 
so,  and  when  it  was  proper  to  withdraw  from  it  quickly,  then 
so  to  withdraw  : — that  was  [the  way  of]  Confucius.  These 
were  all  sages  of  antiquity,  and  I  have  not  attained  to  do 
what  they  did ;  bjjt  what  I  wish  to  do  is  to  learn„to  be  like 
GonfucijuLa." 

23.  [Ch'ow]  said,  "  Compainng  Pih-e  and  E  Yin  Avith 
Confucius,  are  they  to  be  placed  in  the  same  rank  with  him  ?  " 
The  reply  was,  "  No.  Since  there  were  living  men  until 
now,  there  never  was  [another]  Confucius.'^ 

2i.  "  Then,''  said  [Ch'ow],  "did  they  have  any  points  of 
agreement  [with  him]?"  *' Yes,"  said  [Mencius] ;  *' if  they 
had  been  rulers  over  a  hundred  le  of  territory,  they  would 
all  of  them  have  brought  all  the  feudal  princes  to  atteud  at 
their  court,  and  would  have  possessed  all  under  the  sky. 
And  none  of  them,  to  obtain  that,  would  have  committed  one 
act  of  unrighteousness,  or  put  to  death  one  innocent  person. 
In  these  points  they  agreed  with  him." 

25.  [Ch'ow]  said,  "I  venture  to  ask  wherein  he  differed 
from  them."  [Mencius]  replied,  "  Tsae  Wo,  Tsze-kuug, 
and   Yew  Joh   had  wisdom    sufficient   to   know  the    sage. 

these  ancient  worthies  in  V.  ii.  I.,  ct  al.  The  different  waj's  of  them  and  of 
Confucius  have  been  thus  expressed  : — "  The  principle  of  I'ih-e  was  to  iieep 
himself  pure  ;  that  of  E  Yin,  to  talvc  office  ;  and  that  of  Confucius,  to  do 
what  the  time  required."  But  while  thus  differing,  they  would  equally  keep 
aloof  from  whatever  was  unrighteous,  however  tbey  might  he  tempted. 

Par.  25.  Yiiw  Joh, — see  on  Ana.  I.  ii.  With  parr.  26 — 28  compare  the 
eulogium  of  Confucius  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  chh.  xxx. — xxxii.,  and  also 
Ana.  XIX.  chh.  xxiii. — xxv.  It  is  in  vain  the  western  reader  tries  to  quicken 
himself  to  any  corresponding  appreciation  of  the  sage.  We  look  for  the 
being  whom  his  disciples  descrii)c  as  vainly  as  we  do  for  tlie  fabulous  k'e-lin 
and  j)hrjciiix,  to  which  they  conipnre  liim.  The  k''e  is  jiropr'rly  the  male,  and 
the  I'm  the  female  of  the  auimal  referred  to, — a  monster  with  a  deer's  body, 


PT    I.    CII.  Ill  ]  KUNG-SUN    CH''oW.  169 

[Even  if  we  rank  tliem]  low,  they  would  not  have  demeaned 
themselves  to  flatter  their  favourite. 

26.  "  Tsae  Wo  said,  '  According  to  my  view  of  the  Master, 
he  is  far  superior  to  Yaou  and  Shun.'' 

27.  ''Tsze-kung  said,  'By  viewing  the  ceremonial  ordi- 
nances [of  a  ruler]  we  know  [the  character  of]  his  govern- 
ment ;  and  by  hearing  his  music  we  know  [that  of]  his  vir- 
tue. Alono:  the  distance  of  a  hundred  ayes,  I  can  arrano-e, 
[according  to  their  merits],  the  line  of  their  kings,  so  that 
not  one  can  escape  me  ;  and  from  the  birth  of  mankind 
downwards  there  has  not  been  [another  like  our]   Master.'' 

28.  "  Yew  Joh  said,  '  Is  it  only  among  men  that  it  is  so  ? 
There  is  the  h'e-lin  among  quadrupeds,  the  phoenix  among 
birds,  the  T'ae  mountain  among  ant-hills,  the  Ho  and  the 
sea  among  rain-pools.  [Though  different  in  degree],  they 
are  the  same  in  kind.  And  so  the  sages  among  mankind 
are  the  same  in  kind.  But  they  stand  out  from  their  fellows, 
and  rise  up  above  the  crowd  ;  and  from  the  birth  of  man- 
kind till  now  there  never  has  been  one  so  complete  as  Con- 
fucius.^ " 

III.  1.  Mencius  said,  ''  He  who,  using  force,  makes 
a  pretence  to  benevolence  becomes  the  leader  of  the  princes, 
and  he  must  be  possessed  of  a  large  State.  He  who,  using 
virtue,  practises  benevolence  becomes  the  king,  and  he 
need  not  wait  till  he  has  a  large  State.  T'ang  did  it  with 
[only]  seventy  le,  and  king  Wan  with  [only]  a  hundred  le. 

2.  "  When  one  by  force  subdues  men  they  do  not  submit 
to  him  in  heart,  but  because  their  strength  is  not  adequate 

an  ox's  tail,  and  a  liorse's  feet,  &c.,  which  appears  to  greet  the  birth  of  a 
sage,  or  the  reign  of  a  sage  sovereign.  So  in  fiing-hwang,  wliicli  I  have 
rendered  phcrnix,  the  names  of  the  male  and  female  are  put  together  to  de- 
note one  individual  of  either  sex.  In  the  words  "  rise  up  above  the  crowd," 
the  image  is  that  of  stalks  of  grass  or  grain,  shooting  high  above  the  level 
of  the  waving  field. 

Ch.  III.  The  difference  between  a  leader  of  the  prixces  and  a 

TRUE  sovereign  ARISES  FROM  SUBMISSION  CONSTRAINRD  BY  FORCE  AND 
THAT  ACCORDED  TO  VIRTUE  AND  BENEVOLENCE. 

Par.  1.  T'ang  was  the  founder  of  the  Shang  d)'nasty,  as  king  Wiin  ■was 
of  that  of  Chow.  The  size  of  their  States  is  that  of  their  hereditarj'  pos- 
sessions ;  though  we  know  that  those  of  the  House  of  Chow  had  increased 
very  largely  before  the  final  struggle  between  it  and  that  of  Shang,  con- 
ducted by  king  Woo,  the  son  of  Wan. 


1  70  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS.  [bK  II. 

[to  resist].  When  one  subdues  men  by  virtue,  in  their 
hearts'  core  they  are  pleased,  and  sincerely  subrait,  as  was 
the  case  with  the  seventy  disciples  in  their  submission  to 
Confucius.     AV^hat  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  From  the  west  to  the  east, 
From  tlie  south  to  the  north, 
There  was  not  a  thouglit  hut  did  him  homage,' 

is  an  illustration  of  this." 

ly.  1.  Mencius  said,  "Benevolence  brings  glory,  and  the 
opposite  of  it  brings  disgrace.  For  [the  rulers  of]  the 
present  day  to  hate  disgrace,  and  yet  live  complacently 
doing  what  is  not  benevolent,  is  like  hating  moisture  and  yet 
living  in  a  low  situation. 

2.  "  If  [a  ruler]  hates  disgrace,  his  best  course  is  to  esteem 
virtue  and  honour  [virtuous]  scholars,  giving  the  worthiest 
of  them  places  [of  dignity]  and  the  able  offices  [of  trust]. 
When  throughout  the  State  there  is  leisure  and  rest  [from 
external  troubles],  taking  advantage  of  such  a  season,  let 
him  clearly  digest  the  measures  of  his  government  with  their 
penal  sanctions,  and  even  great  States  will  stand  in  awe  of 
him 


Par.  2.  "The  seventy  disciples  "  is  a  round  numher.  See  on  the  disciples 
of  Confucius  in  the  Prolegomena  to  vol.  i.  of  my  larger  Work.  The  ode 
from  which  the  quotation  is  made  is  the  last  of  the  lirst  Book  of  the  third  Part 
of  the  She,  celehrating  the  kings  Wan  and  Woo.  The  lines  quoted  refer 
specially  to  Woo.  Tsow  Haou,  a  statesman  and  scholar  of  the  11th  century, 
says  on  this  chapter  : — "  He  who  sulxlues  men  hy  force  has  the  intention  of 
suhduing  them,  and  they  dare  not  but  sul)mit.  He  who  suhdues  tliem  by  virtue 
has  no  intention  to  subdue  them,  and  they  cannot  but  submit.  From  antiquity 
downwards  there  have  been  many  dissertations  on  the  leader  of  the  princes 
and  the  true  sovereign,  but  none  so  deep,  incisive,  and  perspicuous  as  this 
chapter." 

Ch.  IV.  The  inconsistenct  of  a  ruler's  seeking  to  be  great  and 

GLORIOUS   BY  ANY   OTHER   COURSE   I'.UT   THAT  OP   BENEVOLENCE.      CALA- 
MITY AND  HAPPINESS  ARE  MKN'S  OWN  SEEKING. 

Par.  1.  "  Glory  "  here  is  not  only  the  glory  of  reputation,  but  specially  that 
of  success  and  high  position. 

Par.  2.  Compare  with  this  the  20th  chapter  of  the  "Doctrine  of  the 
Mean." 


PT    I.    CH.  v.]  KUNG-SUN    CH^OW.  171 

3.  "  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Pootiy^ 

'  Before  the  skj'-  was  dark  with  rain, 
I  yatliered  the  roots  of  the  mulberry  tree, 
And  bound  round  and  round  my  window  and  door. 
Now,  ye  people  below, 
Dare  any  of  you  despise  my  house  1 ' 

"  Confucius  f5aid,  '  Did  not  he  who  made  this  ode  understand 
the  way  [of  governing]  ? '  Who  will  dare  to  insult  him  who 
is  able  rightly  to  govern  his  State  ? 

4.  ''  [But]  now  [the  rulers]  take  advantage  of  the  time 
when  throughout  their  States  there  is  leisure  and  rest  [from 
external  troubles]  to  abandon  themselves  to  pleasure  and 
indolent  indifference^— thus  seeking  calamities  for  them- 
selves. 

5.  "  Calamity  and  happiness  are  in  all  cases  men's  own 
seeking. 

6.  "  This  is  illustrated  by  what  is  said  in  the  Book  of 
Poetry^ 

'  Alwaj'S  strive  to  accord  with  the  will  [of  heaven], 
So  shall  you  be  seeking  for  much  happiness  ;  ' 

and  by  the  passage  of  the  T^ae-keah,  '  Calamities  sent  by 
Heaven  may  be  avoided,  but  when  we  bring  on  the  calamities 
ourselves,  it  is  not  possible  to  live. '  '^ 

V.  1.  Mencius  said,  "If  [a  ruler]  give  honour  to  men 
of  talents  and  virtue  and  employ  the  able,  so  that  offices 
shall    all  be   filled  by   individuals  of   the  highest  clistinc- 

Par.  3.  See  the  She,  Pt  I.  xv.  Ode  II.,  where  the  duke  of  Chow  personat- 
ing a  small  bird  addressing  an  owl,  vindicates  the  vigour  of  his  measures  in 
suppressing  rebellion.  Mencius  adduces  the  stanza,  with  the  moral  of  it  as 
expounded  by  Confucius,  to  show  how  a  ruler  should  strengthen  himself  by 
vigorous  and  precautionary  measures. 

Parr.  4 — 6.  Par.  4  shows  how  the  mlers  of  his  time  took  no  such 
measures,  but  pursued  a  thoughtless,  reckless  course  of  an  opposite  tendency. 
For  the  poetry  quoted  in  par.  G,  see  the  She,  III.  i.  Ode  I.  ;  and  for  the 
passage  from  the  T'ae-keah,  see  the  Shoo,  IV.  v.,  Pt  ii.  3. 

Ch.  V.   Five  points  of  true  eoyal  government,  the  practice  of 

WHICH  WOULD  HAVE  CARRIED  ANY  OF  THE  PRINCES  OF  MeNCIUS'  TIME  TO 
THE  THRONE  OF  THE  WHOLE  KINGDOM  ON  THE  TIDE  OF  UNIVERSAL  POPU- 
LARITY. 

Par.  1.  Compare  the  first  part  of  par.  2  in  the  previous  chapter.     The 


172  THE   WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [bK   II. 

tion,  then  all  the  scholars  of  the  kingdom  will  be  pleased, 
and  wish  to  stand  in  his  court. 

2.  "If  in  the  market-places  he  levy  a  ground-rent  on  the 
shops  but  do  not  tax  the  goods,  or  enforce  the  [proper]  regu- 
lations without  levying  a  ground-rent,  then  all  ti'aders  of  the 
kingdom  will  be  pleased^  and  wish  to  store  their  goods  in  his 
market-places. 

3.  "  If  at  the  frontier- gates  there  be  an  inspection  of  the 
persons,  but  no  charges  levied,  then  all  the  travellers  of  the 
kingdom  will  be  pleased,  and  wish  to  be  found  on  his  roads, 

4.  "  If  the  husbandmen  be  required  to  give  their  material 
aid  [in  cultivating  the  public  field],  and  no  levies  be  made 
[of  the  produce  of  their  own],  then  all  the  farmers  in  the 
kingdom  will  be  pleased,  and  wish  to  plough  in  his  fields. 

5.  "  If  from  the  [occupiers  of  the]  people's  dwellings  he  do 
not  exact  the  cloth  required  from  the  individual  [idler]  or 

point  described  here  would  have  brought  all  the  scholars,  or  the  official  class, 
of  the  different  States  to  the  court  of  the  ruler  who  jiractised  it. 

Par.  2  describes  the  second  point  which  would  have  attracted  all  the 
traders  and  men  of  business  from  the  four  quarters.  According  to  Choo  He, 
the  capitals  and  large  cities  in  those  ancient  times  were  laid  out  after  the 
fashion  of  the  division  of  the  land  in  portions  of  nine  equal  squares  as  in 
the  figure  ^,  where  the  central  square  contained  the  fields  of  the  State. 
The  central  square  in  the  cities  contained  the  palace  and  buildings  connected 
with  it ;  that  in  front  of  it,  the  ancestral  and  other  temples,  the  government 
treasuries,  arsenals,  &c. ;  that  behind  it  was  the  market-place,  or  place  of  busi- 
ness ;  and  the  three  squares  on  each  side  were  occupied  by  the  dwellings  of  the 
people.  He  ad<ls  that  when  traders  became  too  many,  a  ground-rent  was 
levied  on  their  stances  or  shops  ;  and  that  when  they  were  few,  it  was  re- 
mitted, and  only  a  surveillance  of  the  markets  was  exercised  by  the  proper 
officers.  That  surveillance  consisted  in  the  inspection  of  weights  and 
measures,  regulation  of  prices,  &c.  This  view  seems  to  give  us  a  satisfactory 
meaning  for  this  jiaragraph.  CUaou  K'e  understands  the  second  clause  in 
it  of  the  tithe  of  the  produce  of  the  ground ;  but  it  is  foreign  to  the  object 
of  Mencius  to  introduce  that  subject  in  speaking  of  the  traders  in  the  mar- 
ket-place. 

Par.  3.  See  I.  Pt  i.  VII.  18  ;  Pt  ii.  V.  3.  The  "travellers,"  I  suppose, 
would  mostly  consist  of  men  moving'  from  State  to  State  in  the  prosecution 
of  business. 

Par.  4.  The  levying  of  a  tax,  an  additional  tithe,  on  the  produce  of  the 
fields  which  l)y  the  theory  of  the  division  of  thejand  were  the  private  pos- 
session of  the  husbandmen,  commenced  in  Loo  in  the  Ifith  year  of  duke 
Seuen  : — see  in  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew  and  the  Tso  Chuen,  on  VII.  xvi.  8.  Other 
States,  no  doubt,  had  adopted  the  practice  of  Loo  in  the  matter. 

Par.  5.  It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  meaning  of  this  paragraph.  Ancient- 
ly a  fine  had  been  levied  on  the  idlers  who  neglected  to  plant  mulberry- 
trees  and  hemp  about  the  ground  assigned  to  them  for  their  huts  and  dwell- 


FT 


I.    CH.  VI.]  KUNG-SUN    CH^OW.  173 


the  quota  for  residences,  then  all  the  people  in  the  kingdom 
will  be  pleased,  and  wish  to  be  his  people. 

6.  "  If  [a  ruler]  can  truly  practise  these  five  things,  then  the 
people  of  neighbouring  States  will  look  up  to  him  as  a  pa- 
rent. From  the  first  birth  of  mankind  until  now  never  has 
any  one  led  children  to  attack  their  parents,  and  succeeded 
in  his  enterprise.  Such  [a  ruler]  will  not  have  an  enemy 
under  the  sky,  and  he  who  has  no  enemy  under  the  sky  is  the 
minister  of  Heaven.  Never  has  there  been  such  a  case 
where  [the  ruler]  did  not  attain  to  the  royal  dignity.^' 

YI.  1.  Mencius  said,  "All  men  have  a  -.r.ind  which 
cannot  bear  [to  see  the  sufferings  of]  others. 

2.  "The  ancient  kings  had  this  commiserating  mind,  and 
they  had  likewise,  as  a  matter  of  course,  a  commiserating 

ings  besides  the  fields  which  were  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  grain  ; — 
being  at  first  so  much  cloth,  and  subsequently  the  equivalent  of  that  in 
monej'.  ,  Then  some  ground-rent  was  levied  perhaps  from  all  the  husband- 
men for  the  ground  so  assigned  for  their  dwellings.  These  two  taxes  appear 
in  Mencius'  time  to  have  been  levied  from  all  occupying  the  three  side- 
spaces  of  the  cities  to  which  I  have  referred  in  par.  2  ;  and  it  is  this  exac- 
tion which  Mencius  here  condemns. — Many  of  the  residents  in  those  spaces 
would  be  the  mechanics  of  the  States  ;  and  thus  the  five  points  recommended 
in  tiiis  chapter  would  secure  the  good-will  of  the  four  classes  into  which  the 
population  was  anciently  divided  : — scholars  or  the  ofiicial  class,  husband- 
men, mechanics,  and  traders. 

Par.  6.  "  The  minister  of  Heaven  "  appears  again  in  Pt  ii.  VIII.  2.  On 
this  designation  one  commentator  observes  :  "An  officer  is  one  commissioned 
by  his  ruler  ;  the  ofdcer  of  Heaven  is  he  who  is  commissioned  by  Heaven. 
He  who  bears  his  ruler's  commission  can  punish  men  and  put  them  to 
death  ; — he  may  deal  so  with  all  criminals.  He  who  bears  the  commission 
of  Heaven  can  execute  judgment  on  men  and  smite  them  ; — he  can  deal  so 
even  with  all  who  are  oppressing  and  misgoverning  their  States." 

Ch.  VI.  That  the  principles  op  bexevolence.  kighteousness,  pro- 
priety, AND  KNOWLEDGE  BELONG  TO  M.\N  AS  NATURALLY  AS  HIS  FOUE 
LL&IBS,  AND  MAY  AS  EASILY  BE  EXERCISED.  This  chapter  is  important  in  its 
connexion  with  the  doctrine  of  Mencius  respecting  the  goodness  of  human 
nature ;  but  vvliile  the  assertions  of  it  are  universally  true,  they  are  to  be 
understood  as  introduced  here  with  special  reference  to  the  oppressive  ways 
and  government  of  the  princes  of  his  time. 

Par.  1.  Compare  parr.  4,  5,  6  in  I.  Tt  i.  VII.  Chaou  K'e  and  many 
others  understand  the  language  about  "  the  mind  that  cannot  bear  other 
men,"  as  if  it  meant  "  the  mind  that  cannot  bear  [to  injure]  others."  But  it 
is  not  so  much— cannot  bear  to  inflict  suft'ering,  as — cannot  bear  to  see 
suffering.  Those  paragraphs  make  this  plain,  as  well  as  the  illustration 
which  immediately  follows  here  in  par.  3. 


171:  THE    W0EK3    OF    MEKCIUS.  [bK  II. 

government.  When  with  a  commiserating  mind  there  was 
])ractised  a  commiserating  government,  to  bring  all  under 
heaven  to  order  Avas  [as  easy]  as  to  make  [a  small  thing]  go 
round  in  the  palm. 

3.  "  The  ground  on  which  I  say  that  all  men  have  a  ujind 
which  cannot  bear  [to  see  the  suffering  of]  others  is  this  : 
— Even  now-a-days,  Avhen  men  suddenly  see  a  child  about 
to  fall  into  a  well,  they  will  all  experience  a  feeling  of  alarm 
and  distress.  They  will  feel  so  not  that  they  may  thereon 
gain  the  favour  of  the  child^s  parents  ;  nor  that  they  may 
seek  the  praise  of  their  neighbours  and  friends  ;  nor  from 
a  dislike  to  the  reputation  of  [being  unmoved  by]  such  a 
thing. 

4.  '^  Looking  at  the  matter  from  this  case,  [we  may  see 
that]  to  be  without  this  feeling  of  distress  is  not  human,  and 
that  it  is  not  human  to  be  without  the  feeling  of  shame  and 
dislike,  or  to  be  Avithout  the  feeling  of  modesty  and  com- 
plaisance, or  to  be  without  the  feeling  of  approving  and  dis- 
approving. 

5.  "  That  feeling  of  distress  is  the  principle  of  benevo- 
lence ;  the  feeling  of  shame  and  dislike  is  the  principle  of 
righteousness ;  the  feeling  of  modesty  and  complaisance 
is  the  principle  of  propriety  ;  and  the  feeling  of  approving 
and  disa])proving  is  the  pinnciple  of  knowledge. 

G.  "  Men  have  these  four  principles  just  as  they  have 
their  four  limbs.  When  men,  having  these  four  principles, 
yet  say  of  themselves  that  they  cannot  [manifest  them], 
they  play  the  thief  with  themselves ;  and  he  who  says  of 

Par.  ?>.  The  object  here  is  to  prove  that  tlie  feeling  of  commiseration  is 
instinctive,  and  does  not  spring  up  from  any  considerations  of  interest  or 
advantage  to  be  got  by  it. 

Parr.  4,  .5.  In  par.  4  we  have  Mencius'  account  of  tlie  moral  constitution 
of  human  nature.  "  The  feeling  of  distress,  of  shame,"  &c.,  is  in  the  original 
"the  mind  that  feels  distress,  shame,"  &c.  The  mind  is  one,  but  all  these 
feelings  are  natural  to  it,  and  make  it  what  it  is.  '•  Principle  "  in  par.  5,  is 
the  right  translation  of  the  original  term,  meaning  "tlie  beginning,"  as  the 
end  of  a  clue,  k.c.  The  feeling  of  distress  is  in  itself  benevolent,  and  from 
the  primary  feeling  ail  benevolent  feelings  and  actions  may  be  developed. 
"  Knowledge  "  is  the  only  term  with  which  I  am  not  satisfied.  Would 
"  wisdom  "  be  a  better  word,  with  the  meaning  it  has  in  such  passages  of  the 
Bible  as  "  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom  ?  " 

Parr.  6,  7.  "  To  play  the  thief  with  one's  self,  or  with  one's  ruler,"  is  to 


PT    I.    CH.  VII.]  KDNG-SUN   CU''0W.  175 

his  ruler  tliat  lio  cannot  [manifest  them],  plays  the  thief  with 
his  ruler. 

7.  "  Since  we  all  have  the  four  principles  in  ourselves,  let 
us  know  to  give  them  all  their  development  and  completion, 
and  the  issue  will  be  Hire  that  of  a  fire  which  has  begun  to  Q 
burn,  or  of  a  spring  which  has  begun  to  find  vent.  Let  them 
have  their -full  development,  and  they  will  suffice  to  love  and 
protect  all  [within]  the  four  seas  ;  let  them  be  denied  that 
development,  aud  they  will  not  suffice  for  a  man  to  serve  his 
parents  witli.''^ 

VII.  1.  Mencius  said,  '^^Is  the  arrow-maker  [naturally] 
more  wanting  in  benevolence  than  the  maker  of  mail?  [And 
yet],  the  arrow-maker^s  only  fear  is  lest  [his  arrows] 
should  not  woimd  men,  and  the  fear  of  the  maker  of  mail 
is  lest  men  should  be  wounded.  So  it  is  as  between  the 
priest  and  the  coffin-maker.  [The  choice  of]  a  profes- 
sion therefore  is  a  thing  in  which  it  is  very  necessary  to  be 
careful. 

2.  "  Confucius  said,  '  The  excellence  of  a  neighbourhood 
consists  in  its  virtuous  manners.  If  a  man,  in -selecting  a  re- 
sidence, do  not  fix  on  one  where  such  prevail,  how  can  he  be 
wise  ?  '  Now  benevolence  belongs  to  the  most  honourable 
nobility  of  Heaven,  and  is  the  quiet  home  where  man  should 
dwell.  Since  no  one  can  hinder  us  fi'om  being  so,  if  we  are 
not  benevolent,  this  shows  our  want  of  wisdom. 

injure  and  rob  one's  self  or  one's  ruler,  taking  away  from  him  that  which 
properly  belongs  to  him.  In  par.  7  Mencius  must  begin  the  application  of 
bis  principles  with  an  "  if."  His  analysis  of  human  nature  is  admirable, 
but  something  is  the  matter  with  it  of  which  he  is  not  aware. 

Ch.  VII.  The  principle  of  benevolence  should  dojiinate  in  all 

THE  PROFESSIONS  OF  LIFE, — IN  THE  BUSINESS  OF  GOVERNMENT  AND  IN 
THE  ARTS  OF  LOWER  WALKS.  ThE  BENEVOLENT  RULER  WILL  NEVER  BE  A 
SERVANT  OF  OTHERS,  AND  HE  WHO  IS  SO  HAS  ONLY  HIMSELF  TO  BLAME. 
The  argument  of  Mencius  in  this  chapter  is  more  loosely  put  forth  than  in  his 
general  practice,  and  it  is  more  difficult  to  set  it  forth  concisely. 

Par.  1.  The  term  which  I  have  translated  "priest"  here  occurs  in  the 
Analects,  XIII.  xxii.,  where  it  is  translated  by  "wizard."  See  the  passage. 
As  opposed  to  a  "  coffin-maker,"  who  makes  provision  for  the  death  of  men, 
it  indicates  one  by  whose  prayers  aud  other  methods  it  is  sought  to  procure 
life  and  prosperity  for  men. 

Par.  2.  See  Ana.  IV.  i. 


176  THE   WOEKS    OP    MENCIUS.  [bK    II. 

3.  "  He  who  is  [thus]  neither  benevolent  nor  wise  will 
be  without  propriety  and  righteousness,  and  must  be  the 
servant  of  [other]  men.  To  be  the  servant  of  men  and 
yet  ashamed  of  such  servitude  is  like  a  bow-maker's 
being  ashamed  to  make  bows,  or  an  arrow-maker's  being 
ashamed  to  make  arrows. 

4.  "  If  [a  man]  be  ashamed  of  being  in  such  a  case,  his  best 
course  is  to  practise  benevolence. 

6.  "  He  who  [would  be]  benevolent  is  like  the  archer.  The 
archer  adjusts  himself,  and  then  shoots.  If  he  shoot  and  do 
not  hit,  he  does  not  murmur  against  those  who  surpass 
himself: — he  simply  turns  round,  and  seeks  the  [cause  of 
failure]  in  himself." 

VITI.  1.  Mencius  said, ''When  any  one  told  Tsze-loo 
that  he  had  a  fault,  he  was  glad. 

2.  "  When  Yu  heard  good  words,  he  bowed  [to  the 
speaker] . 

3.  "  The  great  Shun  had  a  [still]  greater  [quality]  : — he 
regarded  goodness  as  the  common  property  of  himself  and 
others,  giving  up  his  own  way  to  follow  others,  and  delight- 
ing to  copy  [the  example  of]  others, — in  order  to  practise 
what  was  good. 

4.  "  From  the  time  that  he  ploughed  and  sowed,  exer- 
cised the  potter's  art  and  was  a  fisherman,  to  that  when  he 
was  emperor,  he  was  always  learning  from  others. 

Par.  3.  The  first  clause  here  flows  from  the  previous  par.,  and  the  next 
seems  to  show  what  will  be  the  consccjuence  of  being  devoid  of  benevolence 
and  wisdom;  and  the  whole  will  result  in  servitude  to  others.  That  result 
is  natural,  and  he  who  grieves  under  it  has  only  himself  to  blame, 

Par.  5.  Compare  Ana.  III.  vii.  and  xvi. 

CH.  Yin.  How  SAGES  AND  WOETUIES  DELTGHTED  IN  WHAT  WAS  GOOD. 
To  HELP  OTHERS  TO  PRACTISE  GOODNESS  IS  A  GREAT  INSTANCE  OF  VIRTUE. 

Par.  1.  Tsze-loo's  ardour  in  i)ursuing  his  self-improvement  appears  in  Ana. 
V.  xiii.,  and  other  places  ;  but  the  particular  point  mentioned  here  is  not 
mentioned  anywhere  else. 

Par.  2.  See  the  8hoo,  II.  iii.  1. 

Par.  3.  Shun's  distinction  was  that  he  did  not  think  of  himself  as  Tsze- 
loo  did,  nor  of  others  as  Yu  did,  but  only  of  what  was  good,  and  was  un- 
consciously carried  to  it  wherever  he  saw  it. 

Par.  A.  It  is  related  of  Shun  that  in  his  early  days  he  ploughed  at  the 
foot  of  the  Leih  mountain,  did  potter's  work  on  the  banks  of  the  Ho,  fished 
in  the  Luy  lake,  made  various  implements  on  the  Show  mountain,  and  often 


PT    I.    CH.  IX.]  KUNG-SCN    CH'OW.  177 

5.  "  To  take  example  from  otliers  to  practise  what  is  good 
is  to  help  men  in  the  same  practice.  Therefore  there  is  no 
attribute  of  the  superior  man  greater  than  his  helping  men 
to  practise  what  is  good.^^ 

IX.  1.  Mencius  said,  *■' Pih-e  would  not  serve  a  ruler 
whom  he  did  not  approve,  nor  be  friendly  with  any  one  whom 
he  did  not  esteem.  He  would  not  stand  in  the  court  of  a 
bad  man,  nor  speak  with  a  bad  man.  To  stand  in  a  bad 
man's  court,  or  to  speak  with  a  bad  man,  would  have  been  in  his 
estimation  the  same  as  to  stand  with  his  court  robes  and  court 
cap  amid  mire  and  charcoal.  Pursuing  our  examination  of 
his  dislike  to  what  was  evil,  [we  find]  that  he  thought  it 
necessary,  if  he  were  standing  with  a  villager  whose  cap  was 
not  rightly  adjusted,  to  leave  him  with  a  high  air  as  if  he 
were  going  to  be  defiled.  Hence  it  was,  that,  though  some 
of  the  princes  made  application  to  him  with  very  proper  mes- 
sages, he  would  not  accept  [their  invitations].  That  refusal 
to  accept  [their  invitations]  was  because  he  counted  it  in- 
consistent with  his  purity  to  go  to  them. 

2.  "  Hwuy  of  Lew-hea  was  not  ashamed  [to  serve]  an  im- 
pure ruler,  nor  did  he  think  it  low  to  be  in  a  small  office. 
When  called  to  employment,  he  did  not  keep  his  talents  and 
virtue  concealed,  but  made  it  a  point  to  cai-ry  out  his  prin- 
ciples. When  neglected  and  left  out  of  office,  he  did  not  mur- 
mur ;  and  when  straitened  by  poverty,  he  did  not  grieve. 
Accordingly,  he  would  say,  '  You  are  you,  and  I  am  I.  Al- 
though you  stand  by  my  side  with  bare  arms  and  breast, 
how  can  you  defile  me  ?  '  In  this  way,  self-possessed,  he 
associated  Avith  men  indifferently,  and  did  not  feel  that  he 
lost  himself.  If  pressed  to  remain  in  office,  he  would  re- 
main. He  would  remain  in  office  when  so  pressed,  because 
he  did  not  feel  that  liis  purity  required  him  to  go  away.'" 

3.  IMencius  said,  "  Pih-e  was  narrow-minded,  and  Hwuy  of 

resided  at  Foo-hea.  There  will  be  occasion  to  consider  where  these  places 
were  in  connexion  with  some  of  Mencius'  future  references  to  him.  On  his 
elevation  to  be  emperor  see  the  first  Book  of  the  Shoo. 

Ch.  IX.  riCTCRES  OF  riH-E  AND  HWUY  OF  LeW-HEA  ;  AND  MENCIUS' 
JUDGMENT  CONCERNING  THEM. 

Par.  1.  Pih-e, — see  on  ch.  ii.  22. 

Par.  2.   Hwuy  of  Lew-hea, — see  on  Ana.  XV.  xiii.  ;  XVIII.  ii.  ;  viii. 
Par.  3.  By  "  the  superior  man,"  Mencius,  perhaps,  tacitly  refers  to  himself 
VOL.  II.  12 


178  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [cK    IT. 

Li*w-hea  was 
will  not  folio 
self-respect/^ 


Li*w-hea  was  wanting  in  self-respect.     The   superior  man 
will  not  follow  either  narrow-mindedness    or  the   want  of 


BOOK  II. 

KUNG-SUN    Cn'OW.       PART  .  II. 


Chapter  I.  1.  Meucius  said,  "Opportunities  of  time 
[vouchsafed  by]  Heaven  are  not  equal  to  advantages  of  situ- 
ation [afJbrded  by]  the  earth,  and  advantages  of  situation 
[afforded  by]  the  earth  are  not  equal  to  the  strength  [arising 
from  the]  accord  of  men. 

2.  "  [There  is  a  city],  with  an  inner  wall  of  three  h  in 
circumference  and  an  outer  wall  of  seven.  [The  enemy] 
surround  and  attack  it,  but  are  notable  to  take  it.  Now,  to 
surround  and  attack  it,  there  must  have  been  vouchsafed  to 
them  by  Heaven  the  opportunity  of  time,  and  in  such  case 
their  not  taking  it  is  because  opportunities  of  time  [vouch- 
safed by]  Heaven  are  not  equal  to  advantages  of  situation 
[afforded  by]  the  earth. 

3.  "  [There  is  a  city]  whose  walls  are  as  high  and  moats 

as  having  taken  Confucius  for  his  model.  One  commentator  saj's  on  this 
paragraph  ; — "Elsewhere  Mencius  advises  men  to  imitate  E  and  Hwuj'-,  but 
he  is  tliere  speaking  to  the  weak  ;  when  here  he  advises  not  to  follow  them, 
he  is  speaking  for  those  who  wish  to  do  the  right  tiling  at  the  right  time." 

CH.  I.  No  ADVANTAGES  WHICH  A  RULER  CAN  OBTAIN  FOK  THE  PURPOSE 
OF  DEFENCE,  OR  TO  EXALT  HIM  0V1:R  OTHICKS,  ARE  EQUAL  TO  HIS  POSSESS- 
ING THE  HEARTS  OF  HEN.  Because  of  this  cliapter  Mencius  has  got  a  place 
in  China  among  the  writers  on  the  art  of  war,  which  surely  he  would  not 
have  wished  to  claim  for  himself,  his  design  being  to  supersede  the  recourse 
to  arms  altogether. 

Far.  1.  Chinese  commentators  have  much  to  say  about  ascertaining  the 
"  time  of  Heaven  "  by  divination  and  asti'ology  :  but  all  this  is  to  be  set  aside 
as  foreign  to  the  mind  of  Mencius  in  the  text,  though  many  exam|)les  of  the 
res<jrt  to  those  arts  can  be  adduced  from  ancient  records.  "  The  accord  of 
men  "  is  the  loyal  union  of  tiie  people  with  tlieir  ruler. 

Par.  2.  The  city  here  supposed,  with  its  double  circle  of  fortification,  is  a 
pmnll  one,  the  better  to  illustrate  the  sujieriority  of  advantage  of  situation, 
just  as  that  in  the  next  par.  is  a  large  one,  to  bring  out  the  still  greater  supe- 
riority of  the  union  of  men.  A  city  of  the  dimensions  specilied  here  waa 
the  capital  of  a  baronial  State. 


FT    11.    CH.  II.]  KUNG-SUN    CH''oW.  179 

as  deep  as  could  be  desired,  and  where  the  arms  and  mail 
[of  its  defenders]  are  distint^uished  for  their  sharpness  and 
strength,  and  the  [stores  of]  rice  and  grain  are  abundant ; 
yet  it  has  to  be  given  up  and  abandoned.  This  is  because 
advantages  of  situation  [afforded  by]  the  earth  are  not  equal 
to  the  [strength  arising  from  the]  accord  of  men. 

4.  ''In  accordance  with  these  principles  it  is  said,  ^  A 
people  is  bounded  in  not  by  the  limits  of  dykes  and  borders  ; 
a  State  is  secured  not  by  the  strengths  of  mountains  and 
streams  ;  the  kingdom  is  overawed  not  by  the  sharpness  of 
arms  [and  strength]  of  mail.'  He  who  finds  the  proper 
course  has  many  to  assist  him,  and  he  who  loses  it  has  few. 
When  this — the  being  assisted  by  few — reaches  the  extreme 
point,  [a  ruler's]  own  relatives  and  connexions  revolt  from 
him.  AVhien  the  being  assisted  by  many  reaches  its  extreme 
point,  all  under  heaven  become  obedient  [to  the  ruler] . 

5.  "  When  one  to  whom  all  under  heaven  are  prepared  to  be- 
come obedient  attacks  one  from  whom  his  own  relatives  and 
connexions  are  ready  to  revolt,  [what  must  the  result  be  ?] 
Therefore  the  true  ruler  will  [prefer]  not  [to]  fight,  but  if 
he  do  fight,  he  is  sure  to  overcome." 

II.  1.  As  Mencius  was  about  to  go  to  court  to  the  king, 
the  king  sent  a  person  to  him  with  this  message  : — "  I  was 
wishing  to  come  and  see  you.  But  I  have  got  a  cold,  and 
may  not  expose  myself  to  the  wind.  In  the  morning  I  will 
hold  my  court.  I  do  not  know  whether  you  will  give 
me  the  opportunity  of  seeing  you  ? '' .    [Mencius]   replied. 

Par.  4.  "  The  proper  course  "  intended  is  that  style  of  government  on  the 
principles  of  benevolence  and  righteousness  which  is  sure  to  unite  the  hearts 
of  the  people  to  their  ruler.  "  Relatives"  are  relatives  by  blood  ;  "  connex- 
ions," merely  relatives  by  affinity. 

Ch.  II.  How  Mencius  considereb  that  it  was  slighting  him  for 

THE  KING  OF  TS'E  TO  CALL  HIM  BY  MKSSENGERS  TO  GO  T ")  COURT  TO  SEE 
HIM  ;  AND  THE  SHIFTS  HE  WAS  PUT  TO  TO  GET  THIS  UNDERSTOOD.  It 
must  be  understood  that  Mencius  was  in  Ts'e  simply  as  an  honoured  guest, 
in  his  capacit}'  of  teacher  or  philosopher,  and  had  not  accepted  any  official 
position  with  the  salary  attached  to  it.  It  was  for  him  to  pay  his  respects  at 
court,  if  he  wished  to  do  so  ;  but  if  the  king  wished  to  show  him  respect 
and  to  ask  his  counsel,  it  was  tor  him  to  go  to  him,  and  beg  his  instructions. 
Par.  1.  The  morning,  as  soon  as  it  was  light,  was  the  regular  time  for  the 
king  and  feudal  princes  to  give  audience  to  their  ministers  and  officers,  and 
arrange  about  the  administration  of  affiiirs ;  and  this  is  also  the  modern 
practice  in  China.     The  king's  saying  that  he  had  a  cold  was  merely  a  pre- 


ISO  THE  W0KK3  OF  MENCIU3.  [bK  II. 

"  Unfortunately  I  am  unwell,  and  not  able  to  go  to  court." 

2.  Next  day  ho  went  out  to  pay  a  visit  of  condolence  to 
tlie  1  ung-kwoli  family,  wlien  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  said  to  him, 
"  Yesterday  you  declined  [going  to  the  court]  on  the  gi'ound 
of  being  unwell,  and  to-day  you  are  paying  a  visit  of  condo- 
lence : — may  not  this  be  regarded  as  improper  ?  "  "  Yes- 
terday," said  [^rencius],  "  I  was  unwell ;  to-day  I  am  bet- 
ter : — why  should  Pnot  pay  this  visit  ?  " 

o.  [In  the  mean  time]  the  king  sent  a  messenger  to  inquire 
about  his  illness,  and  a  physician  [also]  came  [from  the 
court]  .  Maug  Chung  replied  to  them,  "  Yesterday,  when 
the  king's  order  came,  he  was  feeling  a  little  unwell,  and 
could  not  go  to  the  court.  To-day  he  was  a  little  better  and 
hastened  to  go  to  court.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  can 
have  reached  it  [by  this  time]  or  not."  [Having  said  this,] 
he  sent  several  men'  to  intercept  [Mencius]  on  the  way,  and 
say  to  him  that  he  begged  him,  before  he  returned,  to  be  sure 
and  go  to  the  court. 

4.  [On  this,  Mencius]  felt  himself  compelled  to  go  to  King 
Ch'ow's,  and  there  stop  the  night.  The  officer  King  said  to 
him,  "  In  the  family  there  is  [the  relation  of]  father  and  son ; 
beyond  it  there  is  [that  of]  ruler  and  minister.  These 
are  the  greatest  relations  among  men.     Between  father  and 

tence  ; — he  wanted  to  }ret  Mencius  to  come  to  him.  Jlencius'  saying  that  he 
was  unwell  was  equally  a  pretence.  Compare  Confucius'  conduct  in  Ana. 
XVII.  XX. 

Fa?:  2.  Tung-kwoh  was  a  clan  name  in  Ts'e,  taking  its  rise  from  tlie 
quarter  where  the  founder  of  it  had  lived.  Some  member  of  the  family  had 
died,  and  Mencius  now  went  to  it  to  pay  a  visit  of  condolence,  that  the  king 
might  hear  of  his  doing  so,  and  understand  the  lesson  he  had  meant  to  give 
him  the  day  before  by  saying  that  he  was  unwell.  The  disciple  did  not  un- 
derstand the  reason  of  his  proceeding,  and  our  philosopher,  we  think,  had 
better  have  told  it  to  him  plainly  than  go  on  to  further  i)revarication. 

Par.  3.  Mang  Chung  must  have  been  a  near  relative  of  Mencius: — some 
say  that  he  was  a  son;  others,  a  nephew.  "He  was  a  little  unwell"  is  in 
Chinese  "  he  had  anxiety  about  gathering  firewood."  To  do  this  was  the 
business  of  the  children  of  the  common  people,  from  which  sickness 
alone  could  give  them  a  dispensation.  Used  of  Mencius  if  was  an  expres- 
sion of  humility.  Neither  did  Miing  Chung  understand  the  conduct  of  his 
father  or  uncle  ;  and  having  committed  himself  to  a  falsehood  about  it,  he 
took  the  step  which  is  related  to  get  Mencius  to  go  to  court  to  make  his  own 
words  good. 

Par.  i.  Mencius  was  resolved  that  the  king  should  know  the  reason  of  his 
not  going  to  court  ;  and  as  the  words  of  Mang  Chung  interfered  with  his 
first  plan  for  that  purpose,  he  now  went  to  another  officer  of  Ts'e  whose  ao- 


TT    11.    CH.  «.]  KUNG-SUN    CH'OW.  181 

son  the  ruling  principle  is  kindness;  between  ruler  and 
minister  the  ruling  principle  is  respect.  I  have  seen  the 
respect  of  the  king  to  you,  Sir,  but  I  have  not  seen  in  wbaf 
^  way  you  show  respect  to  hira."  The  reply  was,  "  Oh  !  what 
woi-ds  are  these  ?  Among  the  people  of  Ts'e  there  is  no  one 
who  speaks  to  the  king  about  benevolence  and  righteousness. 
Is  it  because  they  think  that  benevolence  and  righteousness 
are  not  admirable  ?  No ;  but  in  their  hearts  they  say,  '  This 
man  is  not  tit  to  be  spoken  with,  about  benevolence  and  right- 
eousness.' Thus  they  manifest  a  disrespect  than  v/hich  there 
can  be  none  greater.  I  do  not  dare  to  set  forth  before  the 
king  any  but  the  ways  of  Yaou  and  Shun.  There  is  there- 
fore no  man  of  Ts'e  who  respects  the  king  so  much  as  I  do." 

5.  King-tsze  said,  "  Not  so  ;  that  was  not  what  I  meant. 
In  the  Book  of  Rites  it  is  said,  '  When  a  father  calls,  the 
son  must  go  to  him  without  a  moment's  hesitation  ;  when 
the  prince's  order  calls,  the  carriage  must  not  be  waited  for.' 
You  wei'e  certainly  going  to  court,  but  when  you  heard  the 
king's  message,  you  did  not  carry  the  purpose  out.  This 
does  seem  as  if  your  conduct  were  not  in  accoi'dance  with 
that  rule  of  propriety." 

6.  [MenciusJ  answered  him,  ''  How  can  you  give  that 
meaning  to  my  conduct  ?  The  philosopher  Tsang  said, 
'  The  wealth  of  Tsin  and  Ts^oo  cannot  be  equalled.  Their 
[rulers]  have  their  wealth,  and  I  have  my  benevolence. 
They  have  their  rank  ;  and  I  have  my  righteousness. 
Wherein  should  I  be  dissatisfied  [as  inferior  to  them]  ?' 
Now  were  these  sentiments  not  riofht  ?  Seeins:  that  the 
philosopher  Tsang  gave  expression  to  them,  there  is  in  them, 
I  apprehend,  a  [real]  principle.  Under  heaven  there  are 
three  things  universally  acknowledged  to  be  honourable  : — 
rank ;  years  ;  and  virtue.  In  courts,  rank  holds  the  first 
place  of  the  three ;  in  villages,  years ;  and  for  helping  one's 

.  generation  and  presiding  over  the  people,  virtue.  How  can 
the  possession  of  only  one  of  them  be  presumed  on  to  despise 
one  who  possesses  the  other  two  ? 

quaintance  he  enjoyed,  and  talked  the   matter  over  with  him  fully,  that 
through  him  the  whole  thing  might  reach  the  king's  ears. 

Piir.  5.  The  passages  quoted  by  the  officer  King  from  the  Book  of  Rites 
(I.  Pt  I.  iii.  14  ;  XIII.  iii.  2)  were  not  fully  applicable  to  Mencius,  who  did 
not  consider  himself  a  minister  of  Ts'e.  He  was  there  as  an  honoured  visitor, 
and  would  only  take  office  if  he  saw  reason  to  believe  that  the  kuig  would 
follow  hiS  counsels. 


182  THE   WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [l5K    II, 

7.  "  Therefore,  a  prince  who  is  to  accomplish  great  deeds 
will  certainly  have  ministci'S  whom  he  does  not  call  to  go  to 
him.  When  he  wishes  to  consult  with  them,  he  goes  to  them. 
[The  ruler]  who  does  not' honour  the  virtuous  and  delight  in 
their  ways  of  doing  to  this  extent  is  not  worth  having  to  do 
with. 

8.  "  Accordingly,  so  did  T'^ang  behave  to  E  Yin :  — he 
learned  of  him,  and  then  employed  him  as  his  minister,  and 
so  without  difficulty  he  became  king.  And  so  did  duke 
Hwan  behave  to  Kwan  Chung  : — ^he  learned  of  him,  and  then 
employed  him  as  his  minister,  and  so  without  difficulty  he 
became  leader  of  the  princes. 

9.  "Now  throughout  the  kingdom  [the  territories  of]  the 
princes  are  of  equal  extent  and  in  their  achievements  they 
are  on  a  level.  Not  one  of  them  is  able  to  exceed  the  others. 
This  is  from  no  other  reason  but  that  they  love  to  make 
ministers  of  those  whom  they  teach,  and  do  not  love  to 
make  ministers  of  those  by  whom  they  might  be  taught. 

10.  "  So  did  T'ang  behave  to  E  Yin,  and  duke  Hwan  to 
Kwan  Chung,  that  they  would  not  venture  to  call  them  [to 
them].  If  even  Kwan  Chung  could  not  be  called  to  him 
[by  his  ruler],  how  niiich  less  may  he  be  called  who  would 
not  play  the  part  of  Kwan  Chung  ! " 

III.    1.    Ch'in   Tsin  asked  [Mencius],  saying,  "  Formof- 

Par.  8.  We  are  told  that  it  was  only  after  T'ang  had  five  times  solicited 
the  presence  of  E  Yiu  by  special  messengers  that  that  vvortiiy  was  iniliiced  to 
jro  to  him.  See  the  coiifichince  reposed  by  duke  Hwan  in  Kwan  Chung  in 
\'i  I.  i.  3.  Kwan  was  taken  to  Ts'e  originally  as  a  prisoner  to  be  put  to 
death,  but  the  duke,  knowing  his  ability  and  worth,  had  determined  to 
make  him  his  chief  minister,  and  therefore,  liaving  first  caused  him  to  be 
relieved  of  his  fetters,  he  drove  himself  out  of  his  capital  and  met  him 
witli  all  distinction,  listening  to  a  long  discourse  from  liim  on  government. 

Par.  i).  All  tilings  were  ready  for  one  prince  to  exceed  all  the  others,  and 
to  be  made  king  ;  but  no  one  would  follow  the  counsels  of  Mencius  wliich 
would  have  resulted  in  such  an  issue. 

Pur.  10.  Compare  Pt  I.  i.  4. 

Ch.  III.  By  what  PEiNcii'i.ES  Mencius  was  guided  in  i(eceivi*:o  or 

DECLIXING  THE  GlETS  TENDEKED  TO  HIM  BY  THE  PRINCES.     The  pracUce  of 

receiving  gifts  from  the  [n-inces  whom  he  comlomtied  was  one  of  the  weak 
points  in  Mencius'  life,  and  his  disciples  were  evidently  stumbled  by  it.  He 
had  alwa)s  something  to  say,  however,  in  rejily  tj  their  doubts  and  ques- 
tions ; — ingenious,  if  not  altogether  satisfactory. 

Par.  1.  Ch'ia  Tsia  was  one  of  Mencius'  disciples,  but  this  is  all  that  is 


pr  II..CH.  IV.]  KUNG-suN  ch''ow.  183 

]y,  when  you  were  in  Ts'^e,  the  king  sent  you  a  present 
of  2,000  taels  of  fine  silver,  and  you  refused  to  accept  it. 
When  you  were  in  Sung,  1 ,100  taels  were  sent  to  you, 
which  you  accepted;  and  when  you  were  in  Seeh,  1,000 
taels  were  sent,  which  you  [likewise]  accepted.  If  your 
declining  the  gift  in  the  first  case  was  right,  your  accepting 
it  in  the  latter  cases  was  wrong.  If  your  accepting  it  in  the 
latter  cases  was  right,  your  declining  it  in  the  first  case 
was  wrong.  You  must  accept,  Master,  one  of  these  alterna- 
tives." 

2.  Mencius  said,  "  I  did  i-ight  in  all  the  cases. 

3.  "  When  I  was  in  Sung,  I  was  about  to  take  a  long 
journey.  Travellers  must  be  provided  with  what  is  neces- 
sary for  their  expenses.  The  [prince's]  message  was — '  A 
present  against  travelling  expenses.'  Why  should  I  not  have 
received  it  ? 

4.  "  When  I  was  in  Seeh,  I  was  apprehensive  for  my  safety, 
and  wished  to  take  measures  for  my  protection.  The  mes- 
sage [with  the  gift]  was — '  I  have  heard  that  you  are  ap- 
prehensive for  your  safety,  and  therefore  I  send  you  this  to 
help  you  in  procuring  weapons.'  Why  should  I  not  have 
received  it  ? 

5.  "  But  as  to  the  case  in  Ts''e,  I  had  then  no  occt^sion 
for  inouey.  To  send  a  man  a  gift,  when  he  has  no  occasion 
for  it,  is  to  bribe  him.  How  can  one  claim  to  be  a  superior 
man,  and  allow  himself  to  be  taken  with  a  bribe  ?  " 

lY.    1.  Mencius,  having   gone  to  P'ing-luh,  said  to   the 

known  of  him.  Nor  can  we  tell  to  what  period  of  our  philosopher's  life  this 
conversation  should  be  referred.  Fine  silver,  is,  literally,  "  double  metal  ;  " 
i.  e.,  silver  (not  gold)  worth  twice  as  much  as  tliat  in  ordinary  circulation. 
Sung  was  the  dukedom  over  which  the  representatives  of  the  kings  of  the 
Shang  d\Tiasty  ruled,  having  as  its  cajiital  Shang-kew,  which  name  remains 
in  tlie  district  so  called  of  the  department  Kwei-tih  in  Ho-nan.  Seeh, — 
see  on  P.  Pt  II.  xiv.  1.  I  suppose  that  though  Seeh  in  Mencius'  time  be- 
longed to  Ts'e  the  descendants  of  its  former  princes  were  permitted  to 
administer  it,  and  that  it  was  one  of  them  who  sent  to  him  the  present  here 
mentioned. 

Parr.  3 — 5.  These  contain  the  explanation  which  Mencius  gives  of  his  con- 
duct. He  took  gifts  when  he  had  occasion  for  them ; — it  would  have  been 
better  if  he  had  not  taken  them  at  all. 

Ch.  rv.  How  Mencius  brought  coNVICTIO^f  op  their  faults  to  an 
OFFICER  OP  Ts'e  and  to  the  king.     This  brief  chapter  is  a  good  instance 


184  THE    WOCKS    OF   ilENCIUS,  [bK    IT. 

governor  of  it,  ''If  [one  of]  your  spearmen  should  lose 
his  place  in  the  ranks  three  times  in  one  day,  would 
you,  Sir,  put  him  to  death  or  not  ?  ^'  "I  would  not  wait 
till  he  had  done  so  three  times,'^  was  the  reply. 

2.  [Mencius]  continued,  ''  Well  then,  you,  Sir,  have  lost 
your  place  in  the  ranks  many  times.  In  calamitous  years 
and  years  of  famine,  the  old  and  feeble  of  your  people  who 
have  been  found  lying  in  ditches  and  water- channels,  and 
the  able-bodied  who  have  been  scattered  about  to  the  four 
quarters,  have  amounted  to  thousands.''^  "  This  is  not  a 
case  in  which  I,  Keu-sin,  can  take  it  upon  me  to  act." 

3.  "  Here,'^  said  [Mencius],  "is  a  man  who  receives 
charge  of  the  sheep  and  cattle  of  another,  and  undertakes  to 
feed  them  for  him; — of  course  he  must  seek  for  pasture- 
ground  and  grass  for  them.  If,  after  seeking  for  these,  he 
cannot  find  them,  will  he  retuim  his  charge  to  the  owner  ? 
or  will  he  stand  [by]  and  see  them  die  ?  "  "  Herein,"  said 
[the  governor] ,  "  I  am  guilty. ^^ 

4.  Another  day  Mencius  had  an  audience  of  the  king,  and 
said  to  him,  "  Of  the  governors  of  j^our  Majesty's  cities  I 
am  acquainted  with  five;  but  the  only  one  who  knows  his 
fault  is  K'ung  Keu-sin."  He  then  related  to  the  king  the 
conversation  which  he  had  had  [with  that  officer],  and  the 
king  said,  "  In  this  matter  I  am  the  guilty  one.^^ 

V.  1.  Mencius  said  to  Ch'e  AVa,  "There  seemed  to  be 
reason  in  your  declining  [the  governorship]  of  Ling-k'iiw, 

of  Mencius'  manner,  and  of  the  ingenuity  which  he  displayed  in  bringing 
Ills  counsels  before  those  whom  he  wished  most  to  influence. 

Par.  1.  P'ing-luh  was  a  city — one  of  those  called  capitals,  as  having  in 
them  an  ancestral  temple  of  the  princes  of  the  8tate — in  the  south  of  Ts'e, 
somewhere,  probably,  in  the  present  department  of  Yen-chow.  Its  govern- 
or or  commandant,  presiding  also  over  the  country  around  it,  was  K'ung 
Keu-sin.  ' 

I'ar.  2.  The  governor's  saying  that  the  case  which  Mencius  described 
Avas  not  one  in  which  he  could  act  meant  that  the  measures  to  provide  for 
it,  such  as  opening  the  puiiiic  granaries,  could  only  emanate  from  the  king. 

Par.  3.  Mencius  wished  the  governor  to  understand  that  Jie  ought  not  in 
such  circumstances  to  retain  his  office. 

Ch.  V.    The  freedom  which   Mencius  claimed   for   himself  in 

RETAINING  HIS  POSITION  IN  Ts'E,  NOTWITHSTANDING  OB.JEOTIONABLE 
MEASURES  OF  THE  KINO,  WAS  BECAUSE  HE  WAS  UNSALARIED. 

Par.  1.  Of  Ch'e  Wa  we  only  know  what  is  related  here.  Ling-k'ew  was 
a  city  in  the  borders  of  Ts'e,  remote   from  the   court.     Ch'e  Wa  bad  been 


PT    IT.    CH.  VI.]  KUNG-STN    CH^OW,  185 

and  requesting  to  be  appointed  chief  criminal  judge,  because 
the  [latter  otlice]  would  afford  you  the  opportunity  of 
speaking  your  mind.  But  now  several  months  have  elapsed  ; 
and  have  you  found  nothing  about  which  you  might  speak  ?  " 

2.  [On  this]  Ch'e  Wa  remonstrated  [on  some  matter] 
with  thj  king;  and,  his  counsel  not  being  taken,  he  resigned 
his  office,  and  went  away. 

3.  Tne  people  of  Ts'e  said,  "  In  the  course  which  he 
marked  out  for  Cli'e  Wa  he  did  well ;  but  as  to  the  course 
which  ho  pursues  for  hiinself,  we  do  not  know." 

4.  His  disciple  Kung  Too  told  him  these  remarks. 

5.  [Mencius]  said,  "  I  have  heard  that  when  he,  who  is 
in  charge  of  an  office,  is  prevented  from  performing  its 
duties,  he  should  take  his  departure,  and  that  he  on  whom 
is  the  responsibility  of  giving  his  opinions,  when  his  words 
are  disregarded,  should  do  the  same.  [But]  I  am  in  charge 
of  no  office,  and  on  me  is  no  responsibility  to  .speak  out  my 
views ; — may  not  I  act  freely  and  without  restraint  either  in 
going  forward  or  in  retiring?" 

VI.  1.  Mencius,  occupying  the  position  of  a  high  dig- 
nitary in  Ts'e,  went  from  it  on  a  mission  of  condolence 
to  T'anor  and  the  kinsf  sent  Wano-  Hwan,  g-overnor  of 
Kah,  [with  him]  as  assistant-commissioner.  Wang  Hwan, 
morning  and  evening,  waited  upon  him,  but,  during  all  the 
way  to  T'ang  and  back  to  Ts'e,  [Mencius]  never  spoke  to 
him  about  the  affairs  of  the  mission. 

governor  of  it,  but  got  himself  appointed  chief  criminal  judge,  wishing  to 
be  near  the  king,  with  whom  this  office  would  give  him  the  oi)portunity  to 
remonstrate  on  measures  of  wliich  lie  did  not  approve.  Perhaps  he  found 
it  easier  to  resolve  to  discharge  that  disagreeable  duty,  than  to  carry  the 
resolution  into  practice. 

Parr.  2 — 4.  Ch'e  Wa,  stimulated  by  Mencius,  did  remonstrate  and  then 
felt  it  necessary  to  retire  from  ofhce.  We  cannot  wonder  at  the  remarks  of 
the  people  on  Mencius'  conduct. 

Kung-too  was  one  of  his  disciples  with  whom  we  shall  meet  again.  Jlencius 
thought  highly  of  him,  but  this  is  nearly  all  we  know  about  him.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  been  descended  from  a  priuce  of  Ts'oo,  who  held  the  city  of 
Too ;  aud  hence  the  surname. 

Ch.  VI.  Mencius'  behaviour  towards  an  unworthy  associate. 

Par.  1.  Mencius' situation  as  a  "  noble  "  or  "high  dignitar}'  "  of  Ts'e  ap- 
pears to  have  been  honorary  only,  without  emolument,  and  the  king  employed 
him  on  this  occasion  to  give  weight  by  his  character  to  the  mission.     But 


186  THE   WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [bK    II. 

2.  Knng-sun  Cli'ow  said  [to  Mencius],  ''^Tlie  position  of 
a  high  dignitary  of  Ts'e  is  not  a  small  oue,  and  the  way  from 
Ts'e  to  T'ting  is  not  short; — how  was  it  that  during  all  the 
way  from  Ts'e  to  T'ang  and  back,  you  never  spoke  [to 
Hwan]  about  the  affairs  of  the  mission  ?  "  "  There  were 
the  proper  parties  to  attend  to  them ;  why  should  I  speak 
[to  him  about  them]  ?  ■" 

VII.  1.  Mencius  [went]  from  Ts'e  to  bury  [his  mother] 
in  Loo.  When  he  returned  to  Ts'e,  he  stopped  at 
Ying,  and  Ch'ung  Yu  begged  [to  put  a  question  to]  him, 
saying,  "  Formerly,  in  ignoi'ance  of  my  incompetency,  you 
employed  me  to  superintend  the  business  of  making  the 
coffin.  As  [.you  were  then  pressed  by]  the  urgency  [of  the 
business],  I  did  not  venture  to  put  any  question  to  you;  but 
now  I  wish  to  take  the  liberty  to  submit  the  matter.  The 
wood,  it  appeared  to  me,  was  too  good." 

2.  [Mencius]  replied,  "  Anciently,  there  was  no  rule  for 
[the  thickness  of]  either  the  inner  or  the  outer  coffin.     In 

he  associated  with  him  Wang  Hwan,  an  unworthy  favourite.     I  thinlt  Men- 
cius had  better  have  declined  the  mission,  and  escaped  from  the  association 

.altogether,  than  behave  as  he  did. 

Par.  2.  Chaou  K'e  understands  the  first  part  of  Mencius'  reply  to  Ch'ow 
as  relating  to  Wang  Hwan,  and  =  "The  fellow  attended  to  them — managed 

.  them — himself  ;  "  but  the  interpretation  followed  in  the  version  is  more 
natural,  and  in  harmony  with  the  ordinary  usage  of  the  terms. 

Ch.  VII.  That  one  ought  to  do  his  utmost  in  tIie  burial  op  his 

I'ARKNTS  ; — ILLUSTUATED  BY  THE  STYLE  IN  WHICH  MeNCIUS    BURIED   HIS 

MOTHER.      Compare  I.  Pt  II.  xvi. 

Par.  1.  The  tradition  is  that  Mencius  had  had  his  mother  with  him  in 
Ts'e,  and  that  on  her  death  he  carried  the  cofhti  to  the  family  sepulchre  in 
Tsow,  which  now  was  ])art  of  Loo.  How  long  he  remained  in  Loo  is  un- 
certain ;  perhaps  the  whole  three  years  proper  to  the  mourning  for  a  parent. 
Ying  was  a  city  in  the  south  of  Ts'e,  and  it  is  also  disputed  whether  his 
stopping  at  it  was  for  a  night  merely,  or  for  a  longer  ])eri()d.  Cli'ung  Yu 
was  one  of  Mencius'  disciples,  and  it  has  been  deemed  strange,  if  the  philo- 
sopher completed  the  period  of  mourning  in  Loo,  that  Yu  she  aH  have  sub- 
mitted his  doubts  to  him  after  the  lajjse  of  so  long  a  time.  But  it  has  been 
replied  that  this  only  illustrates  how  fond  Mencius'  disciples  were  of  ajjply- 
ing  to  him  for  a  solution  of  their  doulits  ;  and  the  instance  of  Ch'in  'I'sin  in 
chapter  iii.  is  another  case  in  point  of  the  length  of  time  they  would  keep 
things  in  mind.  The  difl'erent  speculations  on  the  points  thus  indicated  are 
endless. 

Par.  2.  "Middle  antiquity"  commences  with  the  Chow  dynasty,  and 
Mencius  has  reference  especially  to  the  statutes  settled  by  the  duke  of  Chow 


PT    II.    CH.  VIII.]  KCNG-SUN    CIl''OW.  187 

middle  antiquity,  the  inner  coffin  was  made  seven  inches 
thick,  and  the  outer  the  same.  This  was  done  by  all  from 
the  son  of  Heaven  down  to  the  common  people,  and  not 
simply  for  the  beauty  of  the  appearance,  but  because  they 
thus  satisfied  [the  natural  feelings  of]  the  human  heart. 

3.  "  If  prevented  [by  statutory  regulations]  from  making 
their  coffins  thus,  men  cannot  have  the  feeling  of  pleasure ; 
and  if  they  have  not  the  money  [to  make  them  thus],  they 
cannot  have  that  feeling.  When  they  were  not  prevented, 
and  had  the  money,  the  ancients  all  used  this  style ; — why 
should  I  alone  not  do  so  ? 

4.  "  And  moreover,  is  this  alone  no  satisfaction  to  a 
man's  heart — to  prevent  the  earth  from  getting  near  to  the 
bodies  of  his  dead  ? 

5.  "  I  have  heard  that  the  superior  man  will  not  for  all 
the  world  be  niggardly  to  his  parents." 

yill.  1.  Shin  T'ung,  on  his  private  authority,  asked 
[Mencius],  saying,  "  May  Yen  be  attacked  ? "  Men- 
cius  said,  "  It  may.  Tsze-k'wae  had  no  right  to  give 
Yen  to  another  man ;  and  Tsze-che  had  no  right  to  receive 
Yen  from  Tsze-k'wae.  [Suppose]  there  were  an  officer 
here,  with  whom  you.  Sir,  were  pleased,  and  that,  without 
announcing  the  matter  to  the  king,  you  were  privately  to 
give  to  him  your  salary  and  rank,  and  [suppose  that]  this 
officer,  also  without  the  king's  orders,  were  privately  to 
receive  them  from    you; — would   [such  a  transaction]   be 

for  the  regulation  of  funeral  and  other  rites;  though  what  he  says  about 
the  equal  thickness  of  the  inner  and  outer  coffins  does  not  agree  with  what 
we  find  in  the  Le  Ke,  XXII.  ii.  31.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  also  that 
seven  inches  of  the  Chow  dynasty  were  only  equal  to  rather  more  than 
four  inches  of  the  present  day. 

Ch.  VIII.  Even  deserved  punishment  ought  not  to  be  inflicted  by 

ANY  BUT  THE  PROPER  AUTHORITY.  AX  OFFENDING  STATE  CAN  ONLY  BE 
attacked  BY  THE  MiNISTEHOF  HEAVEN  ;— ILLUSTRATED  FROM  THE  CASE 

OF  TSE  AND  Yen.  See  on  Book  I.  Pt  II.  x.  and  xi.  This  chapter  should 
come  in  perhaps,  in  point  of  time,  before  ch.  x.  there.  Tsze-k'wae  was  the 
name  of  the  weak  king  of  Yen  who  had  resigned  his  portion  to  his  favour- 
ite minister  Tsze-che. 

Par.  1.  Shin  T'ung  must  have  been  a  minister  of  Ts'e  ;  and  though  he 
consulted  Mencius,  as  is  here  related,  al)out  attacking  Yen,  on  his  own  pri- 
vate impulse,  he  must  have  informed  the  king  and  others  of  the  answer  of 


188  THE    WORKS    OP  MENCIUS.  [bK    TI. 

allowable  ?  And  where  is  the  difference  between  [the  case 
of  Yen  and]  this  ?  " 

2.  The  people  of  Ts'e  attacked  Yen,  and  some  one  asked 
[Mencius]  saying,  "  Is  it  true  that  you  advised  Ts'e  to  attack 
Yen  ?  "  He  replied,  "  No.  Shin  T'nng  asked  me  whether 
Yen  might  be  attacked,  and  I  replied  that  it  might,  on  which 
they  proceeded  to  attack  it.  If  he  had  asked  me  who  might 
attack  it,  I  would  have  answered  him  that  the  minister  of 
Heaven  might  do  so.  Suppose  the  case  of  a  murderer,  and 
that  one  asked  me,  '  May  this  man  be  put  to  death  ? '  I 
would  answer  him,  '  He  may.'  If  he  [further]  asked  me, 
'  Who  may  put  him  to  death  ? '  I  would  answer  him, 
'  The  chief  criminal  judge.'  But  now  with  [one]  Yen  to 
attack  [another]  Yen  : — how  should  I  have  advised  this  ?  " 

IX.  1.  The  people  of  Yen  having  rebelled,  the  king 
said,  "1  am  very  much  ashamed  [when  I  think]  of 
Mencius.'' 

2.  Ch^in  Kea  said  [to  him],  "Let  not  your  Majesty  be 
troubled.  AVhether  does  your  Majesty  consider  yourself  or 
the  duke  of  Chow  the  more  benevolent  and  wise  ?  "  The 
king  replied,  "  Oh  !  what  words  are  these  ?  "  [Ch'in  Kiia] 
rejoined,  "  The  duke  of  Chow  employed  Kwan-shuh  to  over- 
see [the  heir  of]  Yin,  but  Kwan-shuh  rebelled  with  [the 
people  of]  Yin.  If,  knowing  [that  this  would  happen], 
he   yet   employed    him,   he  was   not    benevolent.      If    he 

the  philosopher  which  was  supposed  to  justify  the  movement  of  Ts'e  against 
the  neighbouring  State. 

Par.  2.  Compare  what  Mencius  did  really  say  to  the  king  of  Ts'e  on  the 
subject  of  his  appropriating  the  vanquished  Yen  in  I.  Ft  II.  x.  and  xi. 

Ch.  IX.  How  Mencius  exposed  the  attempt  to  akgue  in  excuse  op 

ERBOES  AND  MISCONDUCT  : — REFEKBING  ALSO  TO  THE  CASE  OP  Ts'E  AND 
Yen.     This  chapter  should  come  in  after  ch.  xi.  of  I.  Ft  II. 

Par.  1.  The  king  was  naturally  ashamed  of  himself  for  having  misinter- 
preted what  Mencius  had  said  to  Shin  T'ung,  and  neglected  the  advice 
which  he  had  given  to  himself. 

Par.  2.  Ch'in  Kea  was,  like  Shin  T'ung,  an  officer  of  Ts'e.  The  case  of 
the  duke  of  Cliow  to  which  Kiia  referred  was  this  : — On  king  Woo's  ex- 
tinction of  the  dynasty  of  Shang,  having  spared  the  life  of  the  son  of  the 
last  sovereign,  he  farther  conferred  on  him  the  small  State  of  Yin  from 
which  the  dynasty  had  taken  one  of  its  names,  but  placed  him  under  the 
surveillance  of  two  of  his  own  brothers,  Seeu  and  Too,  one  of  them  older 
and  the  other  younger  than  another  brother,  Tan  the  duke  of   Chow,  by 


pr  II.  CH.  X.]  KUNG-suN  ch'ow.  1S9 

employed  him  without  knowing  it,  he  was  not  wise. 
The  duke  of  Chow  was  [thus]  not  perfectly  benevolent  and 
wise,  and  how  much  less  can  your  Majesty  be  expected  to  be 
so  !  I  beg  to  [go  and]  see  Mencius,  and  relieve  [your  Ma- 
jesty] of  that  [feeling]."  , 

3.  [Accordingly]  he  saw  Mencius,  and  asked  him,  saying, 
"  What  kind  of  man  was  the  duke  of  Chow  ? "  "  An 
ancient  sage,"  was  the  reply.  "  Is  it  true,"  pursued  [the 
other],  "  that  he  employed  Kwan-shuh  to  oversee  [the  heir 
of]  Yin,  and  that  Kwau-shuh  rebelled  with  [the  people  of] 
Ym  ?  "  "  It  is,"  said  [Mencius].  [Ch'in  Kea]  asked,  "  Did 
the  duke  of  Chow  know  that  he  would  rebel,  and  [thereupon] 
employ  him?"  "He  did  not  know  it,"  was  the  reply. 
"  Then  though  a  sage,  he  still  fell  into  error."  "  The  duke 
of  Chow,"  said  [Mencius],  'Svas  the  young-er  brother,  and 
Kwan-shuh  the  elder.  AYas  not  the  error  of  the  duke  of 
Chow  reasonable  ? 

4.  "  Moreover,  when  the  superior  men  of  old  had  errors, 
they  reformed  them  ;  but  when  the  superior  men  of  the  pre- 
sent day  have  errors,  they  persist  in  them.  The  errors  of 
the  superior  men  of  old  were  like  the  eclipses  of  the  sun 
and  moon.  All  the  people  witness  them  ;  and  when  they 
have  resumed  their  usual  appearance,  all  the  people  look  up 
to  them  [with  their  former  admiratioc] .  But  do  superior 
men  of  the  present  day  merely  persist  [in  their  errors]  ? — • 
they  go  on  to  make  excuses  for  them  as  well." 

X.  1.  Mencius  gave  up  his  oflBce  [in  Ts'^e],  and  [was  pre- 
paring to]  return  [to  his  native  State] . 

whose  advice,  we  must  understand,  the  step  was  taken.  Seen  has  come 
down  to  us  with  the  title  of  Kwan-shuh,  Kwan  being  the  name  of  the  prin- 
cipality which  he  had  received  for  himself.  After  Woo"s  death,  Seen  and 
Too  joined  the  heir  of  Yin  in  rebelling  against  the  new  dynasty,  when  the 
duke  of  Chow  took  action  against  them,  put  the  former  to  death  and  ban- 
ished the  other. 

Par.  3.  What  Mencius  means  in  the  conclusion  of  this  paragraph  is.  that 
brother  ought  not  to  be  suspicious  of  brother,  and  that  it  is  better,  between 
brothers,  to  be  deceived  than  to  impute  evil. 

Par.  4.  In  the  phrase — "the  superior  men  of  the  present  day,"  "the 
superior  men  "  has  to  be  taken  vaguely,  and  merely  means — those  who  wish 
to  be  regarded  as  superior  men. 

Ch  X.  Mencius,  in  leaving  a  State  or  remaining  in  it,  was  not 

INFLUENCED  BY  PECUNIARY  CONSIDERATIONS,  BUT  BY  THE   OPPORTUNITY 


190  THE  WORKS  OP  MENCIUS.  [bK  II. 

2.  The  king  went  to  see  hira,  and  said,  "  Formerly  I 
wished  to  see  you,  but  found  no  opportunity  to  do  so.  When 
I  got  that  opportunity,  and  stood  by  you  in  the  same  court, 
I  was  exceedingly  glad.  [But]  now  again  you  are  aban- 
doning me  and  returning  home  ; — I  do  not  know  if  here- 
after I  may  have  another  opportunity  of  seeing  you/'  "  I 
do  not  venture  to  make  any  request,"  was  the  reply,  "  but 
indeed  it  is  what  I  desire." 

3.  Another  day,  the  king  said  to  the  officer  She,  "  I  wish 
to  give  Mencius  a  house  in  the  centre  of  the  kingdom,  and 
to  support  his  disciples  with  [an  allowance  of]  \0,000  clmng, 
so  that  all  the  great  officers  and  people  may  have  [such  an 
example]  to  reverence  and  imitate.  Had  you  not  better  tell 
him  this  for  me  ?  '^ 

4.  The  officer  She  conveyed  this  message  by  means  of  the 
disciple  Ch'in,  who  reported  his  words  to  Mencius. 

5.  Mencius  said,  "  Yes ;  but  how  should  the  officer  She 
know  that  the  thing  may  not  be  ?  Supposing  that  I  want- 
ed to  be' rich,  hailing  declined  100,000  chang,  wo\x\6.  my 
accepting  10,000  be  the  conduct  of  one  desiring  riches? 

DENIED  OR  ACCORDED  TO  HIM  OF  CARRYING  HIS  LESSONS  INTO  PRACTICE  : 
— ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  CIRCUMSTANCES  ATTENDING  HIS  LEAVING  Ts'E. 

Par.  1.  Mencius  had  given  the  king  of  Ts'e  a  long  trial,  and  it  was  clear 
that  nothing  really  great  was  to  be  accomplished  witli  him.  He  therefore 
resigned  his  honorary  office,  and  prepared  to  withdraw  from  the  State  or 
kingdom.  I  think  I  have  given  the  true  meaning  of  the  paragraph. 
Chaou  K'e  indeed  makes  the  "returning"  to  be  only  to  Mencius'  own  house 
in  the  capital  of  Ts'e  ;  but  according  to  that  view,  the  •'  I  do  not  venture 
to  make  any  request,"  in  the  next  par.  =  "  I  do  not  venture  to  ask  you  to 
come  again  in  person  to  see  me  ;  "  which  is  surely  flat  and  absurd. 

Par.  2.  Mencius  sees  that  the  king,  with  all  his  conipliuieiitary  expres- 
sions, is  really  bidding  him  adieu,  and  answers  accordingly,  in  as  compli- 
mentary a  way,  intimating  his  purpose  to  be  gone. 

Par.  3.  The  king  after  all  does  not  like  the  idea  of  Mencius'  going 
away,  and  thinks  of  this  plan  to  retain  him,  which  was  in  reality  what 
Mencius  calls  in  ch.  iii.  trying  to  take  him  with  a  bribe.  She  was  an  officer 
at  the  court  of  Ts'c. 

The  chniig  was  the  name  of  a  large  measure  of  grain,  equal  to  G4  torn  or 
pecks,  amounting  to  about  seven  hundred-weight.  "  The  centre  of  the 
kingdom  "  is  to  be  understood  of  the  cai)ital,  as  in  the  She,  111.  ii.  IX. 

Par.  4.  "The  disciple  Ch'iu  "  here  is  the  Ch'in  Tsin  of  ch.  iii. 

Par.'}.  Mencius  does  not  care  to  state  plainly  here  Ids  real  reason  for 
going,— that  he  was  not  permitted  to  see  his  principles  carried  into  practice; 
and  therefore  contents  himself  with  repelling  the  idea  that  he  was  accessi- 
ble to  pecuniary  considerations.-  100,000  ckiin;i  was  the  regular  allowance  for 
a  high  minister,  which  Mencius  had  declined  to  receive. 


PT    II.    CII.  XI.]  KUNG-SUN    CH''o\V.  101 

6.  "  Ke-sun  said,  'A  strange  man  was  Tsze-shuh  E! 
Suppose  that  he  himself  was  a  hig-h  minister,  if  [his  prince 
woiikl]  no  longer  employ  him,  he  had  to  retire ;  but  he  would 
again  [try  to]  get  one  of  his  younger  relatives  to  be  high 
minister.  Who  indeed  is  there  of  men  that  does  not  wish 
to  be  rich  and  noble,  but  he  only,  among  the  rich  and  noble, 
sought  to  monopolize  the  conspicuous  mound.' 

7.  "  In  old  time  the  market-dealers  exchanged  the  articles 
which  they  had  for  others  which  they  had  not,  and  simply 
had  certain  officers  to  keep  them  in  order.  There  was  a 
mean  fellow,  who  made  it  a  point  to  look  out  for  a  conspi- 
cuous mound,  and  get  up  upon  it.  Thence  he  looked 
right  and  left  to  catch  in  his  net  the  whole  gain  of  the  mar- 
ket. People  all  thought  his  conduct  mean,  and  therefore 
they  proceeded  to  lay  a  tax  upon  his  wares.  The  taxing  of 
traders  took  its  rise  from  this  mean  fellow." 

XI.  1.  Mencius,  having  left  [the  capital  of]  T'^se,  was  pass- 
ing the  night  in  Chow. 

2.  A  person  who  Avished  for  the  king  to  detain  him  [came 

Par.  6.  Ke-siin  was  the  clan  name  of  the  greatest  of  the  families  of  Loo, 
but  which  of  the  Heads  of  that  clan  was  here  intended  we  do  not  know. 
Tsze-shiih  was  also  a  clan  name  in  Loo,  but  of  E,  the  member  of  it  who  is 
mentioned,  we  know  nothing  beyond  what  is  here  told.  Mencius  quotes  the 
remarks  of  Ke-sun  about  Tsze-shuh  E,  to  show  that  the}'  would  be  applicable 
to  himself,  if  he  were  to  take  the  course  suggested  to  him  from  tlie  king  of 
Ts'e.  Chaou  K'e  makes  out  Ke-sun  and  Tsze-shuli  to  have  been  disciples  of 
Mencius,  and  according  to  his  view  we  should  have  to  translate,  "  Ke-suh 
said,  '  How  strange  [is  this  course]  !' "  Tsze-shuh  [also]  doubted  [about 
it].  "Suppose,"  [they  thought,]  "he  himself  is  no  longer  employed  as  a 
high  minister,  let  him  go  away,  but  let  him  get  his  disciples  into  the  situa- 
tion," &c.     But  all  this  is  plainly  inadmissible. 

Par.  7.  Mencius  here  explains  the  expression  in  the  end  of  Ke-sun's 
speech  about  "monopolizing  the  conspicuous  mound," — explains  it  in  a  way  to 
show  still  more  pointedly  his  sense  of  the  proposal  of  the  king  of  Ts'e. 

Ch.  XL  How  Mencius  repelled  a  man,  who,  officiously  a:nd  ox 

HIS  OWXIMPULSE,  WISHED  TO  DETAIN  HIM  IN  Ts'E. 

Par.  1.  Chow  was  a  city  on  the  south-western  border  of  Ts'e,  at  which 
Mencius  had  arrived  in  his  progress  to  Loo.  He  had  conducted  his  de- 
parture leisurely,  hoping  that  the  king  would  recall  him  ere  he  had  left  the 
State,  and  pledge  himself  to  follow  his  counsels. 

Par.  2.  Who  the  person  that  thus  intruded  himself  into  Mencius'  com- 
pany was  we  do  not  know.  All  that  is  meant  by  "  for  the  king  "  is  that  he 
knew  that  it  would  please  the  king  if  he  could  induce  Mencius  to  remain. 


192  THE   WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [cK  II. 

and]  sat  down  [to  speak  with  him].  [Mencius]  gave 
him  no  answer^  but  leant  upon  his  stool  and  slept. 

3.  The  stranger  was  displeased,  and  said,  "  I  have  fasted 
for  two  days  before  I  would  venture  to  speak  with  you,  and 
[now],  Master,  you  sleep  and  do  not  listen  to  me.  Allow  mo 
to  request  that  I  may  not  again  presume  to  see  you."  [Men- 
cius] said,  "  Sit  down,  and  I  will  explain  the  matter  clearly 
to  you.  Formerly,  if  duke  Muh  of  Loo  had  not  had  persons 
[continually]  by  the  side  of  Tsze-sze,  he  could  not  have  kept 
Tsze-sze  [in  his  State]  ;  and  if  Seeh  Lew  and  Shin  Ts'eang 
had  not  had  persons  by  the  side  of  duke  Muh,  they  would 
not  have  been  able  to  feel  at  rest  [in  remaining  in  Loo] . 

4.  "  You,  Sir,  are  concerned  and  plan  about  an  old  man  like 
me,  but  I  have  not  been  treated  as  Tsze-sze  was.  Is  it  you. 
Sir,  who  cut  me  ?     Or  is  it  I  who  cut  you  ?  " 

XII.  1 .  Mencius  having  left  Ts'^e,  Yin  Sze  spake  about 
him  to  others,  saying,  "  If  he  did  not  know  that  the  king 
could  not  be  made  a  T'ang  or  a  Woo,  that  showed  his 
want  of  iiatelligence.  If  he  knew  that  he  could  not  be  made 
such,  aud  yet  came  [to  Ts'e]  notwithstanding,  that  he  was 

"  Leant  upon  his  stool ;  " — the  stool  was  small,  and  could  be  carried  in  the 
hand.  Parties  leant  forward,  or  back,  on  it,  as  they  sat  upon  the  mat, 
which  was  spread  for  them  on  the  floor. 

Par.  3.  "I  fasted  for  two  days  "  is  literally"!  fasted  and  passed  the 
night;"  that  is,  "I  fasted  over  the  night,"="  I  have  fasted  two  days." 
Tsze-sze  was  the  well-known  grandson  of  Confucius.  Shin  Ts'eang  was  the 
son  of  Tsze-chang,  one  of  Confucius'  discijiles.  Seeh  Lew  was  also  a  native 
of  Loo.  and  belonged  to  the  Confucian  school.  Tsze-sze  required  great  respect 
to  be  shown  to  him,  and  he  had  an  attendant  appointed  by  duke  Muh 
always  in  waiting  on  him,  to  assure  him  of  the  respect  with  wliich  he  was 
cherished.  The  two  others  had  not  such  attendants,  but  they  knew  that 
there  were  always  ofdcers  by  the  duke's  side  to  admonish  him  not  to  forget 
them. 

Par.  4.  The  stranger's  thinking  that  he  could  retain  Mencius,  without 
any  such  demonstrations  from  the  king,  show  how  little  store  he  set  by  the 
pliilosopher, — was  really  cutting  him. 

Ch.  XII.  How  Mencius  explained  his  seeming  to  linger  in  Ts'e 

AFTER  HE  HAD  RESIGNED  HIS  OFFICE  AND  QUITTED  THE  COURT. 

Par.  1.  Nothing  more  can  be  said  of  Yin  Sze  than  that  he  was  a  man,  a 
scholar,  of  Ts'e.  What  he  chiefly  charged  against  Mencius  was  the  lingering 
nature  of  his  departure. 

Par.  2.  The  disciple  Kaou  appears  again  in  VII.  Pt  II.  xxi.,  from  which 
it  would  appear  that  there  was  something  not  satisfactory  about  him. 


PT  II.    CH.  XIII.]  KUi\a-SUN  ch'ow.  193 

seeking  for  favours.  He  came  a  thousand  le  to  wait  upon 
the  king.  Because  he  did  not  find  in  him  the  ruler  he  wish- 
ed, he  took  his  leave.  Three  nights  he  stayed,  and  then 
passed  from  Chow  ; — how  dilatory  and  lingering  [was  his 
departure]  !     I  am  dissatisfied  on  account  of  this." 

3.  The  disciple  Kaou  informed  [Mencius]  of  these  remarks. 

4.  [Mencius]  said,  "^How  should  Yin  Sze  know  me  ?  When 
I  came  a  thousand  le  to  see  the  king,  it  was  what  I  desired 
to  do.  When  I  went  away,  not  finding  in  him  the  ruler 
that  I  wished,  was  that  what  I  desired  to  do?  1  felt  myself 
constrained  to  do  it. 

5.  "When  I  stayed  three  nights  before  I  passed  from  Chow, 
in  my  own  mind  I  still  considered  my  departure  speedy.  I 
was  hoping  that  the  king  might  change.  If  the  king  had 
changed,  he  would  certainly  have  recalled  me. 

6.  "  When  I  passed  from  Chow,  and  the  king  had  not  sent 
after  me,  then,  and  only  then,  was  my  mind  i^esolutely  bent 
on  returning  [to  Tsow].  But  notwithstanding  that,  was  I 
giving  the  king  up  ?  He  is  after  all  one  who  may  be  made  to 
do  what  is  good.  If  the  king  were  to  use  me,  would  it  be 
for  the  happiness  of  the  people  of  Ts'e  only  ?  It  would 
be  for  the  happiness  of  all  under  heaven.  Would  the  king 
but  change  !     I  am  daily  hoping  for  this. 

7.  "  Am  I  like  one  of  your  little-minded  people  ?  They 
will  -remonstrate  with  their  ruler,  and  when  their  remon- 
strance is  not  accepted,  they  get  angry,  and  with  their  pas- 
sion displayed  in  their  countenance,  they  take  their  leave, 
and  travel  with  all  their  strength  for  a  whole  day  before 
they  will  stop  for  the  night." 

8.  When  Yin  Sze  heard  this  [explanation],  he  said,  "lam 
indeed  a  small  man." 

XIII.    1.  When    Mencius    left    Ts'e,   Ch'ung  Yu   ques- 

Par.  3.  Mencius  was  constrained  to  leave  Ts'e  by  the  conviction  forced 
at  last  upon  him  that  he  would  not  get  the  king  to  carry  his  counsels  into 
practice. 

Far.  7.  Compare  with  this  paragraph  Confucius'  defence  of  Kwan  Chung 
in  Ana.  XIV.  xviii. 

Ch.  XIII.  Mkxcic^s'  grief  at  not  finding  the  opportunity  to  ac- 
complish FOR  THE  KINGDOM  THE  GOOD  WHICH  HE  WAS  CONSCIOUS  HE  HAD 
IN  HIM  THE  POWER  TO  DO. 

Par.  1.  Ch'ung  Yu  has  appeared  before  in  ch.  vii.     We  find  the  saying 
VOL.  II.  13 


194  THE  WORKS  OP  MENCIU8.  [bK  IT. 

tioTicd  him  on  the  way,  saying,  "Master,  you  look  like 
one  who  carries  an  air  of  dissatisfixction  in  his  countenance. 
[But]  formerly  I  heard  you  say  that  the  superior  man  does 
not  murmur  against  Heaven,  nor  cherish  a  grudge  against 
men/' 

2.  [Mencius]  said,  "  That  was  one  time,  and  this  is  an- 
other. 

3.  "It  is  a  rule  that  a  true  sovereign  should  arise  in  the 
course  of  five  hundred  years,  and  that  during  that  time  there 
should  be  men  illustrious  in  their  generation. 

4.  "From  the  commencement  of  the  Chow  dynasty  till 
now,  more  than  seven  hundred  years  have  elapsed.  Judg- 
ing numerically,  the  date  is  passed.  Considering  the  matter 
from  the  [character  of  the  present]  time,  we  might  expect 
[a  true  king  to  arise]. 

5.  "But  Heaven  does  not  yet  wish  that  tranquillity  and 
good  order  should  prevail  all  under  the  sky.  If  it  wished 
this,  who  is  there  besides  me  to  bring  it  about  ?  How  should 
I  be  otherwise  than  dissatisfied  ?  " 

XIV.   1.    When   Mencius    left    Ts'e,    he    dwelt    in    Hew. 

which  he  here  attributes  to  his  master  used  by  Confucius  of  himself  in  Ana. 
XIV.  xxxvii.  2. 

Par.  '6.  "  Five  hundred  years;" — this  is  speakinj^  in  round  and  loose 
numbers,  even  if  we  judge  of  the  sentiment  from  the  history  of  China  prior 
to  Mencius.  "During  tliat  time"  would  soem  to  mean  that,  in  addition  to 
tlie  true  king,  all  along  the  centuries  there  would  be  men  of  distinguished 
ability  and  virtue  ;  but  Mencius  is  generally  understood  as  referring  to  the 
men  who  should  arise  at  the  same  time  with  the  true  sovereign,  and  assist 
him  by  their  counsels. 

Par.  4.  Nearly  800  years  must  have  elapsed  from  the  rise  of  the  Chow 
dynasty,  when  Mencius  thus  spoke.  He  seems  for  the  time  to  have  been  ob- 
livious of  Confucius  ;  but  he  was  merely  a  sage,  and  had  not  the  jiower 
to  carry  out  his  principles  on  a  grand  scale.  What  had  been  wanting  in 
Lis  time,  and  was  wanting  still,  was  a  true  king. 

P(ir.  5.  It  caimot  be  s.aid  that  Mencius  had  not  <a  sufficiently  high  opinion 
of  himself.  Compare  with  this  paragraph  the  sentinjciits  of  Confucius  iu 
Ana.  IX.  V. 

Ch.  XIV.  The  reason  of  Mencius'  holding  merely  an  honorary 

OFFICK  IN  TS'E,  without  RECKIVING  SALARY,  WAS  liECAUSU  FROM  THE 
FIRST  HE  HAD  LITTLE  CONFIDENCE  IN  THE  KING,  AND  WISHED  TO  BE  FREE 
IN  HIS  MOVEMENTS. 

/''('/•.  1.  Hew  was  in  the  present  district  of  T'ang,  in  the  department  of 
Yen-chow.  Kung-sun  Ch'ow's  in(pjiry,  as  apjiears  from  the  style  in  the  Chinese 
of  Mencius'  reply,  was  simply  for  information. 


PT   II.    CH,  XIV.]  KUNG-SON    CH^OW.  195 

[There]  Kung-sun  Ch'^ow  asked  him,  '^Was  it  tjie   way  of 
the  ancients  to  liold  office  without  receiving  salary  ?" 

2.  [Mencius]  said,  "No.  When  I  first  saw  the  king  in 
Ts'ung,  it  was  my  intention,  on  retiring  from  the  interview, 
to  go  away.  Because  I  did  not  wish  to  change  this  intention, 
I  would  not  receive  [any  salary]. 

3.  "  Immediately  after,  orders  were  issued  for  [the  collec- 
tion of]  troops,  when  it  would  have  been  improper  for  me 
to  beg  [permission  to  leave] .  [But]  to  remain  long  in  Ts'e 
was  not  my  purpose." 

Par.  2.  Ts'ung  was  the  name  of  a  city  in  Ts'e,  the  situation  of  which 
cannot  now  be  more  exactly  determined.  There  Mencius  first  met  with 
king  Seiien,  and  received  an  unfavourable  impression  of  him. 

Par.  .3.  Perhaps  "the  collection  of  troops"  was  connected  with  Tse's  re- 
lations with  Yen.  See  the  conversation  of  king  Seuen  with  Mencius  in  I. 
Pt  II.  xi. ;  at  such  a  time  Mencius  could  not  well  ask  leave  to  quit  the  State. 
Another  interpretation  of  the  phrase  has  been  proposed,  making  it  refer  to 
the  proposal  to  retain  him  in  Ts'e,  which  is  mentioned  in  ch.  x. ;  but  this  is 
quite  unreasonable. 


196  THE   WORKS    OF   MEXCIUS. 

BOOK  III. 

t'ang  wan  kung.     part  I. 

Chapter  I.  1.  When  duke  Wan  of  T'ang  was  heir-son, 
being  on  a  journey  to  Ts'oo  he  passed  by  [the  capital  of] 
Sung,  and  had  an  interview  with  Mencius. 

2.  Mencius  discoursed  to  him  how  the  nature  of  man  is 
good,  and,  in  speaking,  made  laudatory  appeal  to  Yaou  and 
Shun. 

3.  When  the  heir- son  was  returning  from  Ts'^oo,  he  again 
saw  Mencius,  when  the  latter  said  to  him,  "  Prince,  do  you 
doubt  my  words  ?     The  path  is  one,  and  only  one. 

The  TITLE  OF  THE  BOOK  is  taken  from  duke  Wan  of  T'ang,  who  is  pro- 
minent in  the  first  three  chapters  of  it.  Wan  of  course  is  the  honorary  or 
sacrificial  title  which  he  received  after  his  death.  We  have  already  met 
with  him  in  confidential  intercourse  with  Mencius,  in  chapters  xiii.  to  xv.  of 
Book  I.  Part  11. ,  the  date  of  which  must  be  subsequent  to  that  of  the 
cliai)ters  in  this  Book.  Chaou  K'e  compares  the  title  of  this  Book  with 
that  of  the  15th  Book  of  the  Analects. 

Ch.  I.  That  all  men  by  developing  their  natural  goodness  may 

BECOME  equal  TO  THE  ANCIENT  SAGES.      ADDKESSED  BY  MiONCIUS  TO  THE 
heir-son  of  T'ANG. 

Par.  1.  "  Heir-.«on,"  and  "eldest  son"'  were  applied  indifferently  to  the 
eldest  sons,  or  the  declared  successors,  of  the  kin<js  and  feudal  princes  during 
the  Chow  dynasty.  Since  the  Han  dynasty,  "  heir-son  "  has  been  discon- 
tinued as  a  denomination  of  the  eldest  son  of  the  emperor,  the  crown  prince. 
Mencius  at  this  time  was  in  the  State  of  Sung,  and  some  have  tried  to  fix 
the  date  of  the  chapter  to  B.C.  317.  Ts'oo  had  so  far  extended  its  terri- 
tories to  the  north,  that  it  was  there  conterminous  with  T'iing  ;  hut  as  the 
f  rince  would  be  going  to  its  capital  it  would  not  take  him  much  out  of  his 
'STay  to  go  through  Sung.  Possibly  that  route  was  the  most  convenient  for 
liira  to  take,  though  the  language  of  the  text  would  seem  to  be  intended  to 
give  us  tbe  idea  that  he  took  it  in  order  that  ho  might  see  Mencius. 

Par.  L'.  For'  the  full  exposition  of  Meucius'  doctrine  of  the  goodness  of 
human  nature,  see  Book  VI. 

J\i>'.  '.'<.  We  must  suppose  that  Mencius  had  been  told  that  the  prince 
doubted  the  correctness  of  what  he  had  said  at  their  former  interview  ;  or  it 
may  be,  the  remark  here  preserved  occurred  in  the  course  of  a  conversation, 
of  the  j)revious  part  of  which  we  have  no  record.  "  'J'iie  way  is  one  and 
oidy  one  "  probably  means  the  way  of  human  duty,  the  course  to  which 
Mencius  felt  that  he  ought  to  call  all  who  wished  to  learn  of  him. 


PT  I,  CH.  11.]  t'ang  wan  kdng.  197 

4.  "  Ch'ing  Kan  said  to  duke  King  of  Ts'^e,  '  Tliey  were 
men,  [and]  I  am  a  man  ; — why  should  I  stand  in  awe  of 
tliem  ?  '  Yeu  Yuen  said,  '  What  kind  of  man  was  Sliuu  ? 
What  kind  of  man  am  I  ?  He  who  exerts  himself  will  also 
become  such  as  he  was.'  Kung:-mino:  E  said,  '  Kino-  Wan 
is  ray  teacher  and  model ; — how  should  the  duke  of  Chow 
deceive  me  [by  these  words]  ?  * 

5.  "  Now  T'ang,  taking  its  length  with  its  breadth,  will 
amount  to  about  fifty  square  le.  [Though  small,]  it  may 
still  be  made  a  good  kingdom.  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of 
History,  '  If  medicine  do  not  distress  the  patient,  it  will  not 
cure  his  sickness.'  " 

11.  1.  When  duke  Ting  of  T'ang  died,  the  heir-son  said 
to  Jen  Yew,  "  Formerly,  Mencius  spoke  with  me  in  Sung, 
and  I  have  never  forgotten  his  words.  Now,  alas  !  this 
great  affair  [of  the  death  of  my  father]  has  happened,  and 
I  wish  to  send  you.  Sir,  to  ask  Mencius,  and  then  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  services  [connected  with  it] ." 

2.  Jen  Yew  [accordingly]  proceeded  to  Tsow,  and  con- 
sulted Mencius.  Mencius  said,  ''  Is  not  this  good  ?  The 
mourning  rites  for  parents  are  what  men  feel  constrained  to 
do  their  utmost  in.  The  philosopher  Tsang  said,  '  When 
parents  are  alive,  they  should  be  served  according  to  [the 

Par.  4.  Mencius  here  fortifies  himself  with  the  opinions  of  other  worthies. 
Of  Ch'ing  Kan  we  know  notliing  but  what  we  read  here.  Whom  he  in- 
tended by  "  they  "  we  cannot  well  say.  Yen  Yuen  was  the  favourite  dis- 
ciple of  Confucius.  Kung-ming  E  was  a  great  officer  of  Loo,  a  disciple, 
first,  of  Tsze-chang,  and  afterwards  of  Tsang-tsze.  The  remark  about  king 
Wan's  being  his  model  and  teacher  would  seem  to  have  been  made  by  the 
duke  of  Chow. 

Par.  5.  "A  good  kingdom"  is  such  an  one  as  is  described  in  ch.  iii. 
For  the  quotation  from  the  Book  of  History,  see  the  Shoo,  IV.  viii.  Pt  I.  8. 
Mencius  would  seem  to  say  that  his  lesson  was  all  the  more  likely  to  be 
beneficial,  because  it  had  perplexed  and  disturbed  the  prince. 

Ch.  II.  How  Mencius  advised  the  peince  op  T'ang  to  conduct  the 

MOURNING  FOE  HIS  FATHER  WITH  EVERY  DEMONSTRATION  OP  GRIEF. 

Par.  1.  Duke  Ting  was  the  father  of  duke  Wan,  the  heir-son  of  last 
chapter.  Ting  was  his  honorary  epithet.  Jen  Yiiw  had  been  the  prince's 
tutor. 

Par.  2.  On  children's  feeling  constrained  to  do  their  utmost  in  the  mourn- 
ing rites  for  their  parents, — see  Ana.  XIX.  xvii. 

Tiie  remarks  here  attributed  to  Tsang-tsze  were  at  first  addressed  by 
Confucius  to  another  disciple.     Tsang  may  have  appropriated  them,  so  that 


198  THE   WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    III. 

rules  of]  propriety ;  when  dead,  they  should  be  buried,  and 
they  should  be  sacrificed  to,  accordinf^  to  the  same  : — this 
may  be  called  filial  piety/  I  have  not  learned  [for  myself] 
the  ceremonies  to  be  observed  by  the  feudal  princes,  but 
nevertheless  I  have  heard  these  points  : — Throe  years'  mourn- 
ing, with  the  wearing'  the  garment  of  coarse  cloth  with  its 
lower  edge  even,  and  the  eating  of  thin  congee,  have  been 
equally  prescribed  by  the  three  dynasties,  and  are  binding 
on  all,  from  the  sou  of  Heaven  to  the  common  people/' 

3.  Jen  Yew  reported  the  execution  of  his  commission, 
and  [the  prince]  determined  that  the  three  years'  mourning 
should  be  observed.  His  uncles  and  elder  cousins,  and  the 
body  of  the  officers,  did  not  wish  it,  and  said.  "  The  former 
rulers  of  Loo,  the  State  which  we  honour,  have,  none  of 
them,  observed  this  mourning,  nor  have  any  of  our  own 
former  rulers  observed  it.  For  you  to  change  their  practice 
is  improper ;  and  moreover,  the  History  says,  '  In  mourning 
and  sacrifice  ancestors  are  to  be  followed,'  meaning  that  wo 
have  received  those  things  fi-ora  a  [proper]  source." 

4.  [The  prince  again]  said  to  Jeu  Yew,  "  Hitherto  I  have 
not  given  myself  to  the  pursuit  of  learning,  but  have  found 
my  pleasure  in  dinving  my  horses  and  in  sword-exercise. 
Now  my  uncles  and  elder  cousins  and  the  body  of  ofiicers 

they  came  to  be  regarded  as  his  own  ;  or  Mencius  here  makes  a  slip  of 
memory.  I  supiwse  that  Mencius  means  to  say  tliat  lie  could  not  .sj)oak  of 
the  mourning  rites  of  the  princes  from  personal  observation  ;  but  he  could 
speak  of  the  observances  which  were  common  to  prince  and  peasant.  "  The 
three  years'  mourning," — see  Ana.  XVII.  xxi.  "  The  garment  of  coarse 
cloth  with  the  lower  edge  even  "  was  that  ajijiropriate  to  the  mourning  for  a 
riiothcr,  and  less  intense  than  that  used  in  mourning  for  a  father,  wiien  the 
lower  edge  was  all  frayed,  as  if  choi>ped  witli  a  hatchet.  It  would  appear, 
however,  that  either  of  the  phrases  might  be  used  to  denote  mourning  of 
the  deepest  kind  ; — see  Ana.  IX.  ix. 

Par.  3.  The  lords  of  T'ang  were  descended  from  Shuh-scw,  one  of  the 
sons  of  king  Wan,  but  by  an  inferior  wife,  while  the  duke  of  Chow,  the 
ancestor  of  Loo,  was  in  the  true  royal  line  ;  and  hence  all  the  other  SUites 
ruled  by  descendants  of  king  Wiin  were  supposed  to  look  up  to  Loo.  But 
we  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  early  princes  of  Loo  and  of  T'iiiig  had  not 
ob.servcd  the  mourning  for  three  years.  The  remonstrants  wore  wrong  iu 
attributing  to  them  the  neglect  of  later  rulers.  What  "History"  or 
"  Record  "  they  refer  to  we  cannot  tell.  The  last  clause  of  the  paragraph  is 
not  by  any  means  clear.  Chaou  K'e  mentions  a  view  of  it,  which  I  have  felt 
strongly  inclined  to  adopt  : — "  [The  i)rince]  said,  'I  have  received  my  view 
from  a  [proper]  source.'  " 

Par.  4.  In  the  quotations  from  Confucius,  Mencius  has  blended  different 


FT    I.    Cn.  II.]  r'l^G   WAN    KUNG.  199 

are  not  satisfied  with  me.  I  am  afraid  I  may  not  be  able 
to  carry  out  [this]  great  business  ;  do  you,  Sir,  [again  go 
and]  ask  Mencius  for  me."  Jen  Yew  went  again  to  Tsow, 
and  consulted  Mencius,  who  said,  "  Yes,  but  this  is  not  a 
matter  in  which  he  has  to  look  to  any  one  but  himself. 
Confucius  said,  '  When  a  ruler  died,  his  successor  entrusted 
the  administration  to  the  prime  minister.  He  sipped  the 
congee,  and  his  face  looked  very  dark.  He  went  to  the 
[proper]  place,  and  wept.  Of  all  the  officers  and  inferior 
employes  there  was  not  one  who  did  not  dare  not  to  be 
sad,  when  [the  pinnce  thus]  set  them  the  example.  What 
the  superior  loves,  his  inferiors  will  be  found  to  love  still 
more.  The  relation  between  superiors  and  inferiors  is  like 
that  between  the  wind  and  the  grass.  The  grass  must 
bend  when  the  wind  blows  upon  it.^  The  [whole  thing] 
depends  on  the  heii'-son." 

5.  Jen  Yew  returned  with  this  answer  to  his  commission, 
and  the  prince  said,  "  Yes  ;  it  does  indeed  depend  on  me.'' 
For  five  months  he  dwelt  in  the  shed,  and  did  not  issue  an 
order  or  a  caution.     The  body  of  officers  and  his  relatives 

places  in  the  Analects  together,  or  enlarged  them  to  suit  his  own  purpose  ; — 
see  Ana.  XIV.  xliii.  ;  XII.  xix. 

Pur.  5.  "The  shed"  was  built  of  boards  and  straw,  outside  the  centre 
door  of  the  palace,  against  the  surrounding  wall,  and  this  the  mourning 
prince  tenanted  till  the  interment, — see  the  Le  Ke,  XXII.  ii.  IG.  Choo  He, 
at  the  close  of  his  notes  on  this  chapter,  introduces  the  following  remarks 
from  the  commentator  Lin  Che-k'e  : — "In  the  time  of  Mencius,  although 
the  rites  to  the  dead  had  fallen  into  neglect,  3'et  the  three  years'  mourning, 
■with  the  sorrowing  heart  and  afflictive  grief,  being  the  expression  of  what 
realh'  belongs  to  man's  mind,  had  not  quite  perished.  Only,  sunk  in  the 
slough  of  manners  becoming  more  and  more  corrupt,  men  were  losing  all 
their  moral  nature  without  being  conscious  of  it.  When  duke  WSn  saw 
Mencius,  and  heard  him  speak  of  the  goodness  of  man's  nature,  and  of 
Yaou  and  IShun,  that  was  the  occasion  of  moving  and  bringing  forth  his 
better  heart  ;  and,  on  this  occasion  of  the  death  of  his  father,  he  felt  sin- 
cerely all  the  stirrings  of  sorrow  and  grief.  Then,  moreover,  when  his  older 
relatives  and  his  ofticers  wished  not  to  act  as  he  desired,  he  turned  inwards 
to  re[)rove  himself,  and  lamented  his  former  conduct  wdiich  made  him  not 
be  believed  in  his  present  course,  not  presuming  to  blame  his  officers  and 
relatives  : — although  we  must  concede  an  extraordinary  natural  excellence 
and  ability  to  him,  yet  his  energy  in  learning  must  not  be  impeached. 
Finally,  when  we  consider  with  what  decision  he  acted  at  last,  and  how  all, 
near  aid  far,  who  saw  and  heard  him,  were  delighted  to  acknowledge  and 
admire  his  conduct,  we  have  an  instance  of  how,  when  that  which  belongs 
to. all  men's  minds  is  in  the  lirst  place  exhibited  by  one,  others  are  brought, 
without  any  previous  purpose,  to  the  pleased  acknowledgment  and  approval 


200  THE  WORKS  OP  MENCIUS.  [bE  III. 

[said] ,  "  He  may  be  pronounced  acquainted  [with  all  the 
ceremonies].'^  When  the  time  of  interment  arrived,  they 
came  from  all  quarters  to  see  it,  with  the  deep  dejection  of 
his  countenance,  and  the  mournfulness  of  his  wailing  and 
weeping.  Those  who  [had  come  from  other  States  to]  con- 
dole with  him  were  greatly  pleased. 

III.    1.  Duke  Wan  of  TTmg  asked  [Mencius]  ahout  [the. 
proper  way  of]  governing  a  State. 

2.  Mencius  said,  ''The  business  of  the  people  must  not  be 
remissly  attended  to.     It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  In  the  daytime  collect  the  grass, 
And  at  night  twist  it  into  ropes. 
Then  get  up  quickly  on  our  roofs  : — 
We  shall  have  to  recommence  our  sowing.' 

3.  "The  way  of  the  people  is  this  : — Those  who  have  a  cer- 
tain livelihood  have  a  fixed  heart,  and  those  who  have  not  a 
certain  livelihood  have  not  a  fixed  heart.  If  they  have  not 
a  fixed  heart,  there  is  nothing  which  they  will  not  do  in  the 
way  of  self-abandonment,  of  moral  deflection,  of  depravity, 
and  of  wild  license.  When  they  have  thus  been  involved  in 
crime,  to  follow  them  up  and  punish  them  is  to  entrap  the 
people.  How  can  such  a  thing  as  entrapping  the  people  be 
done  under  the  rule  of  a  benevolent  man  ? 

of  it  : — is  not  this  a  proof  that  it  is  indeed  true  that  [the  nature  of  man]  ia 
good?"  ' 

Cii.  ITI.  Mencius'  lessons  to  duke  Wan  of  T'ang  for  the  govern- 

3IENT  OF  HIS  STATE.  AGRICULTURE  AND  EDUCATION  ARE  THE  CHIEF 
POINTS  TO  BE  ATTENDED  TO.  THE  FOKMER  INDEED  IS  FUNDAMENTAL  TO 
PROSPERITY,  AND  A  STATE  PROSPEROUS  BY  ITS  AGRICULTURE  IS  THE  PKO- 
PhR  FIELD  FOR  THE  APPLIANCES  OF  EDUCATION. 

Par.  1.  We  must  suppo.se  that  the  tln-ee  years  of  mourning  have  passed, 
ai.d  that  the  heir-son  has  fully  taken  his  jiosition  as  marquis  of  T'ang,  one 
of  his  fir.^t  measures  having  been  to  get  i\Iencius  to  come  to  his  State. 

Par.  2.  By  "  the  business  of  the  peo[)le  "  wcmust  understand  agriculture. 
The  promotion  of  this  required  the  attention  of  the  government  before  ail 
other  things.  That  promotion  would  involve  the  establishment  of  the  agri- 
cultural system  of  tlie  State  on  the  best  jjrinciples. 

For  the  lines  of  poetry,  see  the  She,  I,  xv.  I.  7.  They  are  not  much  to  the 
point  ;  but  the  whole  ode  to  wliich  they  belong  is  understood  as  showing 
how  attention  to  agriculture  was  the  chief  thing  required  in  the  kings  of 
Chow. 

Par.  3.  See  I.  I't  I.  vii.  20.     This  paragraph  shows  how  essential  it  was 


PT  I.  cn.  III.]  t'ang  wan  kunq.  ^  201 

4.  "Therefore  a  ruler  endowed  with  talents  and  virtue  will 
be  gravely  complaisant  and  economical,  showing  a  respectful 
politeness  to  his  ministers,  and  taking  from  the  people  only- 
according  to  definite  regulations. 

5.  "  Yang-  Hoo  said,  '  He  who  seeks  to  be  rich  will  not  be 
benevolent;  .and  he  who  seeks  to  be  benevolent  will  not  be 
rich.' 

6.  "  [Under]  the  sovereigns  of  Hea,  [each  farmer  received] 
fifty  acres,  and  contributed  [a  certain  tax]  .  [Under]  those 
of  Yin,  [each  farmer  received]  seventy  acres,  and  [eight 
families]  helped  [to  cultivate  the  public  acres].  Under  those 
of  Chow,  [each  farmer  received]  a  hundred  acres,  and  [the 
produce]  was  allotted  in  shares.  In  reality  what  was  paid 
in  all  these  was  a  tithe.  The  share  system  means  division  ; 
the  aid  system  means  mutual  dependence. 

7.  "  Lung-tsze  said,  *  For  regulating  the  land  there  is  no 
better  system  than  that  of  mutual  aid,  and  none  worse  than 

there  should  he  a  sure  provision  for  the  support  of  the  people,  and  that  there- 
lore  their  husiness  should  not  he  remissly  attended  to. 

Fitr.  4  interjects  two  attributes  of  tlie  good  ruler,  which  are  necessary  to 
his  carrying  out  the  government  which  Mencius  had  at  heart. 

Pai-.  5.  This  Yang  Hoo  is  the  Yang  Ho  of  the  Analects,  XVII.  i.  A 
worthless  man,  he  made  the  observation  given  with  a  bad  object ;  but  there 
wa?  a  truth  in  it,  and  Mencius  adduces  it  for  a  good  purpose. 

Pur.  6.  By  the  Hea  statutes,  every  husbandman — head  of  a  family — 
received  50  acres,  and  paid  the  produce  of  live  of  them,  or  one-tenth  of  the 
whole,  to  the  government.  This  was  called  hmg  or  tribute.  Under  the 
Shang  dynasty,  630  acres  were  divided  into  nine  portions  of  70  acres  each, 
the  central  portion  belonging  to  the  government,  and  being  cultivated  by 
the  united  labours  of  the  holders  of  the  other  portions.  Under  the  Chow 
dynasty,  in  the  portions  of  the  State  distant  from  the  capital  eight  husband- 
men received  each  a  hundred  acres,  and  the  same  space  in  the  centre  was 
cultivated  by  them  all  together  for  the  government.  Yet  they  all  united 
also  in  the  cultivation  of  the  other  portions,  and  each  one  family  received 
an  equal  share  of  the  produce,  the  whole  being  divided  into  eight  portions. 
Deducting  twenty  acres  from  the  government  portion  which  was  given  to 
tlie  farmers  for  building  huts  on,  &c.,  there  remained  eighty  acres,  or  ten 
acres  for  the  cultivation  of  each  of  the  eight  families  ;  that  is,  in  the 
country  parts  of  the  States  of  Chow  the  amount  of  the  produce  paid  to  the 
government  was  one-tenth.  In  the  more  central  parts,  however,  the  system 
of  the  Hea  dynasty  was  in  force.  According  to  the  above  accounts,  the 
contribution  under  the  Shang  dynasty  amounted  to  one-ninth,  but  there  wa.s, 
no  doubt,  some  assignment  of  a  portion  of  the  public  tields  to  the  cultivators, 
which  reduced  it  to  one-tenth. 

Par.  7.  Nothing  certain  is  known  of  the  Lung  who  is  here  introduced, 
but  he  was  "  an  ancient  worthy."     He  gives  us  an  important  point  of  in- 


202  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK    III. 

that  of  contributing  a  certain  tax.  According  to  the  tax 
system  it  was  iixcd  by  taking  the  average  of  several  years.  In 
good  years,  when  the  grain  lies  about  in  abundance,  much 
might  be  taken  without  its  being  felt  to  be  oppressive,  and 
the  actual  exaction  is  small.  In  bad  years,  when  [the  pro- 
duce] is  not  sufficient  to  [repay]  tlie  manuring  of  the  fields, 
this  system  still  requires  the  taking  of  the  full  amount. 
When  he  who  should  be  the  parent  of  the  people  causes  the 
people  to  wear  looks  of  distress,  and,  after  the  whole  year's 
toil,  yet  not  to  be  able  to  nourish  their  parents,  and  more- 
over to  set  about  borrowing  to  increase  [their  means  of  pay- 
ing the  tax],  till  their  old  people  and  children  are  found  lying 
in  the  ditches  and  water-channels  : — where  [in  such  a  case] 
is  his  parental  relation  to  the  people  ? ' 

8.  "  As  to  the  system  of  hereditary  salaries,  that  is  already 
observed  in  T'iing. 

9.  "  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

,     '  May  it  rain  first  on  our  public  fields, 
Aud  then  come  to  our  private  !  ' 

It  is  only  in  the  system  of  mutual  aid,  that  there  are  the 
public  fields,  and  from  this  passage  we  perceive  that  even  in 
the  Chow  dynasty  this  system  has  been  recognized. 

10.  "Establish  ts'eanfj,  seu,  li'coli,  and  Jifiaou, —  [all  these 
educational  institutions] — for  the  instruction  [of  the  people]. 
The  name  ts'eamj  indicates  nourishing ;  Jieaoti  indicates 
teaching  ;  and  sen  indicates  archery.  By  the  Hea  dynasty 
the  name  lieaou  was  used  ;  by  the  Yin  dynasty  that  of  seu ; 
and  by  the  Chow  dynasty  that  of  ts'eaitg.     As  to  the  heoh, 

formation  about  the  waj'  in  wliicli  the  amount  of  contribution  accordinr;  to 
the  Hea  system  was  determined,  and  ishuws  how  objectionable  the  whole 
system  was. 

Par.  8.  See  on  I.  Pt  II.  v.  3. 

JPa?'.  9.  See  the  She,  II.  vi.  VIII.  3.  The  quotation  is  intended  to  show 
that  the  system  of  cultivation  according  to  the  system  of  mutual  aid,  which 
Mencius  recommended,  though  it  was  fallen  in  his  time  into  disuse,  had  at 
one  time  obtained  under  the  Chow  dynasty. 

Par.  10.  The  pith  of  Mencius'  iidvice  here  is  that  education  should  be 
provided  for  all,  and  that  it  might  be  provided  with  ad\antage,  wIkui 
measures  had  been  taken  for  the  support  of  all  by  husbandry.  As  to  the 
names  and  characters  of  the  different  institutions  which  lie  mentions,  the 
discussions  are  endless.  When  he  speaks  of  the  human  relations  being 
illustrated  by  superiors,  it  is  foreign  to  the  object  of  the  paragraph  to  suppose 


PT    I.    CH.  III.]  T^VNG    WAN    RUNG.  203 

they  belonged  equally  to  the  three  dynasties,  [and  by  that 
name].  The  object  of  them  all  is  to  illustrate  the  [duties  of 
the]  human  relations.  When  these  are  [thus]  illustrated  by 
superiors,  mutual  affection  will  prevail  among  the  smaller 
people  below. 

11.  "  Should  a  [true]  king  arise,  he  will  certainly  come  and 
take  an  example  [from  you],  and  thus  you  will  be  the  teacher 
of  the  [true]  king. 

12.  ''  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  Althouii;h  Chow  was  an  old  State, 
The  [favouring]  appointment  lighted  on  it  recently.' 

That  is  said  with  reference  to  king  Wan.  Do  you  practise 
those  things  with  vigour,  and  you  will  also  give  a  new  his- 
tory to  your  State." 

13.  [The  duke  afterwards]  sent  Peih  Chen  to  ask  about 
the  nine- squares  system  of  dividing  the  land.  Mencius  said 
to  him,  "  Since  your  ruler,  wishing  to  put  in  practice  a  bene- 
volent government,  has  made  choice  of  you,  and  put  you  into 
this  employment,  you  must  use  all  your  efforts.  Benevolent 
goveimment  must  commence  with  the  definition  of  the  bound- 
aries. If  the  boundaries  be  not  defined  correctly,  the  division 
of  the  laud  into  squares  will  not  be  equal,  and  the  produce 
[available  for]  salaries  will  not  be  evenly  distributed.  On  this 
account,  oppressive  rulers  and  impure  ministers  are  sure  to 

that  he  means  the  illustration  of  them  in  their  personal  conduct  ; — -he 
means,  I  think,  the  inculcation  of  them  by  the  institution  of  those  educa- 
tional establishments. 

Parr.  11,  12  show  what  duke  Wan  would  be  sure  to  accomplish  b}'  follow- 
ing the  advice  which  he  had  received.     See  the  She,  III.  i.  I.  1. 

Par.  13.  Peih  Chen  must  have  been  the  minister  employed  by  duke  Wan 
to  organize  the  agricultural  system  of  the  State  accortling  to  the  views  of 
Mencius.  He  is  here  sent  to  the  philosopher  to  get  more  particular  instruc- 
tions for  his  guidance.  On  tiie  nine-squares  system  of  dividing  the  land, 
see  the  note  on  II.  i.  V.  2.  By  defining  the  boundaries  must  be  meant, 
I  think,  the  boundaries  of  each  space  of  nine  squares,  and  not,  as  Chaou 
K'e  supposes,  the  boundaries  of  the  State.  How  the  unequal  division  of 
the  fields  would  affect  the  salaries  of  officers  we  have  not  sufficient  informa- 
tion on  the  subject  to  enable  us  to  speak  exactlj'.  But  it  is  ditlicult  to  con- 
ceive of  tlio  division  of  the  fields  of  a  State  on  this  plan,  especially  when  it 
had  become  pretty  thickly  peopled.  Tlie  natural  irregularities  of  the 
surface  would  be  one  great  obstacle.  And  we  find,  below,  "  the  holy  field,'' 
and  other  assignments,  which  must  continually  have  been  requiring  new 
arrangements  of  the  boundaries. 


204  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK    III. 

neglect  tlie  defining  of  the  boundaries.  When  the  boundaries 
have  been  defined  correctly,  the  division  of  the  fields  and 
the  regulation  of  the  salaries  may  be  determined  [by  you] 
sitting  [at  your  ease]. 

14.  ''Although  the  territory  of  T'ang  be  narrow  and  small, 
there  must  be  in  it,  I  apprehend,  men  of  a  superior  grade, 
and  there  must  be  in  it  country-men.  If  there  were  not  men 
of  a  superior  grade,  there  Avould  be  none  to  rule  the  country- 
men ;  if  there  were  not  country-men,  there  would  be  none  to 
support  the  men  of  superior  grade. 

15.  "I  would  ask  you,  in  the  [purely]  country  districts, 
to  observe  the  nine-squares  division,  having  one  square  cul- 
tivated on  the  system  of  mutual  aid ;  and  in  the  central  parts 
of  the  State,  to  levy  a  tenth,  to  be  paid  by  the  cultivators 
themselves. 

16.  ''From  the  highest  officers  downwards,  each  one 
must  have  [his]  holy  field,  consisting  of  fifty  acres. 

17.  "Let  the  supernumerary  males  have  [their]  twenty- 
five  acres. 

18.  "On  occasions  of  death,  or  of  removing  from  one 
dwelling  to  another,  there  will  be  no  quitting  the  district. 
In  the  fields  of  a  district,  those  who  belong  to  the  same 
nine-squares  render  all  friendly  ofiices  to  one  another  in  their 
going  out  and  coming  in,  aid  one  another  in  keeping  watch 
and  ward,  and  sustain  one  another  in  sickness.  Thus  the 
people  will  be  led  to  live  in  affection  and  harmony. 

Par.  14.  "  Men  of  a  superior  grade  "  are  men  in  office,  who  did  not 
have  to  earn  their  bread  bj'  the  sweat  of  their  brow.  All  other  classes  may 
be  supposed  to  be  comprehended  under  the  denomination  of  country-men. 

Par.  15.   See  the  note  on  par.  6. 

Par.  16.  These  oO  acres  were  in  addition  to  the  hereditary  salafy  alluded 
to  in  par.  8.  I  call  them  "  the  lioly  field,"  because  Cliaou  K'e  and  Choo  He 
ix]ilain  the  term  by  which  they  are  called  by  "  pure,"  and  the  produce  was 
intended  to  supply  the  means  of  sacrifice.  Other  explanations  of  the  term 
have  been  proposed. 

Par.  17.  A  family  was  supposed  to  consist  of  the  grandfather  and 
grauflmother,  the  hu.sband,  wife,  and  children,  the  husband  beinj,'  the  grand- 
j)arents'  eldest  son.  The  extra  fields  were  for  other  sons  of  the  grandparents, 
and  were  given  to  them  wlien  they  reached  the  age  of  sixteen.  When  they 
married  and  became  the  heads  of  families  themselves,  the)'  received  the 
regular  allotment  of  a  family.  In  the  mean  time  they  were  called  "  super- 
numerary males."     Other  explanations  of  this  phrase  have  beeti  proposed. 

Par.  18  sets  fortJi  various  social  and  moral  advantages  flowing  from  the 
nine-squares  division  of  the  land. 


PT  I.  CH.  IV.]  t'ang  wan  kuno.  205 

19.  ^^  A  square  le  covers  nine  squares  of  land,  whicTi  nine 
squares  contain  nine  hundred  acres.  The  central  square 
contains  the  public  fields  ;  and  eight  families,  each  havins^ 
its  own  hundred  acres,  cultivate  them  tog-ether.  And  it 
IS  not  till  the  public  work  is  finished  that  they  presume 
to  attend  to  their  private  fields.  [This  is]  the  way  by 
which  the  country -men  are  distinguished  [from  those  of  a 
superior  grade]. 

20.  "  These  are  the  great  outlines  [of  the  system]. 
Ha|)pily  to  modify  and  adapt  them  depends  on  your  ruler 
and  you." 

lY.  1.  There  came  from  Ts'oo  to  T^iing  one  Hen  Hing,  who 
gave  out  that  he  .acted  according  to  the  words  of  kShin- 
nung.     Coming  right  to  his  gate,  he  addressed  duke  Wan, 

Par.  19.  Under  the  Cliow  (dynasty,  \Q0 poo,  or  paces,  made  the  length  or 
side  of  a  mow,  or  acre  ;  but  tlie  exact  length  of  the  pace  is  not  exaetl}-^ 
determined.  Some  will  have  it  that  the  50  acres  of  Ilea,  the  70  of  Shang, 
and  the  100  of  Chow  were  actually  of  the  same  dimensions. 

Ch.  IV.   Mencius'  refutation  of  the  doctrine  that  the  ruler 

OUGHT  TO  LABOUR  AT  HUSI5AKDEY  WITH  HIS  OWN  HANDS.  He  SHOWS 
THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  DIVISION  OP  LABOUB,  AND  OF  A  LETTERED  CLASS 
CONpucTiNO  GOVEENJIENT.  The  first  three  paragraphs,  it  is  said,  relate 
how  Heu  Hing,  the  heresiarch,  and  Ch'in  Soang,  his  follower,  sought  to 
undermine  the  arrangements  advised  by  Mencius  for  the  division  of  the 
land.  .  The  next  eight  paragraphs  expose  the  fundamental  error  of  Heu  Hing 
that  the  ruler  must  labour  at  the  toils  of  husbandry  equally  with  the 
people.  From  the  12th  paragrapli  to  the  l(Jth,  Seang  is  rebuked  for  forsak- 
ing his  master,  and  taking  up  with  the  heresy  of  Heu  Hing.  In  the  last 
two  paragraphs  Mencius  proceeds,  from  the  evasive  replies  of  Seang,  to 
give  the  coup  dc  grace  to  the  new  pernicious  teachings. 

Par.  1.  All  that  we  know  of  Heu  Hing  is  from  this  chapter.  He  was  a 
native  of  Ts'oo,  and  had  evidently  got  in  his  seething  brain  the  idea  of  a 
new  moral  world  where  there  would  be  no  longer  the  marked  distinctions  of 
ranks  in  which  society  had  arranged  itself.  Shin-nung,  "  Wonderful  hus- 
bandman," is  the  designation  of  the  second  of  the  five  famous  emperors  of 
Chinese  pra?-historic  times.  He  is  also  called  Yen-tc,  "  the  Blazing  emperor." 
He  is  placed  between  Fuh-he,  and  Hwang-te,  though  separated  from  the 
latter  by  the  intervention  of  seven  reigns,  making  with  his  own  over  iiOO 
years.  If  any  faith  could  be  placed  in  this  chronologj',  it  would  place  him 
B.C.  3272.  In  the  appendix  to  the  Yih  King  he  is  celebrated  as  the  Father 
of  husbandry.  Other  traditions  make  him  the  Father  of  medicine  also. 
Those  who,  like  Heu  Hing,  in  the  time  of  Mencius,  gave  out  that  they  were 
his  followers,  had  no  record  of  his  words  or  princijiles,  but  merely  used  his 
name  to  recommend  their  own  wild  notions.  "  The  benevolent  government  " 
was  the  division  of   the  laud  ou  the  principles  described  in  last  chapter. 


206  THE    WORKS   OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   IIF, 

saying,  "  A  man  of  a  distant  region,  I  have  lieard  that  you, 
O  ruler,  are  practising  a  benevolent  government,  and  I  wish 
to  receive  a  site  for  a  house,  and  to  become  one  of  your 
people."  Duke  Wan  gave  him  a  dwelling-place.  His 
disciples,  amounting  to  several  tens,  all  wore  clothes  of 
hair-cloth,  and  made  sandals  of  hemp  and  wove  mats  for  a 
living. 

2.  Ch'in  Seang,  a  disciple  of  Ch'in  Leang,  with  his 
younger  brother  Sin,  with  their  plough-handles  and  shares 
on  their  backs,  came  [at  the  same  time]  from  Sung  to 
T'ang,  saying,  "  We  have  heard  that  you,  0  ruler,  are  put- 
ting into  practice  the  government  of  the  [ancient]  sages, 
[showing  that]  you  are  likewise  a  sage  :  we  wish  to  be  the 
subjects  of  a  sage." 

3.  When  Ch'in  Seang  saw  Heu  Hing,  he  was  very  much 
pleased  with  him,  and,  abandoning  all  which  he  had  learned, 
he  set  about  learning  from  him.  Having  an  intei'view  with 
Mencius,  he  repeated  to  him  the  words  of  Heu  Hing  to  this 
effect : — "  The  ruler  of  T'ang  is  indeed  a  worthy  prince,  but 
nevertheless  he  has  not  yet  heard  the  [real]  ways  [of  anti- 
quity]. Wise  and  able  rulers  should  cultivate  the  ground 
equally  and  along  with  their  people,  and  eat  [the  fruit  of 
their  own  labour] .  They  should  prepare  their  morning  and 
evening  meals  [themselves],  and  [at  the  same  time]  carry 
on  the  business  of  govei'ument.  But  now  [the  ruler  of] 
TTmg  has  his  granaries,  treasuries,  and  arsenals,  which  is  a 
distressing  of  the  people  to  support  himself  j — how  can  he 
bo  deemed  a  [real]  ruler  of  talents  aud  virtue  ?  " 

According  to  par.  4,  the  "  hair-cloth  "  seems  to  hfive  been  quite  an  inarti- 
ficial affair.  The  sandals,  which  I  have  said  King's  followers  "  made," 
appear  to  have  been  manufactured  by  beating  and  tying  the  materials  to- 
gether, and  not  by  any  process  of  weaving.  It  has  been  siijiposed  that  their 
manufacture  of  sandals  and  mats  was  only  a  temporarj'  employment,  till 
lands  sliould  be  assigned  them. 

Par.  2.  Ch'in  Lciung  appears  in  par.  12  to  have  been  a  native  of  Ts'oo, 
but  to  have  come  to  the  northern  States,  and  distinguished  himself  as  a 
scholar.  Wc  know  nothing  more  of  him,  nor  do  we  know  anything  of 
Ch'in  Seang  and  his  brother  Sin  but  what  we  are  told  in  this  chapter.  The 
"share,"  the  invention  of  which  is  ascribed  to  Shin-nung,  was  of  wood; — 
in  Mencius  time,  as  appears  in  par.  4,  it  was  made  of  iron. 

Pit)-.  ;j.  The  object  of  Heu  Hing.  in  the  remarks  given  here,  would  be  to 
invalidate  Mencius'  doctrine,  put  forth  especially  in  par.  14  of  last  chapter, 
that  there  must  be  the  ruler  aud  the  ruled,  aud  that  the  former  must  be 
supported  by  the  latter. 


PT  I.  CH.  IV.]  t'ang  wan  kung,  207 

4.  Mencius  said,  "Mr  Heu,  I  suppose,  sows  grain  and 
eats  [the  produce]  ."  "  Yes,"  was  the  reply.  "  I  siippose 
he  [also]  weaves  cloth,  and  wears  his  own  manufacture." 
"  No,  he  wears  clothes  of  haii'-cloth."  "Does  he  wear  a 
cap  ?  "  "  He  wears  a  cap."  "  What  kind  of  cap  ?  "  "A 
plain  cap."  "Is  it  wov^en  by  himself?"  "No;  he  gets 
it  in  exchange  for  grain.''  "  Why  does  he  not  weave  it  him- 
self?" "That  would  be  injurious  to  his  husbandry." 
"  Does  he  cook  his  food  with  boilers  and  earthenware  pans, 
and  plough  with  an  iron  share  ?  "  "  Yes."  "  Does  he  make 
them  himself?"  "No;  he  gets  them  in  exchange  for 
grain." 

5.  [Mencius  then  said],  "  The  getting  such  articles  in 
exchange  for  grain  is  not  oppressive  to  the  potter  and 
founder ;  and  are  the  potter  and  founder  oppressive  to 
the  husbandman,  when  they  give  him  their  various  articles 
in  exchange  for  grain  ?  Moreover,  why  does  Heu  not  act 
the  potter  and  founder,  and  supply  himself  with  the  articles 
which  he  uses  solely  from  his  own  establishment  ?  Why 
does  he  ^o  confusedly  dealing  aiid  exchanging  with  the 
handicraftsmen  ?  Why  is  he  so  indifferent  to  the  trouble 
that  he  takes  ?  "  [Ch'in  Seang  replied],  "  The  business  of 
the  handicraftsmen  can  by  no  means  be  carried  on  along 
with  that  of  husbandry." 

6.  [Mencius  resumed],  "  Then  is  it  the  government  of  all 
under  heaven  which  alone  can  be  cari-ied  on  along  with  the 
business  of  husbandry  ?  Gi-eat  men  have  their  proper  busi- 
ness, and  little  men  have  theirs.  Moreover,  in  the  case  of 
any  single  individual,  [whatever  articles  he  can  require  are] 
ready  to  his  hand,  being  produced  by  the  various  handi- 
craftsmen : — if  he  must  first  make  them  himself  for  his  own 
use,  this  would  keep  all  under  heaven  running  about  on  the 
roads.  Hence  there  is  the  saying,  '  Some  labour  with  their 
minds,  and  some  labour  with  their  strength.  Those  who 
labour  with  their  minds  govern  others,  and  those  who  labour 
with  their  strength  are  governed  by  others.  Those  who 
ai-e  governed  by  others  support  them,  and  those  who  govern 

Parr.  4,  5.  Mencius  skilfully  leads  Seang  on  here  to  an  admission  which 
is  fatal  to  the  doctrine  of  his  new  master,  that  every  man  ought  to  do 
everything  for  himself. 

Par.  6.    Mencius  reiterates   here   his  doctrine,  which  indeed   had   been 


208  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS.  [bK  III. 

others  are  supported  by  them.'  This  is  a  thing  of  right 
universally  recognized. 

7.  "In  the  time  of  Yaou,  when  the  world  had  not  yet 
been  perfectly  reduced  to  order,  the  vast  waters,  flowing 
out  of  their  channels,  made  a  universal  inundation.  Vege- 
tation was  luxuriant,  and  birds  and  beasts  swarmed.  The 
five  kinds  of  grain  could  not  be  grown,  and  the  birds  and 
beasts  "jDressed  upon  men.  The  paths  marked  by  the  feet  of 
beasts  and  prints  of  birds  crossed  one  another  throughout 
the  Middle  States.  To  Yaou  especially  this  caused  anxious 
sorrow.  He  called  Shun  to  office,  and  measures  to  regulate 
the  disorder  were  set  forth.  Shun  committed  to  Yih  the 
direction  of  the  fire  to  be  employed,  and  he  set  fire  to, 
and  consumed,  [the  forests  and  vegetation  on]  the  mountains 
and  [in]  the  marshes,  so  that  the  birds  and  beasts  fled  away 
and  hid  themselves.  Yu  separated  the  nine  [streams  of  the] 
Ho,  cleared  the  courses  of  the  Tse  and  the  T'ah,  and  led 
them  to  the  sea.  He  opened  a  vent  for  the  Joo  and  the 
Han,  removed  the  obstructions  in  the  channels  of  the  Hwae 
and  the  Sze,  and  led  them  to  the  Keang.  When  this  was 
done,  it  became  possible  for  [the  people  of]  the  Middle 
States  to  [cultiv^ate  the  ground,  and]  get  food  [for  themselves]. 
During  that  time,  Yu  was  eight  years  away  from  his  house, 
thrice  passing  by  his  door  without  entering  it.  Although  he 
had  wished  to  cultivate  the  ground,  could  he  have  done 
it? 

jjrovfed  by  the  admissions  of  Ch'in  Seang,  that  there  are  two  classes,  the 
rulirii^  and  tiie  ruled,  the  former  supported  by  the  latter. 

Par.  7  seems  to  carry  our  thouj^lits  Ijack  to  a  time  antecedent  even  to 
Yaou.  We  have  presented  to  us  the  world — all  "  under  heaven  "^in  a 
wild,  confused,  chaotic  state,  the  attempts  to  bring  which  into  order  had 
not  been  attended  with  an)'  groat  success,  and  which  was  waiting  for 
t'le  labours  of  Yu,  whom  Yaou  l)rought  info  the  field.  Mencius  did  not  go, 
I  or  ought  we  to  go,  beyond  Yaou  for  the  founding  of  the  Chinese  empire. 
Then  in  par.  8  we  have  Mow-tseih  doing  over  again  the  work  of  Shin-nung, 
and  teaching  men  liusbandry. 

In  regard  to  the  calamity  spoken  of  in  this  paragrajih,  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  it  is  not  presented  to  us  as  a  deluge  or  sudden  accumulation  of  water, 
but  as  arising  from  tlie  natural  river-channels  being  all  choked  u]),  and  dis- 
ordered. For  the  labours  of  Shun,  Yih,  and  Yu,  see  the  Slioo,  Tarts  II.  and 
III.  By  the  ".Middle  States"  is  to  be  understood  the  portion  of  the 
country  which  was  first  occu|iied  by  the  Ciiinose  settlers.  The  "nine 
streams"  all  belonged  to  the  llo  or  Yellow  river,  and  by  tlKsm  Yu  led  off  a 
large  portion  of  the  inundating  waters.  Tiie  Kcaiig  is  what  we  now  call 
the  Yang-tsze.     Choc  He  observes  that  of  the  rivers  mentioned  as  being  led 


FT  I.  CH.  IV.]  t'anq  wan  kunq.  209 

8.  "  How-tseili  taug-lit  the  people  to  sow  and  reap,  culti- 
vating the  five  kinds  of  grain ;  and  when  these  were  brought 
to  maturity,  the  people  all  enjoyed  a  comfortable  subsistence. 
[But]  to  men  there  belongs  the  way  [in  which  they  should 
go] ;  and  if  they  are  well  fed,  warmly  clad,  and  comfortably 
lodged,  without  being  taught  [at  the  same  time],  they  be- 
come almost  like  the  beasts.  This  also  was  a  subject  of  anxi- 
ous solicitude  to  the  sage  [Shun] ;  and  he  appointed  Seeh 
to  be  minister  of  Instruction,  and  to  teach  the  relations  of 
humanity  ! — how,  between  father  and  son,  there  should  be 
affection;  between  ruler  and  suVjject,  righteousness;  between 
husband  and  wife,  attention  to  their  separate  functions ; 
between  old  and  young,  a  proper  distinction  ;  and  between 
friends,  fidelity.  Fang-heun  said,  '  Encourage  them ;  lead 
them  on  ;  rectify  them  ;  straighten  them  ;  help  them  ;  give 
them  wiuo-s  ;  causing:  them  to  become  masters  of  their  own 
[nature]  for  themselves.'  When  the  sages  were  exercising 
their  solicitude  for  the  people  in  this  way,  had  they  leisure 
to  cultivate  the  ground  ? 

into  the  Ke.ing  only  the  Han  flows  into  that  stream,  while  the  Hwae  re- 
ceives the  Jog  and  the  Sze,  and  makes  a  direct  course  to  the  sea.  He  sup- 
poses  that  there  is  some  error  in  the  text. 

Par.  8.  How-tseih,  which  is  now  received  as  a  kind  of  proper  name,  was 
properljr  the  official  designation  of  K'e,  Shim's  minister  of  Agriculture. 
Seeh  was  the  name  of  Sliun's  minister  of  Instruction.  For  these  two  men 
and  their  works,  see  the  Shoo,  Part  II.  The  '•  tive  kinds  of  grain  "  are 
paddy,  millet,  sacrificial  millet,  wheat,  and  pulse  ;  but  each  of  these  terms 
must  be  taken  as  comprehending  several  varieties  under  it.  "  To  men  there 
belongs  the  way  [in  which  they  should  go]  "  carries  our  thoughts  to  the 
duties  of  the  live  relations  of  society,  which  are  immediately  specified.  In 
my  larger  volume  I  have  translated  the  clause  by  "  Men  possess  a  moral 
nature,"  but  in  the  note  have  suggested  whether  the  original  characters 
may  not  be  translated  as  the  clause  at  the  commencement  of  ch.  iii.  2, — 
"The  way  of  men  is  this."  Dr  Math,  in  his  work  which  I  have  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Preface,  insists  that  this  is  the  only  correct  meaning,  and 
says  that  I  have  made  a  mistake  in  rendering  by — "  Men  possess  a  moral 
nature."  That  rendering,  however,  or  the  more  literal  one  which  I  have 
now  given,  is  the  only  one  which  has  the  sanction  of  Chinese  critics  and 
commentators.  The  other  which  I  suggested,  and  which  Dr  Plath  vaunts 
as  entirely  his,  has  never  occurred  to  any  one  of  them  ;  and  a  deeper 
study  of  the  te.^t  has  satisfied  me  that  it  is  inadmissible.  This  cannot 
be  shown,  however,  without  appealing  to  the  Chinese  characters,  and  the 
Chinese  structure  of  the  whole  paragraph.  Fang-heun  appears  in  the 
very  first  paragraph  of  the  Shoo  as  the  name  of  the  emperor  Yaou.  The 
address  here  given,  however,  is  not  found  in  the  Shoo,  and  it  was  Shun  who 
appointed  Seeh  and  gave  to  him  his  instructions.  Perhaps  it  was  ad- 
VOL.  II.  14 


210  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   III. 

9.  "  Wliat  Yaou  felt  as  peculiarly  giving  liim  anxiety 
was  the  not  getting  Shun ;  and  what  Shun  felt  as  peculiarly 
giving  him  anxiety  was  the  not  getting  Yu  and  Kaou  Yaou. 
But  he  whose  anxiety  is  about  his, hundred  acres'  not  being 
properly  cultivated  is  a  [mere]  husbandman. 

10.  "The  imparting  by  a  man  to  others  of  his  wealth  is 
called  '  a  kindness.'  The  teaching  others  what  is  good  is 
called  '  an  exercise  of  fidelity.'  The  finding  a  man  who 
shall  benefit  all  under  heaven  is  called  *  benevolence.'  Hence 
to  give  the  kingdom  to  another  man  would  be  easy ;  to  find 
a  man  who  shall  benefit  it  is  difficult. 

11.  "  Confucius  said,  *  Great  was  Yaou  as  a  ruler  !  Only 
Heaven  is  great,  and  only  Yaou  corresponded  to  it.  How 
vast  [was  his  virtue]  !  The  people  could  find  no  name  for 
it.  Princely  indeed  was  Shun  !  How  majestic  was  he,  pos- 
sessing all  under  heaven,  and  yet  seeming  as  if  it  were  no- 
thing to  him  ! '  In  their  governing  all  under  heaven,  had 
Yaou  and  Shun  no  subjects  with  which  they  occupied  their 
minds  ?  But  they  did  not  occupy  them  with  their  own  cul- 
tivation of  the  ground. 

12.  "I  have  heard  of  men  using  [the  ways  of  our]  gi'eat 
land  to  change  barbarians,  but  I  have  not  yet  heard  of  any 
being  changed  by  barbarians.  Ch'in  Leang  was  a  native  of 
Ts'oo.  Pleased  with  the  doctrines  of  the  dukes  of  Chow 
and  Chung-ne,  he  came  north  to  the  Middle  States  and 
learned  them.  Among  the  learners  of  the  northern  regions, 
there  were  perhaps  none  who  excelled  him; — he  was  what 
you  call  a  scholar  of  high  and  distinguished  qualities.  You 
and  your  younger  brother  followed  him  for  several  tens  of 
years,  but  on  his  death  you  forthwith  turned  the  back  on  him. 

13.  "  Formerly,  when  Confucius  died,  after  three  years  had 
elapsed  the  disciples  put  their  baggage  in  oi^dci',  intending 

dresfed  to  Shun  himself ; — only  on  this  supposition  can  I  account  for  its  intro- 
duction here. 

Par.  9  is  an  illustration  of  what  is  said  in  par.  6,  that  "great  men  have 
their  proper  business,  and  little  men  theirs." 

Par.  10.   Compare  Ana.  VI.  xxviii. 

Par.  11.  See  Ana.  VIII.  xviii.  and  xix.,  which  two  chapters  Mencius 
hlends  tof^ether,  with  the  omission  of  some  parts  and  alterations  of  others. 

Par.  12.  Observe  how  here  Ts'oo  is  excluded  from  the  Middle  States,  the 
China  ))roper  of  the  time  of  Mencius. 

Par.  i:i.  On  the  death  of  Confucius,  his  disciples  generally  remained  by 
his  grave  for  three  years,  mourning  for  him  as  for  a  father,  but  without  wear- 


PT  I.  CH.  IV.]  t'ang  wan  kunq.  211 

to  return  to  their  homes.  Having  entered  to  take  leave  of 
Tsze-kung,  they  looked  towards  one  another  and  wailed, 
till  they  all  lost  their  voices.  After  this  they  returned  to 
their  homes,  but  Tsze-kung  built  another  house  for  himself 
on  the  altar-ground,  where  he  lived  alone  for  [other]  three 
years,  after  which  he  returned  home.  Subsequently,  Tsze- 
hea,  Tsze-chang,  and  Tsze-yew,  thinking  that  Yew  Joh 
resembled  the  sage,  wished  to  pay  to  him  the  same  observ- 
ances which  they  had  paid  to  Confucius,  and  [tried  to]  force 
Tsang-tsze  [to  join  with  them].  He  said,  [however],  ''The 
thing  must  not  be  done.  What  has  been  w\^shed  in  the 
waters  of  the  Keang  and  Han,  and  bleached  in  the  autumn 
sun  : — how  glistening  it  is  !     Nothing  can  be  added  to  it.^ 

14.  "  Now  here  is  this  shrike-tongued  barbarian  of  the 
«outh,  whose  doctrines  are  not  those  of  the  ancient  kings. 
You  turn  your  back  on  your  [former]  master,  and  learn 
of  him  ; — different  you  are  indeed  from  Tsang-tsze. 

15.  "I  have  heard  of  [birds]  leaving  the  dark  valleys, 
and  removing  to  lofty  trees,  but  I  have  not  heard  of  their 
descending  from  lofty  trees,  and  entering  the  dark  valleys. 

16.  '^In  the  Praise-odes  of  Loo  it  is  said, 

*  He  smote  the  tribes  of  the  west  and  the  north  ; 
He  punished  King  and  Shoo.' 

Thus  the  duke  of  Chow  then  smote  those  [tribes],  and  you 
are  become  a  disciple  of  [one  of]  them  ; — the  change 
which  you  have  made  is  indeed  not  good.'' 

17.  [Ch'in  Seang  said],  "  If  Heu's  doctrines  were  fol- 
lowed, there  would  not  be  two  prices  in  the  market,  nor 
any  deceit  in  the  State.  Though  a  lad  of  five  cubits  were 
sent  to  the  market,  nobody  would  impose  on  him.  Linens 
and  silks  of  the  same  leugth  would  be  of  the  same  price. 

ing  the  mourning  dress.  During  all  that  time  Tsze-kung  acted  as  master  of 
the  ceremonies,  and  when  the  others  left,  he  continued  bj'  the  grave  for  another 
jieriod  of  three  years  nominally,  but  in  reality  of  two  years  and  three 
months.     Ou  Yew  Job's  resemblance  to  Confucius,  see  the  Le  Ke,  II.  i.  III.  4. 

Par.  15.   See  the  She,  II.  i.  Ode  V.  1. 

Far.  16.  See  the  She,  IV.  ii.  Ode  IV.  5.  The  lines  contain  an  auspice  of 
■what  the  poet  hoped  would  be  accomplished  by  duke  He  of  Loo  ;  but 
Mencius  seems  to  apply  them  to  the  achievements  of  his  ancestor,  the  duke 
of  Chow. 

Parr.  17,  18.  I  suppose  that  Ch'in  Seang  made  this  final  attempt  to  defend 
the  doctrines  which  he  had  adopted  without  well  knowing  what  to  say.     It 


212  THE    WORKS    OF    MEXCIUS.  [bK    III. 

So  would  it  be  with  [bundles  of]  hemp  and  silk,  being  of 
the  same  weight;  with  the  different  kinds  of  grain,  being 
the  same  in  quantity ;  and  with  shoes  which  were  of  the 
same  size/' 

18.  [Mencius]  replied,  "  It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  to 
be  of  unequal  quality.  Some  are  twice,  some  five  times, 
some  ten  times,  some  a  hundred  times,  some  a  thousand 
times,  some  ten  thousand  times  as  valuable  as  others.  If 
you  reduce  them  all  to  the  same  standard,  that  would  throw 
all  under  heaven  into  confusion.  If  large  shoes  and  small 
shoes  were  of  the  same  price,  would  people  make  them  ? 
If  people  were  to  follow  the  doctrines  of  Heu,  they  would 
[only]  lead  on  one  another  to  practise  deceit ; — how  can 
they  avail  for  the  government  of  a  State  ?  " 

V.  1.  The  Mihist  E  Che  sought,  through  Sen  Peih,  to  see 
Mencius.  Mencius  said, ''  I  indeed  wished  to  see  him  ;  but  at 
present  I  am  still  unwell.  When  I  am  better,  I  will  myself 
go  and  see  him  ;  he  need  not  come  [to  me].*' 

2.  Next  day,  [E  Che]  again  sought  to  see  Mencius,  who 
said,  "  Yes_,  to-day  I  can  see  him.     But  if  I  do  not  correct 

is  difficult  to  imagine  the  wildest  dreamer  really  holding  that  the  question 
of  quality  was  not  to  enter  at  all  into  the  price  of  things. 

"  A  boy  of  five  cubits  "  would  be  a  boy  of  about  ten  years  old,  who  might 
easily  be  imposed  upon.     See  on  Ana.  VIII.  vi. 

Ch.  V.  How  Men'cius  convinced  a  Mihist  of  his  error  that  all 

MEX  WERE  to  BE  LOVED  EQUALLY,  WITHOUT  DIFFERE>XE  OF  DEGREE,  BY 
SETTING  FORTH  THE  FEELING  OUT  OF  WHICH  GREW  THE  RITES  OF  BURIAL, 
ESPECIALLY  IN  THE  CASE  OF  ONE'S  PARENTS. 

Pur.  1.  Of  Mih  and  his  doctrines  I  have  spoken  in  the  Prolegomena. 
Mencius  thought  it  was  one  of  the  principal  missions  of  his  life  to  expose 
and  heat  back  his  principles. 

Of  E  Che  we  have  no  information  beyond  what  we  learn  from  this  chap- 
ter. From  the  Tso  Chiien  we  know  that  there  were  families  of  the  surname 
E  both  in  Ts'e  and  Choo. 

Seu  Peih  was  a  disciple  of  IMencius,  with  whom  E  Che  seems  to  have  had 
some  acquaintance.  Our  philosopher,  proba))ly,  was  well  enough,  but  feigned 
sickue.-s  that  he  might  test,  by  interposing  delay,  the  sincerity  of  the  Mih- 
ist's  wi.-h  to  see  him.  The  same  purpose  was  also  served  by  his  saying  that 
he  would  go  to  see  E  Che,  when  he  was  better.  Ho  did  not,  indeed,  mean 
to  do  so  ;  but  having  been  told  that  he  would  do  it,  E  Che,  if  he  had  not  been 
in  earnest,  might  have  given  up  his  desire  to  have  an  interview. 

Par.  2.  E  Che  showed  his  sincerity  in  again  seeking  so  soon  after  to  have 
an  interview  with  Mencius.     Mencius  knew  that  in  one  point  his  practice 


PT  I,  CH.  v.]  t'ang  wan  kunq.  213 

[his  errors],  the  [true]  principles  will  not  clearly  appear ; 
let  me  first  correct  him.  I  have  heard  that  Mr  E  is  a 
Mihist.  Now  Mih  thinks  that  in  the  regulation  of  the 
rites  of  mourning  a  spare  simplicity  should  be  the  rule.  E 
thinks  [with  Mill's  doctrines]  to  change  [the  customs  of]  all 
under  heaven  ;  but  how  does  he  [himself]  regard  them  as  if 
they  were  wrong,  and  not  honour  them  ?  Thus  when  E 
buried  his  parents  in  a  sumptuous  manner,  he  was  doing 
them  service  in  a  way  which  [his  doctrines]  discounte- 
nanced." 

3.  The  disciple  Seu  informed  Mr  E  of  these  remarks.  E 
said,  "  [Even  according  to]  the  principles  of  the  learned,  the 
ancients,  [though  sages,  dealt  with  the  people]  as  if  they 
were  loving  and  cherishing  their  children.  What  does  this  ex- 
pression mean  ?  To  me  it  sounds  that  we  are  to  love  all  with- 
out difference  of  degree,  the  manifestation  of  it  [simply]  be- 
ginningwith  our  parents.''  Seu  reported  this  reply  to  Mencius, 
who  said,  "  Does  Mr  E  really  think  that  a  man's  affection  for 
the  child  of  his  elder  brother  is  [merely]  like  his  affection 
for  the  child  of  his  neighbour  ?  What  is  to  bo  taken  hold  of 
in  that  [expression]  is  simply  this  :  —  [that  the  people's 
offences  are  no  more  than]  the  guiltlessness  of  an  infant, 
which,  crawling,  is  about  to  fall  into  a  well.  Moreover, 
Heaven  gives  birth  to  creatures  in  such  a  way  that  they  have 
[only]  one  root,  while  Mr  E  makes  them  to  have  two  roots ; 
— this  is  the  cause  [of  his  error] . 

disagreed  with  the  principles  of  Mih  which  he  professed  to  follow,  and  re- 
solved from  that  point  to  commence  his  communications  with  him.  Accord- 
ing to  Chwang-tsze,  Mih  all  his  life-time  did  not  sing,  nor  did  he  permit 
mourning  for  the  dead.  He  would  have  no  outer  coffin,  and  the  inner  one 
which  he  allowed  was  to  be  only  three  inches  in  thickness. 

Par.  ?>.  Up  to  this  time  Mencius  had  not  seen  E  Che,  nor  does  it  appear 
that  he  subsequently  did  so.  The  intercourse  between  them  was  conducted 
by  Seu  Peili.  E  Che  does  not  try  to  vindicate  his  sumptuous  interment  of  his 
parents,  but  proceeds  to  state  and  argue  for  the  notable  dogma  of  his  master, 
that  all  men  are  to  be  loved  equally.  In  support  of  this  he  refers  to  an 
expression  in  the  Shoo,  V.  ix.  9,  where  the  prince  of  K'ang  is  exhorted  to 
deal  with  the  people  as  he  would  do  in  protecting  his  own  infant  children. 
Jlencius  shows  that  that  expression  is  merely  metaphorical,  and  meant  that 
the  people  were  to  be  dealt  with  with  a  very  kindly  consideration  of  their 
weakness  and  liability  to  err.  Nature  itself,  he  says,  teaches  us  to  regard 
with  peculiar  feelings  our  parents  and  all  related  to  us  by  blood.  If  we 
were  to  regard  them  and  all  others  not  related  to  us  in  the  same  way,  that 
would  be  to  make  us  sprung  from  tvvo  roots, —  to  be  connected  equally  with 
our  parents  and  with  other  men. 


214  THE   WORKS   OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    III. 

4.  "Indeed,  in  the  most  ancient  times  there  were  some 
who  did  not  inter  their  parents,  but  [simply]  took  their 
dead  bodies  up  and  threw  them  into  a  ditch.  Afterwards, 
when  passing  by  them,  [they  saw]  foxes  and  wild-cats  de- 
vouring them,  and  flies  and  g-nats  gnawing  at  them.  The 
perspiration  started  out  upon  their  foreheads,  ^nd  they 
looked  away,  because  they  could  not  bear  the  sight.  It  was 
not  because  of  [what]  other  people  [might  say]  that  this 
perspiration  flowed.  The  emotions  of  their  hearts  affected 
their  faces  and  eyes,  and  so  they  went  home,  and  returned 
with  baskets  and  spades,  and  covered  the  [bodies].  If  this 
covering  them  was  indeed  right,  then  filial  sons  and  virtuous 
men  must  be  guided  by  a  certain  principle  in  the  burial  of 
their  parents." 

5.  Sen  informed  Mr  E  of  what  Mencius  had  said.  Mr  E 
seemed  lost  in  thought,  and  after  a  little  said,  "  He  has  in- 
structed me." 

Par.  4.  Meucius  tries  to  confirm  his  i>osition  by  showing  the  origin  of 
burial  rites  in  the  most  ancient  times,  that  is,  before  the  saj^es  had  flelivereii 
their  rules  on  the  subject.  Even  then  the  natural  feelings  of  men  made 
them  bury  their  parents,  and  where  some  neglected  to  do  so,  remorse  speedi- 
ly su[)ervened.  What  afl 'ction  thus  i)rompted  in  the  first  place  was 
prompted  similarly  in  its  more  sumptuous  exhibition  in  the  progress  of 
civilization.  If  any  interment  were  called  for  by  nature,  a  handsome  one 
must  have  our  approbation. 

Par.  5.  E  Che  was  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  what  Mencius  had  said,  and 
probably  ceased  to  be  a  jMihist. 


FT    II.    CH,  I.]  T^AXG   WAN    KUNG.  215 

BOOK   III. 

t'^ang  wan  kung.     part  II. 

CfTAPTER  I.  1,  Ch'in  Tae  said  [to  Mencius],  ''In  not 
[going-  to]  see  any  of  the  princes,  you  seem  to  me  to  be 
standing  out  on  a  small  point.  If  now  you  were  once  to 
wait  upon  them,  the  result  might  be  so  great  that  you 
would  make  one  of  them  king,  or,  if  smallei',  you  might  yet 
make  one  of  them  leader  of  the  [other]  princes.  And 
moreover,  the  History  says,  '  By  bending  only  to  the  extent 
of  one  cubit,  you  make  eight  cubits  straight.'  It  appears 
to  me  like  a  thino-  which  miy-ht  be  done." 

2  Mencius  said,  "  Formerly,  duke  King  of  Ts'e,  [once] 
when  he  was  hunting,  called  the  forester  to  him  by  a  flag. 
[The  forester]  would  not  come,  and  [the  duke]  was  going 
to  kill  him.  [With  reference  to  this  incident],  Confucius 
said,  '  The  resolute  officer  does  not  forget  [that  his  end  may 

Ch.  I.  How  Mencius  defended  the  dignity  of  reserve,  by  which 

HE  REGULATED  HIS  INTERCOUKSE  WITH  THE  PRINCES  OF  HIS  TIME.  To 
understand  tliis  chnpter,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  were  many 
\vandering  scholars  in  the  da^^s  of  Mencius, —  men  who  went  from  court  to 
court,  rocomniending  themselves  to  the  various  princes,  and  trj-ing  to  in- 
flifence  the  course  of  events  by  their  counsels.  They  would  stoop  for  place 
and  employment.  Not  so  witli  our  philosopher.  He  required  that  there 
should  be  shown  to  himself  a  portion  of  the  respect  which  was  due  to  the 
princifjles  of  which  he  was  tlie  expounder.     Compare  chapter  vii. 

Pur.  1.  Ch'  in  Tae  was  one  of  Mencius'  discijjles  ;  and  this  is  all  that  we 
know  of  him.  "The  thing  that  might  be  done"  was  Mencius'  going  to 
wait  upon  the  princes, — taking  the  iuitiativ^e  in  seeking  employment  from 
them. 

Pa)'.  2.  Tlie  forester  was  an  officer  as  old  as  the  time  of  Shun,  who  in 
the  h^hoo,  II.  i.  22.,  appoints  Yih,  saying  that  "he  could  rightly  superintend 
the  birds  and  beasts  of  the  fields  and  trees  on  his  hills  and  in  his  forests." 
In  the  Official  Book  of  Chow,  XVII.  vi.,  we  have  an  account  of  the  office 
and  its  duties.  In  those  days  the  various  officers  had  their  several  tokens, 
which  the  prince's  or  king's  messenger  bore  when  he  was  sent  to  summon 
any  one  of  them.  The  forester's  token  was  a  fur  cap,  and  the  one  in  the 
text  could  not  answer  to  a  summons  with  a  flag.  We  find  the  incident 
mentioned  by  jMencius  given  in  the  Tso  Chuen  under  the  20th  year  of  duke 
Ch'aou  ; — but  with  variations  : — "In  the  12th  month,  the  marquis  of  Ts'e 
was  hunting  in  P'ei,  and  summoned  the  forester  to  him  with  a  bow.  The 
forester  did  not  come  forward,  and  the  marquis  caused  him  to  be  seized, 
when  he  explained  his  conduct,  saying,  '  At  the  huntings  of   our  former 


216  THE    WORKS    OF   3JENCICS.  [bK    III. 

be]  in  a  ditcli  or  stream ;  the  brave  officer  does  not  forget 
that  he  may  lose  his  head.'  What  was  it  [in  the  forester] 
that  Confucius  thns  approved  ?  He  approved  his  not  going 
[to  the  duke],  when  summoned  by  an  article  that  was  not 
appropriate  to  him.  If  one  go  [to  see  the  princes]  without 
waiting  to  be  called,  what  can  be  thought  of  him  ? 

3.  "  Moreover,  [that  sentence,]  '  By  bending  to  the  ex- 
tent of  one  cubit  you  make  eight  cubits  straight,'  is  spoken 
with  reference  to  the  gain  [that  may  be  got].  If  gain  be 
the  rule,  then  we  may  seek  it,  I  suppose,  by  bending  to  the 
extent  of  eight  cubits  to  make  one  cubit  straight. 

4.  "Formerly,  the  minister  Chaou  Keen  made  Wang 
Liiang  act  as  charioteer  to  his  favourite  He,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  whole  day  they  did  not  get  a  single  bird.  The 
favourite  He  reported  this  result,  saying,  '  He  is  the  poorest 
charioteer  in  the  world.-'  Some  one  informed  Wang  Leang 
of  this,  who  said,  *  I  beg  to  try  again.'  By  dint  of  press- 
ing, he  got  this  accorded  to  him,  and  in  one  morning  they 
got  ten  birds.  The  favourite  He  [again]  reported  the  result, 
saying,  '  He  is  the  best  charioteer  in  the  world.'  The  min- 
ister Keen  said,  '  I  will  make  him  be  '  the  di-iver  of  your 
carriage;'  but  when  he  informed  Wang  Leang  of  this,  ho 
refused,  saying,  '  I  [drove]  for  him,  strictly  observing  the 
rules  for  driving,  and  in  the  whole  day  he  did  not  get  one 
bird.  I  [drove]  for  him  so  as  deceitfully  to  intercept  [the 
birds] ,  and  in  one  morning  he  got  ten.  The  Book  of  Poetry 
says, 

"No  error  in  driving  was  committed, 

And  the  arrows  went  forth  like  downright  blows." 

I  am  not  accustomed  to  drive  for  a  mean  man.  I  beg  to 
decline  the  office.'  * 

rulers,  a  flag  was  used  to  call  a  great  officer,  a  bow  to  call  an  inferior  one, 
and  a  fur  cap  to  call  a  forester.  Not  seeing  the  fur  cap,  I  did  not  venture  to 
come  forward.'  On  this  he  was  let  go.  Confucius  said,  '  To  keep  the  rule 
[of  answering  a  prince's  summons}  is  not  so  good  as  to  keep  [the  special 
rule  for  one's]  office.     Sui)erior  men  will  hold  this  man  right. '  " 

Par.  3.  This  is  the  decisive  paragraph  in  the  conversation. 

Par.  4.  Keen  was  the  lionorary  or  sacrilicial  epithet  of  Chaou  Yang,  the 
chief  minister  of  Tsin,  in  the  time  of  Confucius.  He  is  constantly  appear- 
ing in  the  Tso  Chuen  after  the  2-lth  year  of  duke  Ch'aou  ;  and  Wang  Leang 
was  his  charioteer,  who  appears  in  the  Tso  Cliuen  and  the  narratives  of  the 
States  also  as  Yew  Leang,  Yew  Woo-seuh,  Yew  Woo-ching.  I  have  not  met 
with  any  further  reference  to  Chaou  Y'ang's  favourite  He.  The  ode  in  the 
Book  of  Poetry  from  which  the  quotation  is  made  is  II.  iii.  V. 


FT  II.  cn.  II.]  t'an'g  wan  kunq.  217 

5.  "  [Thus  this]  charioteer  even  was  ashamed  to  bend  im- 
properly to  the  will  of  [such]  an  archer.  Though  by  bend- 
ing to  it  they  would  have  caught  birds  and  animals  enow  to 
form  a  hill,  he  would  not  do  it.  If  I  were  to  bend  my 
principles  and  follow  those  [princes],  of  what  course  would 
my  conduct  be  ?  Moreover  you  are  wrong.  Never  has  a 
man  who  has  bent  himself  been  able  to  make  others  straight. ^^ 

II.  1.  King  Ch'un  said  [toMencius],  "Are  not  Kung-sun 
Yen  and  Chang  E  really  great  men  ?  Let  them  once  be 
angry,  and  all  the  princes  are  afraid ;  let  them  live  quietly, 
and  the  flames  of  trouble  ai'e  extinguished  throughout  the 
kingdom.''^ 

2.  Mencius  said,  "  How  can  they  be  regarded  as  great 
men  ?  Have  you  not  read  the  Ritual  [usages]  ; — '  At  the 
capping  of  a  young  man,  his  father  admonishes  him.  At 
the  mariying  away  of  a  daughter,  her  mother  admonishes 
her,  accompanying  her  to  the  door,  and  cautioning  her  in 
these  words,  "  You  are  going  to  your  home.  You  must  be 
respectful ;  you  must  be  cautious.  Do  not  disobey  your 
husband."  ■"  [Thus,]  to  look  upon  compliance  as  their 
correct  course  is  the  rule  for  concubines  and  wives. 

3.  "  To  dwell  in  the  wide  house  of  the  world;  to  stand  in 
the-  correct  position  of  the  world  ;  and  to  walk  in  the  great 
path  of  the  world  ;  when  he  obtains  his  desire  [for  office], 

CH.  II.   MEXCirs'  COXCEPTIOX  OF  THE  GREAT  MAN. 

Pur.  1.  King  Ch'un  was  a  contemporary  of  Mencius,  who  occupied  him- 
self with  the  intrigues  of  the  time,  designed  to  unite  the  other  States  in 
opposition  to  Ts'in  or  to  induce  them  to  submit  to  it.  He  was  an  admirer 
of  Kung-sun  Yen  and  Chang  E,  two  principal  leaders  in  those  intrigues, 
and  whose  influence  was  very  great  on  the  fortunes  of  the  time.  They  were 
both  of  them  natives  of  Wei,  but  were  generally  opposed  to  each  other  in 
their  schemes.  Yen  was  a  grandson  of  one  of  the  rulers  of  Wei,  and  hence 
his  surname  of  Kung-sun.  He  is  often  mentioned  by  the  designation  of  Se- 
new  ; — see  the  "  Historical  Records,"  Book  C.  Chang  E  was  perhaps  the 
abler  man  of  the  two. 

Par.  2.  The  Kitual  usages,  to  which  Mencius  here  refers,  is  the  collection 
known  by  the  name  of  E  Le.  Our  philosopher  throws  various  passages  to- 
gether, and,  according  to  his  wont,  is  not  careful  to  quote  correctly.  Obe- 
dience was  the  rule  for  women,  and  especially  so  for  concubines-or  secondary 
wives.  Mencius  introduces  them  to  show  his  contempt  for  Yen  and  E,  who, 
with  all  their  bluster,  only  pandered  to  the  passions  of  the  princes. 

Par.  3.  "  The  wide  liouse  of  the  world"  is  benevolence  or  lore,  the  chief 
and  home  of  all  the  virtues ;  "  the  correct  seat "  is  proprietij  ;  and  "  the 
great  path  "  is  righteousness. 


218  THE    WORKS    OP    MENCIUS.  [bK    III. 

to  practise  his  principles  for  the  good  of  the  people ;  and 
■when  that  desire  is  disappointed,  to  practise  them  alone  ;  to 
be  above  the  power  of  riches  and  honours  to  make  dissi- 
pated, of  poverty  and  mean  condition  to  make  swerve  [from 
principle],  and  of  power  and  force  to  make  bend: — these 
characteristics  constitute  the  great  man/'* 

III.  1.  Chow  Seaou  asked  [Mcncius],  saying, ''' Did  supe- 
rior men  of  old  time  take  office  ?  "  Mencius  said,  "  They 
did."  The  Record  says,  "  When  Confucius  was  three  months 
without  [being  employed  by]  some  ruler,  he  looked  disap- 
pointed and  unhappy.  When  he  passed  over  the  boundary 
[of  a  State],  he  was  sure  to  carry  with  him  his  proper  gift 
of  introduction."  Kung-ming  E  said,  "  AiBong  the  ancients, 
when  [an  officer]  was  three  months  without  [being  employed 
by]  some  ruler,  he  was  condoled  with.^^ 

2.  [Seaou  said,]  "  Did  not  this  condoling,  on  being  three 
months  unemployed  by  a  ruler,  show  a  too  great  urgency  ?  " 

3.  "  The  loss  of  his  place,^^  was  the  reply,  "  is  to  an 
officer  like  the  loss  of  his  State  to  a  prince.  It  is  said  in 
the  Book  of  Rites,  '  The  prince  ploughs  [himself],  and  is 
afterwards  assisted  [by  others],  in  order  to  supply  the  millet- 
vessels  [for  sacrifice].  His  wife  keeps  silk-worms  and  un- 
winds their  cocoons,  to  make  the  robes  [used  in  sacrificing] . 
If  the  victims  be  not  perfect,  the  millet  in  the  vessels  not 

Ch.  III.  Office  is  to  be  eagerly  desired  ;  and  yet  it  should  not 
BE  SOUGHT  BY  ANY  BUT  ITS  PROPER  PATH.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  ques- 
tioner of  Mencius  in  this  chapter  wished  to  condemn  him  for  the  dignity  of 
reserve  which  he  maintained  in  his  intercourse  with  the  princes,  and  which 
is  the  subject  of  the  1st  chapter  of  this  Part.  Mencius  does  not  evade  any 
of  his  questions,  and  defends  himself  very  ingeniously. 

Par.  1.  Chow  Seaou  was  one  of  the  wandering  scholars  of  Mencius'  time. 
In  the  "  Plans  of  the  Warring  States,"  under  the  division  of  Wei,  of  which 
he  was  a  native,  he  appears  as  an  opponent  of  Kung-sun  Yen  of  last  chap- 
ter. Tiie  "  Record,"  from  which  Mencius  quotes  about  Confucius,  whatever 
it  was,  is  now  lost.  Every  person  waiting  on  another — a  superior— was 
supposed  to  pave  his  way  by  some  introductory  gift  ;  and  each  ofilicial  rank 
had  its  proper  article  to  be  used  for  tliat  purpose  by  all  belonging  to  it  ; — 
see  the  Le  Ke,  I.  ii.  III.  18.  Confucius  carried  his  gift  with  him,  that  he 
might  not  lose  any  opportunity  of  being  in  office  again.  Kung-ming  E, — 
see  on  Part  I.  i. 

Par.  3.  In  his  quotations  here  from  the  Le  Ke,  Mencius  combines  and 
adapts  to  his  purpose  different  passages,  with  more  than  his  usual  free- 
dom. Choo  He,  to  illustrate  the  text,  gives  his  own  summary  of  the  same 
passages  thus  : — "  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  llites  that  the  feudal  princes 


PT    II.    CH.  III.]  T^\XG  WAN    KUNG.  219 

pure,  and  tlie  robes  not  complete,  he  does  not  presume  to 
sacrifice.  And  the  scholar,  who,  [out  of  office],  has  no 
[holy]  field,  also  does  not  saci'ifice.  The  victims  for  slaugh- 
ter, the  vessels,  and  the  robes,  not  being  all  complete,  he 
does  not  presume  to  sacrifice,  and  then  he  does  not  presume 
to  feel  at  ease  and  happy .^  Is  there  not  in  all  this  sufficient 
ground  for  condolence  ?  " 

4.  [Siiaou  again  asked],  ^^What  was  the  meaning  of 
[Confucius']  always  carrying  his  proper  gift  of  introduction 
with  him,  when  he  passed  over  the  boundary  [of  a  State]  ?  " 

5.  "  A.n  officer's  being  in  office,"  was  the  reply,  "  is  like 
the  ploughing  of  a  husbandman.  Does  a  husbandman  part 
with  his  plough  because  he  goes  from  one  State  to  another  ?  " 

6.  [Seaou]  pursued,  "  The  kingdom  of  Tsin  is  one,  as 
well  as  others,  of  official  employments,  but  I  have  not  heard 
of  any  being  thus  earnest  about  being  in  office  in  it.  If 
there  should  be  this  urgency  about  being  in  office,  why  does  a 
superior  man  make  any  difficulty  about  taking  it  ?  "  [Men- 
cius]  replied,  "  When  a  sou  is  born,  what  is  desired  for  him 
is  that  he  may  have  a  wife ;  and  when  a  daughter  is  born, 
what  is  desired  for  her  is  that  she  may  have  a  husband. 
This  is  the  feeling  of  the  parents,  and  is  possessed  by  all 
men.  [If  the  young  people],  without  waiting  for  the  orders 
of  the  parents   and  the  arrangements  of  the  go-betweens, 

had  their  special  field  of  a  hundred  acres,  in  M'hich,  wearing  their  crown, 
with  its  blue  tlaps  turned  up,  they  held  the  plough  to  commence  the  plough- 
ing, whicli  was  afterwards  completed  with  the  help  of  the  common  people. 
The  produce  of  this  field  was  reaped  and  stored  in  the  ducal  granary,  to 
supply  the  vessels  of  millet  in  the  ancestral  temple.  They  also  cause  the 
noble  women  of  their  harem  to  attend  to  the  silkworms  in  the  silkworm 
house  attached  to  the  State  mulberry  trees,  and  to  bring  the  cocoons  to  them. 
These  were  then  presented  to  their  wives,  who  received  them  in  their  sacri- 
ficial head-dress  and  robe,  soaked  them,  and  thrice  drew  out  a  thread.  The 
cocoons  were  then  distributed  among  the  ladies  of  the  three  palaces  to  pre- 
pai'e  the  threads  for  the  ornaments  of  the  robes  to  be  worn  in  sacrificing  to 
the  former  kings  and  dukes." 

The  officer's  field  is  the  "  holy  "  field  of  Pt  i.  III.  16.  The  argument  is 
that  it  was  not  the  loss  of  office  which  was  a  proper  subject  for  grief  and 
condolence,  but  the  consequences  of  it  in  not  being  able,  especially,  to  con- 
tinue the  proper  sacrifices  ; — as  here  set  forth. 

Par.  6.  By  the  "  superior  man  "'  and   his  making  a  difficulty  in   taking 
office,  Siiaou  evidently  intended  Mencius  himself,  who,  however,  does  not 
take  any  notice  of  the  insinuation.     The  method  of  contracting  marriages  | 
here  referred  to  by  Mencius  still  exists,  and  seems  to  have  been  the  rule  of 
the  Chinese  race  from  time  immemorial.  ' 


220  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK    III. 

shall  bore  holes  to  steal  a  sight  of  each  other,  or  get  over 
the  wall  to  be  with  each  other,  then  their  parents  and  all 
other  people  will  despise  them.  The  ancients  did  indeed 
always  desire  to  be  in  office,  but  they  also  hated  being  so  by 
any  but  the  proper  way.  To  go  [to  see  the  princes]  by  any 
but  the  proper  way  is  of  a  class  with  [young  people's] 
boring  holes.'' 

IV.  1.  P'ang  Kang  asked  [Mencius],  saying,  ''Is  it  not 
an  extravagant  procedure  to  go  from  one  prince  to  another 
and  live  upon  them,  followed  by  several  tens  of  carriages 
and  attended  by  several  hundred  men  ?  "  Mencius  replied, 
"  If  there  be  not  a  proper  ground  [for  taking  it],  a  single 
bamboo-cup  of  rice  should  not  be  received  from  a  man  ;  if 
there  be  such  a  ground  for  it,  Sliun's  receiving  from  Yaou 
all  under  heaven  is  not  to  be  considered  excessive  ?  Do 
you  think  it  was  excessive  ?  " 

2.  [Kang]  said,  "  No.  [But]  for  a  scholar  performing  no 
service  to  receive  his  support  notwithstanding  is  improper." 

3.  [Mencius]  answered,  "  If  you  do  not  have  an  inter- 
communication of  the  productions  of  labour  and  an  inter- 
change of  [men's]  services,  so  that  [one  from  his]  overplus 
may  supply  the  deficiency  of  another,  then  husbandmen  will 
have  a  superfluity  of  grain,  and  women  a  superfluity  of 
cloth.  If  you  have  such  an  interchange,  then  cabinet- 
makers, builders,  wheel-wrights,  and  cariiagc-builders  may 
all  get  their  food  from  you.  Here  is  a  man,  who,  at  home,  is 
filial,  and,  abroad,  respectful  to  his  eldei-s  ;  and  who  watches 

CH.  IV.  ThK  LAI50UKER  IS  WORTHY  OF  HIS  HIRK  :  AND  THERE  IS  NO  LA- 
BOURER SO  WORTHY  AS  THE  SCHOLAR  WHO  INSTRUCTS  MEN  IN  THE  PRINCI- 
PLES, AND  GUIDES  MEN'  IN  THE  PRACTICE,  OF  VIRTUE. 

Par.  1.  P'ang  Kang  was  a  disciple  of  Mencius.  Whether  his  own 
mind  was  really  perplexed  as  to  the  charncter  of  his  master's  way  of  life,  or 
he  simply  wished  to  stir  him  up  to  visit  the  jn-inces  and  go  into  office,  we 
cannot  tell. 

Porr.  2 — 5.  We  cannot  but  admire  the  ingenuity  whicli  Mencius  displays 
here  in  the  turn  which  he  gives  to  the  conversation.  And  he  is  right  in 
Baying  that  it  is  not  the  purpose  which  we  remunerate,  but  the  work  which 
is  done  for  us.  Yet  his  argument,  as  a  defence  of  himself  and  his  own 
practice,  fails  to  carry  conviction  to  the  mind.  Men  in  general  will  give 
honour  to  him  who  holds  the  principles  of  benevolence  and  righteousness, 
inculcating  them,  moreover,  and  exemplifying  them  ;  hut  it  does  not  follow 
that  they  are  bound  to  sujjport  him,  nor  can  he  accept  their  support  without 
gome  loss  of  character. 


PT    II.    CH,  v.]  T^ANQ    WAN    KUNG.  221 

over  tlie  principles  of  tlie  ancient  kings  to  be  ready  for  [the 
use  of]  future  learners : — and  yet  lie  will  not  be  able  to  get 
his  support  from  you.  How  is  it  that  you  give  honour  to 
the  cabinet-makers^  and  the  others  I  have  mentioned,  and 
slight  him  who  practises  benevolence  and  righteousness." 

4.  [PTmg  Kang]  said,  "  The  aim  of  the  cabinet-maker, 
and  others  of  his  class,  is  [by  their  trades]  to  seek  for  a 
living  ; — is  it  also  the  aim  of  the  superior  man,  in  his  prac- 
tice of  the  principles  [you  mention],  to  seek  for  a  living  ? " 
''What  have  you  to  do  with  his  aim  ?  "  was  the  reply.  "  He 
renders  services  to  you.  He  deserves  to  bo  supported,  and 
you  support  him.  And  [let  me  ask], — do  you  remunerate 
a  man  for  his  intention  ?  or  do  you  remunerate  him  for  his 
service  ?  "  [To  this  Kang]  replied,  "  I  remunerate  him  for 
his  intention." 

5.  [Mencius]  said,  "  There  is  a  man  here  who  breaks 
your  tiles,  and  draws  [unsightly]  ornaments  on  your  walls, 
his  purpose  being  thereb}^  to  seek  for  his  living ;  but  will  you 
indeed  remunerate  him  ?  "  "  No,  "  was  the  reply  ;  and 
[Mencius  then]  concluded,  "  Then,  it  is  not  for  his  purpose 
that  you  remunerate  a  man,  but  for  the  work  done." 

V.  1.  Wan  Chang  said  [to  Mencius],  "  Sung  is  a  small 
State  ;  but  [its  ruler]  is  now  setting  about  to  practise  the 
[true]  royal  government,  and  Ts'e  and  Ts'oo  hate  and  attack 
him  ; — what  is  to  be  done  in  the  case  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  said,  "When  T'ang  dwelt  in  Poh, he  adjoined 

Ch.  V.  The  prince  who  will  set  himself  to  practise  a  benevolent 

GOVERNMENT  ON  THE  PlilNCIPLES  OF  THE  ANCIENT  KINGS  HAS  NONE  TO 
FEAR  : — WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THE  CASE  OF  A  DUKE  OF  KUNG  WHO  CLAIM- 
ED THE  TITLE  OF  KING. 

Par.  1.  Wan  Chang  was  a  disciple  of  ilencius,  the  fifth  Book  of  whose 
Works  is  named  from  him.  The  ruler  of  Sung  to  whom  reference  is  made 
was  Yen,  who  raised  himself  by  violence  to  the  dukedom  in  B.C.  328,  and  in 
317  assumed  the  title  of  king,  when  he  gained  some  successes  over  the 
States  of  Ts'e  on  the  north,  of  Ts'oo  on  the  south,  and  of  Wei  on  the  west. 
He  probably  gave  out  at  first  that  he  meant  to  imitate  the  ancient  kings  in 
his  government,  but  he  was  very  far  from  doing  so.  In  the  Historical 
Records,  Book  XXXVIII.,  he  appears  as  a  worthless  and  oppressive  ruler, 
and  his  ambition,  which  led  him  into  collision  with  the  great  States  men- 
tioned above,  precipitated  the  extinction  of  the  dukedom  of  Sung,  which 
took  place  in  B.C.  285.  Wan  Chang  gives  a  too  favourable  account  of  him 
to  our  philosopher,  who,  however,  was  not  deceived  by  it. 

Par.  2.    Compare  I.  ii.  III.  1,  and  XI.  2.      Poll,  the  capital   of    T'ang's 


222  THE   WOEKS   OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   III. 

to  [the  State  of]  Koh,  the  earl  of  which  Avas  living  in  a  dis- 
solute state,  and  neglecting  [his  proper]  sacrifices.  T'ang 
sent  messengers  to  ask  why  he  did  not  sacrifice,  and  when 
he  said  that  he  had  no  means  of  supplying  the  [necessary] 
victims,  T'ang  caused  sheep  and  oxen  to  be  sent  to  him. 
The  earl,  however,  ate  them,  and  still  continued  not  to  sacri- 
fice. T'ang  again  sent  messengers  to  ask  him  the  same 
question  as  before,  and  when  he  said  that  he  had  no  means  of 
supplying  the  vessels  of  millet,  T'ang  sent  the  people  of  Poh 
to  go  and  till  the  ground  for  him,  while  the  old  and  feeble 
carried  their  food  to  them.  The  earl  led  his  people  to 
intercept  those  who  were  thus  charged  with  spirits,  cooked 
rice,  millet  and  paddy,  and  took  their  stores  from  them, 
killing  those  who  refused  to  give  them  up.  There  was  a  boy 
with  millet  and  flesh  for  the  labourers,  who  was  thus  killed 
and  robbed.  What  is  said  in  the  Book  of  History,  'The 
earl  of  Koh  behaved  as  an  enemy  to  the  provision-carriers/ 
has  reference  to  this. 

3.  "  Because  of  his  murder  of  this  boy,  [T'ang]  proceeded 
to  punish  him.  All  within  the  four  seas  said,  '  It  is  not  be- 
cause he  desires  the  riches  of  the  kingdom,  but  to  avenge 
the  common  men  and  women.' 

4.  "  When  T'^ang  began  his  work  of  executing  justice,  he 
commenced  with  Koh ;  and  though  he  punished  eleven 
[States],  he  had  not  an  enemy  under  heaven.  When  he 
pursued  his  work  in  the  east,  the  rude  tribes  in  the  west 
murmured.  So  did  those  in  the  nofth,  when  he  pursued  it 
in  the  south.  Their  cry  was,  '  Why  dues  he  make  us  last  ? ' 
The  people's  longing  for  him  was  like  their  longing  for  rain 

principality  (though  there  were  three  places  of  the  same  name),  is  referred 
to  a  place  in  the  present  district  of  Shang-k'cvv,  in  the  de|)artment  of  Kwei- 
tih,  Ho-nan  ;  and  the  capital  of  the  earldom  of  Koli  was  in  the  district  of 
Xing-ling  in  the  same  department,  so  that  Menciiis  might  say  well  enough 
that  Poh  adjoined  to  Koh,  and  T'ang  might  render  to  the  earl  of  Koh  the 
service?  which  are  mentioned.  The  passage  of  the  Shoo  referred  to  at  the 
end  is  from  IV.  ii.  6. 

Par.  3.  "To  avenge  the  common  men  and  women  "  is  spoken  generally, 
but  the  words  have  a  special  application  to  the  father  and  mother  of  the 
murdered  boj'. 

Par.  4.  Compare  I.  ii.  XI.  2  ;  and  for  the  quotations  from  the  Shoo,  see 
rv.  ii.  6,  and  v.  Pt  II.  5.  The  eleven  punitive  expeditions  »f  T'ang  cannot 
all  be  made  out.  In  the  Shoo  and  the  She  we  find  only  six.  By  a 
j)eculiar  construction  of  the  text  here,  Ch'aou  K'e  makes  them  to  have  been 
22 ;  others  have  put  them  down  at  as  many  as  27. 


PT  II.  CH.  VI.]  t'an^g  wan  KUNG.  22o 

in  a  time  of  groat  drouglit.  The  frequenters  of  the  markets 
stopped  not ;  those  engaged  in  weeding  made  no  change 
[in  their  operations].  While  he  punished  their  rulers,  he 
consoled  the  people.  [His  progress  was]  like  the  falling  of 
opportune  rain,  and  the  people  were  delighted.  It  is  said 
in  the  Book  of  History,  '  We  have  waited  for  our  prince. 
When  our  prince  comes,  we  shall  escape  the  misery  [under 
which  we  suffer].' 

5.  "  There  being  some  who  would  not  become  the  subjects 
[of  Chow,  king  Woo]  proceeded  to  punish  them  on  the  east. 
He  gave  ti-anquillity  to  [their  people,  both]  men  and  women, 
Avho  [welcomed  him]  with  baskets  full  of  their  dark  and 
yellow  silks,  [saying,]  'From  hencefbi-th  [we  shall  serve]  our 
king  of  Chow,  and  be  made  happy  by  him.'  So  they  gave 
in  their  adherence  as  subjects  to  the  great  State  of  Chow. 
The  men  of  station  [of  Shang]  took  baskets  full  of  dark  and 
3'ellow  silks,  to  meet  the  men  of  station  [of  Chow],  and  the 
lower  classes  of  the  one  met  those  of  the  other  with  bam- 
boo-cups of  cooked  rice  and  vessels  of  congee.  [Woo] 
saved  the  people  from  the  midst  of  fire  and  water,  seizing 
only  their  .oppressors,  [and  destroying  them]. 

6.  "It  is  said  in  '  The  Great  Declaration  : ' — '  My  military 
prowess  is  displayed,  and  I  enter  his  territories,  and  will 

,  seiz«  the  oppressor.  My  execution  and  punishment  of  him 
shall  be  displayed,  more  glorious  than  the  work  of  T'ang.' 

7.  "  [Sung]  is  not  practising  royal  government,  as  you  say 
among  other  things  about  it.  If  it  were  practising  royal 
government,  all  within  the  four  seas  would  be  lifting  up  their 
heads,  and  looking  for  [its  king],  wishing  to  have  him  for 
their  ruler.  Great  as  Ts'e  and  Ts'oo  are,  what  would  there 
be  to  fear  from  them  ?  " 

YI.     1.  Menciussaid  toTae  Puh-shing,  ''Do  you  indeed, 

Par.  5.  Tlie  first  half  of  this  paragraph  is  substantially  a  quotation  from 
the  Shoo,  V.  iii.  7  ;  but  that  Book  of  the  Shoo  is  supposed  to  be  imperfect, 
and  to  require  considerable  emendation. 

Par.  6.  See  the  Slioo,  V.  i.  Pt  II.  6. 

Par.  7.  Here  is  the  conclusion  of  the  matter.  The  king  of  Sung,  having 
taken  the  sword  in  a  different  spirit  from  T'ang  and  Woo,  would  perish  by 
the  sword. 

Cu.  YI.  The  all-powerful  ixfluexce  of  exajiple  and  association. 


224  THE   WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   III. 

Sir,  wish  your  king  to  be  virtuous  ?  Well,  I  will  plainly 
tell  you  [how  he  may  be  made  so].  Suppose  that  there  is 
here  a  great  officer  of  Ts'oo,  who  wishes  his  son  to  learn  the 
speech  of  Ts'e,  will  he  employ  a  man  of  Ts'e  as  his  tutor,  or 
a  man  of  Ts'oo  ?  "  "  He  will  employ  a  man  of  Ts'^e  to  teach 
him,^'  was  the  reply,  and  [Mencius]  went  on,  "  If  [but]  one 
man  of  Ts'e  be  teaching  him,  and  there  be  a  multitude  of 
men  of  Ts'oo  shouting  out  about  him,  although  [his  father] 
beat  him  every  day,  wishing  him  to  learn  the  speech  of  Ts'e, 
it  will  be  impossible  for  him  to  do  so.  [But]  in  the  same 
way,  if  he  were  to  be  taken  and  placed  for  several  years  in  the 
Chwang  [street],  or  the  Yoh  [quarter],  although  [his  father] 
should  beat  him  every  day,  wishing  him  to  speak  the 
language  of  Ts'oo,  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  do  so. 

2.  "  You  say  that  Seeh  Keu-chow  is  a  scholar  of  virtue,  and 
you  have  got  him  placed  in  attendance  on  the  king.  If  all 
that  are  in  attendance  on  the  king,  old  and  young,  high  and 
low,  were  Seeh  Keu-chows,  whom  would  the  king  have  to  do 
evil  with  ?  [But]  if  those  that  are  in  attendance  on  the  king, 
old  and  young,  high  and  low,  are  all  not  Seeh  Keu-chows, 
whom  will  the  king  have  to  do  good  with  ?  What  can  one 
Seeh  Keu-chow  do  alone  for  the  king:  of  Sunor  ?  " 

VII.  1.  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  asked  [Mencius],  saying,  "What 
is  the  point  of  righteousness  in  your  not  going  to  see  the 

The  importance  op  havixg  virtuous  men  about  a  euleu's  teeson. 
This  chapter  may  be  considered  as  connected  with  the  preceding. 

Par.  1.  Tae  Puh-shing  was  a  minister,  i)roijahly  the  chief  minister,  of 
Sung,  a  descendant  from  one  of  its  dukes,  who  had  received  tlie  postiiumous 
epithet  of  Tae,  which  had  been  adopted  as  their  clan-name  by  a  branch  of 
his  posterity.  Chwang  and  Yoh  were  two  well-known  (juarters  iu  the  capital 
of  Ts'e.  They  are  both  mentioned  in  the  Tso  Chuen  under  par.  (J  of  the 
28th  year  of  duke  Seang.  Some  will  have  it  that  Chwang  was  the  name  of 
a  street  merely,  and  Yoh  of  a  neighbourhood. 

Par.  2.  Seeh  Keu-chow  was  also  a  minister  of  Sung,  recommended  as 
tutor  or  adviser  to  the  king  by  Tae  Puh-shing.  He  was  a  man  of  virtue 
and  acfiuirements, — a  descendant  of  the  lords  of  Seeh,  which  principality 
dates  at  least  from  the  time  of  Yu. 

Ch.  VII.  Mencius  defends  his  not  going  to  see  the  princes  by  the 
exajii'le  and  maxims  ov  the  ancients.  Akin  to  the  first  and  other 
chiijiters  of  this  Book. 

Par.  1.  In  Ana.  XIV.  xxii.  we  have  an  example  of  how  Confucius,  not 
then  actually  in  office,  but  having  been  so,  went  to  see  the  marquis  of  Loo. 


IT.  II.  ClI.  VII.]  TANG    WAN    KUNG.  225 

princes  ?  "  Mencius  said,  "  Anciently,  if  one  had  not  been  a 
minister  [in  the  State],  he  did  not  go  to  see  [the  ruler]. 

2.  "  Twan  Kan-muh  leaped  over  a  wall  to  avoid  [the 
prince]  ;  Seeh  Lew  shut  the  door  and  would  not  admit  him. 
These  two,  however,  [carried  their  scrupulosity]  to  excess. 
When  a  prince  is  urgent,  it  is  not  improper  to  see  him. 

3.  "  Yang  Ho  wished  to  get  Confucius  to  go  to  see  him, 
but  disliked  [that  he  should  be  charged  himself  with]  any 
want  of  propriety.  [As  it  was  the  rule,  therefore,  that]  when 
a  great  officer  sends  a  gift  to  a  scholai',  if  the  latter  be  not 
at  home  to  receive  it,  he  must  go  and  make  his  acknowledg- 
ments at  the  gate  of  the  other,  Yang  Ho  watched  when 
Confucius  was  out  and  sent  him  a  steamed  pig.  Confucius, 
in  his  turn,  watched  when  Ho  was  out,  and  went  to  pay  his 
acknowledgments  to  him.  At  that  time  Yang  Ho  had 
taken  the  initiative  ; — how  could  [Confucius]  avoid  going 
to  see  him  ? 

4.  "  The  philosopher  Tsang  said,  *  Those  who  shrug  up 
their  shoulders  and  laugh  in  a  flattering  way  toil  harder 
than  the  summer  [labourer  in  the]  fields.'  Tsze-loo  said, 
'  There  are  those  who  will  talk  with  people  with  whom  they 
have  no  agreement.  If  you  look  at  their  countenances, 
they  are  full  of  blushes,  and  are  not  such  as  I  [care  to]  know.' 
By  looking  at  the  matter  in  the  light  of  these  remarks, 
[the  spirit]  which  the  superior  man  nourishes  may  be 
known." 

He  had  a  good  reason,  however,  for  doing  so,  independently  of  his  having 
been  in  office.  Mencius  is  never  altogether  satisfactory  in  vindicating  his  o\vn 
conduct  in  the  matters  affecting  his  intercourse  with  the  princes,  which 
staggered  the  faitli  of  his  followers. 

Par.  2.  Twan  Kan-muh,  or  Twan-kau  Muh  (the  surname  and  name  are 
not  clearly  ascertained),  was  a  native  of  Tsin,  and  a  disciple  of  Tsze-hea. 
The  prince  whom  he  avoided  in  the  wny  which  JMencius  refers  to  was  Sze, 
the  first  marquis  of  Wei,  known  as  duke  Wan,  who  died  in  r..c.  3S6.  He 
never  drove  past  Twan's  door,  it  is  said,  without  bowing  forward  to  the 
front  bar  of  his  carriage  in  token  of  respect  ;  but  Twan  stood  out  upon  his 
purity,  and  would  not  go  to  see  him. 

Seeh  Lew  has  been  mentioned  in  II.  ii.  XI.  3. 

Par.  3.  See  Ana.  XVII.  i.  In  the  incident  which  is  here  related  ffw 
will  see  anything  more  or  higher  than  the  ingenuity  of  Confucius  in  getting 
out  of  a  dilYicully. 

P(7r.  4.  We  must  understand  Tsze-loo  as  speaking  of  those  men  vi-ho 
gave  their  counsels  freely  to  princes  and  men  of  influence  of  whom  they 
disapproved. 

VOL.  II.  15 


226  THE  WORKS  OF  MEKCIUS.  [bK  III. 

VIII.  1.  "  Tae  Ying-che  said  [to  Mencius],  "I  am  not 
able  at  present  and  immediately  to  do  with  a  titlie  [only],  and 
abolish  [at  the  same  time]  the  duties  charged  at  tlie  passes 
and  in  the  markets.  With  your  leave  I  will  lighten  all  [tlio 
present  extraordinary  exactions]  until  next  year,  and  then 
make  an  end  of  them.  What  do  you  think  of  such  a 
course  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  said,  '^  Here  is  a  man  who  every  day  appropri- 
ates the  fowls  of  his  neighbours  that  stray  to  his  premises. 
Some  one  says  to  him,  '  Such  is  not  the  way  of  a  good  man/ 
and  he  replies,  '  With  your  leave  I  will  diminish  my  appro- 
priations, and  will  take  only  one  fowl  a  month,  until  next 
year,  when  I  will  make  an  end  of  the  practice  altogether.' 

3.  "  If  you  know  that  the  thing  is  unrighteous,  then  put 
an  end  to  it  with  all  despatch  ; — why  wait  till  next  year  ?  " 

IX.  1.  The  disciple  Kung-too said  [to  Mencius],  "  Master, 
people  beyond  [our  school]  all  say  that  you  are  fond  of  dis- 
puting. I  venture  to  ask  why  you  are  so.''  Mencius  replied, 
"  How  should  I  be  fond  of  disputing?  But  I  am  compelled 
to  do  it. 

2.  ''A  long  pei'iod"has  elapsed  since  this  world  [of  men] 
received  its  being,  and  there  have  been  [along  its  history] 
now  a  period  of  good  order,  and  now  a  period  of  confusion. 

Ch.  VIII.  What  is  wrong  should  be  put  an  end  to  at  once,  with- 
out KESEllVE,  AND  WITHOUT  DELAY. 

Pur.  1.  Tae  Ying-clie  was  a  niitiister  of  Sung; — supposed  by  some  to 
have  been  the  same  with  the  Tae  Puh-shing  of  chapter  vi.  I  tliink  it  likely 
they  were  the  same.  We  must  suppose  that  Mencius  had  been  talking  with 
him  on  the  points  indicated  in  liis  remarks,  and  insisting  on  them  a» 
necessary  to  the  benevolent  government,  which,  it  was  pretended,  was  being 
instituted  in  Sung.     See  1.  ii.  V.  3  ;  II.  i.  V.  3  ;  and  III.  i.  III. 

Ch.  IX.   Mencius  defends  himself  against  the  charge  of  being 

FOND  of  disputing.  WhAT  LEU  TO  HIS  APPEARING  TO  liE  SO  WAS  THE 
necessity  OF  THE  TIME.  C!ompare  II.  i.  II.  It  would  apjiear  from  that 
chapter  and  this  that  our  philo.soplier  believed  that  the  mantle  of  Confucius 
liad  fallen  upon  him.  and  that  he  was  in  the  position  of  a  sage  on  whom  it 
devolved  to  live  and  labour  for  the  world. 

Par.  1.  Kung-too, — see  II.  ii.  V.  4.  There  was  some  truth,  no  doubt,  in 
the  common  opinion  about  Mencius  reported  to  him  by  Kung-too. 

Pwr.  2,  3.  Commentators  are  unanimous  in  understanding  Mencius  to  be 
speaking  here  not  of  the  material  world,  but  of  the  first  appearance  of  men  ; 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  in  his  review  of  the  history  ol  mankind,  he  does 
not  go  beyond  the  time  of  Yaou,  and  that  at  its  commencement  he  places  a 


PT  II.  CH.  IX.]  t-'ano  wan  kung.  227 

3.  "  In  the  time  of  Yaou,  the  waters^  flowing  out  of  their 
channels,  inundated  all  through  the  States,  snakes  and 
dragons  occupied  the  country,  and  the  people  had  no  place 
where  they  could  settle  themselves.  In  the  low  grounds 
they  made  [as  it  were]  nests  for  themselves,  and  in  the  high 
grounds  they  made  caves.  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  History, 
*  The  vast  waters  filled  me  with  dread.'  What  are  called 
'  the  vast  waters  '  were  those  of  the  [above]  great  inun- 
dation. 

4.  "  [Shun]  employed  Yu  to  reduce  the  waters  to  order. 
He  dug  open  the  ground  [which  impeded  their  flow],  and 
led  them  to  the  sea.  He  drove  away  the  snakes  and  dragons, 
and  forced  them  into  the  grassy  marshes.  [On  this]  the 
waters  pursued  their  course  in  their  channels, —  [the  waters 
of]  the  Keang,  the  Hwae,  the  Ho,  and  the  Han.  The 
[natural]  difiiculties  and  obstructions  being  thus  removed, 
and  the  birds  and  beasts  which  had  injured  the  people 
having  disappeared,  men  found  the  plains  [available  for 
them],  and  occupied  them. 

5.  "  After  the  death  of  Yaou  and  Shun,  the  principles  of 
[those]  sages  fell  into  decay.  Oppressive  rulers  arose  one 
after  another,  who  pulled  down  the  houses  [of  the  people] 
to  make  ponds  and  lakes,  so  that  the  people  could  now^here 
rest  in  quiet,  and  threw  fields  out  of  cultivation  to  form  gar- 
dens and  pai'ks,  so  that  the  people  could  not  get  clothes  and 
food.  [Afterwards],  corrupt  speakings  and  oppressive 
deeds  also  became  rife  ;  gardens  and  parks,  ponds  and  lakes, 
thickets  and  marshes  were  numerous ;  and  birds  and  beasts 
made  their  appearance.  By  the  time  of  Chow,  all  under 
heaven  was  ag-ain  in  a  state  of  sfreat  confusion. 

period  of  disorder.  Compare  Pt  i.  IV.  7.  The  "nests  "  were  huts  on  high- 
raised  pl.itforms.  In  tlie  Le  Ke,  IX.  i.  8,  it  is  said  that  these  were  the 
summer  liabitations  of  the  earliest  men,  who  made  caves  for  themselves  in 
the  winter,  and  lived  in  them.  For  the  words  of  the  IShoo,  see  that  work, 
II.  iii.  14. 

Par.  4.  "  The  waters  pursued  their  course  in  their  channels  ;  " — or,  it 
may  be,  "  the  waters  pursued  their  course  through  the  country,"  that  is, 
no  more  overflowed  it. 

Par.  5.  The  dynasties  of  Hca  and  Shang  have  their  history  summed  up 
here  in  very  small  compass,  Yu  and  T'ang,  and  various  worthj%  if  not  sage, 
sovereigns  are  passed  over  without  ceremony.  Does  not  the  account  thus 
given  imply  that  down  to  the  rise  of  the  Chow  dynasty  the  coautry  was  very 
thinly  peopled  ? 


228  THE    W0RK3   OF  MENCIU3.  [bK    III. 

6.  "  The  duke  of  Chow  assisted  king  Woo,  and  destroyed 
Chow.  He  attacked  Yen,  and  in  three  years  put  its  ruler 
to  death.  He  drove  Fei-leen  to  a  corner  by  the  sea,  and 
slew  him.  The  States  which  he  extinguished  amounted  to 
fifty.  He  drove  far  away  the  tigers,  leopards,  rhinoceroses, 
and  elephants.  All  under  heaven  were  greatly  pleased.  It 
is  said  in  the  Book  of  Histoiy,  '  How  great  and  splendid 
were  the  plans  of  king  Wan  !  How  greatly  were  they 
carried  out  by  the  energy  of  king  Woo.  They  are  for  the 
help  and  guidance  of  us  their  descendants, — all  in  principle 

•correct,  and  deficient  in  nothing.^ 

7.  "  [Again]  the  world  fell  into  decay,  and  principles 
fiided  away.  Perverse  speakings  and  oppressive  deeds 
again  became  rife.  There  were  instances  of  ministers  who 
murdered  their  rulers,  and  of  sons  who  murdered  their 
fathers. 

8.  "  Confucius  was  afraid  and  made  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew. 
What  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew  contains  are  matters  proper  to  the  son 
of  Heaven.  On  this  account  Confucius  said, '  It  is  the  Ch'un 
Ts'ew  which  will  make  men  know  me,  and  it  is  the  Ch'un 
Ts'iiw  which  will  make  men  condemn  me.' 

i>.  "  [Once  more]  sage  kings  do  not  arise,  and  the  princes 
of  the  States  give  the  reins  to  their  lusts.  Unemployed 
scholars  indulge  in  unreasonable  discussions.  The  words 
of  Yang   Choo  and  Mih  Teih  fill  the  kingdom.      [If  yoa 

P.ir.  G.  Yen  was  a  State  in  the  present  district  of  K'euh-fow,  department 
Yen-cliow,  Slian-tung.  From  the  specification  of  it  here,  it  must  have  been 
of  considerable  note  and  influence.  Fei-leen  was  a  favourite  minister  of 
Chow,  who  abetted  him  in  his  enormities.  It  would  be  vain  to  try  to  enu- 
merate the  "  fifty  States,"  whicii  the  dulve  of  Chow  is  said  to  have  extin- 
guished. "  The  tigers,"  &c.,  spoken  of  here,  arc  said  to  have  been  those  kept 
by  the  tyrant  Chow,  and  those  infesting  the  country,  as  in  earlier  times. 
The  text  of  Mencius,  ,however,  produces  a  different  impression  on  my  mind. 
He  would  have  us  think  of  much  of  the  country  as  being,  even  in  the  time 
of  the  duke  of  Chow,  still  over-run  by  wild  animals.    See  the  Shoo,  V.  xxv.  6. 

Parr.  7,8.  What  Mencius  says  lierc  about  the  "Spring  and  Autumn  "is 
very  perplexing,  and  the  reader  will  find  the  passages  discussed  at  length  in 
the  first  chapter  of  my  Prolegomena  to  Vol.  V.  of  my  larger  work.  It  is 
difficult  to  believe  tliat  our  philosopher  can  bo  speaking  of  the  "Sj)ring  and 
Autinnti  "  which  we  now  have  ;  and  yet  the  evidence  seems  comi)lete  that 
the  present  classic  of  that  name  is  what  came  from  the  stijliis  of  the  sage. 

Par.  '.).  From  Confucius  to  Mencius  was  but  a  short  time  compared  with 
that  which  intervened  between  Confucius  and  the  duke  of  Chow,  and  that 
a'.rain  between  the  duke  of  Chow  and  Yaou  and  Sliun.  The  process  of 
decay  was  going  on  with  unexampled  rapidity.     Of  Yang  Choo,  as  well  as 


PT  II.  CH.  IX.]  t'ang  wan  kung.  229 

listen  to]  people's  discourses  tliroughout  it^  [yovi  will  find 
that]  if  they  are  not  the  adherents  of  Yang,  they  are  those 
of  Mih.  Yang's  principle  is — '  Each  one  for  himself; ' 
which  leaves  no  [place  for  duty  to]  the  ruler.  Mih's  prin- 
ciple is — '  To  love  all  equally  ; '  which  leaves  no  place  for 
[the  peculiar  affection  due  to]  a  fither.  But  to  acknow- 
ledge neither  ruler  nor  father  is  to  be  in  the  state  of  a  beast. 
Kung-ining  E  said,  '  In  their  stalls  there  are  fat  beasts,  and 
in  their  stables  there  are  fat  horses,  but  their  people  have 
the  look  of  hunger,  and  in  the  fields  there  are  those  who 
have  died  of  famine.  This  is  leading  on  beasts  to  devour 
men.''  If  the  principles  of  Yang  and  Mih  are  not  stopped, 
and  the  principles  of  Confucius  are  not  set  forth,  then  those 
perverse  speakings  will  delude  tl^e  people,  and  stop  up 
[the  path  of]  benevolence  and  righteousness.  When  bene- 
volence and  righteousness  are  stopped  up,  beasts  will  be 
led  on  to  devour  men,  and  men  will  devour  one  another. 

10.  "I  am  alarmed  by  these  things,  and  address  myself  to 
the  defence  of  the  principles  of  the  former  sages.  I  oppose 
Yang  and  Mih,  and  drive  away  th'eir  licentious  expressions, 
so  that  such  perverse  speakers  may  not  be  able  to  show  them- 
selves. When  [their  errors]  spring  up  in  men^s  minds,  they 
are  hurtful  to  the  conduct  of  affairs.  When  they  are  thus 
seen  in  their  affairs,  they  are  hurtful  to  their  government. 
AVhen  a  sage  shall  again  arise_,  he  will  certainly  not  change 
[these]  ray  words. 

11.  "  Formerly,  Yu  repressed  the  vast  waters  [of  the  in- 
undation], and  all  under  the  sky  was  reduced  to  order.  The 
duke  of  Chow's  achievements  extended  to  the  wild  tribes  of 
the  east  and  north,  and  he  drove  away  all  ferocious  animals, 
so  that  the  people  enjoyed  repose.  Confucius  completed  the 
Spring  and  Autumn,  and  rebellious  ministers  and  villainous 
sons  were  struck  with  terror. 

12.  "  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  He  smote  tlie  tribes  of  the  west  and  the  north  ; 
He  punished  King  and  Shoo  ; 
And  no  one  dared  to  resist  us.' 

of  Mih  Teih.  and  of  the  principles  of  them  both.  I  have  spoken  in  the  Pro- 
legomena.    See  the  words  here  attributed  to  Kung-ming  E  in  I.  1.  IV.  i. 

Par.  10.   Compare  II.  i.  II.  17. 

-Par.  11.  The  way  in  which  the  duke  of  Chow's  driving  away  "all  fero- 
cious animals  "  is  here  mentioned  seems  inconsistent  with  the  view  of  the 
expression  of  which  I  have  spoken  under  par.  6. 

I'ur.  12.  ,Sec  on  Ft  i.  IV.  16. 


230  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    Iir. 

These  fathcr-deuiers   and   king-deniers    would    have  been 
smitten  by  the  duke  of  Chow. 

13.  "I  also  wish  to  rectify  men's  hearts,  and  to  put  an 
end  to  [those]  perverse  speakings,  to  oppose  their  one-sided 
actions,  and  banish  away  their  licentious  expressions  ; — and 
thus  carry  on  the  [work  of  the]  three  sages.  Do  I  do  so  be- 
cause I  am  fond  of  disputing?     I  am  constrained  to  do  it. 

14.  "  Wlioever  can  by  argument  oppose  Yang  and  Mih  is 
a  disciple  of  the  sages." 

X.  1.  KSvang  Chang  said  [to  Mencius],  "  Is  not  Mr  Ch'in 
Chung  a  man  of  true  self-denying  purity  ?  He  was  living 
in  Woo-ling,  and  for  three  days  was  without  food,  till  ho 
could  neither  hear  nor  see.  Over  a  well  there  grew  a  plum 
tree,  a  fruit  of  which  had  been,  more  than  half  of  it,  eaten  by 
worms.  He  crawled  to  it,  and  tried  to  cat  [some  of  this 
fruit],  when;  after  swallowing  three  mouthfuls,  he  recovered 
his  sight  and  hearing." 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  Among  the  scholars  of  Ts^e  I  must 
regard  Chung  as  the  thumb  [among  the  fingers].  But  still, 
how  can  he  be  regarded  as  having  that  self-denying  pui'ity  ? 
To  carry  out  the  principles  which  he  holds,  one  must  become 
an  earth-worm,  for  so  only  can  it  be  done. 

Par.  18.  Compare  II.  i.  II.  17. 

Par.  14.  Menciu.s  seems  here  to  call  on  all  disciples  of  Confucius  to  co- 
operate with  him  in  upholding  the  doctrines  of  the  sage,  and  yet  the  sentence 
was  perhaps  intended  to  take  away  from  the  forcible  assertion  to  which  he 
liad  given  utterance,  and  by  which  he  claimed  for  himself  a  place  in  the 
line  of  sages. 

Cpi.  X.  The  man  who  will  avoid  all  association  with,  and  obli- 
gation TO,  those  of  whom  he  does  not  appkove  must  needs  go  out 

OP  THE  WOKLD. — ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  CASE  OF  CH'IN  CHUNG  OF  Ts'E. 

Par.  1.  K'wang  Chang  and  Ch'in  Cimng  (called  also  Ch'in  Tsze-chung) 
were  both  natives  of  Ts'e.  The  former  was  higii  in  the  conlidcnce  and  em- 
jiloyment  of  the  kings  Wei  and  Seuen,  and  did  good  service  to  the  State  on 
more  than  one  occasion  ; — see  on  IV.  ii.  x.xx.  The  latter,  as  we  learn  from 
tliis  cliapter,  belonged  to  an  old  and  noble  family  of  the  State.  Hi.s  prin- 
ciples a))pear  to  have  been  those  of  lieu  Iling,  mentioned  in  Pt  i.  IV.,  or 
even  more  severe.  \Ve  may  compare  him  with  the  reclu.ses  of  Confuciu.s' 
time.  Woo-ling  was  a  poor,  wild  place,  where  Chung  and  his  wife,  like- 
niitided  with  himself,  lived  in  retirement.  It  was  somewhere  in  the  j)resent 
di'pnrtment  of  Tse-nan.  Chaou  K'e  thinks  that  it  is  said  the  plum  was 
half-eaten,  to  .show  how  Mr  Chung  had  really  all  but  lost  his  eye-sight. 

Par.  2.  Mencius'  idea  is  that  Ch'in  Chung's  principles  were  altogether 
impracticable. 


FT  II.  CH.  X.]  t'ang  wax  klng.  231 

3.  "Now  an  -eartli-worrn  eats  the  dry  mould  above,  and 
drinks  the  yellow  spring  below.  Was  the  house  in  which 
]Mr  Chung  lives  built  by  a  Pih-e  ?  or  was  it  built  by  a  robber 
like  Chih  ?  Was  the  gi-ain  which  he  eats  planted  by  a  Pih-e  ? 
or  was  it  planted  by  a  robber  like  Chih  ?  These  ai*e  things 
which  cannot  be  known." 

4.  "But,"  said  [Chang],  "what  does  that  matter?  He 
himself  weaves  sandals  of  hemp,  and  his  wife  twists  hempen 
threads,  which  they  exchange  [for  other  things]." 

5.  [Mencius]  rejoined,  "  Mr  Chung  belongs  to  an  ancient 
and  noble  family  of  Ts'e.  His  elder  brother  Tae  received 
from  Kah  a  revenue  of  10,000  clinnrj,  but  he  considered  his 
brother's  emolument  to  be  unrighteous,  and  would  not 
dwell  in  the  place.  Avoiding  his  brother,  and  leaving  his 
mother,  he  went  and  dwelt  in  Woo-ling.  One  day  after- 
wards, he  returned  [to  their  house],  when  it  happened 
that  some  one  sent  his  brother  a  present  of  a  live  goose. 
He,  knitting  his  brows,  said,  '  What  are  you  going  to  use 
that  cackling  thing  for  ? '  By-and-by,  his  mother  killed 
the  goose,  and  gave  him  some  of  it  to  eat.  [Just  then]  his 
brother  came  into  the  house  and  said,  '  It's  the  flesh  of  that 
cackling  thing,'  on  which  he  went  out,  and  vomited  it. 

6.  "  Thus  what  his  mother  gave  him  he  would  not  eat, 
but  what  his  wife  gives  him  he  eats.  He  will  not  dwell  in 
his  brother's  house,  but  he  dwells  in  Woo-ling.  How  can 
he  in  such  circumstances  complete  the  style  of  life  which 
he  professes  ?  With  such  principles  as  Mr  Chung  holds,  [a 
man  must  be]  an  earth-worm,  and  thenhe  can  carry  them  out." 

Par.  3.  Pih-e, — see  II.  i.  II.  22,  et  al.  Chih  was  a  famous  robber  chief 
of  Confucius'  time,  a  younger  brother  of  Hwuj'  of  Levv-hea,  celebrated  by 
Mencius  in  II.  i.  IX.  2,  et  al.  There  was,  however,  it  is  said,  in  high  an- 
tiquity in  the  time  of  Hwang-te,  a  noted  robber  so  called,  whose  name  was 
given  to  Hwuy's  brother  because  of  the  similarity  of  their  course.  "  The 
robber  Chih  "  had  come  to  be  used  like  a  proi)er  name. — As  Chung  with- 
drew from  human  society  lest  he  should  be  defiled  by  it,  Mencius  shows 
that  uule>;s  lie  were  a  worm,  he  could  not  be  independent  of  other  men. 
Even  the  house  he  lived  in,  and  the  grain  he  ate,  might  be  the  result  of  the 
labour  of  a  villain  like  Chili,  or  of  a  worthy  like  Pih-e,  for  an3'thing  he 
could  tell. 

Parr.  4.  5.  K'wang  Chang  says  that  the  lodging  and  food  of  Mr  Ch'in 
were  innocently  and  righteously  come  by  ;  and  it  was  not  necessary  to  push 
one's  inquiries  further  back.  Mencius  does  not  reply  to  him  directly,  but 
throws  ridicule  on  the  self-denying  recluse  by  the  ridiculous  story  which  he 
tells  ;  and  concludes  by  reiterating  what  he  had  affirmed  as  to  the  impracti- 
cability of  the  man  and  of  his  principles. 


232  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS. 

BOOK  IV. 

LE    LOW.       PART    I. 

■  Chapter  I.  1 .  Mencius  said,  "  The  power  of  vision  of 
Le  Low,  and  tlie  skill  of  hand  of  Kung-shoo,  without  the 
compass  and  square,  could  not  form  squares  and  circles. 
The  acute  ear  of  the  [music] -master  Kwang,  without  the 
pitch-tubes,  could  not  determine  correctly  the  five  notes. 
The  principles  of  Yaou  and  Shun,  without  a  benevolent 
government,  could  not  secure  the  tranquil  order  of  the 
kingdom. 

With  this  Book  commences  what  is  commonly  called  the  second  or  lower 
Part  of  the  Works  of  Mencius ;  but  that  division  is  not  recognized  in  the 
critical  editions.  It  is  called  Le  Low  from  its  commencing  with  those  two 
characters,  and  contains  twenty-eight  chapters  which  are  most  of  them 
shorter  than  those  of  the  preceding  Books. 

Ch.  I.  There  is  an  art  of  government,  as  well  as  a  wish  to  govern 

WELL,  to  be  learned  FROM  THE  EXAMPLE  AND  .PRINCIPLKS  OP  THE 
ANCIENT  KINGS,  AND  AVHICH  MUST  BE  STUDIED  AND  PRACTISED  BY  RULERS 
AN1>  THEIK  MINISTERS. 

Par.  1.  Le  Low,  called  also  Le  Choo,  carries  us  back  to  the  highest 
Chinese  antiquity.  He  was,  it  is  said,  of  the  time  of  Hwang-te,  and  so  acute 
of  vision  that  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  paces  he  would  see  the  point  of 
the  smallest  hair.  Kung-shoo,  named  Tan,  was  a  celebrated  mechanist  of  Loo, 
contemporary  with  Confucius,  if,  as  some  tliink,  he  was  a  son  of  duke 
Cli'aou.  He  is  fabled  to  have  made  birds  of  bamboo  which  could  contiime 
Hying  for  three  days,  and  other  marvellous  contrivances.  He  is  now  the 
tutelary  spirit  of  carpenters,  under  the  name  of  Loo  Pan  or  Pan  of  Loo  ; 
but  many  critics  contend  that  the  Kung-shoo  of  Mencius  and  Loo  Pan  ought 
not  to  be  identilied.  See  the  Le  Ke,  II.  ii.  II.  2L  Kwang,  styled  Tsze-yay, 
was  a  famous  music-master  of  Tsin,  a  little  before  the  time  of  Confucius. 
There  is  an  interesting  conversation  between  him  and  the  marquis  of  Tsin 
in  the  Tso  Chuen,  under  the  14th  year  of  duke  Seang.  The  pitch-tubes, 
here  called  "  six,"  by  synecdoche  for  "twelve,"  were  invented  in  the  earliest 
times,  to  determine  by  their  various  lengths  the  notes  of  the  musical  scale, 
and  for  other  purposes.  See  some  account  of  them  uiidi-r  par.  8  in  the 
Shoo.  II.  i.  "  The  tive  notes"  are  the  five  full  notes  of  the  octave,  omitting 
the  semitones.  The  word  "principles"  in  the  phrase,  "  the  principles  of 
Yaou  and  Slmn,"  must  be  taken  vaguely,  and  as  meaning  simply  the  wish  to 
govern  rightly,  subsequently  embodied  in  "  benevolent  government,"  such  as 
Mencius  delighted  to  dwell  on  in  many  chapters  of  the  previous  Books.  The 
use  of  "  principles,"  however,  in  this  vague  and  uncertain  way,  introduces  au 


PT    I.    CII.  I.]  LE    LOW.  233 

2.  "  Thcro  are  now  [princes]  who  Lave  benevolent  hearts 
and  a  reputation  for  benevolence,  while  yet  the  people  do 
not  receive  any  benefits  from  them,  nor  will  they  leave  any 
example  to  future  ages  ; — all  because  they  do  not  put  into 
practice  the  ways  of  the  ancient  kings. 

3.  "  Hence  we  have  the  saying,  '  Goodness  alone  is  not 
sufficient  for  the  exercise  of  government ;  laws  alone  cannot 
carry  themselves  into  practice.' 

4.  "It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

*  Erring  in  nothing,  forgetful  of  nothing, 
Observing  and  following  the  old  statutes.' 

Never  has  any  one  fallen  into  error  who  followed  the  laws  of 
the  ancient  kings. 

5.  "  When  the  sages  had  used  all  the  power  of  their  eyes, 
they  called  in  to  their  aid  the  compass,  the  square,  the 
level,  and  the  line;  and  the  ability  to  make  things  square, 
round,  level,  and  straight  was  inexhaustible.  When  they 
had  used  all  the  power  of  their  ears,  they  called  in  the  aid 
of  the  pitch-tubes ;  and  the  abibty  to  determine  correctly 
the  five  notes  was  inexhaustible.  When  they  had  used  all 
the  thoughts  of  their  hearts,  they  called  in  to  their  aid  a 
government  that  could  not  bear  [to  witness  the  suffering 
of]  men  ;  and  their  benevolence  overspread  all  under  heaven. 

6.  "  Hence  we  have  the  saying,  '  To  raise  a  thing  high 
we  must  begin  from  [the  top  of]  a  mound  or  a  hill ;  to  dig 

inconsistency  and  ambiguity  into  the  chapter.  Mencius  exhorts  to  follow 
the  ?m//s  or  "  principles  "  of  the  ancient  Idngs,  and  yet  they  are  here  said  to  be 
insufficient  for  good  government. 

Par.  2.  One  of  the  early  commentators  of  the  Sung  dynasty  refers  to  king 
Seuen  of  Ts'e  of  I.  i.  VII.  et  al.,  as  an  instance  of  the  rulers  who  have  a 
benevolent  heart,  and  to  the  tirst  em[)eror  of  the  Lcang  dynasty,  (a.d.  502 — 
.549),  whose  Biiildhistic  scrupulosity  about  taking  life  made  him  have  a 
reputation  for  benevolence.  Yet  the  heart  of  the  one  and  the  reputation 
of  the  other  jn-oved  of  little  benefit  to  tlieir  people. 

Par.  3.  "Goodness  alone  "  is  the  benevolent  heart  without  the  method. 
"  Laws  alone  "  is  the  benevolent  government  wichout  the  heart. 

Piir.  4.  See  the  She,  111.  ii.  V.  2. 

Par.  5.  According  to  the  views  of  Chinese  writers,  the  lever  was  the  first 
of  the  mechanical  powers  which  was  invented.  "  The  lever  revolving  pro- 
duced the  circle.  The  circle  produced  the  square.  The  square  produced  the 
line;  and  the  line  produced  the  Zew^."  On  government  as  "  not  bearing  to 
witness  the  suiferings  of  men,"  see  II.  i.  Vi. 

Par.  6.  The  saying  is  found  in  the  Le  Ke,  X.  ii.  10. 


23  t  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

to  a  [great]  depth,  we  must  commence  in  [the  low  ground 
of]  a  stream  or  a  marsh/  Can  he  be  pronounced  wise  who,  in 
the  exercise  of  government,  does  not  start  from  the  ways  of 
the  ancient  kings. 

7.  "  Thcrefoi-e  only  the  benevolent  ought  to  be  in  high 
stations.  When  a  man  destitute  of  benevolence  is  in  a  high 
station,  he  thereby  disseminates  his  wickedness  among  the 
multitudes  [below  him]. 

8.  "  When  the  ruler  has  not  principles  by  which  he  exam- 
ines [his  administration],  and  his  ministers  have  no  laws  by 
which  they  keep  themselves  [in  the  discharge  of  their  duties], 
then  in  the  court  obedience  is  not  paid  to  principle,  and 
in  the  office  obedience  is  not  paid  to  rule.  Superiors  violate 
[the  laws  of]  righteousness,  and  inferiors  violate  the  penal 
laws.  It  is  only  by  a  fortunate  chance  that  a  State  in 
such  a  case  is  preserved. 

9.  "  Therefore  it  is  said,  '  It  is  not  the  interior  and  ex- 
terior walls  being  incomplete,  nor  the  supply  of  weapons  of- 
fensive and  defensive  not  being  large,  which  constitutes  the 
calamity  of  a  State.  It  is  not  the  non-extension  of  the 
cultivable  area,  nor  the  non-accumulation  of  stores  and 
wealth,  which  is  injurious  to  a  State.'  When  superiors  do 
not  observe  the  rules  of  propriety,  and  inferiors  do  not 
learn  [anything better],  then  seditious  people  spring  up,  and 
[that  State]  will  perish  in  no  time. 

10.  ''  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'Heaven  is  now  producing  such  movements  ; — 
Do  not  be  so  indifferent.' 

11.  "  '  Indifferent,'  that  is,  careless  and  dilatory. 

12.  "And  so  may  [those  officers]  be  deemed  who  serve 
their  ruler  without  righteousness,  who  take  office  and  retire 
from  office  without  regard  to  propriety,  and  in  their  words 
disown  the  ways  of  the  ancient  kings. 

Par.  7.  The  "  therefore  "  expresses  a  consequence  from  what  has  been  said 
in  all  the  previous  paragraphs.  "  High  stations  "  sliould  perliaps  be  "  the 
highest  station."     The  ruler  is  indicated. 

Par.  8  is  an  illustration  of  the  concluding  clause  of  par.  7,  showing  how 
wickedness  flows  downwards,  with  its  coiiscciuences. 

Par.  10.  See  the  Slie,  III.  ii.X.  2.— From  this  paragraph  Menciushas  the 
ministers  of  a  ruler  in  view.  They  have  their  duties  to  perform,  in  order 
that  the  benevolent  government  may  be  realized. 

Par.  13.  Compare  II.  ii.  II.  4. 


PT    I.    CH.  II.]  LE    LOW.  235 

13.  '' Therefore  it  is  said,  'To  urge  one's  ruler  to  difficult 
achievements  should  be  called  showing  respect  for  him  ;  to 
set  before  him  whai/  is  good  and  repress  his  perversities 
should  be  called  showing  reverence  for  him.  [He  who  does 
not  do  these  things,  but  says  to  himself],  'My  ruler  is 
incompetent  to  this/  should  be  said  to  play  the  thief  with 
him.'' 

II.  1.  Mencius  said,  "The  compass  and  square  produce 
perfect  circles  and  squares.  By  the  sages  the  human  rela- 
tions are  perfectly  exhibited. 

2.  "  He  who,  as  a  ruler,  would  perfectly  discharge  the 
duties  of  a  ruler,  and  he  who,  as  a  minister,  would  perfectly 
discharge  the  duties  of  a  ministei^,  have  only  to  imitate,— 
the  one  Yaou,  and  the  other  Shun.  He  who  does  not  serve 
his  ruler  as  Shun  served  Yaou  does  not  reverence  his  ruler, 
and  he  who  does  not  rule  the  people  as  Yaou  ruled  them 
injures  his  people. 

3.  "  Confucius  said,  'There  are  but  two  courses,  that  of 
benevolence  and  its  opposite.^ 

4.  "  [A_  ruler]  who  carries  the  oppression  of  his  people  to 
the  highest  pitch  will  himself  be  slain,  and  his  State  will 
perish.  If  one  stop  short  of  the  highest  pitch,  his  life  will 
be  in  danger,  and  his  State  will  be  weakened.  He  will  be 
styled  '  The  Dark '  or  '  The  Cruel ;  '  and  though  he  may 
have  filial  sons  and  affectionate  grandsons,  they  will  not  be 
able  in  a  hundred  generations  to  change  [the  designation] . 

Ch.  II.  A  CONTIXUATIOX  OF  LAST  CHAPTER. — THAT  TaOU  AND  SHUN 
WERE  PERFECT  MODELS  FOR  RULERS  AND  MINISTERS  :  AND  THE  CONSE- 
QUENCES OF  NOT  IMITATING  THEM. 

Par.  1.  The  "human  relations"  ai-e  the  five  specified  in  III.  i.  IV.  8. 
"  The  sages,"  according  to  this  par.,  were  not  only  models  for  rulers  and 
ministers,  but  showed  human  nature  in  all  its  relations  according  to  its 
ideal. 

Par.  2.  We  have  no  particidar  account  of  how  Shun  discharged  his 
duties  as  a  minister,  nor  of  how  Yaou  discharged  his  as  a  ruler.  All  our 
information  about  them  is  comprised  in  a  short  space  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Shoo.  We  must  believe  that  Shun  .was  all  that  a  minister  could  be,  and 
Yaou  all  that  a  ruler  could  be. 

Par.  3.  This  is  a  sajing  of  .Confucius  for  the  preservation  of  which  we 
are  indebted  to  Mencius.  B)'  the  course  of  benevolence  is  intended  the 
imitation  of  Yaou  and  Shun  ;  by  its  opposite  the  neglect  of  them  as  models. 

Par.  4.  By  rulers  who  carry  oppression  to  the  highest  pitch  Mencius  intends 
Keeh  and  Chow,  the  last  sovereigns  of  the  Hea  and  Y"in  dynasties ;  by  "  The 


206  THE   WORKS    OP   MEXCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

5.  "This  is  what  is  intended  in  the  words  of  the  Book  of 
Poetry, 

'The  beacon  of  Yin  is  not  far  distant;  — 
It  is  in  the  age  of  the  [last]  sovereign  of  Hea.'  '.' 

III.  1.  Mencius  said,  "It  was  by  benevolence  that  the 
three  dynasties  gained  the  kingdom,  and  by  not  being 
benevolent  that  they  lost  it. 

2.  "  It  is  in  the  same  way  that  the  decaying  and  flourish- 
ing, the  preservation  and  perishing,  of  States  are  deter- 
mined. 

3.  "  If  the  son  of  Heaven  be  not  benevolent,  he  cannot 
preserve  [all  within]  the  four  seas  [from  passing  from  him] . 
if  a  feudal  prince  be  not  benevolent,  he  cannot  preserve  his 
altars.  If  a  noble  or  great  ofiicer  be  not  benevolent,  he 
cannot  preserve  his  ancestral  temple.  If  a  scholar  or  com- 
mon man  be  not  benevolent,  he  cannot  preserve  his  four 
limbs. 

3.  "Now  they  hate  death  and  ruin,  and  yet  delight  in 
not  being  benevolent ; — this  is  like  hating  to  be  drunk,  and 
yet  being  strong  [to  drink]  sjoirits." 

IV.  1.  Mencias  said,  "  If  a  man  love  others,  and  no  [re- 
sponsive] affection  is  shown  to   him,  let  him  turn  inwards 

Dark "  and  "  Tlie   Cruel,"   he  intends  the  twelfth  and  tenth  kings  of  the 
Cliow  dynasty,  who  received  those  posthumous,  but  indelible,  designations. 
Par.  5.  See  the  She,  III.  iii.  I.  6. 

Ch.  III.  Thb  impobtance  to  all,  but  especially  to  rulers,  op  ex- 
ercising BENEVOLENCE. 

Piir.  1.  "The  three  dynasties"  are  of  course  those  of  Hea,  Shang  or  Yin, 
and  Chow.  It  is  a  bold  utterance,  seeing  that  the  dynasty  of  Chow  was  still 
existing  in  the  time  of  Mencius  ;  but  he  regarded  it  as  old  and  ready  to 
vanish  away. 

Par.  Z.  "  The  four  seas  "  is  here  equivalent  to  "all  beneath  the  sky," 
which  means  the  empire  or  kingdom  of  China.  See  on  the  Shoo,  II.  i.  13. 
"The  altars"  are  in  the  Chinese  text  si)ecilically  those  to  the  spirits  of 
tlie  land  and  the  grain.     The  phrase  is  here  equivalent  to  "  his  State." 

I*(ir.  4  has  for  its  sul)ject  the  princes  of  ]\Iencius'  time. 

Ch.  IV.  With  what  measure  a  man  metes  it  will  hk  measured  to 

HIM  again  ;   ANO  CONSEQUENTLY  BEFORE  A  MAN  DEALS  WITH  OTHERS,  EX- 
PECTING THE.M    TO    BE    AFFECTED    BY  HIM,  HE  SHOULD  FIR.ST   DEAL    WITH 

HIMSELF.     The   sentiment  is  expressed  quite  generally,  but  a  particular  re- 


FT    I.    CH.  VI.]  LE    LOW.  237 

and  examiue  liis  own  benevolence  ;  if  lie  [is  trying  to]  rule 
others,  and  his  government  is  unsuccessful,  let  him  turn  in- 
wards and  examine  his  own  wisdom.  If  he  treats  others 
politely  and  they  do  not  return  his  politeness,  let  him  turn 
inwards  and  examine  his  own  [feeling  of]  respect. 

2.  "  If  wo  do  not  by  what  we  do  realize  [what  we  desire], 
we  should  turn  inwards,  and  examine  ourselves  in  every 
point.  When  a  man  is  himself  correct,  all  under  heaven 
will  turn  to  him  [with  recognition  and  submission]. 

3.  "It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

*  Always  strive  to  accord  witli  the  will  [of  Heaven]  ; 
So  shall  you  be  seekiug  for  much  happiness.'  " 

V.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  People  have  this  common  saying, — 
'  The  kingdom,  the  State,  the.  clan.'  The  root  of  the 
kingdom  is  in  the  State;  the  root  of  the  State  is  in  the 
clan ;  the  root  of  the  clan  is  in  the  person. 

yi.  Mencius  said,  "  The  administration  of  govern- 
Tnent  is  not  difficult ;  it  lies  in  not  offending  against  the 
great  Houses.  He  whom  the  great  Houses  affect  will  be 
affected  by  the  whole  State ;  and  he  whom  a  whole  State 
affects  will  be  affected  by  all  under  heaven.     When  this  is 

ference  is  to  be  understood  to  the  princes  of  the  time.  The  lines  quoted  are 
from  the  She,  III.  i.  I.  6.     They  were  adduced  before  in  II.  i.  IV.  G. 

Cii.  "V.  The  great  thino  to  be  attended  to  is  the  cultivation  of 
PEKSONAL  CHARACTER.  I  think  this  is  the  idea  which  Mencius  had  in  mind 
in  the  words  given  liere.  The  common  saying  to  which  he  refers  was  good 
so  far  as  it  went,  but  it  did  not  go  far  enough.  His  course  of  thought  is 
followed  out  to  greater  length  in  "  The  Great  Learning."  See  the  4th  par.  of 
the  Confucian  Text  there,  and  many  passages  of  the  Commentary. 

Ch.  VI.  The  importance  to  a  ruler  of  securing  the  submission  and 

ESTEEM  OF  THE  GREAT  HOUSES  IN  HIS  STATE. 

The  ruler's  •' not  ofi'ending  the  great  Houses  "means  his  not  doing  any- 
thing that  will  excite  their  resentment,  but  commanding  their  loyal  attach- 
ment by  his  personal  character  and  his  administration.  Choo  He  refers,  in 
illustration  of  the  sentiment,  to  a  story  about  duke  Hwan  of  Ts'e  which  we 
find  in  one  of  the  works  of  Lew  Heang.  The  duke,  we  are  told,  came  one 
day  in  hunting  to  the  district  of  Mih-k'ew,  and  lighted  on  an  old  man,  wlio 
said,  in  answer  to  his  inquiry,  that  he  was  83.  "  A  beautiful  old  age,"  said 
the  duke.  "  I'ray  that  I  may  be  blessed  with  an  equal  longevity."  The  old 
maa  accordingly  prayed,  "  May  his  lordship,  my  ruler,  live  to  a  very  great 


238  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

the  case,  [sucli  an  one's]  virtue  and  teachings  "will "  spread 
over  [all  within]  the  four  seas  like  the  rush  of  water/' 

yil.  1.  Mencius  said,  "When  right  government  prevails 
throughout  the  kingdom,  [princes  of]  little  virtue  are  sub- 
missive to  those  of  great,  and  [those  of]  little  worth  to  [those 
of]  great.  When  bad  government  prevails,  the  small  are 
submissive  to  the  large,  and  the  weak  to  the  strong.  Both 
these  cases  are  [the  law  of]  Heaven.  They  who  accord 
with  Heaven  are  preserved ;  they  who  rebel  against  Heaven 
perish. 

2.  "  Duke  King  of  Ts'e  said, '  Not  to  be  able  to  command 

age,  deijpising  gold  and  gems,  and  counting  men  his  jewels !  "  The  duke 
said,  "Good  !  But  the  highest  virtue  is  not  found  alone  ;  good  words  must 
be  repeated.  Do  you.  Sir,  pra}'  for  me  a  second  time."  The  man  did  so, 
saying,  "  May  his  lordship,  my  ruler,  not  be  ashamed  to  learn,  nor  dislike  to 
ask  his  inferiors,  have  men  of  worth  by  his  side,  and  give  access  to  such  as 
will  admonish  him  !  "  The  duke  expressed  his  satisfaction  with  this  iirayer 
in  nearly  the  same  terms  as  before,  and  asked  the  old  man  to  pray  for  him 
a  third  time.  The  man  complied,  and  said,  "  May  his  lordship,  my  ruler, 
not  offend  against  his  ministers  and  the  people  !  "  The  duke  changed  colour 
at  these  words,  and  said,  "  I  have  heard  that  a  son  may  offend  against  hia 
lather,  and  a  minister  against  his  ruler,  but  I  have  not  heard  of  a  ruler's 
offending  against  his  minister  ; — this  prayer  is  not  of  a  piece  with  the  two 
former  ones.  Please  to  change  it."  The  old  mun  knelt  down  in  obeisance, 
and  then  stood  up  and  said,  "  This  prayer  is  superior  to  the  two  former  ones. 
A  son  who  has  oflended  against  his  fatlier  may  apologize  through  his  aunts 
and  uncles,  and  the  father  can  forgive  him.  A  minister  who  lias  offended 
against  his  rulur  may  apologize  through  his  ruler's  familiar  attendants,  and 
be  forgiven.  But  when  K'eeh  offended  against  T'ang,  and  Chow  offended 
against  king  Woo,  these  were  cases  of  rulers  offuhding  against  their  nobles. 
There  were  none  through  whom  they  could  a|)ologize ;  the  ofi'ences  were 
never  forgiven,  and  the  retribution  for  them  continues  to  the  present  day." 
The  duke  acknowledged  the  truth  of  what  the  man  said,  and  showed  to  him 
great  lionour. 

Ch.  VII.  Thk  will  of  IIeavicn  in  regakd  to  the  subjection  of  one 
State  to  another  is  vauioisly  inukated,  ani>  depends  on  certain 
conditions  ;  which  existing,  t\iv.  result  cannot  he  avoided.  a 
ruincks  only  security  for  safety  and  imtosl'erity  is  in  being  bene- 
VOLENT. 

I'ar.  1.  "Both  these  cases  are  [the  law  of]  Heaven:" — Heaven,  it  is 
said,  embraces  here  the  ideas  of  what  must  be  in  reason,  and  the  different 
powers  of  the  contrasted  States.  This  is  true  ;  in  a  virtuous  age,  the  great- 
est virtue  will  influence  the  most,  and  in  a  bad  age,  the  greatest  strength 
will  prevail.  But  why  sink  the  idea  of  a  Providential  government  which  is 
implied  in  "  Heaven  "  ? 

J^ur.  2.   Duke  King  of  Ts'e  has  been  mentioned  already  in  I.  ii.  IV.  4,  et 


PT    I.    CH.  VII.]  LE    LOW.  239 

[others],  and  further  to  refuse  to  receive  their  commands, 
is  to  cut  one's-self  off  from  all  intercourse  with  them/ 
His  tears  flowed  forth,  and  he  gave  his  daughter  in  mar- 
riage to  [the  prince  of]  Woo. 

3.  "  Now  the  small  States  take  for  their  models  the  large 
States,  but  are  ashamed  to  receive  their  commands  ; — this  is 
like  scholars  being  ashamed  to  receive  the  commands  of  their 
master. 

4.  "For  [a  prince]  who  is  ashamed  of  this,  the  best  plan 
is  to  make  king  Wan  his  model.  Let  one  take  king  Wan  as 
his  model  and  m  five  years,  if  his  State  be  large,  or  in  seven 
years,  if  it  be  small,  he  will  be  sure  to  give  law  to  all  under 
heaven. 

5.  "It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  The  descendants  of  [the  sovereigns  of]  Shang 
Were  more  in  number  than  a  hundred  thousand  ; 
But  when  God  gave  the  command, 
They  became  subject  to  Chow. 

'Tliey  became  subject  to  Chow. 
The  appointment  of  Heaven  is  not  constant. 
The  officers  of  Yin,  admirable  and  alert, 
Assist  at  the  libations  in  our  capital.' 

Confucius  said,  '  As  [against  so]  benevolent  [a  ruler^  the 
multitudes]  could  not  be  deemed  multitudes.'  If  the  ruler 
of  a  State  love  benevolence^  he  will  have  no  opponent  under 
heaven. 

al.  The  affair  here  referred  to  does  not  appear  in  the  Tso  Clmen,  but  is 
mentioned  by  Low  Hcang  and  other  writers.  The  duke,  it  appears,  pur- 
chased peace  from  Hoh-leu,  king  of  Woo  as  he  called  himself,  by  sending 
his  daughter  to  Woo  to  be  married  to  his  son.  Woo,  corresponding  to  the 
northern  part  of  Cheh-keang  and  the  south  of  Kcang-soo,  was  still  con- 
sidered a  barbarous  State  in  the  time  of  Confucius,  and  the  civilized  States  of 
Chow  were  ashamed  to  have  dealings  with  it  on  equal  terms.  The  princess 
of  Ts'e  mentioned  here  soon  pined  away  and  died,  and  was  followed  to  the 
grave  ere  long  by  her  husband,  the  old  barbarian  king  showing  much  sym- 
pathy with  her  case. 

Par.  3.  The  smaller  States  followed  tlio  example  of  the  larger  in  what 
•Nvas  evil,  and  yet  were  ashamed  to  submit  to  them. 

Parr.  4,  5.  See  the  She,  III.  i.  I.  stt.  4,  5.  We  are  to  understand  that 
the  remark  of  Confucius  was  made  on  reading  the  stanzas  of  the  ode  just 
referred  to : — Against  a  benevolent  prince,  like  king  Wan,  the  myriads  of 
the  adherents  of  the  Shang  dynasty  ceased  to  be  myriads.  They  would  not 
act  against  him. 


240  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

6.  "  Xow-a-days,  they  wish  to  have  no  opponent  under 
heaven,  but  [they  do]  not  [seek  to  attain  this]  by  being 
benevolent ; — this  is  like  trying  to  hold  a  heated  substance, 
without  having  dipped  it  m  water.  It  is  said  in  the  Book 
of  Poetry, 

'Who  can  hold  anything  liot  ? 
Must  he  not  dip  it  [first]  in  water? '  " 

Vm.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  How  is  it  possible  to  speak  with 
[princes]  who  are  not  benevolent  ?  Their  perils  they  count 
safety,  their  calamities  they  count  profitable,  and  they  de- 
light in  the  things  by  which  they  are  going  to  ruin.  If  it 
were  possible  to  talk  with  them  who  [so]  violate  benevo-- 
lence,  how  should  we  have  such  ruin  of  States  and  de- 
struction of  families  ? 

2.  "  There  Was  a  boy  singing, 

'When  the  water  of  the  Ts'ang-lang  is  clear, 
It  does  to  wash  the  strings  of  my  cap  ; 
When  the  water  of  the  Ts'ang-laug  is  muddy, 
It  does  to  wash  my  feet.' 

3.  '^  Confucius  said,  '  Hear  what  he  says,  my  children  : — 
when  clear,  to  wash  the  cap  strings ;  when  muddy,  to  wash 
the  feet.'  [This  different  application]  is  brought  [by  the 
water]  on  itself. 

4.  "A  man  must  [first]  despise  himself,  and  then  others 
will  despise  him.  A  family  must  [first]  overthrow  itself, 
and  then  others  will  overthrow  it.  A  State  must  [first] 
smite  itself,  and  then  others  will  smite  it. 

5.  "  This  is  illustrated  by  the  passage  in  the  T^ae-keah, 
'  Calamities  sent  by  Heaven  may  be  avoided  ;  but  when  wo 
bring  on  the  calamities  ourselves,  it  is  not  possible  to  live.'  " 

Par.  6.  See  the  She,  HE.  iii.  III.  5,  with  the  remarks  which  I  have  there 
made  in  Vol.  IV.,  of  my  larger  Work,  on  the  passage. 

Ch.  VIII.  That  a  prince  is  the  agent  of  nis  own  euin  bv  his 
Vicious  ways  and  his  ukfusing  to  be  counsel,i,p:d. 

Par.  2.  The  name  Ts'ang-Iaiig  is  found  aj)plied  to  different  streams.  One 
is  mentioned  in  the  Shoo,  III.  i.  Pt  II.  8  ;  hut  the  one  in  the  text  was  pro- 
bably in  Shan-tung,  in  the  present  district  of  Yih,  department  Yen-chow. 

Par.  3.  The  boy  was  singing  without  any  tliought  of  the  meaning  which 
the  .sage  could  find  in  his  words,  and  of  the  expansion  of  that  meaning 
which  our  jdiilosopher  would  give. 

Pur,  o.  See  on  II.  i.  IV.  G. 


PT  I.    Cn.  IX.]  LE   LOW.  241 

IX.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Keeli  and  Chow's  losing  tlie  king- 
dom arose  from  their  losing  the  people ;  and  to  lose  the  peo- 
ple means  to  lose  their  hearts.  There  is  a  way  to  get  the 
kingdom  ; — get  the  people,  and  the  kingdom  is  got.  There 
is  a  way  to  get  the  people  ; — get  their  hearts,  and  the  peo- 
ple are  got.  There  is  a  way  to  get  their  hearts  ; — it  is 
simply  to  collect  for  them  what  they  desire,  and  not  to  lay 
on  them  what  they  dislike.  . 

2.  "  The  people  turn  to  a  benevolent  [rule]  as  water  flows 
downwards,  and  as  wild  beasts  run  to  the  wikls. 

3.  "  Accordingly  [as]  the  otter  aids  the  deep  waters,  driv- 
ing the  fish  to  them,  and  [as]  the  hawk  aids  the  thickets, 
'di-iving  the  little  birds  to  them,  [so]  did  Keeh  and  Chow  aid 
T'ang  and  Woo,  driving  the  people  to  them. 

4.  "  If  among  the  present  rulers  throughout  the  kingdom 
there  were  one  who  loved  benevolence,  all  the  [other]  princes 
would  aid  him  by  driving  the  people  to  him.  Although  he 
wished  not  to  exercise  the  royal  sway,  he  could  not  avoid 
doing  so." 

5.  "'  The  case  of  [one  of  the]  present  [princes]  wishing 
to  attain  to  the  royal  sway  is  like  the  having  to  seek  for 
mugwort  three  years  old  to  cure  a  seven  years^  illness.  If 
it  have  not  been  kept  in  store,  the  whole  life  may  pass  with- 
out-getting  it.  If  [the  princes]  do  not  set  their  minds  on 
a  benevolent  [government],  all  their  days  will  be  in  soitow 
and  disgrace,  till  they  are  involved  in  death  and  ruin. 

Ch.  IX.  Being  benevolext  is  the  sure  way  for  a  ruler  to  rise 

TO  THE  HEIGHT  OF  THE  ROYAL  DIGXITY ;  AND  IS  MOREOVER  THE  ONLY 
WAY  TO  AVOID  DEATH  AND  RUIN. 

Par.  1.  Clioo  He  illustrates  what  is  said  here  about  getting  the  people's 
hearts  by  what  we  find  in  the  Biograpliies  of  the  Books  of  Han  about  Cii'aou 
Ts'oh,  wiio  is  mentioned  in  the  Prolegomena  to  the  Shoo,  in  mj'  larger  Work,  p. 
16,  in  connexion  witli  the  recovery  of  some  of  the  books  of  that  classic  through 
the  scholar  Fuh-siing.  Tlie  traniiuillity  of  the  kingdom,  according  to  Ts'oh, 
depended  on  its  government  being  administered  in  harmony  with  the  feelings 
of  the  peojile.  "  By  those  feelings,"  said  Ts'oh,  "  people  are  desirous  of 
longevity,  and  the  three  kings  cherished  the  people's  lives  and  allowed  no 
injur)''  to  hajjpen  to  them.  They  are  desirous  of  riches,  and  the  three  kings 
■were  generous,  and  subjected  them  to  no  straits.  They  are  desirous  of  securi- 
ty, of  ease,  &c.,  and  the  three  kings  secured  to  them  the  enjoyment  of 
these." 

Par,  5.  The  down  of  the  mugwort  burnt  on  the  skin  was  and  is  used  for 
purposes  of  cautery.  The  older  the  plant,  the  more  valuable  for  this  appli- 
cation. And  the  longer  any  disease  in  which  it  could  be  employed  hud 
VOL.  II.  16 


2i2  THE    WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [r,K    17. 

6.  "  This  is  illustrated  by  what  is  said  in  the  Book  of 
Poetry, 

'  How  can  j-ou  [b}--  your  method]  bring  a  good  state  of  affairs  about  ? 
You  [and  your]  advisers  will  sink  together  in  ruin.'  " 

X.  1.  Mencius  said,  ^^  With  those  who  do  viv-)lence  to 
themselves  it  is  impossible  to  speak.  With  those  who  throw 
themselves  away  it  is  impossible  to  do  anything.  To  dis- 
own in  his  conversation  propriety  and  righteousness  is  what 
we  mean  by  saying  of  a  man  that  he  does  violence  to  him- 
self; that  [he  says],  '  I  am  not  able  to  dwell  in  benevolence 
and  pursue  the  path  of  righteousness '  is  what  wo  mean  by 
saying  of  a  man  that  he  throws  himself  away. 

2.  ^'  Benevolence  is  the  tranquil  habitation  of  man,  and 
righteousness  is  his  straight  path. 

3.  "■  Alas  for  those  who  leave  the  tranquil  dwelling  empty 
and  do  not  reside  in  it,  and  who  neglect  the  straight  path  and 
do  not  pursue  it !  " 

XT.  ]\Iencius  said,  "The  path  [of  duty]  is  in  what  is 
neai',  and  [men]  seek  for  it  in  what  is  remote.  The  work 
[of  duty]  is  in  what  is  easy,  and  [men]  seek  for  it  in  what 
is  difficult.  If  each  man  would  love  his  parents,  and  show 
the  due  respect  to  his  elders,  all-under-heaven  good  order 
would  prevail." 

existed,  the  more  desirable  it  was  to  get  the  most  effi^ctunl  remedy  for  it. 
The  kingdom  and  each  State  had  long  been  suffering  from  cruel  and  op- 
pressive government,  and  their  cure  must  come  from  a  benevolent  rule 
long  pursued  and  consolidated.     This  seems  to  be  Mencius'  idea. 

Par.  C.  See  the  She,  III.  iii.  III.  5.  The  lines  immediately  follow  the  two 
quoted  at  the  end  of  ch.  vii. 

CH.  X.  A  WARNING  TO  THE  VIOLENTLY  EVIL  AND  THE  WEAKLY  E\^L. 
Choo  He  concludes  his  comments  here  with  the  words  : — "  Tliis  chapter 
tells  us  that  tlic  principles  of  rectitude  and  virtue  do  originally  belong  to 
human  nature,  while  men  extinguish  them  by  their  voluntary  act.  Profound 
is  the  caution  here  conveyed  by  the  sages  and  worthies,  and  learners  ought 
to  give  the  most  earnest  heed  to  it." 

Ch.  XI.  The  way  of  duty  is  not  far  to  seek  ;  and  the  tranquil 

PROSPERITY  OF  THE  KINGDOM  DEPENDS  ON  THE  DISCHARGE  OF  THE  COMMON 

itKLATiONS  OF  LIFE.  Compare  the  lUth,  13th,  and  several  other  chapters  of 
"  The  Doctrine  of  the  Mean." 


TT    I.    Cn.  XIII.]  LE    LOW.  2ij 

XII.  1.  When  those  occupylnf^  inferior  situations  do  not 
obtain  the  confidence  of  their  superior,  they  cannot  succeed 
in  governing  the  people.  There  is  a  way  to  obtain  the  con- 
fidence of  the  superior  ; — if  one  is  not  trusted  by  his  friends, 
he  will  not  obtain  the  confidence  of  his  superior.  There  is 
a  way  to  being  trusted  by  one's  friends  ; — if  one  do  not  serve 
his  parents  so  as  to  make  them  pleased,  he  will  not  be 
ti'usted  by  his  friends.  Thei-e  is  a  way  to  make  one's  parents 
pleased  ; — if  one  on  turning  his  thoughts  inwards  finds  a 
want  of  sincerity,  he  will  not  give  pleasure  to  his  parents. 
There  is  a  way  to  the  attainment  of  sincerity  in  one's-self ; 
— if  a  man  do  not  understand  what  is  good,  he  will  not 
attain  to  sincerity  in  himself. 

2.  "  Therefore  sincerity  is  the  way  of  Heaven ;  and  to 
think  [how]  to  be  sincere  is  the  way  of  man." 

3.  "  Never  was  there  one  possessed  of  complete  sincerity 
who  did  not  move  [others] .  Never  was  there  one  without 
sincerity  who  yet  was  able  to  move  others." 

XIII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Pih-e,  that  he  might  avoid 
Chow,  was  dwelling  on  the  coast  of  the  northern  sea. 
When  he  heard  of  the  rise  of  king  Wan,  he  roused  himself 
and  said,  '  Why  should  I  not  attach  myself  to  him  ?  I  have 
heard  that  the  chief  of  the  West  knows  well  how  to  nourish 
the  old.'.  T'^ac-kung,  that  he  might  avoid  Chow,  was  dwell- 
ing on  the  west  coast  of  the  eastern  sea.     When  he  heard 

Ch.  XII.  The  great  work  of  every  man  should  be  to  try  to  at- 
tain COMPLETE  SINCERITY  IN  HIMSELF,  WHICH  WILL  GIVE  HIM  A  FAK- 
reaching  POWER  OVER  OTHERS.  Compare  the  17th  and  ISth  paragraphs 
of  the  20th  chapter  of  "  The  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,"  which  are  here  sub- 
stantially quoted.  As  that  chapter,  however,  is  also  found  in  the  "  Family- 
Sayings,"  Mencius  may  have  had  the  fragmentary  memorabilia  of  Confucius, 
from  which  that  compilation  was  made,  before  him,  and  not  the  Chung 
Yung. 

Ch.  XIII.  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  KING  WaN  IN  ITS  ASPECT  TOWARDS 
THE  AGED  AND  HELPLESS  ;  AND  THE  INFLUENCE  WHICH  ^VNY  GOVERNMENT 
LIKE  IT  WOULD  PRODUCE. 

Par.  1.  Pih-e  ;— See  II.  i.  II.  22  ;  IX.  i.;  III.  ii.  X.  3.  What  is  here  called 
the  northern  sea  must  be,  I  think,  the  northern  part  of  the  gulf  of  Pih-chih- 
le.  T'ae-kung  is  Leu  Shang,  a  great  counsellor  of  the  kings  Wan  and  Woo. 
He  claimed  to  be  descended  from  one  of  Yu's  assistants  in  the  regulation  of 
the  waters,  from  whom  he  had  the  surname  of  Keang ;  and  some  member  of 
the  family  had  been  invested  with  the  principality  of  Leu,  so  that  Leu  be- 


2U  THE    WORKS    OP    MENCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

of  the  rise  of  king  Wan,  lie  I'ousod  himself  and  said,  '  Why- 
should  I  nofc  attach  myself  to  him  ?  I  have  heard  that  the 
chief  of  the  West  knows  well  how  to  nourish  the  old/ 

2.  "These  two  old  men  were  the  greatest  old  men  in 
the  kingdom.  When  they  attached  themselves  to  [king 
Wan]  it  Avas  [like]  all  the  fathers  in  the  kingdom  taking 
his  side.  When  the  fathers  of  the  kingdom  joined  him, 
to  whom  could  the  sons  go  ? 

3.  "  Were  any  of  the  princes  to  practise  the  government 
of  king  Wan,  within  seven  years  he  would  be  sure  to  be 
giving  law  to  all  under  heaven.^' 

XIV.  ] .  Mencius  said,  "  K'cw  acted  as  chief  ofl&cer  to 
the  Head  of  the  Ke  family,  whose  [evil]  ways  he  was  unable 

came  a  clan-narrie  or  second  surname  of  his  descendants.  The  legend  goes 
that  king  Wan  first  met  with  T'ae-kung  as  a  fisherman  on  the  banks  of  tlie 
Wei,  which  is  not  according  to  the  account  of  Mencius  Iiere,  which  would 
make  us  suppose  that  he  was  living  somewhere  in  the  east  of  the  present  Shan- 
tung when  he  went  over  to  the  side  of  Wan.  King  Wan  had  been  warned 
by  an  oracle  that  he  was  to  meet  with  a  jjowerful  assistant  on  the  day  th:it 
he  encountered  T'ae-kung,  and  accordingly  ho  said  to  him,  "  Jly  grandfather 
expected  you  long,"  which  led  to  his  beingcalled  T'ae-kung  Wang,  or  "  Grand- 
father Hope."  Though  Pih-e  and  T'ae-kung  are  here  represented  as  led  to 
king  Wan  in  the  same  way,  their  subsequent  course  and  relation  to  the  new 
dynasty  of  Chow  were  very  different.  Pih-e  would  not  sanction  the  over- 
throw of  the  Shang  dynasty,  while  T'ae-kung  acted  an  important  part  in  that 
achievement,  and  was  rewarded  with  the  marquisate  of  Ts'e.  Wan  is  here 
styled  "  Chief  of  the  West,"  because  he  was  appointed  by  the  sovereign  of 
Shang  his  viceroy  or  chief  over  all  the  States  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom. 
Wan's  government  is  spoken  of  here  only  in  its  relation  to  the  aged,  but  we 
must  consider  that  term  as  embracing  other  helpless  classes  ; — see  the  de- 
cription  in  1.  ii.  V.  3. 

Par.  2.  On  this  par.  the  "  Daily  Explanation  "  says  : — "Moreover  these 
two  old  men  were  not  ordinary  men.  Distinguished  alike  by  age  and  virtue, 
they  wore  the  greatest  old  men  of  the  kingdom.  Fit  to  be  so  named,  the 
hopes  of  all  looked  to  them,  and  tlie  hearts  of  all  were  bound  to  them.  All 
under  heaven  looked  up  to  them  as  fathers,  and  felt  as  their  children,  so  tliat 
when  they  were  moved  b)'  the  government  of  king  Wan,  and  came  to  him 
from  the  coasts  of  the  sea,  how  could  the  children  leave  their  fathers  and  go 
to  any  other  ?  " 

Pur.  3.  Compare  what  Confucius  says  of  the  results  which  he  could  pro- 
duce if  he  were  put  in  charge  of  the  government  of  a  State,  in  Ana.  XIII.  x., 
et  al. 

Ch.  xrv.  Against  the  ministers  of  the  time,  who  pursued  theib 

WARLIKE  AND  OTHER  SCHEMES,  BEGAEDLESS  OF  THE  LIVES  AND  HAITINEdS 
OF  THE  PEOl'LE. 


PT    r.    CH.  XV.]  LE    LOW.  215 

to  change,  while  he  exacted  from  the  people  double  the 
grain  which  the}''  had  formerly  paid.  Confucius  said,  '  He 
is  no  disciple  of  mine.  Little  children,  beat  the  drum  and 
assail  him.^ 

2.  "  Looking  at  the  subject  from  this  case,  [we  perceive 
that]  when  a  ruler  who  was  not  practising  benevolent 
government,  all  [his  ministers]  who  enriched  him  were  dis- 
owned by  Confucius; — how  much  more  [would  he  have  dis- 
owned] those  who  are  vehement  to  fight  [for  their  ruler]  ! 
Some  contention  about  territory  is  the  ground  on  which  they 
figlit,  and  they  slaughter  men  till  the  fields  are  filled  with 
tliem  ;  or  they  fight  for  the  possession  of  some  fortified  city, 
and  slaughter  men  till  the  walls  are  covered  with  them.  This 
is  what  is  called  '  leading  land  on  to  devour  human  flesh.' 
Death  is  not  enough  for  such  a  crime. 

3.  "  Therefore  those  who  are  skilful  to  fight  should  suffer 
the  highest  punishment.  Next  to  them  [should  be  punish- 
ed] those  who  unite  the  princes  in  leagues ;  and  next  to 
them,  those  who  take  in  grassy  wastes,  and  impose  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  ground  [upon  the  people] ." 

XV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Of  all  the  parts  of  a  man's  [body] 
there  is  none  more  excellent  thaa  the  pupil  of  the  eye.  The 
pupil  cannot  [be  used  to]  hide  a  man's  wickedness.  If  with- 
in the  breast  [all]  be  correct,  the  pupil  is  bright ;  if  within 
the  breast  [all]  be  not  correct,  the  pupil  is  dull. 

2.  "Listen  to  a  man's  words,  and  look  at  the  pupil  of  his 
eye  ; — how  can  a  man  conceal  [his  character]  ?  " 

Par.  1.  For  the  case  of  K'cw  or  Yen  Yew,  see  the  Ana.  XI.  xvi.  See  also 
the  last  narrative  of  the  Tso  Chuen  under  the  11th  year  of  duke  Gae. 

Par.  2.  "  Leading  on  land  to  devour  human  flesh  ;  "  this  is  a  striking 
variation  of  the   language  in  I.  i.  IV.  4,  ef  al. 

Par.  3.  Here  we  have  three  classes  of  adventurers  who  were  rife  in 
Mencius'  times,  and  who  recommended  themselves  to  the  princes  of  the 
States  in  the  wa)'s  described,  pursuing  the  while  their  own  ends,  and  regard- 
less of  the  people.  Some  advanced  themselves  by  their  skill  in  war  ;  some  by 
their  talents  for  intrigue,  forming  confederacies  among  the  States,  especially 
to  oppose  the  encroachments  of  Ts'in  ;  and  some  by  their  plans  to  make  the 
most  of  the  ground,  turning  ever}'  bit  of  it  to  account,  but  for  the  good  of 
the  ruler,  not  of  the  people. 

Ch.  XV.  The  pupil  op  the  eye  the  index  of  the  mixd  and  heaet. 
This  chapter  is  to  be  understood  as  spoken  by  Jlencius  for  the  use  of  those 
who  thought  they  had  only  to  hear  men's  words  to  judge  of  them.  Comiiare 
Ana.  II.  X. 


2-iG  THE   WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [eK    IV. 

XVI.  Mcncius  said,  ''  The  courtoous  do  not  insult  others, 
aud  the  economical  do  not  plunder  others.  The  ruler  who 
treats  men  with  insult  and  phmders  them  is  only  afraid  that 
they  will  not  prove  submissive  to  him ; — ^liow  can  he  be  re- 
garded as  courteous  or  economical  ?  How  can  courtesy  and 
economy  be  made  out  of  tones  of  the  voice  and  a  smiling 
manner  ?  " 

XVII.  1.  Shun-yuK'wan  said,  '^  Is  it  the  rule  that  males 
and  females  shall  not  allow  their  hands  to  touch  in  giving 
or  receiving  anything  ?  '^  Mencius  replied,  "  It  is  the  rule.'" 
"  If  aman\s  sister-in-law  be  drowning,^'  asked  KSvan,  "shall 
he  rescue  her  by  the  hand?"  [Mencius]  said,  "  He  who 
would  not  [so]  rescue  his  drowning  sister-in-law  would  be  a 
wolf.  For  males  and  females  not  to  allow  their  hands  to 
touch  in  giving  and  receiving  is  the  [general]  rule ;  to 
rescue  by  the  hand  a  drowning  sister-in-law  is  a  peculiar 
exigency. 

2.  [K'wan]  said,  '^Now  the  whole  kingdom  is  drowning; 
and  how  is  it  that  you.  Master,  will  not  rescue  it  ?  " 

3.  [Mencius]  replied,  ''A  drowning  kingdom  must  be 
rescued  by  right  principles,  as  a  drowning  sister-in-law  has 
to  be  rescued  by  the  hand.  Do  you,  Sir,  wish  me  to  rescue 
the  kingdom  with  my  hand  ?  " 

Ch.  XVI.  Deeds,  not  words  or  manner,  necessary  to  prove  men- 
tal QUALITLES.  The  fir.st  senteuce  is  as  general  in  the  original  as  in  the 
translation,  but  all  the  Chinese  critics  say  tliat  the  statements  are  to  be 
understood  of  the  princes  of  Mencius'  time,  who  made  great  pretensions  to 
courtesy  and  econom}',  of  which  their  actions  proved  the  insincerity.  But 
I  think  the  propositions  in  the  first  senti'iice  are  quite  general.  Our  pliilo- 
Bopher  proceeds  to  make  the  application  of  them. 

Ch.  XVII.  Help— EFFECTUAL  help— can  be  given  to  the  world 

ONLY  in  HARMONY  WITH  RIGHT  AND  PROl'RIETY. 

Par.  1.  8hun-yu  K'wsin  was  a  native  of  T.s'e,  a  famous  sophist,  and 
otherwise  a  nian  of  note  in  liis  day.  .See  liis  hiography  in  the  Vli'Ah  Book 
of  the  "  Historical  llecords."  He  here  tries  (o  entra[)  Mencius  into  a  con- 
fe.ssion  that  he  did  not  do  well  in  maintaining  the  dignity  of  re.serve,  which 
marked  hira  in  his  intercourse  with  tlie  princes.  For  the  rule  of  propriety 
referred  to,  see  the  Le  Ke,  I.  ii.  31. 

Par.  3.  Choo  He  expands  here  : — "  The  drowning  kingdom  can  be  rescued 
only  ijy  right  principles ; — the  case  is  dilferent  from  that  of  a  drowning 
sister-in-law  who  can  be  rescued  with  the  hand.  Now  you,  wishing  to 
rescue  the  kingdom,  would  have  me,  in  violation  of  right  principles,  seek 
albance  with  the  princes,  and  so   begin  by  losing  tha  means  wherewith  it 


PT    I.    Cfl.  XrX.]  LE   LOW.  217 

XVm.  1.  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  said,  "Why  is  it  that  the 
superior  man  does  not  [himself]  teach  his  son  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  repliedj  "  The  circumstances  of  the  case  for- 
bid its  being  done.  A  teacher  must  inculcate  what  is  cor- 
rect. Doing  this,  and  his  lesson  not  being-  learned,  he 
follows  it  up  with  being  angry ;  and  through  thus  being 
angry,  he  is  offended,  contrary  to  what  should  be,  [with 
his  pupil] .  [At  the  same  time,  the  pupil]  says,  *  My  master 
inculcates  on  me  what  is  correct,  and  he  himself  does  not 
proceed  in  a  correct  path.'  Thus  father  and  son  would  be 
offended  with  each  other,  but  when  father  and  son  come  to 
be  offended  with  each  other,  tlie  case  is  evil. 

3.  "  The  ancients  exchanived  sons,  and  one  tauofht  the  son 
of  another. 

4.  "  Between  ftither  and  son  there  should  be  no  reproving 
admonitions  as  to  what  is  good.  Such  reproofs  lead  to 
alienation ;  and  than  alienation  there  is  nothing  more  inaus- 
picious.'^ 

XIX.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Of  services  which  is  the 
greatest  ?  The  service  of  parents  is  the  greatest.  Of 
charges  which  is  the  greatest  ?  The  charge  of  one's  self  is 
the  greatest.  That  those  who  do  not  fail  to  keep  them- 
selves are  able  to  serve  their  parents  is  what  I  have  heard. 

might  be  rescued  ; — do  j'ou  wish  to  make  me  rescue  the  kingdom  with  the 
hand  ?  "     I  do  not  see  the  point  of  the  last  question. 

Ch.  XVIII.  The  reason  why  a  father  should  not  himself  under- 
take THE  TEACHING  OF  HIS  SON.  But  the  assertion  of  Kung-sun  Ch'ow 
is  not  to  be  taken  in  all  its  generality.  Confucius  taught  his  son,  and  so 
did  other  famous  men  their  sons.  Of  the  statement  in  par.  3  about  the 
custom  of  antiquit}'  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  proof  or  illustration. 

Par.  2.  "  The  circumstances  of  the  case  "  here  refer  to  that  of  a  stupid 
or  perverse  child. 

Par.  3.  The  commentators  all  say  that  "  the  exchanging  of  sons  "  merely 
means  that  the  ancients  sent  out  their  sons  to  be  taught  awaj'  from  home  by 
masters.  It  is  difticult  to  see  what  else  the  expression  can  mean,  though 
this  is  explaining  away  the  force  of  the  term  "  exchanged." 

CiL  XIX.  The  importance  of  ser\in^o  one's  parents,  and  how  the 
duty  should  be  performed.  in  order  to  discharge  it  we  must 
watch  over  ourselves.      Illustrated  in  the  cases  of  Tsang-tsze 

AND  his  son. 

Par.  1.  By  '"services"  we  are  to  understand  the  duties  of  service  which 
a  man  has  to  render  to  others,  and  by  "  charges,"  what  a  man  has  to  guaid 


248  THE   WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK  IV. 

[But]  I  have  never  lieard  of  any  who,  having  failed  to  keep 
themselves,  were  able  [notwithstanding-]  to  serve  their  pa- 
rents. 

2.  "Everything  [done]  is  a  service,  but  the  service  of  pa- 
rents is  the  root  of  all  others.  Everything  [obligatory]  is 
a  charge,  but  the  charge  of  one's  self  is  the  root  of  all 
others. 

3.  "  Tsang-tsze,  in  nourishing  Tsang  Seih,  was  always  sure 
to  have  spirits  and  flesh  provided.  And  when  they  were 
about  to  be  removed,  he  would  ask  respectfully  to  whom 
[what  was  left]  should  be  given.  If  [his  father]  asked 
whether  there  was  anything  left,  he  was  sure  to  say,  '  There 
is.'  After  the  death  of  Tsang  Seih,  when  Tsang  Yuen  came 
to  nourish  Tsang-tsze,  he  was  sure  to  have  spirits  and  flesh 
provided  ;  but  when  the  things  were  about  to  be  removed,  he 
did  not  ask  to  whom  [what  was  left]  should  be  given,  and 
if  [his  father]  asked  whether  there  was  anything  left,  he 
Avould  answer,  'No;' — intending  to  bring  them  on  again. 
This  was  what  is  called — '  nourishing  the  mouth  and  body.'' 
We  may  call  Tsang-tsze's  practice — 'nourishing  the  will.' 

4.  "  To  serve  one's  father  as  Tsang-tsze  sei'ved  his  may 
[be  prQpounced  filial  piety].-" 

XX.    Mencius  said,  "  It  is   not    enough  to  reprove    [a 

and  keep.  The  "  keeping  one's  self  "  is  the  holding  one's  self  aloof  from 
all  unrighteousness. 

Par.  2.  "  The  service  of  parents  "  is  represented  as  the  "root  of  all  other 
services,"  according  to- the  Chinese  doctrine  of  filial  piety  ; — see  the  "  Chissic 
of  Filial  Piety,"  2^assi/«.  There  is  more  truth  in  the  2nd  part  of  the  para- 
graph. 

Par.  3.  Seih  was  the  father  of  the  more  celebrated  Tsang-tsze,  or  Tsang 
Sin  ; — see  the  Ana.  XI.  xxv.  "  Nourishing  the  will  "  means  gratifying, 
carrying  out,  and  fostering  the  father's  wishes. 

Ou  par.  4  Choo  He  quotes  the  following  words  from  one  of  the  brothers 
Ch'ing  : — "To  .serve  one's  father  as  Tsang  Sin  did  his  may  be  called  the 
height  of  filial  piety,  and  yet  Mencius  says  only  that  it  might  be  accepted 
as  that  virtue.  Did  he  really  think  that  there  was  something  superero- 
gatory in  T.sang's  service?"  Possibly  Mencius  may  have  been  referring  to 
Tsang's-tsze's  disclaimer  of  being  considered  a  model  of  filial  piety.  See 
the  Le  Ke,  XXI.  ii.  14,  where  Tsang-tsze  says,  "What  the  suiierior  man 
calls  filial  piety  is  to  anticipate  the  wishes  and  carry  out  the  mind  of  one's 
parents,  always  leading  them  on  in  what  is  right  and  true.  I  am  only  one 
who  nourishes  his  parents  ; — how  can  I  be  deemed  filial  ? " 

Ch.  XX.    A  TRULY  GREAT  MINISTER  -WILL  DIRECT  HIS  EFFORTS  NOT   SO 


PT   I.    CH,  XXIV.]  LE    LOW.  24-9 

ruler]  on  account  of  [his  mal-employment  of]  men^  nor  to 
blame  [errors  of]  government.  It  is  only  the  great  man 
who  can  correct  what  is  wrong  in  the  ruler's  mind.  Let  the 
ruler  be  beuevolent,  and  all  [his  acts]  will  be  benevolent. 
Let  the  ruler  be  righteous^  and  all  [his  acts]  will  be 
righteous.  Let  the  ruler  be  correct,  and  everything  will  be 
correct.  Once  rectify  the  ruler,  and  the  State  will  be  firmly 
settled.'' 

XXI,  Mencius  said,  "  There  are  cases  of  praise  which 
could  not  have  been  expected,  and  of  reproach  where  the 
parties  have  been  seeking  to  be  perfect.'" 

XXII.  Mencius  said,  ''  Men's  being  ready  with  their 
words  arises  simply  from  their  not  having  been  repi-oved." 

XXIII.  Mencius  said,  "  The  evil  with  men  is  that  they  like 
to  be  teachers  of  others." 

XXI Y.  1.  The  disciple  Yoh-ching  went  in  the  train  of 
Tsze-gaou  to  Ts'e. 

MUCH  TO  CORRECT  ERRORS  IX  MATTERS  OF  DETAIL.  AS  TO  CORRECT  HIS 
RUIfER'S  CHARACTER,  FRO.M  WHICH  ALL  BENEFITS  WILL  ACCRUE  TO  THE 
State.  The  sentiment  of  the  chapter  is  illustrated  by  an  incident  related 
of  Mencius  in  one  of  the  Books  of  Seun  K'ing  : — "  Mencius  having  had 
three  interviews  with  the  king  of  Ts'e  without  speaking  to  him  of  any  par- 
ticular atfair,  his  disciples  were  troubled,  but  the  philosopher  said  to  them, 
'  I  must  first  attack  his  wayward  mind.'  " 

Ch.  XXI.    Praise  and  blajie  are  sometimes  given  without  any 

PROPER  GROUND  FOR  THEM. 

Ch.  XXII.  When  a  man  is  reproved  for  light  speech,  he  does  not 
so  readily  repeat  the  offence.  Choo  He  supposes  that  the  remark 
here  was  made  with  some  particular  reference. 

Ch.  XXIII.  Be  not  many  masters.  The  tendency  here  rebuked  indi- 
cates, it  is  said,  a  self-sufliciency,  which  puts  an  end  to  self-improvement. 

Ch.  XXIV.  How  Mencius  reproved  Yoh-ching  for  associating 
with  an  unworthy  man  op  position,  and  being  remiss  on  waiting  on 
himself,  his  master. 

Par.  1.  Yoh-ching  ; — see  I.  ii.  XVI.  2.  Tsze-gaoii  was  the  designation  of 
Wang  Hwan  mentioned  in  II.  ii.  VI.  From  that  chapter  we  may  understand 
that  Mencius  would  not  be  pleased  with  one  of  his  disciples  who  associated 
with  such  a  person. 


250  THE    WORKS    or   MENCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

2.  He  came  to  see  Mencius,  wlio  said  to  him,  "  Are  you, 
Sir,  also  come  to  see  me  ?  "  "  Master,  wliy  do  you  use  such 
words  V  was  the  reply.  "  How  many  days  have  you  been 
here  ?"  asked  [ifencius].  "  I  came  [only]  yesterday,"  said 
[the  other]  .  "  Yesterday  !  Then  is  it  not  with  reason  that  I 
thus  speak  ? "  "  My  lodging-house  was  not  arranged," 
urged  [Yoh-ching].  "Have  you  heard,"  said  [Mencius] 
"  that  a  scholar's  lodging-house  must  be  arranged  before  he 
visits  his  master  ?  " 

3.  [Yoh-ching]  said,  "I  have  done  wrong." 

XXV.  Mencius,  addressing  the  disciple  Yoh-ching,  said, 
"  Your  coming  here  in  the  train  of  Tsze-gaou  was  only  [be- 
cause of]  the  food  and  the  drink  [that  you  would  so  get]. 
I  could  not  have  thought  that  you,  Sir,  having  learned  the 
ways  of  the  ancients,  would  have  acted  with  a  view  to  eating 
and  drinking." 

XXVI.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  There  are  three  things  which 
are  unfilial,  and  to  have  no  posterity  is  the  greatest  of 
them. 

We  must  understand  .that  Tsze-gaou  had  gone  on  a  mission  from  Ts'e  to 
Loo,  and  that  Yoh-ching  took  the  opportunity  to  go  in  his  train  back  with 
him  to  Ts'e,  pretending  that  lie  wislied  to  see  his  master  Mencius. 

Par.  2.  Chaou  K'e  understands  the  word  which  I  have  rendered  yesterday 
to  mean — "  formerly,"  "some  days  ago."  It  may  have  that  meaning;  but 
it  is  undoubtedly  used  for  "  yesterday,"  in  II.  ii.  II.  2,  and  the  whole  par. 
here  has  more  force  by  giving  to  it  that  meaning.  We  see  what  respectful 
attention  to  himself  Meucius  exacted  from  his  followers. 

Cii.  XXV.  Further  and  more  direct  reproof  of  Yoh-ciiino.  The 
terms  used  here  for  "eating  and  drinking"  are  both  contemi)tuous,^our 
application  of  "  the  loaves  and  tishes." 

Ch,  XXVI.     Shun's  extraordinary  way  of  contracting  marriage 

JUSTIFIED   BY  THE   MOTIVE,  WHICH  WAS   TO  RAISE   UP  POSTERITY    TO  HIS 
PARENTS. 

Par.  I.  The  two  other  things  which  are  unfilial  are,  according  to  Chaou 
K'e,  1st,  by  a  flattering  assent  to  encourage  parents  in  unrighteousness,  and 
2nd,  not  to  succour  their  poverty  and  old  age  by  engaging  in  oflicial  service. 
To  be  without  posterity  is  greater  than  those  faults,  because  it  is  an  ofifence 
against  the  whole  line  of  ancestors,  and  brings  the  sacrifices  to  them  to  an 
end.  In  ii.  XXX.  2,  Mencius  specifies  live  things  which  were  commonly 
deemed  unfilial,  and  not  one  of  these  three  is  amongst  them.  The  sentiment 
here  is  to  be  understood  as  spoken  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  superior  man, 
and  moreover  as  laying  down  the  ground  for  the  vindication  of  Shun. 


PT    I.    CH.  XXVIII.]  LE    LOW.  251 

2.  "  Shun  maiTied  without  informing  his  parents  because 
of  this, — lest  he  should  have  no  posterity.  Superior  men 
consider  that  his  doing  so  was  the  same  as  if  ho  had  inform- 
ed them.""^ 

XXVII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "The  richest  fruit  of  benevo- 
lence is  this, — the  service  of  one's  parents.  The  richest 
fruit  of  righteousness  is  this, — the  service  of  one's  elder 
brother. 

2.  "  The  richest  fruit  of  wisdom  is  this, — the  knowing  those 
two  things  and  not  departing  from  them.  The  richest  fruit  of 
propriety  is  this, — the  ordering  and  adorning  those  two 
things.  The  richest  fruit  of  music  is  this, — the  joying  in 
those  two  things.  When  joyed  in,  they  grow.  Growing, 
how  can  they  be  repressed  Y  When  they  come  to  this  state 
that  they  cannot  be  repressed,  then  unconsciously  the  feet 
begin  to  dance  and  the  hands  to  move.''^ 

XXVIII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  [Suppose  the  case  of]  all 
under  heaven  turning  with  great  delight  to  an  individual  to 

Par.  2.  See  the  account  of  Shim's  marriage  at  the  end  of  the  first  Book  of 
the  Shoo.  From  that  we  might  give  a  different  reason  for  his  contracting  it 
from  that  which  Mencius  assigns.  He  intimates  that  Sliun's  parents  were  so 
hostile  to  liim,  that  they  would  liave  forbidden  his  marriage,  if  he  had  told 
them  about  it. 

Ch.  XXVII.  Filial  piety  and  fraternal  affection  in  their  re- 
lation  TO   benevolence,   righteousness,  wisdom,  propriety,    and 

MUSIC. 

Par.  1.  Benevolence,  rigliteousness,  &c.,  are  the  principles  of  filial  piety 
and  fraternal  affection, — the  capabilities  of  them  in  human  nature,  which  may 
have  endless  manifestations,  but  are  chiefly  and  primarily  to  be  seen  in  those 
two  virtues. 

Par.  2.  The  introduction  of  the  subject  music  here  strikes  us  as  strange. 
A  commentator  tries  to  explain  it  in  the  following  way: — "Benevolence, 
righteousness,  propriety,  and  wisdom  are  the  four  virtues,  but  Mencius  here 
proceeds  to  speak  of  music  also.  And  the  principles  of  music  are  really  a 
branch  of  propriety ;  and  when  the  ordering  and  adorning,  which  belong  to 
that,  are  perfect,  then  harmony  and  pleasure  spring  up  as  a  matter  of  course. 
In  this  way  we  have  propriety  mentioned  first  and  then  music.  Moreover, 
the  fervency  of  benevolence,  the  exactness  of  righteousness,  the  clearness  of 
knowledge,  and  the  firmness  of  maintenance  nmst  all  have  their  depth  mani- 
fested in  music.  If  this  chapter  had  not  spoken  of  music,  we  should  not 
have  seen  the  whole  amount  of  achievement." 

Ch.  XXVIII.  How  Shun  valued  filial  piety  more  than  the  pos- 


252  THE  WORKS  OP  MENCIDS.  [bK  IV. 

submit  to  liim.  To  reg-ard  all  uncloi'  heaven  [tliiis]  turning 
to  him  with  delight  but  as  a  bundle  of  grass ; — only 
Shun  was  capable  of  this.  [He  considered  that]  if  [one] 
could  not  get  [the  hearts  of]  his  parents  he  could  not  be  con- 
sidered a  man,  and  if  he  could  not  get  to  an  entire  accord 
with  his  parents,  he  could  not  be  considered  a  son. 

2.  "  By  Shun's  completely  fulfilling  the  duty  of  serving 
parents,  Koo-sow  was  brought  to  feel  delight  [in  what  was 
good].  AVhen  Koo-sow  was  brought  to  feel  delight  [in  what 
was  good],  all  under  heaven  were  transformed.  When 
Koo-sow  was  brought  to  feel  delight  [in  Avhat  was  good] , 
all  fathers  and  sons  under  heaven  were  established  [in  their 
respective  duties].  This  may  well  be  called  great  filial 
piety.^^ 

SESSION  OF  THE  EMPIRE,  AND  EXEMPLIFIED  IT  TILL  HE  WROUGHT  A  GLO- 
RIOUS  CHANGE  IN  HIS  FATHER'S  CHARACTER. 

Par.  1.  The  first  sentence  is  to  be  understood  as  of  general  application, 
and  not  with  reference  to  Shun  simply.  It  is  incomplete.  The  conclusion 
of  it  would  be  something  like — "  this  would  be  accounted  the  greatest  hap- 
piness and  glory."  Choo  He  and  others  endeavour  to  find  in  the  "  getting  to 
an  entire  accord  with  his  parents  "  the  bringing  them  to  accord  with  what  is 
right,  so  as  then  fully  to  accord  with  tliem. 

Par.  2.  Shun's  father  is  known  in  history  by  the  name  of  Koo-sow.  The 
characters  representing  those  sounds  both  denote  "blind  "  or  rather  "eye- 
less," and  K'ung  Gan-kwoh  says  that  the  individual  in  question  was  so  styled 
because  of  his  mental  blindness  and  opposition  to  all  that  was  good. 


FT    II.    CH.  I.]  LE    LOW.  253 


BOOK  IV. 


LE    LOW.    PART    II. 

Chapter  I.  1 .  Mencius  said,  "  Shun  was  born  in  Choo- 
fuug-,  removed  to  Foo-liea,  and  died  in  Ming-t'eaou ; — 
a  man  [from  the  country]  of  the  wild  tribes  on  the  east. 

2.  "  King  Wan  was  born  in  K'e-chow  and  died  in  Peih- 
ying ; — a  man  [from  the  country]  of  the  wild  tribes  on  the 
west. 

3.  "  Those  regions  were  distant  from  each  other  more 
than  a  thousand  le,  and  the  age  of  the  one  [sage]  was  pos- 
terior to  that  of  the  other  more  than  a  thousand  years.  But 
when  they  got  their  wish  and  cai-ried  out  [their  principles] 
throughout  the  middle  States,  it  was  like  uniting  the  two 
halves  of  a  seal. 

Ch.  1.  The  agreejient  of  sages  kot  affected  by  time  or  place  ; — 

SHOWN  IN  THE  CASES  OP  SHUN  AND  KING  WaN. 

Par.  1.  According  to  Sze-ma  Ts'een,  Shun  was  a  native  of  K'e-chow,  for 
the  dimensions  of  which  see  the  note  on  the  Shoo,  III.  i.  Pt  I.  2  ;  and  all 
the -places  here  mentioned  are  referred  hy  him  to  the  same  province.  Some, 
however,  and  especially  Tsang  Tsze-koo  of  the  Sung  dynasty,  find  Shun's 
birtli-place  in  the  department  of  Tse-nan,  Shan-tung,  and  this  would  seem 
to  be  supported  by  Mencius  in  this  passage.  According  to  Ts'een.  moreover, 
Shun  died,  when  on  a  tour  of  inspection  in  the  south,  in  the  wild  of  Ts'ang- 
woo,  and  was  buried  in  mount  Ko\v-e,  in  the  present  district  of  Ling-ling, 
department  of  Yung-chow,  poo-nan.  The  discussions  on  the  point  are  nu- 
merous. It  was  Mencius'  object  to  place  Sliun  in  the  east,  and  his  birth  and 
life  were  in  the  country  east  from  that  of  l\ing  Wan.  He  cap  hardly  have 
intended  to  say  that  Shun  and  AV'au  were  themselves  men  of  the  wild  tribes 
of  the  east  and  west,  though  his  words,  literally  taken,  say  so. 

Par.  2.  K'e-chow,  or  the  plain  of  Chow  at  the  foot  of  mount  K'e,  was  in 
the  present  department  of  Fung-ts'eang,  Shen-se.  Peih-ying  is  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  Ying,  the  capital  of  the  large  State  of  Ts'oo.  It  was  in  the 
present  district  of  Heen-uing,  department  Se-gan  of  Shen-se  ;  and  there 
the  grave  of  king  Wan,  or  the  place  of  it,  is  still  pointed  out. 

Par.  S.  "The  two  halves  of  a  seal ;  " — perhaps  it  would  be  as  well  to  say 
"a  tally,"  or  "  a  token."  Anciently  the  king  delivered,  as  the  token  of  in- 
vestiture, one  half  of  a  tally  of  woodor  of  jade,  reserving  the  other  half  in  his 
own  keeping.  It  was  cut  right  tlirough  a  line  of  characters,  indicating  the 
appointment,  and  the  halves  fitting  each  other  when  occasion  required  was 
the  test  of  truth  and  identity.  The  formation  of  the  character  for  the  term 
shows  that  the  tally  was  originally  of  bamboo. 


254  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

4.  "  [Wlion  wo  examine]  the  sag-es — the  earlier  aud  the 
later — their  principles  are  found  to  be  the  same." 

II.  1.  When  Tsze-ch'an  was  chief  minister  of  the  State 
of  Ch'ing,  he  would  convey  people  across  the  Tsin  and  the 
Wei  in  his  carriage. 

2.  Mencius  said,  '^  It  Avas  kind,  [but  showed  that]  he  did 
not  understand  the  practice  of  g-overnmcnt. 

3.  "  In  the  eleventh  month  of  the  year  the  foot-bridges 
should  be  completed,  and  the  carriage-bridges  in  the  twelfth 
month,  and  the  people  will  [then]  not  have  the  trouble  of 
wading. 

4.  ''Let  a  governor  conduct  his  rule  on  the  principles  of 
equal  justice,  and  he  may  cause  people  to  be  removed  out 
of  his  path  when  he  goes  abroad ;  but  how  can  ho  convey 
everybody  across  the  rivers  ? 

5.  •  "  Thus  if  a  governor  will  [try]  to  please  everybody, 
he  will  find  the  days  not  sufficient  [for  his  work]." 

III.  1.  Mencius  addressed  himself  to  king  Seuen  of  Ts'e, 
sapng,  "  When  a  ruler  regards  his  ministers  as  his  hands 


Ch.  II.  Good  government  lies  in  equal  measures  for  the  general 
GOOD,  and  not  in  acts  ok  kindness  to  individuals; — illustrated 

FROM  THE  HISTORY  OF  TSZE-CH'AN. 

Par.  1.  Tsze-ch'an  ; — see  on  Ana.  V.  xv.  The  Tsin  and  Wei  were  two 
rivers  of  Ch'ins,  having  their  rise  in  the  Ma-ling  hills  in  the  present  depart- 
ment of  Ho-nan,  Ho-nan  province.  They  met  at  a  certain  point,  after 
which  the  common  stream  seems  to  have  borne  the  names  of  botli  its  afflu- 
ents. Mencius  has  reference  to  a  conversation  between  Confucius  and  Tsze- 
yew  about  Tsze-ch'an,  related  in  the  fourth  Book  of  the  Kea  Yu.  The  sage 
held  that  Tsze-ch'an  was  kind,  but  only  as  a  mother  who  loves  but  does  not 
teach  her  children,  and  in  ilhistration  of  his  view  says  that  "  Tsze-ch'an  used 
the  carriage  in  which  he  rode  to  convey  over  those  who  were  wading  through 
the  water  in  the  winter." 

Par.  3.  The  11th  and  12th  months  here  correspond  to  the  9th  and  10th 
of  the  present  calendar.  Mencius  is  referring  to  a  rule  for  the  repair  of 
the  bridges  on  the  termination  of  the  agricultural  labours  of  the  year. 

Par.  4.  "  Removing  peo])le  from  the  way,"  when  the  ruler  was  going 
abroad,  was  also  a  rule  of  the  Chow  dynasty  ;  and  not  oidy  did  it  take 
effect,  in  the  case  of  the  ruler,  but  also  in  that  of  many  officers  and  women  ; 
— see  the  Official  Book  of  Chow,  VII.  ix. 

Ch.  III.   What  treatment  rulers  give  to  their  ministers  will 

BE  returned  to  THEM  IN  A  CORRKSPONDING  BEHAVIOI.'R. 

Par.  1.  "As  his  hands  and  feet;  "  i.  e.,  with  kindness  and  attention.     "As 


rx  II.  en.  III.]  LE  LOW.  255 

and  feet,  they  regard  him  as  their  belly  and  heart ;  when  he 
regards  them  as  his  dogs  and  horses,  they  regard  him  as 
they  do  any  ordinary  man ;  when  he  regards  them  as  the 
ground  or  as  grass,  they  regard  him  as  a  robber  and  an 
enemy.'^ 

2.  The  king  said,  "  According  to  the  rules  of  propriety, 
[a  minister]  should  wear  mourning  [when  he  hears  of  the 
death  of]  a  ruler  whose  service  ho  had  left ; — hovv  must  [the 
ruler]  have  regai'ded  him  that  [the  minister]  shall  thus  wear 
mourning  for  him  ?  " 

o.  Mencius  said,  "  The  admonitions  [of  a  minister]  hav- 
ing been  followed  and  his  advice  listened  to,  so  that  blessings 
have  descended  on  the  people,  if  for  some  cause  he  leaves 
[the  State],  the  ruler  sends  an  escort  to  conduct  him  beyond 
the  boundaries,  and  also  sends  before  him  [a  recommendatory 
notice  of  him]  to  the  State  to  which  he  is  proceeding.  When 
he  has  been  gone  three  years  and  does  not  return,  [only] 
then  does  he  take  back  his  fields  and  residence.  This  treat- 
ment is  what  we  call  '  a  thrice-repeated  display  of  considera- 
tion.' When  a  ruler  acts  thus,  mourning  will  be  worn  [on 
hearing  of  his  death]  . 

4.  "  Now-a-days  the  remonstrances  of  a  minister  are  not 
followed,  and  his  advice  is  not  listened  to,  so  that  no  bless- 
ings descend  on  the  people.  When  for  any  cause  he  leaves 
the  State,  the  ruler  tries  to  seize  and  hold  him  as  a  prison- 
er. He  also  pushes  him  to  extremity  in  the  State  to  which 
he  has  gone,  and  on  the  day  of  his  departure  he  takes  back 
his  fields  and  residence.  This  treatment  shows  [the  ruler] 
to  be  what  we  call  '  a  robber  and  an  enemy ; ' — how  can 
mourning  be  worn  for  '  a  robber  and  an  enemy '  ?  " 


Ins  belly  and  heart  ;"  i.  ^.,  with  watchfulness  and  honour.  "As  his  dogs 
and  horses  ;  "  i.  e.,  without  respect,  but  feeding  them.  "  As  any  ordinary 
man  "  is,  literally,  "  as  a  man  of  the  State,"  meaning  without  any  distinction 
or  reverence.  "As  the  ground  or  as  grass  ;  " — i.  e.  trampling  on  them,  and 
cutting  them  off. 

Par.  2.  The  rule  here  is  mentioned  in  the  13th  Book  of  the  E  Le,  or 
"  Rules  of  Deportment  ;  "  but  the  passage  is  obscure.  Tl»e  king  falls  back 
on  this  rule,  thinking  that  Mencius  had  expressed  himself  too  strongly. 

Par.  3.  "  Fields  "  here  is  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  revenue  or  emolu- 
ment. The  "thrice-repeated  display  of  consideration"  refers,  1st.  to  the 
e-scort  as  a  protection  from  danger  ;  2nd,  to  the  anticipatory  recommendations  ; 
and  3rd,  to  the  long-continued  emoluments. 


25G  THE   WORKS    OF   SIENCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

IV.  Mencias  said,  "  When  inferior  officers  are  put  to  death 
without  any  crime,  it  is  [time]  for  the  great  officers  to  leave 
[the  State].  When  the  people  are  slaughtered  without  any 
cause,  it  is  [time]  for  the  inferior  officers  to  remove." 

V.  Mencius  said,  "  If  the  ruler  be  benevolent,  all  will  be 
benevolent ;  if  the  ruler  be  righteous,  all  will  be  righteous." 

VI.  Mencius  said,  "Acts  of  propriety  which  are  not  [really] 
proper,  and  acts  of  righteousness  which  are  not  [really] 
righteous,  the  great  man  does  not  do." 

VII.  Mencius  said,  "Those  who  keep  the  Mean  train  up 
those  who  do  not,  and  those  who  have  ability  train  up  those 
who  have  not,^nd  therefore  men  rejoice  in  having  fathers 
and  elder  brothers  of  virtue  and  talent.  If  those  who  keep 
the  Mean  spurn  those  who  do  not,  and  those  who  have 
ability  spurn  those  who  have  not,  then  the  space  between 
them — those  who  have  the  virtue  and  talents  and  those  who 
are  inferior  to  them — will  not  amount  to  an  inch." 

VIII.  Mencius  said,  "When  men  have  what  they  will  not 
do,  they  are  prepared  to  act  in  what  they  do  do  [with 
effect]." 

Ch.  IV.   Prompt  action  is  necessary  at  the  right  time.     How 

OFFICEIJS  MAY  KNOW  WHEN  THKY  SHOULD  LEAVE  A  STATE. 

Ch.  v.  The  influence  of  the  ruler's  example.  See  tlio  20th  chap- 
ter of  Part  I.  There  we  find  the  saiiiestutemeiitti,  iuteuded  to  !>tir  up  luinis- 
ters  to  seek  to  correct  the  errors  of  their  ruler. 

Ch.  VI.  Great  men  make  no  mistakes  in  matters  of  propriety  and 
righteousness.  What  is  proper  and  right  at  one  time,  it  is  said,  may  not 
be  so  at  anotiier.  Respect  belongs  to  propriety,  but  it  may  be  carried  so  far 
as  to  amount  to  flattery.  These  are  among  the  instances  which  are  given  of 
the  things  mentioned  in  this  chapter. 

Ch.  VII.  If  those  who  are  more  highly  gifted  than  others  do 

not  use  their  gifts  for  the   liKNEFIT  OF  THOSE  OTHERS,  THEV  ARE  NOT 

to  be  considered  as  superior  to  them. 

Ch.  VIII.  He  who  eschews  what  is  wuong  can  do  with  bold  de- 
cision WHAT  IS  RIGHT.  In  illustration  of  the  sentiment  here,  Chaou  K'e 
says,  "If  a  man  wilt  not  descend  to  any  irregular  acquisition,  he  will  be 
prepared  to  yield  even  a  thousand  chariots,"  i.  e.,  a  large  .State. 


FT    II.    CH.  XIII.]  LE    LOW.  257 

IX.  Menciiis  said,  "What  future  misery  are  they  sure  to 
have  to  endure  who  talk  of  what  is  not  good  in  others  !  " 

X.  Mencius  said,  "  Chung-ne  did  not  do  extraordinary 
things.'' 

XI.  ^lencius  said,  "The  great  man  does  not  think  before 
hand  of  his  words  that  they  shall  be  sincere,  nor  of  his  actions 
that  they  shall  be  resolute ; — he  simply   [speaks  And  does] 
what  is  right." 

XII.  Mencius  said,  "  The  great  man  is  he  who  does  not 
lose  his  child's  heart." 

XIII.  Mencius  said,  "  The  nourishment  of  the  living  is 
not  fit  to  be  accounted  the  great  thing.  It  is  only  in  per- 
forming their  obsequies  when  dead  that  we  have  what  can 
be  considered  the  oreat  thino-." 


Ch.  IX.  Evil  speaking  is  sure  to  bring  with  it  evil  consequences- 
f'hoo  He  supposes  that  the  remark  here  was  made  with  some  particular 
reference. 

Ch.  X.  That  Confucius  kept  the  SIean.  Compare  with  this  the 
DoctHne  of  the  Mean,  XI.  and  XIII.,  and  Ana.  YII.  xx.,  et  al. 

Ch.  XI.  What  is  right  is  the  supreme  pursuit  of  the  supekiob 
MAN.     Compare  Ana.  IV.  x. 

Ch.  XII.  A  MAN  IS  GREAT  IN  PROPORTION  AS  HE  IS  CHILDLIKE.  ChaOU 
K'e  supposes  that  "  the  great  man  "  is  a  ruler,  and  that  the  sentiment  is 
that  he  treats  his  people  as  his  children,  and  does  not  lose  their  hearts.  The 
meaning  given  in  the  version  is,  no  doubt,  the  correct  one,  and  the  saying  is 
sure  to  suggest  to  my  readers  the  words  of  our  Saviour, — ''  Except  ye  be  con- 
verted, and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  With  Mencius  "the  child's  heart "' is  the  ideal  moral  condition 
of  humanity.  Choo  He  says  on  this  chapter  : — "  The  mind  of  the  great 
man  comprehends  all  changes  of  phenomena,  and  the  mind  of  the  child  is 
nothing  but  a  pure  simplicity,  free  from  all  hypocrisy.  Yet  the  great  man 
is  the  great  man,  just  as  he  is  not  led  astray  by  external  things,  but  keeps  his 
original  simplicity  and  freedom  from  hypocrisy.  Carrying  this  out,  he  be- 
comes omniscient  and  omnipotent,  and  reaches  the  extreme  point  of  great- 
ness." We  need  not  suppose  that  Mencius  would  himself  have  expanded 
his  thought  in  this  way. 

Ch.  XIII.  Filial  piety  is  most  surely  seen  in  the  way  in  which 

THE  obsequies  OF  PARENTS  ARE  PERFORMED. 
vol.  II.  ,  17 


258  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

XIV.  Meucius  said,  ''  The  superior  man  makes  profound 
advances  [in  what  he  is  learning],  and  by  the  proper  course, 
wishing  to  get  hold  of  it  as  in  himself.  Having  got  hold  of 
it  in  himself,  he  abides  in  it  quietly  and  firmly.  Abiding  in 
it  quietly  and  firmly,  he  reposes  a  deep  reliance  on  it.  Re- 
posing a  deep  reliance  on  it,  he  lays  hold  of  it  on  the  right 
and  left,  meeting  with  it  as  a  fountain  [from  which  things 
flow].  It  is  on  this  account  that  the  superior  man  wishes 
to  get  hold  of  [what  he  is  learning]  in  himself.'' 

XY.  Mencius  said,  "  In  learning  extensively  and  setting 
forth  minutely  [what  is  learned] ,  [the  object  of  the  superior 
man]  is  to  go  back  and  set  forth  in  brief  what  is  essential.'^ 

XVI.  Mencius  said,  "  Never  has  he  who  would  by  his 
excellence  subdue  men  been  able  to  subdue  them.  Let  [a 
ruler  seek]  by  his  excellence  to  nourish  men,  and  he  will  be 
able  to  subdue  all  under  heaven.  It  is  impossible  that  one 
should  attain  to  the  true  royal  sway  to  whom  the  hearts  of 
all  under  heaven  are  not  subject.^' 


Some  critics  suppose,  and  with  reason  probably,  tliat  tlie  saying  here  was 
directed  against  the  Miliist  practice  of  burying  tlie  dead  witli  a  spare  simpli- 
city ; — see  III.  i.  V.  4.  The  funeral  rites,  it  is  said,  are  performed  once  for 
all  ;  and  if  they  are  done  wrong,  the  fault  cannot  be  remedied. 

CH.  XIV.  The  value  of  LEAENINa  THOROUGHLY  INWROUGHT  INTO 
THE  MIND.  One  maj'  read  scores  of  pages  in  the  Chinese  commentators, 
and  yet  not  get  a  ch^ar  idea  in  his  own  mind  of  Mencius'  teaching  in  this 
chapter.  Most  of  them  understand  the  subject  studied  to  be  man's  own 
self,  and  not  things  external  to  him. 

Ch.  XV.  Choo  He  says,  and  with  reason  apparently,  that  this  is  a  continu- 
ation of  the  former  chapter,  showing  that  tlie  object  of  the  superior  man,  in 
the  extensive  studies  which  he  pursues,  is  not  vain-glory,  but  to  get  to  the 
substance  and  essence  of  things. 

Ch.  XVI.   When  people's  minds  are  subject  to  a  prince,  they 

WILL  MAKE  HIM  KINO.  HoW  THEIR  MINDS  CAN  BE  MADE  SO  SUBJECT. 
The  first  utterance  here  is  to  me  quite  enigmatical.  Paul's  sentiment,  that 
"scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will  one  die,  yet  peradventure  for  a  good  man 
Bome  would  even  dare  to  die,"  occurs  to  tlie  mind  on  reading  the  first  and 
second  parts  ;  but  the  native  commentators  make  the  "  nourishing  "  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  men's  bodies. 


PT    IT.    CH.  XIX.]  LE    LOW.  2-j9 

XVII.  Mencius  said,  "Word.?  which  are  not  true  are 
[all]  inauspicious,  but  those  which  are  most  truly  obnoxious 
to  the  charge  of  being-  inauspicious  are  those  which  throw 
into  the  shade  men  of  talents  and  virtue/' 

XVIII.  1.  The  disciple  Sen  said,  "  Chung-ne  often  praised 
water,  saying,  '  0  water  !  0  water  !  '  What  did  he  find  in 
water  [to  praise]  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "How  the  water  from  a  spring  gushes 
out !  It  rests  not  day  nor  night.  It  fills  up  every  hole,  and 
then  advances,  flowing  on  to  the  four  seas.  Such  is  water 
having  a  spring  !  It  was  this  which  he  found  in  it  [to 
praise] . 

3.  "  But  suppose  that  [the  water]  has  no  spring.  In  the 
seventh  and  eighth  months  the  rain  collects,  and  the  chan- 
nels in  the  fields  are  all  filled,  but  their  being  dried  up  again 
may  be  expected  in  a  short  time.  Thus  it  is  that  a  superior 
man  is  ashamed  of  a  reputation  beyond  the  fact  [of  his 
merits] ." 

XIX.  1.  Mencius  said,  "That  whereby  man  differs  from 


Ch.  XVII.   The  words  which  ark  most  inauspicious  are  those 

WHICH  ARE  INTENDED  TO  PREVENT  THE  RECOGNITION  OF  TALENTS  AND 
VIRTUE.  The  words  of  this  chapter  may  also  be  translated: — "  There  are 
no  words  really  inauspicious,  but  those  which  may  really  be  considered  in- 
auspicious," &c.     The  version  which  I  have  preferred  is  equally  allowable. 

Ch.  XVIII.  How  Mencius  explained  Confucius'  frequent  praise 

OF  W.4.TER,  FROM  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  A  SPRING-FED  STREAM. 

Par.  1.  See  Ana.  IX.  xvi.  for  instance  of  tlie  sage's  praise  of  water. 
Par.  3.  Here  again  the  months  must  be  reduced  to  the  5th  and  6th, — 
those  of  the  Chow  year. 

Ch.  XIX.  That  the  small  difference  between  men  and  AJfiMALS 

IS  PRESEUVED  ONLY  BY  SCPEKIOR  MEN  ; ILLUSTRATED    IN    SHUN. 

Par.  1.  Mencius  has  not  told  us  in  what  the  small  point  distinguishing 
men  from  birds  and  beasts  consists.  Chaou  K'e  says  that  it  is  simply  the 
interval  between  the  knowledge  of  righteousness  and  the  want  of  that 
knowledge.  And  this  is  so  far  correct ;  but  this  difference  cannot  be  said  to 
be  "  small."  According  to  Choo  He,  men  and  creatures  have  the  le — the 
intellectual  and  moral  principles — of  Heaven  and  earth  to  form  their  nature, 
and  the  k'e,  or  matter,  of  Heaven  and  earth  to  form  their  bodies,  only 
men's /;'e  is  more  correct  than  that  of  animals,  so  that  they  are  able  to  fill  up 
the  capacity  of  their  nature.     This  seems  to  deny  any  essential  difference 


2G0  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS.  [bK  IT. 

the  animals  is  but  small.      The  mass  of  men  cast  it  away, 
while  superior  men  preserve  it. 

2.  "  Shun  clearly  understood  the  multitude  of  things,  and 
closely  observed  the  relations  of  humanity.  He  walked 
along  the  path  of  benevolence  and  righteousness,  and  did  not 
pursue  [as  by  any  effort]  benevolence  and  righteousness." 

XX.  1.  Mencius  said,  '^  Yu  hated  the  pleasant  wine,  and 
loved  good  words. 

2.  "  T'ang  held  fast  the  Mean,  and  employed  men  of  ta- 
lents and  virtue  wherever  they  came  from. 

3.  "  King  Wan  looked  on'the  people  as  [he  would  do  with 
affectionate  interest]  on  a  man  who  was  wounded ;  he  look- 
ed towards  the  right  path  as  [earnestly  as]  if  he  did  not 
see  it. 

4.  "  King  Woo  did  not  disregard  the  near,  nor  forget 
the  distant. 

5.  "  The  duke  of  Chow  desired  to  unite  in  himself  [the 
virtues  of  those]  kings,  [the  founders  of  the]  three  [dynas- 
ties], that  he  might  display  in  his  practice  [those]  four 
things  [which  they  did].  If  [in  his  practice]  there  was  any- 
thing which  did  not  agree  with  them,  he  looked  up  and 
thought  of  it,  from  day-time  into  the  night  ;  and  when  he 
was  fortunate  enough  to  master  [the  difficulty],  he  sat 
waitiner  for  the  morniuir.'' 


between  men  and   animals,  what  difference  there  is  being  merely  corporeal 
and  in  degree. 

Par.  2.  llie  first  predicate  of  Shun  is  to  me  hardly  intelligible  ;  the  last 
seems  to  say  that  benevolence  and  righteousness  were  natural  to  him,  ob- 
served without  any  effort. 

Ch.  XX.  The  same  subject; — illustrated  in  Yu,  T'ang,  Wan,  Woo, 

AND  THE  DUKE  OF  CHOW. 

Piir.  1.  lu  tlie  "  Plans  of  the  Warring  States,"  it  is  said  that  "E-teih  made 
spirits  which  Yu  tasted  and  liked,  but  he  said,  '  In  after-ages  there  will  be 
those  who  through  sjjirits  will  lose  their  States  ; '  so  he  degraded  E-teih, 
and  refused  to  drink  the  pleasant  spirits."  What  we  read  in  the  Shoo, 
111.  iii.  6,  gives  some  countenance  to  this  story.  For  his  love  of  good 
words,  .see  the  Shoo,  II.  ii.  21. 

I'ar.  2.  In  illustration  of  what  is  said  of  T'ang,  commentators  refer  to  the 
Shoo,  IV.  ii.  7,  8. 

Par.  3.  For  an  illustration  of  Wan's  fostering  care  of  the  people,  see  the 
bhoo,  V.  XV.  'J,  10,  and  the  She,  III.  i.  VI.,  et  al.,  for  the  other  characteristic. 


PT    II.    CII.  XXIII.]  LE    LOW.  2G1 

XXI.  1.  Mcncius  said,  "The  traces  of  true  royal  rule 
were  extinguished,  and  [the  royal]  odes  ceased  to  be  pro- 
duced. When  those  odes  ceased  to  be  produced,  then  the 
Ch'un  Ts'evv  was  made. 

2.  "  The  Shing  of  Tsin,  the  T^aou-wuh  of  Ts'oo,  and  the 
Ch'un  Ts'ew  of  Loo  were  [books]  of  the  same  character. 

3.  "  The  subjects  [of  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew]  are  Hwan  of  Ts'e 
and  Wan  of  Tsin,  and  its  style  is  the  historical.  Confucius 
said,  '  Its  riofhteous  decisions  I  ventured  to  make.'  " 

XXII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  The  influence  of  a  sovereign 
sage  terminates  in  the  fifth  generation.  The  influence  of 
one  who  is  merely  a  sage  does  the  same. 

2.  "1  CQuld  not  be  a  disciple  of  Confucius  himself,  but  I 
have  endeavoured  to  cultivate  my  virtue  by  means  of  others 
[who  were]. 

XXIII.  Mencius  said,  "  When  it  appears  proper  to  take 
[a  thing] ,  and  [afterwards]  not  proper,  to  take  it  is  contrary 
to  moderation.  When  it  appears  proper  to  give  [a  thing], 
and  [afterwards]  not  proper,  to  give  it  is  contrary  to  kind- 
ness.     When  it  appears  proper  to  sacrifice  one's  life,  and 


Ch.  XXI.  This  chapter  is  said  to  continue  the  subject  of  the  two  pre- 
ceding, and  to  illustrate  it  by  the  case  of  Confucius.  I  confess  tliat  I  am 
not  able  to  trace  the  connexion.  See  what  I  have  said  on  the  difficulties 
belonging  to  several  of  the  statements  in  the  chapter  in  the  tirst  Book  of 
my  Prolegomena  to  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew. 

Ch.  XXII.   Mencius  insinuates  that,  though  he  had  not  been 

IN  PERSONAL  CONTACT  WITH  CONFUCIUS,  HE  SHOULD  BE  CONSIDERED  HIS 
SUCCESSOR.  This  chapter  is  further  said  to  continue  the  subject  of  the 
three  preceding,  and  to  illustrate  it  in  the  case  of  Mencius  himself.  I  should 
be  inclined  to  make  the  former  paragraph  of  ch.  xix.  a  chapter  by  itself,  and 
to  read  the  other  paragraph,  and  chapters  xx.,  xxi.,  and  this  one,  as  one 
chapter. 

Par.  1.  Thirty  years  are  held  to  cover  one  generation.  "We  might  suppose 
that  the  influence  of  "  a  sovereign  sage  "  would  last  longer  than  that  of  one 
who  had  no  distinction  of  authority  ;  but  Mencius  is  pleased  to  say  that  it 
lasts  only  the  same  time. 

Par.  2.  What  Mencius  is  here  supposed  to  insinuate  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate that  a  space  of  about  five  generations  should  be  placed  between  him 
and  Confucius. 

Ch.  XXIIL  First  judgments  are  not  always  correct.    Impulses 


262  THE    WORKS    or    MEXCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

[afterwards]  not  proper,  to  sacrifice  it  is  contrary  to  bravery." 

XXI\^.  1.  P^ang  Mung  learned  arcliery  of  E.  When  he 
had  completely  acquired  all  the  method  of  E,  thinking  that 
under  heaven  only  E  was  superior  to  himself,  he  slew  him. 
Mencius  said,  ''In  this  case  E  also  was  to  blame.  Kung- 
ming  E  [indeed]  said,  '  It  would  appear  that  E  was  not  to 
be  blamed/  but  he  [only]  meant  that  the  blame  at- 
taching to  him  was  slight ; — how  can  he  be  held  to  have  been 
without  any  blame  ? 

2.  "  The  people  of  Ch'ing  sent  Tsze-choh  Yu-tsze  to 
make  an  incursion  into  Wei,  which  sent  Yu  Kung-sze  to 
pursue  him.  Tsze-choh  Yu-tsze  said,  '  To-day  I  feel  un- 
well, and  cannot  hold  my  bow  ; — I  am  a  dead  man.'  [At 
the  same  time]  he  asked  his  driver  who  was  his  pursuer; 
and  being  told  that  it  was  Yu  Kung-sze,  he  said,  '  I  shall 
live.'  The  driver  said,  '  Yu  Kung-sze  is  the  best  archer 
of  Wei,  what  do  you  mean  by  saying  that  you  shall  live  ?  ' 
'  Yu  Kung-sze,'  replied  he,  'learned  archery  from  Yin 
Kung-t'o,  who  again  learned  it  from  me.  Yin  Kung-t'o  is 
an  upright  man,  and  the  friends  of  his  selection  must  be  up- 
right [also].'  ^^Tien  Yu  Kung-sze  came  up,  he  said, 
'  Master,  why  are  you  not  holding  your  bow  ? '  [Yu-tsze] 
answered,  '  To-day  I  am  feeling  unwell,  and  am  unable  to 
hold  my  bow.'  [Kung-sze]  said/  '  I  learned  archery  from 
Yin  Kung-t'o,  who  again  learned  it  from  you.  I  cannot  bear 
to  injure  you  with  your  own  science.      The  business  of  to- 

MUST  BE  WEIGHED  IN  THE  BALANCE  OF  REASON,  AND  WHAT   REASON   DIC- 
TATES SHOULD  BE  FOLLOWED. 

Ch.  XXIV.  The  importance  of  being  carefcl  whom  we  make 
FRIENDS  OP.  The  sentiment  is  good,  but  surely  Mencius  might  have  found 
better  illustrations  of  it  than  those  which  he  gives. 

Par.  1.  On  E  see  the  note  to  Ana.  XIV.  vi.  Both  Chaou  K'e  and  Choo 
Pie  strangely  explain  P'ang  Mung  as  meaning  Kea^chiing,  E's  domestics. 
I  suspect  there  is  an  error  in  their  texts,  and  that  we  should  read  Kea  shin 
=  E's  "  steward."  He  may  have  been  employed  by  the  Han  Tsuh  in  the 
note  referred  to,  to  do  the  deed.  Kung-ming  E  has  already  been  quoted 
by  Mencius  in  IIL  i.  I.,  and  ii.  III.  and  IX.  The  idea  of  Mencius  was  that 
E  was  to  blame  for  having  made  a  friend  of  such  a  man  as  P'ang  Mung. 

Par.  2.  In  tlie  Tso  Chuen,  under  the  Hth  year  of  duke  Seang,  we  have 
a  narrative  bearing  some  likeness  to  tlie  account  here  given  by  Mencius,  and 
in  which  Yin  Kung-t'o  and  a  Yu  Kung-ch'ae  (or  ts'ze)  figure  as  famous 
archers  of  Wei.     Yet  the  dififerences  between  Tso's  narrative  and  the  text 


PT  II.  cn.  XXVI.]  LE  LOW.  263 

day,  however,  is  my  ruler's  business,  wliich  I  dare  not 
neglect.^  He  then  took  an  arrow  and  knocked  off  the  steel 
against  his  carriage-wheel.  [In  this  way]  he  discharged 
four  of  them,  and  turned  back.''^ 

XXV.  1.  Mencius  said,  ''If  the  lady  Se  had  been  wear- 
ing a  filthy  head-dress,  people  would  aU  have  stopped  their 
noses  in  passing  her.  j 

2.  "  Though   a   man   be    wicked,    yet,    if  he    adjust   his    j 
thoughts,  fast,  and  bathe,  he  may  sacrifice  to  God." 

XXYI.  1.  Mencius  said,  '"'  All  who  speak  of  the  natures 
[of  things],  have  in  fact  only  their  phenomena  [to  reason 
from],  and  the  value  of  a  phenomenon  is  in  its  being  natural. 

here  are  so  great  that  we  can  hardly  receive  them  as  relating  to  the  same 
passage  of  history. 

Ch.  XXV.  Beauty  through  certain  accessories  mat  be  disgusting 

TO  MEN,  and  wickedness,  BY  HOLY  ENDEAVOUR,  MAY  BECOME  ACCEPT- 
ABLE TO  God. 

Par.  1.  The  lady  Se,  or  if  we  translate  the  terms,  "the  western  la^y,"  was 
a  poor  girl  of  Yueh,  called  She  E,  of  surpassing  beauty,  presented  by  the 
king  of  Yueh  to  his  enemy,  the  king  of  Woo,  who  became  besottedly  at- 
tached to  her,  and  neglected  all  the  duties  of  his  government.  She  was 
contemporary  with  Confucius.  If  we  may  receive  the  works  of  Kwan-tsze, 
however,  as  genuine,  there  had  been  a  celebrated  beauty  called  "  the  western 
lady."  two  hundred  years  before  that  time,  and  the  lady  of  Yueh  chose  to 
assume  her  designation. 

Par.  2.  Chaou  K'e  and  C{ioo  He  take  the  character  which  I  have  trans-  \ 
lated  "  wicked  "  in  the  sense  of  "jjgly."     It  may  have  either  signification  f 
according  to  the  context.     I  cannot  but  suppose,  however,  that  Mencius 
intended  it  in  the  sense  which  I  have  given,  and  that  his  otject  was  to  en-  , 
courage  men  to  repentance  and   well-doing.     By  the  law  of  China  it  was 
competent  only  for  the  king  to  sacrifice  to   God,  and  the  language  of  our 
philosopher  strikiuglj'  shows  the  virtue  he  attached  to  penitent  purification.     ' 

Ch.  XXVI.  How  knowledge  ought  to  be  pursued  by'  the  careful  ' 
STUDY'  OF  PHENOMENA.      Mencius    here  points  out  correctly  the  path  to 
science.     The  rule  which  he  lays  down  is  in  harmony  with  the  philosophy  of 
Bacon  ;  yet  in  China,  more  perhaps  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  the 
proper  method  has  been  disregarded. 

Par.  1.  "Natures  "  is  to  be  taken  here  quite  generally,  and  not,  as  some  , 
commentators  think,  in  the  singular,  referring  to  the  nature  of  man.     Possi- 
bly, Mencius  may  have  had  in  view  the  discussions  about  human  nature 
which  were  rife  in  his  days  ;    but  he  is  speaking  generally,  and  those  dis- 
cussions were  only  one  perversion  of  the  method  on  which  he  insists. 


264  THE   WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    IV, 

2.  "  What  I  hate  in  your  wise  men  is  their  chiselling  out 
[their  conclusions] .  If  those  wise  men  would  act  as  Yu  did 
when  he  conveyed  away  the  waters,  there  would  be  nothing 
to  dislike  in  their  wisdom.  The  way  in  which  Yu  conveyed 
away  the  waters  was  by  doing  that  which  gave  him  no  trou- 
ble. If  your  wise  men  would  also  do  that  which  gave  them 
no  trouble,  their  wisdom  would  also  be  great. 

3.  "  There  is  heaven  so  high  ;  there  are  the  stars  and  zodi- 
acal spaces  so  distant.  If  we  have  investigated  their  pheno- 
mena, we  may,  while  sitting  [in  our  places],  ascertain  the 
solstices  for  a  thousand  years  [past] ." 

XXVII.  1.  The  ofl&cer  Kung-hang  having  in  hand  the 
funeral  of  his  son,  the  master  of  the  Eight  went  to  condole 
with  him.  When  [this  noble]  entered  the  door,  some  mo- 
tioned to  him  to  come  to  them,  and  spoke  with  him,  and 
others  went  to  his  place  and  spoke  with  him. 

2.  Mencius  did  not  speak  with  him,  on  which  the  master 
of  the  Eight  was  displeased,  and  said,  ''All  the  gentlemen 
have  spoken  with  me.  There  is  only  Mencius  who  has  not 
spoken  with  me,  thereby  slighting  me," 

3.  When  Mencius  heard  of  this  remark,he  said,  "  Accord- 
ing to  the  prescribed  rules,  in  the  court  we  must  not  change 

Par.  2.  By  "chiselling  or  "boring"  we  are  to  understand  the  violent 
forcing  out  of  conclusions,  instead  of  pursuing  the  inductive  method.  Yu's 
operations  gave  him  abundance  of  trouble  ;  what  Mencius  means  to  say 
is  that  they  were  all  in  harmony  witli  the  nature  and  circumstances  of  the 
waters,  which  he  was  labouring  to  reduce. 

Par.  3.  Compare  the  language  of  the  1st  sentence  of  par.  9  in  the  26th  chap- 
ter of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mean.  The  solstices  referred  to  are  those  of  winter. 
Most  modern  commentators  hold  that  one  solstice  is  intended, — that  from 
which  the  Chinese  cycle  dates  its  conimenceinent,  when  the  sun,  moon,  and 
planets  are  all  supposed  to  have  been  in  conjunction  at  midnight.  This  ia 
not  necessary. 

Ch.  XXVII.  How  Mencius  would  not  imitate  others  in  paying 

COURT  TO  A  FAVOURITE,  AND  HOW  HE  EXCISED  HIMSELK. 

Par.  I.  Many  thinit  that  the  death  which  gave  occasion  to  what  is  here 
related  was  that  of  the  officer  Kung-hiing  liinis(;lf.  Tlie  view  which  I  have 
followed  is  more  in  accordance  with  the  Chinese  text.  The  master  of  the 
.  Eight  was  the  Wang  Hwan  of  II.  ii.  C,  and  the  Ts/,e-gaou  of  XXIV.  and 
XXV.  of  the  first  Part  of  this  Book.  He  was  a  man  with  whom  our  phi- 
losopher would  have  nothing  to  do. 

Pur.  3.  The  officers  were  not  now  "  in  the  court,"  but  they  had  gone  by 
the  king's  order  to  condole  with  Kung-hang,  and  ought  therefore  to  have  ob- 


PT    II.    CH.  XXVIII.]  LE    LOW.  265 

our  places  to  speak  with  one  anotlier,  and  must  not  pass  out 
of  our  own  rank  to  bow  to  one  another.  I  was  wishing  to 
observe  these  rules; — is  it  not  strange  that  Tsze-gaou  should 
think  I  was  thereby  slighting  him  ?  " 

XXVIII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "That  wherein  the  superior 
man  is  diiferent  from  other  men  is  what  he  preserves  in  his 
heart ; — namely,  benevolence  and  propriety. 

2.  "  The  benevolent  man  loves  others;  the  man  of  pro- 
priety shows  respect  to  others. 

3.  "He  who  loves  others  is  always  loved  by  them,  and 
he  who  respects  others  is  always  respected  by  them. 

4.  "  Here  is  a  man  who  treats  me  in  a  perverse  and  un- 
reasonable manner ; — [as]  a  superior  man,  I  will  turn  round 
upon  myself,  [and  say,]  '  I  must  have  been  wanting  in 
benevolence  ;  I  must  have  been  devoid  of  propriety ; — how 
[else]  should  this  have  happened  to  [me]  ?  ' 

5.  "  Having  thus  examined  myself,  I  am  [specially] 
benevolent,  and  [specially]  observant  of  propriety.  If  the 
perversity  and  unreasonableness  of  the  other  be  still  the 
same,  [as]  a  superior  man  [I  will  say],  *  I  must  have  been 
failing  to  do  my  utmost.' 

6.  "  I  again  turn  I'ound  upon  myself,  and  proceed  to  do 
my  utmost.  If  the  perversity  and  unreasonableness  of  the 
other  be  still  the  same,  [as]  a  superior  man,  I  will  say,  '  This 
is  a  man  utterly  lost  indeed.  Since  he  conducts  him  so, 
there  is  nothing  to  choose  between  him  and  a  beast ;  why 
should  I  go  to  trouble  myself  about  a  beast  ? ' 

7.  "  Thus  it  is  that  the  superior  man  has  a  life-long 
anxiety,  but  not  one  morning's  serious  trouble.  As  to  what 
is  matter  of  anxiety  to  him,  he  has  it  [thus]  : — '  Shun,'  [he 
says,]  '  was  a  man,  and  I  also  am  a  man.  Shun  gave  an 
example  to  all  under  heaven,  and  [his  conduct]  was  fit  to  be 

served  the  rules  which  regulated  their  positions  and  movements  when  in  the 
court.     On  those  rules,  see  the  Official  Book  of  Chow,  XXII.  iii.  1,  et  al. 

Ch.  XXVIII.  How  THE  SUPERIOR  MAN  IS  DISTINGUISHED  FROM  OTHERS 
BY  THE  CUI.TIVATION  OF  HIS  MORAL  EXCELLENCE  ;  AND  HOW  IN  THAT  HE 
HAS  HIS  REMEDY  AGAINST  THE  MISCONDUCT  OF  OTHEIiS;  TO  HIM. 

Mencius  shows  here  an  admirable  faith  in  the  power  of  goodness  to  pro- 
duce a  corresponding  response  in  others,  an<l  in  the  peace  which  the  con- 
sciousness of  having  acted  in  kindness  and  righteousness  will  produce  under 
the  most  perverse  treatment. 


'^QQ  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCICS.  [bK    TV. 

handed  down  to  future  ages,  while  lam  nothing  better  than 
a  villager.'  This  indeed  is  proper  matter  of  anxiety  to 
him  ;  but  in  what  way  is  he  anxious  ?  Simply  that  he  maybe 
like  Shun.  As  to  what  would  be  matter  of  serious  trouble 
to  a  superior  man,  there  is  no  such  thing.  He  does  nothing 
which  is  contrary  to  benevolence ;  he  does  nothing  which  is 
not  according  to  propriety.  Should  there  be  one  morning's 
trouble,  as  a  superior  man  he  does  not  reckon  it  a  trouble." 

XXIX.  1.  Yu  and  Tseih,  in  an  age  of  tranquillizing 
[government],  thrice  passed  their  doors  without  entering 
them.     Confucius  praised  them. 

2.  Yen-tsze,  in  an  age  of  disorder,  dwelt  in  a  mean 
narrow  lane,  havnng  his  single  bamboo-dish  of  rice,  and  his 
single  gourd-cup  of  water.  Other  men  could  not  have  en- 
dured the  distress,  but  he  did  not  allowjiis  joy  to  be  affected 
by  it.     Confucius  [also]  praised  him. 

3.  Mencius  said,  "  Yu,  Tseih,  and  Yen  Hwuy  agreed  in 
the  principles  of  their  conduct. 

4.  "Yu  thought  that  if  any  one  under  heaven  were 
drowned,  it  was  as  if  he  himself  drowned  him.  Tseih  thought 
that  if  any  one  under  heaven  suffered  hunger,  it  was  as  if 
he  himself  famished  him.  It  was  on  this  account  that  they 
were  so  earnest. 

5.  "  If  Yu  and  Tseih,  and  Yen-tsze  could  have  exchanged 
places,  they  would  have  done  each  what  the  other  did. 

6.  '^'^Ilere  now  in  the  same  apartment  with  you  are  peo- 
ple fighting ;  and   [you  wish  to]  part   them.     Though  you 

CH.  XXIX.  How  AN  XTNDERLYINCr  PUINCIPLE  WILL  BE  FOUND  TO  RECON- 
CILE THE  DIFFERENCES  IN  THE  CONDUCT  OF  GREAT  AND  GOOD  MEN  OCCA- 
SIONED BY  THEIR  DIFFERENT  CIRCUMSTANCES  ; — ILLUSTRATED  IN  THE 
CASES  OF  Yu,  TSEIH,  AND  YEN  HWUY. 

Par.  1.  See  III.  i.  IV.  7,  et  al.  The  thrice  passing  his  door  was  peculiar 
to  Yu,  though  it  is  here  ascribed  also  to  Tseih,  or  How-tseih.  Their  age 
was  not  one  of  traiiquillity,  but  the  government  in  it  was  good,  and  they 
were  employed  to  bring  it  to  tranquillity. 

Par.  2.   See  Ana.  VI.  ix. 

Parr.  6,  7.  The  rules  anciently  prescribed  for  dressing  were  very  minute. 
Much  had  to  be  done  with  the  hair,  before  the  final  act  of  putting  on  the 
cap,  with  the  strings  tied  under  the  chin.  In  the  case  in  par.  C  all  these 
rules  are  neglected.  The  urgency  of  the  case,  and  the  intimacy  of  the  in- 
dividual with  the  parties  quarrelling,  justified  such  neglect.  Tiiis  was  the 
case  of  Yu  and  Tseih  in  relation  to  their  age,  while  that  in  par.  7  is  supposed 


PT    II.    CII.  XXX.]  LE    LOW.  '  267 

were  to  part  tliera  witli  your  cap  tied  on  over  your  hair  un- 
bound, your  conduct  would  be  allowable. 

7.  "  If  the  fighting  were  [only]  in  your  village  or  neigh- 
bourhood, and  you  were  to  go  to  part  them  with  your  cap 
[so]  tied  on  over  your  hair  unbound,  you  would  be  in  error. 
Though  you  were  to  shut  your  door  [in  such  a  case] ,  your 
conduct  would  be  allowable.^' 

XXX.  1.  The  disciple  Kung-too  said,  '^Throughout  the 
whole  State,  all  pronounce  K'wang  Chang  unfilial,  and  yet 
you,  Master,  keep  company  with  him,  and  moreover  treat 
him  with  politeness.     I  venture  to  ask  why  you  do  so." 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  There  are  five  things  which  in  the 
common  parlance  of  the  age  are  said  to  be  unfilial.  The 
first  is  laziness  in  the  use  of  one's  four  limbs,  so  as  not  to 
attend  to  the  maintenance   of  his  parents.      The  second  is 

to  illustrate  Kwuv's  relation  to  his. — But  Mencius'  illustrations  are  for  the 
most  part  happier  than  these. 

Ch.  XXX.    How  ]\Iencius  explained  his  intercourse  with  a  man 

COMMONLY  HELD  TO  HE  UNFILIAL.       THE  CASE  OF  K'WANG  ChANG. 

Par.  1.  K'wang  Chang  was  an  officer  of  Ts'e,  and  had  been  employed  in 
important  military  affairs.  He  commanded  the  troops  of  Ts'e  in  the  opera- 
tions against  Yen  referred  to  in  I.  ii.  X.,  et  al.  We  have  no  account  of  the 
particulars  of  his  conduct  which  made  him  be  regarded  throughout  the 
State  as  unfilial,  though  perhaps  a  hint  about  them  may  be  obtained  from 
a  narrative  in  the  "  Plans  of  the  Warring  States,"  in  the  first  Book  relating 
to  Ts'e.  It  is  there  said  that  king  Wei  of  Ts'e  appointed  K'wang  Chang  to 
command  an  army  against  Ts'in,  which  was  threatening  the  State.  For 
some  time  reports  were  rife  that  Chang-tsze  was  playing  the  traitor,  but 
king  Wei  refused  to  believe  them,  saying  he  was  confident  of  the  good 
faith  of  his  general.  At  last  news  came  of  a  great  defeat  inflicted  on 
Ts'in,  and  the  king,  being  asked  what  had  made  him  so  trustful  of  K'wang 
Chang,  said,  "  Chang-tsze's  mother  offended  his  father,  and  was  put  to 
death  by  him,  and  buried  in  a  stable.  When  I  was  sending  him  forth  on 
this  expedition,  I  said  that,  if  he  conducted  it  vigorously,  I  would  on  his 
return  bury  his  mother  elsewhere,  but  he  said  that  he  might  have  done  so 
before,  but  his  mother  having  offended  his  father,  and  his  father  having  died 
without  giving  him  any  instructions  on  the  point,  he  did  not  dare  to  remove 
the  body  to  another  grave,  lest  he  should  be  dealing  wrongly  by  his  deceased 
father.  If  Chang-tsze  is  thus  faithful  to  his  deceased  father,  he  will  not  be 
faithless  tome."  Possibly,  the  alienation  between  Chang-tsze  and  his  father 
may  have  arisen  about  the  hitter's  putting  his  mother  to  death.  Whatever 
was  the  cause  of  it,  i*  is  evident  from  what  Mencius  says  that  it  did  not 
seriously  compromise  li.s  character. 

Par.  2.  "  Gambling  and  chess-playing  ;  " — see  on  Ana.  XYII.  xxii.     But 


t 
2G8  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    IV 

gambling  and  c>.ess-playing,  and  being  fond  of  spirits,  so  as 
not  to  attend  to  the  maintenance  of  one's  parents.  The 
third  is  being  fond  of  goods  and  money,  and  being  selfishly  at- 
tached to  one^s  wife  and  children,  so  as  not  to  attend  to  the 
maintenance  of  one's  parents.  The  fourth  is  following  the 
desires  of  one's  ears  and  eyes,  so  as  to  bring  one's  parents 
to  disgrace.  The  fifth  is  being  fond  of  bravery,  fighting 
and  quarrelling,  so  as  to  endanger  his  parents.  Is  Chang- 
tsze  guilty  of  any  one  of  these  things  ? 

3.  "  Between  Chang-tsze  and  his  father  there  arose  dis- 
agreement, he,  the  son,  reproving  his  father  to  urge  him  to 
what  was  good. 

4.  "To  urge  one  another  by  reproofs  to  what  is  good  is 
the  way  of  friends.  But  such  urging  between  father  and 
son  is  the  greatest  injury  to  the  kindly  feeling  [that  should 
prevail  between  them] . 

5.  "  Did  not  Chang-tsze  wish  to  have  all  that  belongs  to 
[the  relationships]  of  husband  and  wife,  child  and  mother  ? 
But  because  he  had  offended  his  father  and  was  not  permit- 
ted to  approach  him,  he  sent  away  his  wife  and  drave  forth 
his  son,  and  would  not  for  all  [the  rest  of]  his  life  receive 
any  cherishing  attentions  from  them.  He  settled  it  in  his 
mind  that,  if  he  did  not  act  in  this  way,  his  would  be  the 
greatest  of  crimes.  Such,  and  nothing  more  is  the  case  of 
Chang-tsze.'' 

XXXI.  1.  When  Tsang-tsze  dwelt  in  Woo-shing,  there 
came  [a  band  of]  plunderers  from  Yueh.  Some  one  said  [to 
him] ,  "  The  plunderers  are  come  ;  why  not  leave  this  ?  "  [On 
this  Tsang-tsze  left  the  city],  saying  [to  the  man  in  charge 
of  his  house],  *'  Do  not  let  any  one  lodge  in  my  house,  lest 
he  break  and  injure  the  plants  and  shrubs  about  it."     But 

the  chess-playing  could  not  be  the  game  analogous  to  ours,  for  the  emperor 
of  the  Chow  dynasty  alluded  to  in  the  note  there  as  its  inventor  belonged 
to  the  latter  dynasty  of  that  name  in  the  10th  century  of  our  era. 

Parr.  .3,  4.  Compare  Part  i.  XVIII.  2. 

Par.  '>.  Readers  not  Chinese  will  think  that  Chang's  treatment  of  hia 
wife  and  son  was  more  criminal  than  his  conduct  to  his  father. 

Ch.  XXXI.  How  Mencius  explained  thk  different  conduct  of 
TsXng-tsze  and  Tsze-sze  in  outwardly  similar  circumstances. 
Compare  chapter  xxix. 

Par.  1.  Woo-shing  was  a  city  of  Loo, — 90  le  to  the  south-west  of  the 
present  district  city  of  Pe,  department  E-chow.     Tsang-tsze  had  here  opened 


rx   11,    CH.  XXXII.]  LK   LOW.  269 

when  the  plunderers  were  withdrawing  [he  sent  word],  say- 
ing, "  Repair  the  walls  and  roof  of  my  house ;  I  will  return 
to  it; "  and  when  the  plunderers  had  retired,  he  returned.  His 
disciples  said,  "  Since  our  Master  was  treated  with  so  much 
attention  and  respect,  for  him  to  be  the  first,  on  the  arrival 
of  the  plunderers,  to  go  away,  so  as  to  be  observed  by  the 
people,  and  then,  on  their  retiring,  to  return,  seems  to  us  to 
be  improper."  Shin-yew  Hang  said  [to  them] ,  "  You  do  not 
understand  this  matter.  Formerly,  when  [the  house  of  us] , 
the  Shin-yew,  was  exposed  to  the  outbreak  of  the  grass- 
carriers,  there  were  seventy  disciples  in  our  Master^s  follow- 
ing, and  none  of  them  took  any  part  in  the  matter.^' 

2.  When  Tsze-sze  was  living  in  Wei,  there  came  plunder- 
ers from  Ts'e.  Some  one  said  to  him,  "The  plunderers  are 
coming  ;  why  not  leave  this  ?  "  [But]  Tsze-sze  said,  "  If  I 
go  away,  whom  will  the  ruler  have  with  him  to  guard  [the 
city]?- 

3.  Mencius  said,  "  Tsang-tsze  and  Tsze-sze  agi-eed  in  the 
principle  of  their  conduct.  Tsang-tsze  was  a  teacher; — in  the 
position  of  a  father  or  elder  brother.  Tsze-sze  was  a  minis- 
ter ; — in  a  meaner  position.  If  they  could  have  exchanged 
places,  each  would  have  done  what  the  other  did." 

XXXII.  The  officer  Ch'oo  said  [to  Mencius] ,  "  The  king 
sent  a  person  to  spy  out  whether  you.  Sir,  were  really 
different  from  other  men."     Mencius  replied,  "How  should 

a  school  or  lecture-room  in  the  place,  having,  probably,  as  many  suppose,  been 
invited  to  do  so — to  be  "aguestand  teacher" — by  the  commandant.  It  was 
thus  in  the  south  of  the  present  Shan-tung  province.  South  from  it,  and 
covering  the  present  Kcang-soo  and  part  of  Cheh-keang,  were  the  States  of 
Woo  and  Yueh,  all  at  this  time  subject  to  Yueh.  Shin-yew  Hang  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  disciple  of  Tsang-tsze,  and  a  native  of  Woo-shing. 
The  Shin-yew  of  whom  he  speaks  must  mean  the  head  of  his  clan,  or 
rather  his  House.  When  it  was  in  peril,  Tsang-tsze's  seventy  disciples 
would  have  been  abundantly  able  to  cope  with  the  grass-carriers.  Tliat  they 
did  not  attempt  to  do  so,  showed  that  there  was  some  reason  for  his  conduct, 
more  than  the  objectors  to  it  saw  on  the  surface. 

Pai-.  2.  Tsze-sze  of  course  is  Confucius'  grandson.  He  was  living  in 
Wei,  and  sustaining  office  in  it. 

Par.  3.  We  have  here  a  striking  illustration  of  the  importance  attached 
to  the  position  of  a  "  teacher,"  of  which  I  have  spoken  in  the  Prolegomena. 

Ch.  XXXII.  Sages  are  just  like  othee  men  in  their  personal 

APPEARANCE  AND  ORDINARY  WAYS. 


270  THE   WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [bK    IV. 

I  bo  different  from  other  men  ?  Yaou  and  Shun  were  just 
the  same  as  other  men.''^ 

XXXIII,  1.  "A  man  of  Ts'e  had  a  wife  and  a  concubine, 
and  lived  together  with  them  in  his  house.  AVhen  their 
good-man  went  out,  he  was  sure  to  get  himself  well  filled  with 
spirits  and  flesh  and  then  return,  and  on  his  wife's  asking 
him  with  whom  he  had  been  eating  and  drinking,  they  were 
sure  to  Tbe  all  men  of  wealth  and  rank.  The  wife  informed 
the  concubine,  saying,  '  When  the  good-man  goes  out,  he  is 
sure  to  come  back  having  partaken  plentifully  of  spirits  and 
flesh,  and  when  I  ask  him  with  whom  he  has  been  eating  and 
drinking,  they  are  all  men  of  wealth  and  rank.  And  yet  no 
men  of  distinction  ever  come  [here].  I  will  spy  out  where 
our  good-man  goes.'  [Accordingly]  she  got  up  early  in 
the  morning,  and  privately  followed  the  good-man  to  where 
he  was  going.  All  through  the  city  there  was  nobody  who 
stood  and  talked  with  him.  At  last  he  came  to  those  who 
were  sacrificing  among  the  tombs  outside  the  outer  wall  on 
the  east,  and  begged  what  they  had  left.  Not  being  satis- 
fied, he  looked  round  him  and  went  to  another  party  ; — and 
this  was  the  way  in  which  he  got  himself  satiated.  His 
wife  went  home,  ^nd  informed  the  concubine,  saying,  'It 
was  to  the  good-man  that  we  looked  up  in  hopeful  contem- 
plation, and  with  whom  our  lot  is  cast  for  life  ; — and  these 
are  his  ways.'  [On  this]  she  and  the  concubine  reviled 
their  good-uian,  and  wept  together  in  the  middle  courtyard. 
[In  tbe  mean  -time]  the  good-man,  knowing  nothing  of  all 
this,  came  in  with  a  jaunty  air,  carrying  himself  proudly  to 
them. 

Ch'oo  was  a  minister  of  Ts'e.  The  incident  mentioned  probably  occurred 
on  Mencius'  lirst  arrival  in  Ts'e,  and  before  he  had  any  interview  with  the 
king. 

Ch.  XXXIII.  The  disgraceful  means  which  many  took  to  seek  foe 

WEALTH  AND  HONOURS. 

Par.  1.  A  "  Jlencius  said  "  must  have  dropt  out  of  the  text  at  tbe  begin- 
ning of  this  paragraph.  All  the  commentators  seem  to  be  agreed  in  this. 
The  statement  that  the  man  "  lived  together  with  his  wife  and  concubine  in 
the  house"  seems  to  be  intended  to  indicate  that  he  passed  as  a  man  of 
wealth,  who  was  not  engaged  in  trade,  or  any  business  that  called  him  away 
from  home.  "Good-man  "  is  equivalent  to  husband  ;  so  "good-man"  used  to 
be  employed  in  Scotland. 


PT    II.    CII.  XXXIII.]  LE    LOW.  271 

2.  "  According  to  tlie  view  wliicli  a  superior  man  takes  of 
things,  as  to  tlie  ways  by  which  men  seek  for  riches,  honours, 
gain,  and  advancement,  there  are  few  of  their  wives  and 
concubines  who  might  not  be  ashamed  and  weep  together 
because  of  them/-" 

Par.  2  contains  tlie  moral  and  application  of  the  narrative  given  in  the 
former  paragraph. 


272  THE    WORKS    OF    MKNCICS.  [bK    V. 

BOOK  V. 

WAN    CHANG.       PART    I. 

Chapter  I.  1.  Wan  Chang  asked  [Mencius],  saying, 
"  [When]  Shun  went  into  the  fiehls,  he  cried  out  and  wept 
towards  the  pitying  heavens.  Why  did  he  cry  out  and 
weep  ? ''  Mencius  replied,  "  He  was  dissatisfied  and  full 
of  earnest  desire." 

2,  Wan  Chang  pursued,  "AYlien  his  parents  love  him, 
[a  son]  rejoices  and  forgets  them  not;  and  when  they 
hate  him,  though  they  punish  him,  he  does  not  allow 
himself  to  be  dissatisfied.  Was  Shun  then  dissatisfied 
[with  his  parents]?"  [Mencius  said],  "  Ch'ang  Seih 
asked  Kung-ming  Kaou,  saying,  'As  to  Shun's  going  into 
the  fields,  I  have  received  your  instructions ;  but  I  do  not 
understand  about  his  weeping  and  crying  out  to  the  pitying 
heavens,  and  to  his  parents.^     Kung-ming  Kaou  answered 

Title  op  the  Book.  The  Book  is  named  from  Wan  Chans^,  who  is  al- 
most the  only  interlocutor  with  Mencius  in  it.  He  has  been  mentioned 
before  in  III.  ii.  V.  The  trHdition  is  that  it  was  in  company  with  Wan's  dis- 
ciples that  Mencius,  baffled  in  all  his  hopes  of  doing  public  service,  and 
having  retired  into  privacy,  composed  the  seven  Books  which  constitute  his 
"Works.  The  first  Part  of  this  Book  is  all  occu[)ie(l  with  discussions  in  vin- 
dication of  Hhun  and  other  ancient  worthies. 

Ch.  L  Shun"s  great  filial  piety  ;— how  it  carried  iiim  into  the 

FIELDS  to  weep  AND  DEI'LORK  HIS  INABILITY  TO  SECURE  THE  AFFECTION 
AND  SYMPATHY  OF  HIS  PARIONTS,  AND  THAT  HE  NEVER  CHERISHED  ANT 
GRUDGE  AGAINST  THEM  FOR  TIIKIR  TREATMENT  OP    HI.M. 

Par.  1.  The  incident  about  Shun  here  mentioned  is  found  in  the  Shoo, 
II.  ii.  21.  It  is  given  there,  however,  as  having  occurred  in  the  early  part 
of  his  life  ;  and  thi.s,  as  will  be  seen,  makes  it  difficult,  even  impossible,  to 
reconcile  what  we  read  in  the  Shoo  about  Shun  with  Mencius'  statements  in 
this  chapter. 

Par.  2.  Shun's  dissatisfaction  was  with  himself,  but  this  is  at  first  kept  in 
the  background,  and  Wan  Chang  either  misunderstood  it,  and  thought  th&t 
his  dissatisfaction  was  with  his  parents,  or  chose  to  ajipear  to  do  so.  On 
what  he  says  about  the  relations  of  a  son  with  his  parents,  see  Ana.  IV. 
xviii.  Kung-ming  Kaou  is  believed  to  have  been  a  disciple  of  Tsang-tsze  ; 
and  Ch'ang  Seih  again  was  Kaou's  discii>le.  The  latter  probably  means  to 
Bay  that  he  understood  Shun's  going  into  the   fields  to  have  been  that  he 


PT  I.  CH.  I.]  WAN  cHAya.  .  273 

him,  'You  do  not  understand  that  matter.'  Now  Kunoc- 
ming  Kaou  thought  that  the  heart  of  a  filial  son  [like 
Shun]  could  not  be  so  free  from  sorrow  [as  Seih  seemed 
to  imagine  he  might  have  been].  [Shun  would  be  saying,] 
'  I  exert  my  strength  to  cultivate  the  fields,  but  I  am 
thereby  only  discharging  my  duty  as  a  son.  What  is 
there  [wrong]  in  me  that  ray  parents  do  not  love  me  ?  ' 

3.  "  The  emperor  caused  his  own  [children], — nine  sons 
and  two  daughters,  the  various  officers,  oxen  and  sheep, 
storehouses  and  granaries,  [all]  to  be  prepared  for  the 
service  of  Shun  amid  the  channeled  fields.  Most  of  the 
officers  in  the  empire  repaired  to  him.  The  emperor  de- 
signed that  he  should  superintend  the  empire  along  with 
himself,  and  then  to  transfer  it  to  him.  But  because  his 
pai-euts  were  not  in  accoi'd  with  him,  he  felt  like  a  poor 
man  who  has  nowhere  to  turn  to, 

4,  "  To  be  an  object  of  complacency  to  the  officers  of 
the  empire  is  what  men  desire  ;  but  it  was  not  sufficient 
to  remove  the  sorrow  of  [Shun] .  The  possession  of  beauty 
is  what  men  desire, — but  though  [Shun]  had  for  his  wives 
the  two  daughters  of  the  emperor,  it  was  not  sufficient  to 
remove  his  sorrow.  Riches  are  what  men  desire,  but 
though  the  empii*e  was  the  rich  property  [of  Shun],  it  was 
not. enough  to  remove  his  sorrow.  Honours  are  what  men 
desire,  but  though  [Shun]  had  the  dignity  of  being  the  son 
of  Heaven,  it  was  not  sufficient  to  remove  his  sorrow. 
The  reason  why  his  being  the  object  of  men's  complacency, 
the  possession  of  beauty,  riches,  and  honours,   could   not 


might  cultivate  tbem  in  order  to  nourish  his  parents.  He  then  quotes  tlie 
words  of  the  Shoo  more  fully  than  they  are  quoted  in  the  preceding  ])ara- 
graph,  and  says  he  could  not  understand  the  grief  which  they  described,  his 
idea  being  the  same  which  Wan  Chang  had  that  they  must  indicate  that 
Shun  was  dissatisfied  with  his  parents.  "  A  filial  son  could  not  be  so  free 
from  sorrow  [as  Seih  seemed  to  imagine  that  Shun  might  have  been]  ;" 
that  is,  Seih  understood  that  Shun  did  his  duty  in  cultivating  the  fields 
for  his  parents,  and  imagined  that  he  should  then  have  dismissed  all  care 
from  his  mind  as  to  any  differences  between  them  and  him. 

Par.  3.  "The  emperor"  is,  of  course,  Yaou.  See  the  Shoo,  I.  12,  where 
Yaou  gives  his  two  daughters  in  marriage  to  Shun.  It  is  stated  there,  how- 
ever, that  Shun  had  by  that  time  transformed  his  parents  and  his  half- 
brother  Seang,  and  brought  them  to  be  in  harmony  with  him.  This  is  the 
chronological  difficulty  in  the  account  of  Shun's  history  in  the  Shoo  and 
that  given  by  Mencius  in  this  chapter. 
VOL.   II.  18 


27-i  THE    WORKS    OP   MENCICS.  [bK   V. 

rcMiiove  liis  sorrow  was  because  it  could  bo  removed  only 
by  bis  being  in  [entire]  accord  with  bis  parents. 

5.  ''  The  desire  of  a  child  is  towards  his  father  and 
mother.  When  he  becomes  conscious  of  [the  attractions 
of]  beauty,  his  desire  is  towards  young  and  beautiful 
women.  When  he  [comes  to]  have  a  wife  and  children, 
his  desire  is  towards  them.  "When  he  obtains  office,  his 
desire  is  towards  his  ruler ;  and  if  he  cannot  get  the  re- 
gard of  his  ruler,  he  burns  within.  [But]  the  man  of 
great  filial  piety,  all  his  life,  has.^his  desire  towards  his 
parents.  In  the  great  Shun  I  see  the  case  of  one  whose 
desire  was  towards  them  when  he  was  fifty  years  old." 

II.  1.  Wan  Chang  asked  [Mencius],  saying,  "It  is 
said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

*  How  do  we  proceed  in  taking  a  wife  ? 
Announcement  must  [first]  be  made  to  our  parents.' 

If  [the  rule]  be  indeed  as  thus  expressed,  no  one  ought  to 
have  illustrated  it  so  well  as  Shun ; — how  was  it  that  Shun's 
marriage  took  place  without  his  informing  [his  parents]  ? '' 
Mencius  repbcd,  "  If  he  had  informed  them,  he  would  not 
have  been  able  to  marry.  That  male  and  female  dwell 
together  is  the  greatest  of  human  relations.  If  [Shun]  had 
informed  his  parents,  he  must  have  made  void  this  greatest 
of  human  relations,  and  incurred  thereby  their  resentment. 
It'. was  on  this  account  that  he  did  not  inform  them." 

2.  Wan  Chang  said,  ''As  to  Shun's  marrying  without 
making  announcement  [to  his  parents],  I  have  heard  your 

Ch.  II.  Defence  of  Shun  agafnst  the  charge  of  makuying  with- 
out INFORMING  HIS  PARENTS,  AND  OF  HYPOCRISY  IN  HIS  FRIENDLY  BEARING 
AND  CONDUCT  TOWARDS  HIS  15R0THER.  DEFENCE  ALSO  OP  YAOU  POK 
GIVING  HIS  DAUGHTERS  TO  SlIUN,  WITHOUT  THE  APPROVAL  OP  SHUN'S 
PARENTS. 

Par.  1.  The  lines  from  the  Book  of  Poetry  are  in  the  She,  I.  viii.  VI.  2. 
But  the  rule  expressed  in  them  was  overruled  by  the  higher  duty  to  raise  up 
posterity  for  one's  parents  ; — see  IV.  i.  XXVI. 

Par.  2.  As  all  negotiations  for  the  marriage  of  children  should  be  between 
the  parents  on  both  sides,  Yaou  should  have  communicated  with  Shun's 
father  ;  but  here  again  the  same  consideration  absolved  Yaou  from  blame. 

Par.  3.  Seang,  it  is  understood,  was  only  the  half-l)rother  of  Shun.  On 
the  death  of  Shun's  mother,  Koo-sow  had  married  again,  or  raised  a  former 
concubine,  wliose  son  was  Scang,  to  the  rank  of  Lis  wile.     The  various  iu- 


rr  I.  cir.  ii.]  wan  chang,  275 

instructions.  [But]  how  was  it  that  the  emperor  gave 
him  his  daughters  as  wives  without  informing  [his  pa- 
rents] ?  "  [Mencius]  said,  "  The  emperor  also  knew  that, 
if  he»informed  his  parents,  he  could  not  have  given  him  his 
daughters  as  wives." 

3.  Wan  Chang  said,  ''  His  parents  set  Shun  to  repair  a 
granary,  and  then  removed  the  ladder  [by  which  he  had 
ascended],  [after  which]  Koo-sow  set  fire  to  it.  They 
sent  kim  to  dig  a  well,  [from  which  he  managed  to]  get 
out;  but  they,  [not  knowing  this,]  proceeded  to  cover 
it  up.  [His  bi'other]  Seang  said,  '  Of  this  scheme  to 
cover  up  the  city-forming  gentleman  the  merit  is  all 
mine.  Let  my  parents  have  his  oxen  and  sheep ;  let  them 
have  his  granaries  and  storehouses.  His  shield  and  spear 
shall  be  mine ;  his  lute  shall  be  mine ;  his  carved  bow 
shall  be  mine ;  and  I  will  make,  his  two  wives  attend  for 
me  to  my  bed.'  Seang  then  went  away  and  entered 
Shun's  house,  and  there  was  Shun  upon  a  couch  with  his 
lute.  Seang  said,  '  [I  am  come]  simply  because  I  was 
thinking  anxiously  about  you,'  [and  at  the  same  time] 
he  looked  ashamed.  Shun  said  to  him,  '  There  are  all  my 
officers ;  do  you  take  the  management  of  them  for  me.'  I 
do  not  know  whether  Shun  was  ignorant  of  Seang's  wish- 
ing, to  kill  him.'^  [Mencius]  replied,  "  How  could  he  be 
ignorant  of  it  ?  But  when  Seang  was  sorrowful,'  he  was 
also  sori'owful,  and  when  Seang  was  joyful,  he  was  also 
joyful."  ^  .      ^ 

4.  [Wan  Chang]  continued,  ''Then  was  Shun  one  who  re- 
joiced hypocritically  ?  "  "  No,"  was  the  reply.  "  For- 
merly some  one  sent  a  present  of  a  live  fish  to  Tsze-ch'an 
of  Ch'ing.     Tsze-ch'an  ordered  his  pond-keeper  to  feed  it 

cidents  here  mentioned  are  taken  from  tradition,  or  perhaps  the  Shoo  was 
more  complete  in  Mencius'  days  than  it  has  come  down  to  us.  Sze-ma" 
Ts'een  tells  us  that  Shun  got  through  the  flames  by  screening  himself  with 
two  bamboo  hats,  and  that  he  escaped  from  the  well  by  a  concealed  passage 
which  led  from  it.  Seang  calls  him  "  the  city-forming  gentleman."  This 
is  the  most  natural  rendering  of  the  terms,  though  it  is  not  that  of  Chaou 
K'e.  They  say  that  wherever  Shun  lived  three  years,  the  people  flocked 
to  him,  so  as  to  form  a  too, — a  city  only  inferior  to  the  capital  city  of  a 
State. 

Par.  4.  If  Tsze-ch'an  had  known  that  his  pond-keeper  had  eaten  the 
fish,  would  he  not  have  punished  him  ?  The  case  is  not  in  point  to  vindicate 
Shuu's  treatment  of  Seang,  of  whose  vile  designs  he  was  well  aware.     His 


276  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [l3K    V. 

ill  the  pond;  but  the  man  cooked  it,  and  reported  the 
execution  of  his  commission,  saying, '  When  I  first  let  it  go,  it 
looked  embarrassed.  In  a  Httle  it  seemed  to  be  somewhat 
at  ease,  and  then  it  swam  away  as  if  delighted/  '  It 
had  got  into  its  element ! '  said  Tsze-ch'an.  '  It  had 
got  into  its  element ! '  The  pond-keeper  went  out  and 
said,  '  Who  calls  Tsze-ch'an  wise  ?  When  I  had  cooked 
and  eaten  the  fish,  he  said,  "  It  has  got  into  its  element ! 
It  has  got  into  its  element  !  " '  Thus  a  superior  man  may 
be  imposed  on  by  what  seems  to  be  as  it  ought  to  be,  but 
it  is  difficult  to  entrap  him  by  what  is  contrary  to  right 
principle.  Seang  came  in  the  way  in  which  the  love  of 
his  elder  brother  would  have  made  him  come,  and  there- 
fore Shun  truly  believed  him_,  and  rejoiced  at  it.  What 
hypocrisy  was  there  ?  " 

III.  1 .  Wan  Chang  said,  "  Seang  made  it  his  daily  busi- 
ness to  kill  Shun  ; — why  was  it  that,  when  [the  latter] 
was  raised  to  be  the  son  of  Heaven,  he  [only]  banished 
him  ?  "  Mencius  replied,  "  He  invested  him  with  a  State, 
and  some  have  said  that  it  was  banishing  him.'^ 

2.  Wan  Chang  said,  "  Shun  banished  the  superintend- 
ent of  Works  to  Yew-chow,  sent  away  Hwan-tow  to  mount 
Ts^ung,  slew  the  [prince  of]  San-meaou  in  San-wei,  and 
imprisoned  K'wan  on  mount  Yu.  When  those  four  crimi- 
nals [were  thus  dealt  with],  all  under  heaven,  submitted 
to  him ; — it  was  a  cutting  off  of  men  who  were  destitute 
of  benevolence.  But  Seang  was  [of  all  men]  the  most  des- 
titute of  benevolence,  and  [Shun]  invested  him  with  the 
State  of  Pe ; — of  what  ci"ime  had  the  people  of  Pe  been 

defence  of  his  hero  against  the  cliarge  of  hypocrisy  is  ingenious,  and  amusing. 
Its  fault  is,  as  in  other  arguments  of  Mencius,  tiiat  he  will  make  his  point 
too  plain. 

Ch.  III.  Vindication  of  Shun's  conduct  in  the  case  of  his  wicked 
BROTHER  Seang  ; — how  he  both  distinguished  him  and  kept  him 

UNDER  restraint. 

Par.  1.  We  must  introduce  onhj,  I  think,  to  bring  out  Wan's  idea  in  what 
he  says  about  Shun's  treatment  of  Seang. 

Par.  2.  Wan  here  changes  his  ground,  and  proceeds  to  argue  against  Shun 
from  what  Mencius  had  said.  See  Ilwan-tow  and  the  other  criminals,  and 
Shun's  dealing  with  them,  in  the  Shoo,  II.  i.  12.  The  old  State  of  Pe  is 
commonly  referred  to  the  present  district  of  Ling-ling,  department  Yung- 


PT    I.    CH.  IV.]  "WAN    CHAXG.  277 

guilty  ?  Does  a  benevolent  man  really  act  thus  ?  In 
the  case  of  other  men,  he  cut  them  off;  in  the  case  of  his 
brother,  he  invested  him  with  a  State/'  [Mencius] 
replied,  "  A  benevolent  man  does  not  lay  up  anger,  nor 
cherish  resentment,  against  his  brother,  but  only  regards 
him  with  affection  and  love.  Regarding  him  with  affec- 
tion, he  wishes  him  to  enjoy  honour;  loving  him,  he 
wishes  him  to  be  rich.  The  investing  him  with  Pe  was 
to  enrich  and  ennoble  him.  If  while  [Shun]  himself  was 
emperor,  his  brother  had  been  a  common  man,  could  he 
have  been  said  to  regard  him  with  affection  and  love  ?  " 

3.  [Wan  Chang  said,]  "  1  venture  to  ask  what  is 
meant  by  some  saying  that  it  was  a  banishing  [of  Seang] ." 
[Mencius]  replied,  "  Seang  could  do  nothing  [of  himself] 
in  his  State.  The  emperor  appointed  an  officer  to  manage 
its  government,  and  to  pay  over  its  revenues  to  him ;  and 
therefore  it  was  said  that  it  was  a  banishing  of  him  ? 
How  [indeed]  could  he  be  allowed  the  means  of  oppress- 
ing- the  people  there  ?  Nevertheless,  [Shun]  wished  to 
be  continually  seeing  him,  and  therefore  he  came  unceas- 
ingly to  court,  as  is  signified  in  that  expression,  '  He  did 
not  wait  for  the  rendering  of  tribute,  or  affairs  of  govern- 
ment, to  receive  [the  prince  of]  Pe.^  " 

IV.  1.  Heen-k^ew  Mung  asked  Mencius,  saying, 
"There  is  the  old  saying, — 'An  officer  of  complete  \nrtue 
cannot  be  employed  as  a  minister  by  his  ruler,  nor  treated 
as  a  son  by  his   father.^     Shun  stood  with  his  face  to  the 


chow,  Ho-nan.  But  if  Seani,'  had  been  placed  there,  he  would  have  been  too 
far  away  to  meet  the  conditions  of  his  intercourse  with  tjhun  in  the  next 
paragraph. 

Ptir.  3.  We  have  in  the  conclusion  a  quotation  by  Mencius  from  some 
book  that  is  now  lost. 

Ch.  TV.  Vindication  of  a  charge  against  Shun  in  his  relations 

WITH  THE  EMPEROR  YAOU,  AND  WITH  HIS  OWN  FATHER  KOO-SOW. 

Ptjr.  1.  Heen-k'ew  Mung  was  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  a  man  of  Ts'e,  but 
deriving  his  double  surname  from  Heen-k-ew  in  Loo,  where,  probably,  his 
ancestors  had  resided.  Of  the  first  part  of  the  saying  which  Mung  adduces 
two  different  views  are  taken.  Tliat  which  I  have  followed  is  given  by 
Chaou  K'e.  Modern  commentators  generally  take  it  as  meaning — "  The 
scholar  of  complete  virtue  cannot  treat  his  ruler  as  a  minister  nor  his  father 
as  a  son  ;  "  and  Julien  in  his  translation  of  Mencius  emphatically  prefers  this. 


278  THE   WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [bK   V. 

south,  and  Yaou,  at  tlie  head  of  all  the  feudal  princes, 
appeared  in  his  court  with  his  face  to  the  north.  Koo- 
sow  also  appeared  at  Shun's  court  with  his  face  to  the 
north ;  and  when  Shun  saw  him,  his  countenance  assumed 
a  look  of  distress.  Confucius  said,  '  At  this  time  the 
empire  was  in  a  perilous  condition  indeed  !  How  unsettled 
was  its  state  \'  I  do  not  know  whether  what  is  thus  said 
really  took  place.''  ^  Mencius  said,  "  No.  These  are  not 
the  words  of  a  superior  man,  but  the  sayings  of  an  un- 
cultiv'ated  person  of  the  east  of  Ts'e.  When  Yaou  was 
old,  Shun  took  the  management  of  affiiirs  for  him.  It  is 
said  in  the  Canon  of  Yaou,  '  After  twenty-eight  years, 
Fang-heun  demised,  and  the  people  mourned  for  him  as 
for  a  parent  three  years.  All  within  the  four  seas,  the 
eight  instruments  of  music  were  stopped  and  hushed.' 
Confucius  said,  'There  are  not  two  suns  in  the  sky,  nor 
two  sovereigns  over  the  people.  [If]  Shun  had  already 
been  [in  the  position  of]  the  son  of  Heaven,  and  had 
moreover  led  on  all  the  feudal  princes  of  the  empire  to 
observe  the  three  years'  mourning  for  Yaou,  there  must 
in  that  case  have  been  two  sons  of  Heaven.'  " 

2.  Heen-k'ew  Mung  said,  "On  the  point  of  Shun's  not 
employing  Yaou  as  a  minister,  I  have  received  your 
instructions.     But  it  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

\ 

'  Under  the  wide  heaven, 
All  is  the  king's  land  ; 
Within  the  sea-boundaries  of  the  land, 
All  are  the  king's  servants.' 

When    Shun    became    emperor,  I  venture  to  ask   how   it 

I  am  satisfied  that  the  older  interpretation  is  the  correct  one.  According  to 
the  sequel  of  the  saying,  Slum  ai)pears  with  his  face  to  the  south,  L  e.,  in 
the  place  of  the  emperor,  and  Yaou,  "  a  scholar  of  complete  virtue,"  appears 
before  him  with  his  face  to  the  north,  i.  c,  m  the  place  of  homage  or  of  a 
subject.  So  also  does  Shun's  father.  Tliese  are  intended  as  instances  con- 
traiy  to  the  principles  in  the  old  saying  ;  and  then  Confucius'  words  are 
brought  in  to  explain  how  such  instances  came  to  occur,  and  show  that  they 
were  abnormal.  Mencius  denies  entirely  tlie  truth  of  the  statement  in  the 
saying  about  Yaou,  and  proves  it  from  the  Shoo,  II.  i.  13,  and  an  inference 
from  words  that  Confucius  had  once  used. 

Parr.  2,  3,  4.  The  instance  of  Koo-sow's  appearing  at  the  court  of  Shun 
could  not  be  so  easily  disposed  of.  Mencius,  however,  was  not  without  a 
good  answer  to  his  disciple,  and  turns  the  instance  against  him  satisfactorily 


I'T    I.    CH.  v.]  WAN    CHANG.  279 

was  that  Koo-sow  was  not  one  of  liis  servants.'^  [Mencius] 
replied,  ''  That  ode  is  not  to  be  understood  in  that  way  ;— 
[it  speaks  of]  being  laboriously  engaged  in  the  king's 
business,  and  not  being  able  to  nourish  one's  pai'ents, 
[as  if  the  subject  of  it]  said,  '  This  is  all  the  king's  busi- 
ness, but  I  alone  am  supposed  to  have  ability,  and  made 
to  toil  in  it.'  Therefore  those  who  explain  the  odes  must 
not  insist  on  one  term  so  as  to  do  violence  to  a  sentence, 
nor  on  a  sentence  so  as  to  do  violence  to  the  general 
scope.  They  must  try  with  their  thoughts  to  meet  that 
scope,  and  then  they  will  apprehend  it.  If  we  simply 
take  single  sentences,  there  is  that  in  the  ode  called  the 
'  Yun  Han,' 

'  Of  the  remnant  of  Chow,  among  the  black-haired  people, 
There  will  not  be  half  a  man  left.' 

If  it  had  really  been  as  thus  expressed,  then  not  an 
individual  of  the  people  of  Chow  would  have  been  left. 

3.  "  Of  all  that  a  filial  son  can  attain  to,  there  is  nothing 
greater  than  his  honouring  his  parents.  Of  what  can  be 
attained  to  in  honouring  one's  parents,  there  is  nothing 
greater  than  the  nourishing  them  with  the  empii^e.  To 
be  the  father  of  the  son  of  Heaven  is  the  height  of 
honour.  To  be  nourished  with  the  empire  is  the  height 
of  nourishment.  In  this  was  verified  the  sentiment  in 
the  Book  of  Poetry, 

*  Ever  thinking  how  to  be  filial, 
His  filial  mind  was  the  model  [which  he  supplied].' 

4.  "  In  the  Book  of  History  it  is  said,  '  With  respect- 
ful service  he  appeared  before  Koo-sow,  looking  grave 
and  awe-struck,  till  Koo-sow  also  was  transformed  by  his 
example.^  This  is  the  true  case  of  [the  scholar  of  com- 
plete virtue]  not  being  treated  as  a  son  by  his  father." 

y.     1.  Wan  Chang  said,  "  [It  is  said  that]  Yaou  gave 

enough.  For  the  first  quotation  in  par.  2,  see  the  She,  II.  vi.  I.  2,  and  for 
the  other,  III.  iii.  IV.  3.  For  that  in  par.  3,  see  the  She,  III.  i.  IX.  3  ;  and 
for  the  quotation  in  par.  4,  see  the  Shoo,  II.  ii.  21.  The  appearance  of 
Shun  before  Koo-sow,  however,  which  is  there  described,  would  seem  to 
have  been  before  the  former  became  emperor. 

Ch.  V.  How  Shun  got  the  empike  by  the  gift  of  Heavex,  and  kot 


280  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK   V, 

the   empire   to    Shun ;    was  it    so  ? "       Mencius     replied, 
"  No  ;  the  emperor  cannot  give  the  empire  to  another.'^ 

2.  "  Yes ;  but  Shun  possessed  the  empire.  Who  gave 
it  to  him  ?  ''     "  Heaven  gave  it  to  him/^  was  the  reply. 

3.  "  '  Heaven  gave  it  to  him ; '  did  [Heaven]  confer  the 
appointment  on  him  with  specific  injunctions  ?  " 

4.  [Mencius]  said,  "  No ;  Heaven  does  not  speak.  It 
simply  showed  its  will  by  his  [personal]  conduct,  and  by 
[his  conduct  of]  atfairs.^^ 

5.  "  '  It  showed  its  will  by  his  [personal]  conduct,  and 
by  [his  conduct  of]  affairs,^"  returned  the  other; — "how 
was  this  ? ''  [Mencius]  said,  "  The  emperor  can  present 
a  man  to  Heaven,  but  he  cannot  make  Heaven  give  that 
man  the  empire.  A  feudal  prince  can  present  a  man  to 
the  emperor  [to  take  his  place],  but  he  cannot  make  the 
emperor  give  the  princedom  to  that  man.  A  great  officer 
can  present  a  man  to  his  prince,  but  he  cannot  cause  the 
prince  to  make  that  man  a  great  officer  [in  his  own 
room].  Anciently  Yaou  presented  Shun  to  Heaven,  and 
Heaven  accepted  him;  he  displayed  him  to  the  people, 
and  the  people  accepted  him.  Therefore  I  say,  '  Heaven 
does  not  speak.  It  simply  indicated  its  will  by  his  [per- 
sonal] conduct,  and  by  [his  conduct  of]  affairs.' '' 

6.  [Chang]  said,  "  I  presume  to  ask  how  it  was  that 
[Yaou]  presented  Shun  to  Heaven,  and  Heaven  accepted 
him,  and  displayed  him  to  the  people,  and  the  people 
accepted  him.^'  The  reply  was,  "  He  caused  him  to  pre- 
side over  the  sacrifices,  and  all  the  Spirits  were  well 
pleased    with    them ;    thus  it    was  that  Heaven  accepted 

OF  Yaou  ;  and  how  the  action  of  Heaven  in  such  a  matter  is  to 

BE  UNDEESTOOD.      VoX  POPULI  VOX  DeI. 

Par.  2.  Is  it  not  plain  that  here,  and  throughout  the  chapter,  by  Heaven 
we  must  understand  God?  Many  commentators,  however,  understand  by  it 
le,  "  reason,"  or  "  the  truth  and  fitness  of  things,"  excepting  in  the  expres- 
sion in  par.  7,  "  Therefore  I  said  that  it  was  Heaven,"  where  thoy  think  the 
term  =  son,  "  the  determination  of  fate."  On  this,  Le  P'ei-lin  of  the  pre- 
sent dynasty  says  : — "  Ts'ae  Heu-chae  (of  the  Sung  dynasty)  observes  that 
by  Heaven  in  this  one  place  we  are  to  understand/^/f,  and  in  all  the  other 
places  reason  or  the  fitness  of  things.  But  this  is  a  great  error.  Through- 
out this  chapter  '  Heaven '  means  the  government  of  God,  within  which 
are  included  both  reason  and  fate." 

Par.  f>.  "All  the  Spirits"  is  here  explained  as  "the  Spirits  of  heaven, 
earth,  the  mountains,  and  the  rivers  ;  "  /.  e.,  all  spiritual  Beings,  reaF  or 
eupposed.     The  emperor  was  "  the  host  of  all  the  Spirits,"  and  Shun  entered. 


PT    I.    CH.  YI.]  WAN    CHANG.  281 

him.  He  caused  him  to  preside  over  the  conduct  of 
affairs,  and  affairs  were  well  administered,  so  that  all  the 
people  reposed  under  him ; — thus  it  was  that  the  people 
accepted  him.  Heaven  gave  [the  empire]  to  him,  and 
the  people  gave  it  to  him.  Therefore  I  said^  '  The  em- 
peror cannot  give  the  empire  to  another.' 

7.  "  Shun  assisted  Yaou  [in  the  government]  for 
twenty  and  eight  years  ; — this  was  more  than  man  could 
have  done,  and  was  from  Heaven.  When  the  three  years' 
mourning  consequent  on  the  death  of  Yaou  were  accom- 
plished, Shun  withdrew  from  the  son  of  Yaou  to  the 
south  of  the  southern  Ho.  The  princes  of  the  empire, 
however,  repairing  to  court,  went  not  to  the  son  of  Yaou, 
but  to  Shun.  Litigants  went  not  to  the  son  of  Yaou,  but 
to  Shun.  Singers  sang  not  the  son  of  Yaou^  but  Shun. 
Therefore  I  said  that  it  was  Heaven  [that  gave  him 
the  empire]  .  It  was  after  this  that  he  went  to  the  Middle 
State,  and  occupied  the  seat  of  the  son  of  Heaven.  If  he 
had  [before  these  things]  taken  up  his  residence  in  the 
palace  of  Yaou^  and  applied  pressure  to  his  son,  it  would 
have  been  an  act  of  usurpation,  and  not  the  gift  of 
Heaven. 

8.  "This  view  [of  Shun's  obtaining  the  empire]  is  in 
accordance  with  what  is  said  in  The  Great  Declaration, — 
'  Heaven  sees  as  my  people  see,  Heaven  hears  as  my 
people  hear.' " 

YI.  1.  Wan  Chang  said,  "People  say,  ^  When  [the 
disposal  of  the  empire]  came  to  Yu,  his  virtue  was  inferior 

as  conducting  the  government  for  Yaou.  into  all  his  duties.  But  how  the 
Spirits  enjoyed  the  sacrifices  thus  presided  over  by  Shun  we  are  not  told. 

Par.  7.  "  The  south  of  the  southern  Ho  "  was,  I  apprehend,  the  ancient 
Yu-cho\v,  lying  south  from  K'e-chow,  and  separated  from  it  by  the  Ho.  All 
the  Ho  might  be  called  southern,  from  where  the  river  after  tlowing  from 
the  north  to  the  south  turns  to  the  east.  "  Litigants  "  must  indicate  parties 
whose  contentions  the  ordinary  authorities  had  not  been  able  to  settle,  and 
who  therefore  appealed  to  the  decision  of  the  supreme  authority. 

Par.  8.  See  the  Shoo,  V.  i.  Ft  I.  7. 

Ch.  YI.  How  THE  THBONE  DESCENDED  FROM  YU  TO  HIS  SON,  AXD  NOT 
TO  HIS  MINISTER  YlH  ;  AND  THAT  YU  WAS  NOT  TO  BE  CONSIDERED  ON 
THAT  A<;COUNT  AS  INFERIOR  IN  VIRTLE  TO  YaOU  AND  SHL'N.  ALSO,  THE 
CONDITIONS  UNDER  WHICH  A  CHANGE  OF  THE  RULING  FAMILY  WILL  TAKE 
PLACE,  WHEN    THE   PRINCIPLE     OF     HEREDITARY    SUCCESSION   HAS    BEEN 


282  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS.  [bK  V. 

[to  that  of  Taou  and  Shun],  and  he  did  not  transmit  it  to 
the  worthiest,  but  to  his  son; '—was  it  so  ?  "  Mcncius  re- 
plipd,  "  No ;  it  was  not  so.  When  Heaven  gave  [the 
empire]  to  the  worthiest,  it  was  given  to  the  worthiest; 
when  Heaven  gave  it  to  the  son  [of  the  preceding  em- 
peror], it  was  given  to  that  son.  Formerly  Shun  pre- 
sented Yu  to  Heaven  for  [a  period  of]  seventeen  years ; 
and  when  the  three  years'  mourning,  consequent  on  the 
death  of  Shun,  were  accomplished,  Yu  withdrew  from 
the  son  of  Yu  to  Yaug-shing.  The  people  of  the  empire 
followed  him  as,  after  the  death  of  Yaou,  they  had  not 
followed  his  son,  but  followed  Shun.  Yu*presented  Yih 
to  Heaven  for  [a  period  of]  seven  years;  and  when  the 
three  years'  mourning  consequent  on  the  death  of  Yu 
were  accomplished,  Yih  withdrew  from  the  son  of  Yu  to 
the  north  of  Mount  Ke.  [The  princes]  repairing  to  court, 
and  litigants,  went  not  to  Yih,  but  to  K'e,  saying,  '  He  is 
the  son  of  our  ruler.^  Singers  did  not  sing  Yih,  but  they 
sang  K'e,  saying,  '  He  is  the  son  of  our  ruler.' 

2.  ''That  Tan-choo  was  not  equal  [to  his  father],  and 
Shun-'s  son  also  not  equal  [to  his]  ;  that  Shun  assisted 
Yaou,  and  Yu  assisted  Shun,  for  a  period  of  many  years, 
conferring  benefits  on  the  people  for  a  long  time;  that 
K'e  was  virtuous  and  able,  and  could  reverently  enter 
into  and  continue  the  ways  of  Yu ;  that  Yih  assisted  Yu 
for  a  period  of  few  years,  conferring  benefits  on  the  people 
not  for  a  long  time;  that  the  length  of  time  that  Shun, 
Yu,  and  Yih    [assisted  in  the  government]  was  so  differ- 

established,  with  reference  to  the  cases  of  e  yin,  the  duke  of 
Chow,  and  Confucius. 

Par.  1.  Neither  Wan  Chang  nor  our  jOulosopher  seems  to  have  clearly 
seen  the  thing  which  was  to  be  explained  in  connexion  with  Yu, — the  estab- 
lishment of  Cliina  as  a  hereditary  monarchy  in  his  family.  Tiie  passing  of 
the  throne  from  him  to  his  son  may  have  taken  place  as  Mencius  says  ;  but 
how  did  it  pass  again  from  K'e  to  hix  son  /  I  have  spoken  on  this  point  in 
the  Prolegomena  to  the  Shoo.  It  might  have  been  asked  of  Mencius  why 
Yu  presented  Yih  to  Heaven  as  his  successor,  if  his  son  were  worthier 
than  Yih.  Yih  appears  in  the  Shoo,  II.  i.  22,  as  Shun's  forester.  He  as- 
sisted Yu  in  his  labours  on  the  waters  (the  Shoo,  II.  iv.  I.),  and  is  said  to 
have  become  Yu's  principal  mini.ster  after  the  death  of  Kaou  Yaou.  Yang- 
shing,  we  should  .judge,  was  the  name  of  a  city,  or  settlement  in  those  early 
days.  Many  aflirm,  however,  that  it  was  the  name  of  a  mountain,  and 
that  it  and  mount  Ke  were  near  each  other  in  the  present  department  of 
Ho-nan,  Ho-nan  province. 


PT    I.    CH.  VI.]  WAN    CHANG.  283 

ent ;  and  that  tlic  sons  [of  tlie  emperors]  were  [one]  a 
man  of  talents  and  virtue,  and  [the  other  two]  inferior 
[to  their  fathers]  :  —  all  these  things  were  from  Heaven, 
and  what  could  not  be  produced  by  man.  That  which  is 
done  without  any  one's  [seeming]  to  do  it  is  from  Heaven. 
That  which  comes  to  pass  without  any  one's  [seeming] 
to  bring  it  about  is  from  Heaven. 

3.  "  In  the  case  of  a  private  man's  obtaining  the  em- 
pii'e,  there  must  be  in  him  virtue  equal  to  that  of  Shun 
and  Yu,  and  moreover  there  must  be  the  presenting  him 
to  Heaven  by  the  [preceding]  emperor.  It  Avas  on  this 
[latter]  account  that  Chung-ne  did  not  obtain  the  king- 
dom. 

4.  ^'When  the  throne  descends  by  natural  succession, 
he  who  is  displaced  by  Heaven  must  be  like  Keeh  or  Chow. 
It  was  on  this  account  that  Yih^  E  Yin,  and  the  duke  of 
Chow  did  not  obtain  the  kingdom. 

5.  '^E  Yin  assisted  T'^ano^  so  that  he  became  sovereiofn 
of  the  kingdom.  After  the  demise  of  T'ang,  T'ae-ting 
having  died  without  being  appointed  [in  his  place],  Wae- 
ping  [reigned]  two  years,  and  Chung-jin  four.  T'ae- 
Keah  [then]  was  turning  upside  down  the  canons  and 
example  of  T'ang,  and  E  Yin  placed  him  in  T'ung  for 
three  years.  [There]  he  repented  of  his  errors,  was  con- 
trite, and  reformed  himself.  In  T'^ung  he  came  to  dwell 
in  benevolence  and  moved  towards  righteousness,  during 
those  three  years  listening  to  the  lessons  given  to  him  by 
E  Yin,  [after  which]  that  minister  again  returned  [with 
him]  to  Poh. 

6.  ''  The  duke  of  Chow's  not  getting  the  kingdom  was 
like  that  of  Yih's  not  getting  [the  throne  of]  Hea,  or  E 
Yin's  [that  of]  Yin. 

Par.  3.  Confucius  had  the  virtue,  and  more,  according  to  Mencius,  than 
the  virtue  of  Shun  and  Yu,  but  no  king  of  his  time  ever  thought  of  pre- 
senting him  to  Heaven  to  succeed  him  on  the  throne.  We  do  not  know 
that  any  king  knew  of  his  existence. 

Par.  4.  We  have  met  with  E  Yin  in  Mencius  before, — in  II.  i.  II.  22, 
et  al.  ;  and  he  is  spoken  of  more  at  length  in  the  ne.xt  chapter.  The  duke 
of  Chow  is  the  well-known  brother  of  king  Woo.  He  might  have  got  the 
throne  without  any  change  of  the  dynasty  of  Chow. 

Par.  5.  See  the  Shoo,  IV.,  Books  iv.  and  v. 

Par.  6.  The  duke  of  Chow's  case  was  hardly  analogous  either  to  that  of 
Yih  or  of  E  Yin. 


284  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK   V. 

7.  "  Confucius  said,  '  T'ang  and  Yu  resigned  [the 
throne  to  the  worthiest]  ;  the  founders  of  the  Hea,  Yin, 
and  Chow  [dynasties]  transmitted  it  to  their  sons.  The 
princi^ile  of  righteousness  was  the  same  in  [all  the 
cases] ." 

VII.  1.  Wan  Chang  asked  [Mencius],  saying,  "Peo- 
ple say  that  E  Yin  sought  [an  introduction  to]  T^ang  by 
his  [knowledge  of]  cookery; — was  it  so  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "No,  it  was  not  so.  E  Yin  was 
farming  in  the  lands  of  the  State  of  Sin,  delighting  in  the 
principles  of  Yaou  and  Shun.  In  any  matter  contrary  to 
the  righteousness  which  they  prescribed,  or  to  the  course 
which  they  enjoined,  though  he  had  been  salaried  with 
the  empire,  he  would  not  have  regarded  it ;  though  there 
had  been  yoked  for  him  a  thousand  teams,  he  would  not 
have  looked  at  them.  In  any  matter  contrary  to  the 
righteousness  which  they  prescribed,  or  to  the  course 
which  they  enjoined,  he  would  not  have  given  nor  taken 
[even]  a  single  straw. 

3.  "  T'ang  sent  persons  with  presents  of  silk  to  ask 
him  to  enter  his  service.  With  an  air  of  indifference  and 
self-satisfaction,  he  said,  'What  can  I  do  with  these  silks 
with  which  T'ang  invites  me  ?  Is  it  not  best  for  me  to 
abide  in  these  channeled  fields,  and  therein  delight  myself 
with  the  principles  of  Yaou  and  Shun  ? ' 


Par.  7.  Where  and  when  Confucius  thus  spoke,  we  do  not  know.  T'ang 
and  Yu  are  the  dynastic  designations  of  Yaou  and  Shun  ;— see  on  the  titles 
of  the  first  and  second  Parts  of  the  Shoo. 

Ch.  VII.     Vindication  of  E  Yin  from  the  charge  of  introducing 

HIMSELF  to  the  SERVICE  OF  T'ANG  BY  MEANS  OF  HIS   SKILL   IN  COOKING. 

Par.  I.  E  Yin  has  been  mentioned  ah-eady  in  II.  i.  II.  and  ii.  II.  10.  The 
popular  account  of  him  (found  also  in  Szo-ma  Ts'e(;n)  in  the  time  of 
Mencius  was,  that  he  came  to  Poh  in  the  train  of  a  princess  of  Sin  whom 
T'ang  was  marrying,  carrying  with  him  his  cooking  utensils,  that  by  his  skill 
in  "cutting  and  boiling,"  he  might  recommend  himself  to  that  prince. 

Par.  2.  Sin  was  i)roi)ably  the  same  territory  with  what  was  called  Kwoh 
during  the  Chow  dynasty, — the  presf;nt  Slien  Chow  in  Ho-nan,  and  not  far 
from  T'ang'.s  seat  in  I'oh.  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  what  were  the 
antecedents  to  his  farming  life  in  Sin,  nor  how  it  was  that  his  merits  and 
aiiility  became  known  to  T'ang.  He  was  evidently  living  the  life  of  a  recluse, 
at  the  time  that  Mencius  brings  him  on  the  stage. 


PT    I.    CH.  VII.]  WAN    CHANG.  285 

4.  "  T'ang  thrice  sent  persons  thus  to  invite  liim. 
After  thisj  with  the  change  of  purpose  displayed  in  his 
countenance,  he  spoke  in  a  different  style,  saying,  'In- 
stead of  abiding  in  the  channeled  fields,  and  therein  de- 
lighting myself  with  the  principles  of  Yaou  and  Shun, 
had  I  not  better  make  this  ruler  one  after  the  style  of 
Yaou  and  Shun?  had  I  not  better  make  this  people  like 
the  people  of  Yaou  and  Shun  ?  had  I  not  better  in  vay 
own  person  see  these  things  for  myself  ? 

5.  "  '  Heaven^s  plan  in  the  production  of  this  people  is 
this  : — that  they  who  are  first  informed,  should  instruct 
those  who  are  later  in  being  informed,  and  those  who  first 
apprehend  [principles]  should  instruct  those  who  are 
slower  to  do  so.  I  am  the  one  of  Heaven^s  people  who 
have  first  apprehended ;  I  will  take  these  principles  and 
instruct  this  people  in  them.  If  I  do  not  instruct  them, 
who  will  do  so  ?  ^ 

G.  "  He  thought  that  among  all  the  people  of  the 
kingdom,  even  the  private  men  and  women,  if  there  were 
any  that  did  not  enjoy  such  benefits  as  Yaou  and  Shun 
conferred,  it  was  as  if  he  himself  pushed  them  into  a 
ditch.  He  took  upon  himself  the  heavy  charge  of  all 
under  Heaven  in  this  way,  and  therefore  he  went  to  T'ang, 
and  pressed  upon  him  the  duty  of  attacking  Hea,  and 
saving  the  people. 

7.  ''  I  have  not  heard  of  one  who  bent  himself  and  at  the 
same  time  made  others  straight ; — how  much  less  could 
one  disgrace  himself,  and  thereby  rectify  the  whole  king- 
dom ?  The  actions  of  the  sages  have  been  different. 
Some  have  kept  far  away  [from  ofiice],  and  others  have 
drawn  near  to  it;  some  have  left  [their  offices],  and 
others  have  not  done  so ;  that  in  which  these  different 
courses  all  meet,  is  simply  the  keeping  of  their  persons 
pure. 

8.  ''  I  have  heard  that  E  Yin  sought  [an  introduction 
to]  T^aug  by  the  principles  of  Yaou  and  Shun;  I  have  not 
heard  that  he  did  so  by  his  [knowledge  of]  cookery. 

Parr.  4,  5,  G.  Compare  II.  i.  II.  22,  and  below  in  Part  ii.  I.  2,  5.  "In  my 
own  person,"  in  par.  5,  must  mean,  I  think,  "  b}^  my  o^vn  efforts." 

Par.  7.  The  concluding  sentiment  about  the  common  object  of  all  sages  is 
worded  so  as  to  show  the  grossness  of  the  story  about  E  Yin's  commeiiding 
himself  to  T'ang  by  his  skill  in  cooking. 


2S6  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK   V. 

9.  "In  the  'Instructions  of  E/  it  is  said,  'Heaven, 
destroying  [Keeli],  commenced  attacking  him  in  the 
palace  of  Muh ;  we  commenced  in  Poh.' " 

VIII.  1.  Wan  Chang  asked  [Mencius],  saying,  '' Some 
say  that  Confucius  in  Wei  lived  with  an  ulcer- [doctor], 
and  in  Ts'e  with  Tseih  Hwan,  the  chief  of  the  eunuchs; 
was  it  so  ?  "  Mencius  said,  "  No,  it  was  not  so.  Those 
are  the  inventions  of  men  fond  of  [strange]  things. 

2.  "  In  Wei  he  lived  in  the  house  of  ^en  Ch'ow-yew. 
The  wife  of  the  officer  Mei  and  the  wife  of  Tsze-loo  were 
sisters.  Mei-tsze  spoke  to  Tsze-loo,  saying,  '  If  Confucius 
will  lodge  with  me,  he  may  get  to  be  a  high  noble  of  Wei.' 
Tsze-loo  reported  this  to  Confucius,  who  said,  '  That  is 
as  ordered  [by  Heaven].'  Confucius  advanced  accoiding 
to  propriety,  and  retired  according  to  righteousness-  lu 
regard  to  his  obtaining  [office  and  honour]  or  not  obtain- 
ing them,  he  said  '  That  is  as  ordered.'  But  if  ho  had 
lodged  with  an  ulcer- [doctor]  and  with  Tseih  Ilwan,  the 
chief  of  the  eunuchs,  that  would  neither  have  been  according 
to  righteousness,  nor  any  ordering  [of  Heaven] . 

Par.  9.  See  the  Shoo,  IV.  iv.  2  ;  but  the  text  there  differs  considerahly 
from  that  which  Mencius  gives.  Tlie  rueaning  is  that  Keeh's  atrocities  in 
his  palace  at  Muh  led  Heaven  to  destroy  him,  while  E  Yin,  in  accordance 
with  the  will  of  Heaven,  advised  T'aug  iu  Poh  to  take  action  against  him. 

Cii.  VIII.  VixDiCATioM  OF  Confucius  from  the  charge  of  lodging 

WITH    tJNSUITABLE  PERSONS. 

Par.  1.  Sze-ma  Ts-een,  in  his  history  of  Confucius,  says  that  on  the  occa- 
sion when  tlie  sage  made  the  observation  in  Ana.  IX.  xvii.  that  he  "  had 
never  met  with  one  who  loved  virtue  as  he  loved  beauty,"  there  was  a  Yung 
K'cu  in  the  same  carriage  with  the  marquis  of  Wei,  and  his  notorious  wife. 
That  Yung  K'eu  was,  no  doubt,  the  ulcer-doctor  of  the  text,  and  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  there  may  be  some  error  in  the  formation  of  the 
characters  as  we  read  them.  If  there  be  not,  we  must  suppose  that  the 
marquis  of  Wei  had  a  parasite  so  named,  who  had  been  raised  to  his  favour 
from  the  mean  position  of  a  curer  of  sores  and  ulcers.  Of  the  same  charac- 
ter was  Tseih  Hwan  a  favourite  of  one  of  the  marquises  of  Ts'e,  and  his  master 
of  the  eunuchs,  in  the  time  of  the  sage. 

Par.  2.  Sze-ma  Ts'een  gives  Y"en  Chuh-tsow  forY'en  Ch'ow-yew,  and  says 
he  was  the  elder  brother  (or  brother-in-law)  -of  Tsze-loo.  This  is  contrary  to 
what  Mencius  says.  There  were  two  traditions,  probably,  on  the  point.  On 
a  later  occasion  Confucius  lodged  in  Wei  with  a  worthy  officer  called  Keu 
Pih-yuh.  Mei  Hea  is  mentione<l  in  the  Tso  Chuen  under  the  Gth  year  of 
duke  Ting,  and  the  25th  of  duke  Gae.  He  was  a  favourite  with  the  marquis ; 
and  wished  by  his  proposal  to  ingratiate  himself  with  Confucius. 


PT   I.    CH.  IX.]  WAN    CHANG.  287 

3.  "When  Confucius,  being-  dissatisfied  in  Loo  and 
Wei,  [had  left  those  States],  ho  met  with  the  attempt  of 
Hwan,  the  mastei'  of  the  Horse,  in  Sang,  to  intercept  and 
kill  him,  so  that  he  had  to  pass  through  Sung  in  the  dress 
of  a  private  man.  At  that  time,  [though]  he  was  in 
circumstances  of  distress,  he  lodged  in  the  house  of 
Ching-tsze,  the  minister  of  works,  who  was  [then]  a 
minister  of  Chow,  the  marquis  of  Ch'in. 

4.  "  I  have  heard  that  ministers  in  the  service  of  a 
court  may  bo  known  from  those  to  whom  they  are  hosts, 
and  that  ministers  coming  from  a  distance  may  be  known  from 
those  with  whom  they  lodge.  If  Confucius  had  lodged  with 
an  ulcer- [doctor]  and  with  Tseih  Hwan,  the  chief  of  the 
eunuchs,  how  could  he  have  been  Confucius  ?  " 

IX.  1.  Wan  Chang  asked  [Mencius],  saying,  "Some 
say  that  Pih-le  He  sold  himself  to  a  cattle-keeper  of 
Ts^in  for  five  sheep-skins,  and    fed  his   cattle  for  him,  to 

Par.  3.  "  Hwan  of  Sung ;  " — see  on  Ana.  YII.  xxii.  Hwan  is  the  Hwan 
T'uy  of  tliat  chaiiteiv  After  Confucius  had  left  Wei,  be  was  proceeding  to 
Ch'in,  and  on  the  way  Hwan  T'uy  made  the  attempt  on  his  life  which  is  here 
alluded  to.  I  do  not  know  that  the  sage  was  in  circumstances  of  distress 
after  his  arrival  at  the  chief  city  of  Ch'in.  Mencius  must  refer  to  what  he 
did  immediately  on  reaching  it.  Ching-tsze,  or  "  the  officer  Pure,"  was  the 
honorary  or  posthumous  epithet  of  the  olticer  who  was  Confucius'  host,  and 
Chow  was  the  name  of  the  last  marquis  of  Ch'in,  known  as  duke  Min. 
Ching-tsze,  it  is  said,  after  the  extinction  of  Ch'in,  went  to  Sung,  and  there 
became  minister  of  Works,  and  was  afterwards  known  as  such  ;  hence  he  is 
60  styled  here  by  Mencius,  when  referring  to  an  earlier  period  of  his  life. 

CH.  IX.  YlXDICATIOX  OF  PlH-LE  He  FROM  THE  CHARGE  OF  SELLING 
HIMSELF  AS  A  STEP  TOWARDS  HIS  ADVANCEMENT  TO  THE  SERVICE  OF 
DUKE   MUH    OF   TSIN. 

Par.  1.  Pih-le  He  was  chief  minister  to  duke  Muh  of  Ts'in,  whose  rule 
extended  from  B.C.  6J8  to  618.  The  inciilents  of  his  life  will  be  found 
interestingly  detailed  in  the  2.5th  and  some  subsequent  chapters  of  the 
"  History  of  the  various  States,"  thougli  some  of  them  are  different  from  the 
statements  of  Mencius  about  him.  According  to  Sze-ma  Ts'een,  He,  who 
had  been  a  minister  of  Yu,  after  the  subversion  of  that  State  by  Tsin,  fol- 
lowed its  captive  duke,  and  was  sent  b)'  the  marquis  of  Tsin,  in  the  train  of 
the  eldest  daughter  of  his  house,  to  Tsin,  where  she  was  to  become  the  wife 
of  duke  Muh.  Disgusted  at  being  reduced  to  such  a  position,  he  absconded 
on  the  road,  and,  fleeing  to  Ts'oo,  became  noted  there  for  his  skill  in  rearing 
cattle.  Duke  Muh  heard  somehow  of  his  great  capacity,  and  sent  to  Ts'oo 
to  reclaim  him  as  a  runaway  servant,  offering  also  to  pay  for  him  five  rams' 
skins.  He  was  afraid  to  oS'er  anything  more  valuable,  lest  he  should  awaken 


288  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK   V. 

seek  an  introduction  to  duke  Muh  of  Ts'in  ;  is  this  true  ?" 
Mencius  said,  "No,  it  was  not  so.  This  is  the  invention 
of  some  one  fond  of  [strange]  things. 

2.  "  Pih-le  He  was  a  man  of  Yu.  The  people  of  Ts'in 
by  the  inducement  of  a^^eiVi  of  Ch'uy-keih  and  a  team  of 
Keuh-ch^an  horses  were  asking  liberty  to  march  through 
Yu  to  attack  Kwoh,  Kung  Che-k'e  remonstrated  [with 
the  duke  of  Yu,  asking  him  not  to  grant  their  request], 
but  Pih-le  He  did  not  remonstrate. 

3.  "  When  he  knew  that  the  duke  of  Yu  was  not  to  be 
remonstrated  with,  and  went  in  consequence  from  that 
State  to  Ts'in,  he  had  reached  the  age  of  seventy.  If  by 
that  time  he  did  not  know  that  it  would  be  a  diso-raceful  tliingr 
to  seek  for  an  introduction  to  duke  Muh  of  Ts'in  by  feed- 
ing cattle,  could  he  be  called  wise  ?  But  not  remonstrat- 
ing where  it  was  of  no  use  to  remonstrate,  could  he  be 
said  not  to  be  wise  ?  Knowing  that  the  duke  of  Yu  would 
be  ruined,  and  leaving  his  State  before  that  event,  he 
could  not  be  said  to  be  not  wise.  As  soon  as  he  was 
advanced  in  Ts^in,  he  knew  that  duke  Muh  was  one  with 
whom  he  could  have  a  field  for  action,  and  became  chief 
minister  to  him ; — could  he  be  said  to  be  not  wise  ?  Acting 
as  chief  minister  in  Ts'in,  he  made  his  ruler  distinguished 
throughout  the  kingdom,  and  worthy  to  be  handed  down 
to  future  ages ; — if  he  had  not  been  a  man  of  talents  and 
virtue,  could  he  have  done  this  ?  As  to  selling  himself  in  order 
to  bring  about  the  destruction  of  his  ruler,  even  a  villager 
who  had  a  regard  for  himself,  would  not  do  such  a  thing; — 
and  shall  we  say  that  a  man  of   talents  and  virtue  did  it  ?  " 

suspicions  in  Ts'oo  that  he  wanted  to  get  He  on  account  of  his  ability  ;  and 
on  olitainiiig  him,  he  at  once  made  him  his  chief  minister.  In  the  "Plans  of 
the  Warring  States,"  we  have  an  account  of  Pih-le  He's  introduction  to  duke 
Muh,  more  in  accordance  with  what  Mencius  said.  He  is  there  introduced 
as  a  borderer  of  Ts'oo,  who  wished  to  get  introduced  to  the  service  of  duke 
Mull.  With  this  purpose  he  sold  himself  for  five  rams'  skins  to  a  gentleman 
of  Ts'in,  wliose  cattle  he  took  care  of.  By  and  by  he  attracted  the  notice  of 
duke  Midi,  who  perceived  his  merit,  and  raised  him  to  the  distinction  where 
he  so  abundantly  repaid  the  duke's  kindness. 

Par.  2.  See  the  history  of  this  transaction  given  from  Kung-yang  and 
Kuh-leang  in  the  Prolegomena  to  Vol.  V.,  pp.  62,  63.  Pih-le  He,  indeed,  is 
not  mentioned  there,  because,  I  suppose,  he  held  his  peace  at  the  time.  Per- 
haps, "a  team  of  Keuh-ch'an  horses "  should  be  "  a  team  of  horses  from 
Keuh." 


PT    II.    CH.  I.]  WAN    CHANG,  289 


BOOK  V. 

WAN    CHANG.       PART    II. 

Chapter  I.  1.  Mencius  said,  '^  Pih-e  would  not  allow 
his  eyes  to  look  at  a  bad  sight,  nor  his  ears  to  listen  to  a 
bad  sound.  He  would  not  serve  a  ruler,  nor  employ  a  peo- 
ple, of  whom  he  did  not  approve.  In  a  time  of  good  govern- 
ment he  took  office,  and  in  a  time  of  disorder  he  retired. 
He  could  not  bear  to  dwell  [at  a  court]  fi'om  which  lawless 
government  proceeded,  nor  among  lawless  people.  To  be 
in  the  same  place  with  an  [ordinary]  villager  was  the  same 
in  his  estimation  as  to  stand  in  hi-s  court  robes  and  court  cap 
amid  mire  and  charcoal.  In  the  time  of  Chow,  he  dwelt  by 
the  shores  of  the  northei'n  sea,  waiting  for  the  purification  of 
the  kingdom.  Therefore  when  men  [now]  hear  the  character 
of  Pih-e,  the  corrupt  become  pure,  and  the  weak  acquire 
determination. 

2.  "E  Yin  said,  'Whom  may  I  not  serve  as  my  ruler  ? 
whom  may  I  not  employ  as  my  people  ?  '  In  a  time  of  good 
government  he  took  office,  and  in  a  time  of  disorder  he  did 
the  same.  He  said,  '  Heaven's  plan  in  the  production  of 
this  people  is  this: — that  they  who  are  first  informed  should 
instruct  those  who  are  later  in  being  informed,  and  they  who 
first  apprehend  [principles]  should  instruct  those  who  are 
slower  to  do  so.  I  am  the  one  of  Heaven's  people  who  have 
first  apprehended  ; — I  will  take  these  principles  and  instruct 
this  people  in  them.'  He  thought  that  among  all  the  people 
of  the  kingdom,  even  the  private  men  and  women,  if  there 
were  any  that  did  not  enjoy  such  benefits  as  Yaou  and  Shun 
conferred,  it  was  as  if  he  himself  pushed  them  into  a  ditch  ; 

Ch.  I.  How  Confucius  differed  from,  and  was  superior  to,  all 

OTHER  SAGES,  POSSESSING  ALL  SAGF.LY  QUALITIES  IN  FULL  MEASURE, 
WHICH  THEY  DID  NOT  DO: — ILLUSTRATED  BY  AN  EXHIBITION  OF  CHARAC- 
TERISTICS OF  PiH-E.  E  Yin,  and  Hwuy  of  Lew-hea. 

Par.  1.  Compare  II.  i.  II.  22  ;  IX.  1,  3  :  III.  ii.  X.  3  :  IV.  i.  XIII.  1  :  VI. 
ii.  VI.  2  ;  and  VII.  i.  XXII.  1  ;  ii,  XV.  1. 

Par.  2.    Compare  II.  i.  II.  22  :  ii.  II.  10  :  V.  i.  VI.  4,  o ;  VIL  :  VI.  ii.  VI. 
2  ;  and  VII.  i.  XXXI.  1  ;  ii.  XXXVIII.  2 
VOL.  II,  I'J 


290  '  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   V, 

— SO  did  he  take  on  himself  tlie  heavy  charge  of  all  under 
heaven. 

3.  '' Hwuy  of  Lew-hea  was  not  ashamed  to  serve  an  im- 
pure ruler,  nor  did  he  decline  a  small  office.  When  ad- 
vanced to  employment,  he  did  not  keep  his  talents  and  virtue 
concealed,  but  made  it  a  point  to  carry  out  his  principles. 
When  neglected  and  left  out  of  office,  he  did  not  murmur, 
and  when  straitened  by  poverty,  he  did  not  grieve. 
When  in  the  company  of  village  people,  he  was  quite  at  ease 
and  could  not  bear  to  leave  them.  [He  would  say],  '  You  . 
are  you,  and  I  am  I.  Though  you  stand  by  my  side  with 
bare  arms  and  breast,  how  can  you  defile  me  ? '  Therefore 
when  men  [now]  hear  the  character  of  Hwuy  of  Lew-hca, 
the  mean  become  generous,  and  the  niggardly  become 
liberal. 

4.  "  When  Confucius  was  leaving  Ts'e  he  took  with  hia 
hands  the  water  from  the  rice  which  was  being  washed  in  it, 
and  went  away  [with  the  uncooked  rice].  When  he  was 
about  to  leave  Loo,  he  said,  '  I  will  go  by  and  by  ;  ' — it  was 
right  he  should  leave  the  country  of  his  parents  in  this  way. 
AVhen  it  was  proper  to  go  awa}^  quickly  he  did  so ;  when  it 
Avas  proper  to  delay,  he  did  so  ;  when  it  was  pi'oper  to  keep 
in  retirement,  he  did  so  ;  when  it  was  proper  to  go  into  of- 
fice, he  did  so  ; — this  was  Confucius.''^ 

5.  Mencius  said,  "  Pih-e  among  the  sages  was  the  pure 
one  ;  E  Yin  was  the  one  most  inclined  to  take  office ;  Hwuy 
of  Lew-hea  was  the  accommodating  one  ;  and  Confucius  was 
the  timeous  one, 

6.  "  In  Confucius  we  have  what  is  called  a  complete  con- 
cert. A  complete  concert  is  when  the  bell  proclaims  [the 
commencement  of  the  music],  and  the  [ringing]  stone  closes 
it.  The  metal  sound  commences  the  blended  harmony  [of 
all   the  instruments],  and  the  winding   up  with  the   stone 

Par.  ?,.   Compare  II.  i.  IX.  2,  3  :  VI.  ii.  VI.  2  :  VTI.  i.  XXVIII.  ;  ii.  XV.  1. 

Par.  4.  Compare  II.  i.  II.  22.  I  do  not  know  that  wc  have  in  any  other 
ancient  record  an  account  of  the  incident  mentioned  here  in  connexion  with 
the  departure  of  Confucius  from  T.s'e. 

Par.  5.  [  have  invented  tlie  adjective  "  timeous,"  which  would  be  a  literal 
translation  of  the  original  term,  if  it  were  current  in  our  language.  Its 
meaning  is  that  Confucius  did  at  every  time  what  the  circumstances  of  it 
required  to  be  done. 

Par.  6.  The  illustration  of  Confucius  here  is  from  a  grand  performance 
of  music,  in  which  all  the  eight  kinds  of  musical  instruments  were  employed. 


PT  II.     CH.  II.]  WAN    CHANG.  201 

terminates  tliat  blended  liarmony.  The  commencing  tliat 
harmony  is  the  work  of  wisdom,  and  the  terminating  it  is 
the  work  of  sageness. 

7.  "As  a  comparison  for  wisdom,  we  may  liken  it  to  skill, 
and  as  a  comparison  for  sageness,  wc  may  liken  it  to  strength, 
— as  in  the  case  of  shooting  at  a  mark  a  hundred  paces  dis- 
tant. That  you  reach  the  mark  is  owing  to  your  strength ; 
but  that  you  hit  it  is  not  owing  to  your  strength." 

II.  1.  Pih-kung  E  asked  [Mencius],  "  What  was  the  ar- 
rangement of  dignities  and  emoluments  made  by  the  House  of 
Chow  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  said,  ''The  particulars  of  that  arrangement 
cannot  be  learned,  for  the  feudal  princes,  disliking  them  as 
injurious  to  themselves,  have  all  made  away  with  the  re- 
cords of  them.  Nevertheless  I  have  learned  the  general 
outline  of  them. 

3.  "  The  SON  OF  Heaven  was  one  dignity ;  the  duke  one  ; 
the  marquis  one  ;  the  earl  one  ;  and  the  viscount  and  baron 
formed  one,  being  of  equal  rank  : — altogether  making  five 

One  instrument  would  make  "  a  small  performnnce  ;  "  all  joined,  they  made 
"  a  collected  great  performance,"  =  "  a  complete  concert." 

Par.  7.  The  other  sages  had,  as  well  as  Confucius,  what  might  be  compared 
to  "  strength,"  but  they  were  deficient,  as  compared  with  him,  in  wisdom  or 
skill.  We  may  compare  each  of  them,  it  has  been  said,  "to  one  of  the 
seasons  ;  but  Confucius  was  the  grand,  harmonious  air  of  heaven  flowing 
through  all  the  seasons." 

Ch.  II.  The  arbangemext  of  dignities  and  emoluments  according 
TO  the  dynasty  of  Chow.  Some  of  the  statements  of  Mencius  in  this 
chapter  are  at  variance  witli  what  we  find  on  the  same  subjects  in  the 
•'  Official  Book  of  Chow,"  and  parts  of  the  Le  Ke.  I  will  not,  however, 
take  any  notice  here  of  those  differences,  but  reserve  the  discussion  of  them 
till  I  come  to  the  examination  of  those  other  Works. 

Par.  1.  rih-kung  E  was  a  high  officer  of  Wei,  one  of  a  family  descended 
from  duke  Ch'ing  of  that  State  from  B.C.  683  to  5'.)7.  Various  members  of 
it  appear  in  the  Tso  Chuen.  Its  clan-name  of  Pih-kung  or  "  Northern- 
palace  "  would  be  taken  from  the  residence  of  its  founder. 

Par.  2.  It  is  an  important  fact  which  Mencius  here  mentions,  that  before 
his  time  the  feudal  princes  had  destroyed  many  of  the  records  affecting  the 
constitution  and  territories  of  their  States.  The  founder  of  the  Ts'in  dynasty 
had  had  predecessors  and  fathers  in  what  he  did  in  this  way. 
.  Par.  3.  The  five  degrees  of  dignity  here  are  degrees  of  rank,  and  the  six 
are  degrees  of  position  or  ofiicial  employment.  The  title  "  son  of  Heaven  " 
is  equally  applicable  to    the   Head   of   the   nation,   whether   emperor   or 


292  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS.  [bK  Y. 

degrees  of  dignity.  The  ruler  was  one  dignity ;  the 
iiiNiSTER  one  ;  the  great  officer  one  ;  the  officer  of  the  first 
CLASS  one ;  the  officer  op  the  second  class  one ;  and  the 
OFFICER  of  the  LOWEST  CLASS  One : — altogether  making  six 
grades. 

4.  "  To  the  son  of  Heaven  there  was  allotted  a  territory 
of  a  thousand  le  squai-e  ;  a  duke  and  a  marquis  had  each  a 
hundred  le  square ;  an  earl,  seventy  le ;  a  viscount  and  a 

king,  and  is  an  emphatic  designation  of  him  as  appointed  bj'  God.  "Son 
of  Heaven  "  is  equivalent  to  "  Heaven-sonned ;  "  i.  e.,  dealt  with  bj-  Heaven 
as  its  son,  and  placed  in  the  highest  station.  See  the  She,  IV.  i.  [i].  VIII. 
After  the  study  of  the  Shoo,  the  She,  and  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew,  I  think  it  is 
much  better  to  adopt  the  titles  of  tlie  tive  orders  of  nobility  in  the  feudal 
kingdoms  of  Europe  for  those  which  were  employed  for  the  live  corresponding 
orders  in  China,  when  it  was  in  the  feudal  State.  "  Duke,"  in  Chinese 
liung,  was  the  highest  title  of  nobility.  Kung  gives  the  idea  of  .'-just, 
correct,  without  selfishness."  "  Marquis,"  in  Chinese  fu>iv,  was  the  second. 
Horn  gives  the  idea  of  "  taking  care  of,"  and  was  given  to  the  nobffs  digni- 
fied with  it,  as  "guardians  of  the  borders  "  of  the  kingdom,  "Karl,"  in 
Chinese  7;iA,  was  the  third.  Pih  conveys  the  ideas  of  "  elder  and  intelli- 
gent," "one  by  his  intelligence  and  virtue  capable  of  presiding  over  others." 
"Viscount  or  count,"  in  Chinese  tsze,  was  the  fourth.  "  Tsze"  means  "a 
son,"  but  as  a  title  means"  to  treat  as  a  son,"  giving  the  idea  of  "generally 
nourishing  the  people."  "  Baron,"  in  Chinese  nayi,  was  the  fifth.  A'an  is  the 
common  designation  for"a  malechild."  Composed  of  the  characters  for  "field  " 
and  "  strength,"  it  conveys  the  idea  of  "  one  adequate  to  oflice  and  labour." 
According  to  Mencius  the  viscount  and  the  baron  were  considered  equal  in 
rank.  All  from  the  "  son  of  Heaven  "  downwarrls  might  be  styled  kct/ri  or 
"  ruler."  Of  the  six  grades  of  official  position,  the  highest  alter  the  ruler  wa» 
the  minister, — in  Chinese  W'iug.  K'ing  is  explained  as  meaning  "  luminous," 
"one  who  can  illustrate  wiiat  is  good  and  right."  At  the  court  of  Chow 
there  were  properly  si.x;  k'^lng,  though  sometimes  nine  are  spoken  of.  The 
Heads  of  the  "  Six  Boards  "  may  now  be  considered  as  their  successors. 
For  a  feudal  State  the  number  of  ¥ing  was  three,  but  some  of  them  claimed 
to  have  a  greater  numljer.  Their  a[)pointment  required  the  confirmation 
of  the  king.  The  second  official  grade  consisted  of  the  "great  officers," 
in  Chinese  ta  foo.  Ta  foo  may  be  translated  by  "  great  sustainer."  The 
number  of  the.se  was  indefinite.  As  ta  foo,  they  had  no  specific  office,  but 
might  be  employed  by  their  rulers,  as  occasion  required,  being  men  of  ex- 
])erience,  recognized  ability,  and  trustworthiness.  The  other  grades  were 
made  up  of  the  three  orders  of  officers.  In  Chinese  s:e  is  explained 
as  "  one  fit  to  be  intrusted  witli  the  conduct  of  affairs."  Its  meaning  is 
often  given  as  =  "  scholar  ;  "  and  it  is  difficult  always  to  discriminate  between 
tlie  two  significations.  In  fact  a  fundamental  principle  in  the  Chinese  nation 
h.as  ever  been  that  for  office  a  certain  amount  of  literary  cultivation  was 
required. 

Par.  4.  "A  thou.sand  le  square,"  /.  c,  according  to  some,  "a  thousand  Ic 
in  breadth  and  a  thousand   Ic  in  length,  making  an  area  of  a  million  le." 


PT    II.    Cn.  III.]  WAN    CHANG.  293 

baron,  fifty  le.  The  assig^nmonts  altogether  were  of  four 
amounts.  Where  the  territory  did  not  amount  to  fifty  le, 
the  holder  could  not  himself  have  access  to  the  son  of 
Heaven.  His  land  was  attached  to  some  one  of  the  feudal 
princes,  and  was  called  a  foo-yung. 

5.  "  A  high  minister  of  the  son  of  Heaven  received  an 
amount  of  territory  equal  to  that  of  a  marquis  ;  a  great  of- 
ficer, as  much  as  an  carl;  and  an  officer  of  the  first  class,  as 
much  as  a  .viscount  or  baron. 

6.  "  In  a  great  State,  where  the  territory  was  a  hundred 
h  square,  the  ruler  had  ten  times  as  much  income  as  one  of 
his  high  ministers ;  a  high  minister  had  four  times  as  much  as 
a  great  officer;  a  great  officer  twice  as  much  as  an  officer  of 
the  first  class  ;  an  officer  of  the  first  class,  twice  as  much  as 
one  of  the  middle  ;  and  an  officer  of  the  middle  class  twice  as 
much  as  one  of  the  lowest.  Officers  of  the  lowest  class, 
and  such  of  the  common  people  as  were  employed  in  the 
public  offices,  had  the  same  emolument, — as  much,  namely, 
as  what  they  would  have  made  by  tilling  the  fields. 

7.  "  In  a  State  of  the  next  order,  where  the  territory  was 
seventy  le  square,  the  ruler  had  ten  times  as  much  income 
as  one  of  his  high  ministers  ;  fehigli  minister,  thrice  as  much 
as  a  great  officer;  a  great  officer,  twice  as  much  as  an  officer 
of  the  first  class  ;  an  officer  of  the  first  class,  twice  as  much 
as  olie  of  the  second ;  and  one  of  the  second  twice  as  much 

On  this,  however,  the  editors  of  the  imperial  edition  of  the  7iin/j  under  the 
present  dynasty,  say  : — "  Where  we  find  the  term  square,  we  are  not  to  think 
of  an  exact  square,  but  only  that,  on  calculation,  the  territory  would  be 
found  equal  to  so  many  square  le.  So,  in  regard  to  the  States  of  the  various 
princes,  we  are  to  understand  that,  however  their  form  might  be  varied  by 
the  hills  and  rivers,  their  area  in  round  numbers  amounted  to  so  much." 
On  an  "attached  territory,"  see  Ana.  XVI.  i.  1.  These  States  were  too  small 
to  bear  the  expenses  of  appearing  at  the  royal  court,  and  so  the  names  and 
surnames  of  tbeir  chiefs  were  presented  by  the  greater  feudal  lords  to  whom 
they  were  attached,  and  in  whose  train  they  also  sometimes  appeared. 

Piir.6.  "A  great  State  "  was  that  of  a  duke  or  a  marquis.  One  com- 
mentator says  : — "  The  ruler  had  32,000  mon;  the  income  of  which  would  suf- 
fice to  feed  2,880  men.  A  minister  had  3.200  }iion\  sufficient  to  feed  288  men. 
A  great  officer  had  800  vion;  sufficient  to  feed  72  men.  An  officer  of  the  first 
class  had  400  »ioii;  sufficient  to  feed  3G  men  ;  one  of  the  second  class  had 
200  mo)i;  sufficient  to  feed  18  men  ;  and  one  of  the  lowest  class  had  100 
7no7v,  sufficient  to  feed  from  nine  men  to  five  men  (see  par.  9)."  "  The  com- 
mon people  employed  in  the  public  offices  "  would  be  the  runners  or  police- 
men, and  other  subordinates. 

Parr.  7,  8.  "A  State  of  the  sec  nd  order"  was  that  of  an  earl,  and  "a 
small  State"  was  that  of  a  viscount  or  a  baron. 


294  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS.  [bK  V. 

as  one  of  tlie  lowest.  Officers  of  the  lowest  class  and  such 
of  the  common  people  as  were  employed  in  the  public 
offices,  had  the  same  emolument, — as  much,  namely,  as  they 
would  have  made  by  tilling  the  fields. 

8.  "  In  a  small  State,  where  the  territory  was  fifty  le  square, 
the  ruler  had  ten  times  as  much  income  as  one  of  his  high 
ministei's ;  a  high  minister  twice  as  much  as  a  great 
officer ;  a  great  officer  twice  as  much  as  an  officer  of  the 
first  class  ;  an  officer  of  the  first  class  twice  as  much  as  one  of 
the  second ;  one  of  the  second  class  twice  as  much  as  one 
of  the  lowest.  Officers  of  the  lowest  class,  and  such  of  the 
common  people  as  were  employed  in  the  public  offices,  had 
the  same  emolument, — as  much,  namely,  as  they  would  have 
made  by  tilling  the  fields. 

9.  "  As  to  those  who  tilled  the  fields,  each  head  of  a  family 
received  a  hundred  mow.  When  these  were  manured,  the 
[best]  husbandmen  of  the  first  class  supported  nine  individu- 
als, and  ihose  ranking  next  to  them  supported  eight.  The 
[best]  husbandmen  of  the  second  class  supported  seven  men, 
and  those  ranking  next  to  them  supported  six ;  while  the 
lowest  class  [only]  supported  five.  The  salaries  of  the 
common  people  who  were  employed  in  the  public  offices,  were 
regulated  according  to  these  differences." 

III.  1.  Wan  Chang  asked  [Mencius],  saying,  "1  venture 
to  ask  about  [the  principles  of]  friendship.^^  Mencius 
replied,  ''  Friendship  does  not  permit  of  any  presuming  on 
the  ground  of  one's  age,  or  station,  or  [the  circumstances 
of  ]  one's  relations.  Friendship  [with  a  man]  is  friendship 
with  his  virtue,  and  there  cannot  be  any  presuming  [on  such 
things]. 

2.  *'  The  minister  MangHeen  was  [chief  of]  a  family  of  a 
hundred  chariots,  and  he  had  five  friends, — Yoh-ching  K'ew, 

Ch.  III.  The  princii'Les  of  Friendship.     Fruondship  should  have 

REKERRXCR  TO  THE  VIRTUE  OF  THE  FRIEND,  AND  THERE  SHOULD  BE  NO 
ASSUJIl'TION  IN  IT  ON  THE  GROUND  OF  ONE'S  SUPERIORITY  IN  YEARS, 
SOCIAL  POSITION,  OR  RELATIONAL  ADVANTAGES. 

J'tir.  1.  It  is  a  fine  idea  of  the  Cliiiiese  that  only  virtue  should  be  the 
bond  of  friendship,  and  the  object  of  friendship  should  bo  the  support  and 
increase  of  one's  virtue. 

Pit):  2.  Mang  Heen  was  the  same  who  is  mentioned  in  "  the  Great  Learn- 
ing," Comm.  X.  22,  'j.  v.    Yoh-ching  K'ew  would  be  an  ancestor  of  Yoh-ching, 


PT    U.    CH.  III.]  WAN    CHANG.  295 

'Muh  Ching,and  three  [others  whose  names]  I  have  forgotten. 
With  these  five  men  Heen-tsze  maintained  a  friendship,  be- 
cause they  thought  nothing  about  his  family.  If  they  had 
thought  about  his  family,  he  would  not  have  maintained  his 
friendship  with  them. 

3.  "  Not  only  has  [the  chief  of]  a  family  of  a  hundred 
chariots  acted  thus.  The  same  has  been  exemplified  even  in 
the  ruler  of  a  small  State.  Duke  Hwuy  of  Pe  said,  "  I  treat 
Tsze-sze  as  my  master,  and  Yen  Pan  as  my  friend.  As  to 
Wang  Shun  and  Ch'ang  Seih,  they  serve  me. 

4.  "  Not  only  has  the  ruler  of  a  small  State  acted  thus. 
The  same  thing  has  been  exemplified  by  the  ruler  of  a  large 
State.  There  was  duke  P'ing  of  Tsin  with  Hae  T'ang : — 
when  [T'ang]  told  him  to  come  into  his  house,  he  came  ; 
when  he  told  him  to  be  seated,  he  sat ;  when  he  told  him  to 
eat,  he  ate.  There  might  be  only  coarse  rice,  and  soup  of 
vegetables,  but  he  always  ate  his  till,  not  daring  to  do  other- 
wise. Here,  however,  [the  duke]  stopped,  and  went  no  farther. 
He  did  not  call  [T'ang]  to  share  with  him  his  Heavenly 
place,  nor  to  administer  with  him  his  Heavenly  office,  nor  to 
partake  with  him  his  Heavenly  emolument.  His  conduct  was 
a  scholar's  honouring  of  virtue  and  talent ;  not  a  king  or  a 
duke's  honouring  of  them. 

5.  "  Shun  went  up  and  had  an  interview  with  the  emperor, 
and  the  emperor  lodged  him  as  his  son-in-law  in  the  second 
palace.  He  also  partook  of  Shun's  hospitality.  He  was  host 
and  guest  alternately.  This  was  the  emperor  maintaining 
friendship  with  a  common  man. 

one  of  our  philosopher's  disciples,  mentioned  in  I.  ii.  XVI.,  et  al.  It  appears 
from  a  passage  in  the  '•  Narratives  of  the  States,"  IV.  ix.  5,  that  the 
fact  of  Mang  Heen's  having  five  friends  was  well  known. 

Par.  3.  Pe, — see  on  Ana.  VI.  vii.  Pe  was  the  city  of  the  Ke-sun  family 
in  Loo.  Mencius  is  probably  speaking  of  it  when  it  had  fallen  under  the 
power  of  Ts'oo,  and  had  been  erected  by  it  into  the  chief  city  of  a  small 
State  dependent  on  itself.  Tsze-sze  was  the  grandson  of  Confucius  Yen 
Pan  is  understood  to  have  been  the  son  of  Yen  Hwuy,  Confucius'  favourite  dis- 
ciple.    Of  Wang  Shun  nothing  is  known.     Ch'ang  Seih, — see  Pt  1.  I.  2. 

Par.  4.  Duke  P'ing  (hon.  title,  =  "the  Pacificator")  was  Pew,  marquis 
of  Tsin  from  B.C.  5.54r  to  529.     Hae  T'ang  was  a  worthy  of  his  State. 

Par.  5.  Here  we  have  the  highest  style  of  friendship,  where  the  object  of 
the  friendship  was  called  to  share  in  the  heavenly  place.  &:c.  But  was  not 
this  introducing  an  element  which  does  not  belong  to  the  idea  of  friendship  ? 

Par.  6.  The  meaning  of  "righteousness  "  here  is  what  is  "  right  in  the 
propriety  of  things." 


296  THE    WORKS    OP  MENCIUS.  [bK   V. 

6.  '^  Respect  shown  by  inferiors  to  superiors  is  called 
giving  to  the  noble  the  observance  due  to  rank.  Respect 
shown  by  superiors  to  inferiors  is  called  giving  honour  to 
virtue  and  talents.  The  principle  of  righteousness  is  the 
same  in  both  cases. '^ 

IV.  1.  Wan  Chang  asked  [Mencius],  saj^ing,  "I  venture 
to  ask  what  [sentiment  of  the]  mind  is  expressed  in  the  gifts 
of  courteous  intercourse.'^  Mencius  replied,  "  [The  senti- 
ment of]  respect.-'^ 

2.  ''  Why  is  it/'  pursued  the  other,  "  that  to  decline  a  gift 
decidedly  is  accounted  disrespectful  ?  "  The  answer  was, 
"  When  one  of  honourable  rank  presents  a  gift,  to  say  [in  the 
mind],  '^Was  the  Way  in  which  he  got  this  righteous  or  not  ? 
I  must  know  this  before  I  receive  it,' — -this  is  counted 
disres]DGctful,  and  therefore  gifts  are  not  declined.'' 

3.  [  Wan  Chang]  went  on,  ^Let  me  ask  this : — If  one  do  not 
in  so  many  express  words  decline  the  gift,  but  having 
declined  it  in  his  heart,  saying,  '  He  took  it  from  the  people, 
and  it  is  not  righteous,'  if  he  then  assign  some  other  reason 
for  not  receiving  it,  is  not  this  a  proper  course  ?  "  Mencius 
said,  "  When  the  donor  offers  it  on  the  ground  of  reason,  and 
his  manner  of  doing  so  is  according  to  propriety,  in  such  a 
case  Confucius  would  have  received  it." 

4.  Wan  Chang  said,  "  Here  now  is  one  who  stops  [and  robs] 

Ch.  IV.  How  Mexcius  defended  the  ACCEpriNa  presents  from  the 

PRINCES    WHO    WERE   THE   OPPRESSORS    OP    THE    PEOPLE,  AND   MIGHT    BE 

"Represented  as  robbers  of  them.  Wjin  Chang  does  not  spoak  expressly 
of  Mencius'  own  practice,  but  no  doubt  he  had  it  in  mind  ;  and  never  was 
our  philosopher  more  closely  pressed  by  any  of  his  (lisiciples  on  what  was  a 
stumbling-block  to  them. — his  living  so  freely  on  the  presents  of  the  kings 
and  princes  of  his  day,  while  yet  he  refused  to  take  office  under  any  of  them. 

Par.  1.  The  subject  about  which  the  disciple  asks  here  is  not  presents  of 
friendship,  but  the  gifts  offered  by  superiors  to  scholars  not  in  oftice,  and  the 
acceptance  of  them  by  these. 

Par.  3.  Mencius  does  not  seem  to  meet  fairly  the  question  proposed  by 
Wan  Chang.  We  might  have  expected  him  to  say  that  the  .scholar  to  whom 
the  gift  was  offered  should  decline  it,  boldly  stating  the  reason  why  he  did 
so.  This,  I  think,  would  have  been  more  in  accordance  with  the  boldness 
of  his  own  character.  His  diverting  the  conversation  to  the  subject  of 
Confucius  was  merely  an  ingenious  ruse. 

Par.  4.  On  the  case  proposed  by  Wan  Chang  Mencius  could  only  give  the 
reply  which  he  does.  For  the  quotation  from  the  Shoo,  see  that  Work,  V. 
ix.  15. 


rt    II.    CH.  IV.]  WAX    CHANG.  297 

people  outside  the  city  gates ; — he  offers  his  gift  ona  ground  of 
reason,  and  presents  it  in  accordance  with  propriety  ; — would 
the  reception  of  the  gift  so  acquired  by  robbery  be  proper  ?  " 
[Mencius]  said,  "  It  would  not  be  proper.  In  the  '  Announce- 
ment to  the  Princeof  K'ang^  it  is  said, '  Where  men  kill  others, 
or  violently  assault  them,  to  take  their  property,  being  reck- 
less and  fearless  of  death,  they  are  abhorred  by  all  the  people ; ' 
— these  are  to  be  put  to  death  without  waiting  to  give  them 
any  lesson  [or  warning].  Yin  received  [this  rule]  from  Ilea, 
and  Chow  received  it  from  Yin ;  it  cannot  be  questioned, 
and  to  the  present  day  is  clearly  acknowledged.  How  can  [the 
gift  of  a  robber]  be  received  ?  " 

5.  [Wan  Chang]  continued, "  The  princes  of  the  present  day 
take  from  their  people,  as  if  they  were  [so  many]  robbers. 
But  if  they  put  a  good  face  of  propriety  on  their  gifts, 
then  the  superior  man  receives  them;— I  venture  to  ask  how 
you  explain  this  ?  "  [Mencius]  replied,  "  Do  you  think  that 
if  a  true  king  wei-e  to  arise,  he  Avould  collect  all  the  princes 
of  the  pi'esent  day,  and  put  them  to  death  ?  Or  would  he 
admonish  them,  and  then,  when  they  did  not  change  [their 
ways],  put  them  to  death  ?  To  say  that  [every  one]  who 
takes  what  does  not  properly  belong  to  him  is  a  robber  is 
pushing  a  point  of  resemblance  to  the  utmost,  and  insisting 
on  the  most  refined  idea  of  righteousness.  When  Confucius 
took  office  in  Loo,  the  people  struggled  together  for  the 
game  taken  in  hunting,  and  he  also  did  the  same.  If  that 
struggling  for  the  captured  game  was  allowable,  how  much 
more  may  the  gifts  [of  the  pi'inces]  be  received  !  " 

6.  [Chang]  urged,  "  Then,  when  Confucius  took  office, 
was  it  not  with  the  object  that  his  principles  should  be 
carried  into  practice  ?^^  '^  It  was  with  that  object,"  was 
the  reply.      [The  other  said,]  "  If  the  practice  of  his  priu- 

Par.  5.  The  answer  given  here  by  Mencius  to  the  application  made  by 
"Wan  Chan^  of  the  above  case  has  in  it  a  great  deal  of  ingenuity.  We  may 
admit  it  on  the  ground  of  expediency  ;  but  a  man  of  his  character  and  pre- 
tensions should  have  been  more  chary  of  receiving  gifts  from  the  princes  of 
his  time  than  he  was.  Tiie  practice  in  hunting  which  Confucius  sanctioned 
is  not  well  understood.  The  view  which  I  have  followed  in  the  translation 
is  that  given  by  Chaou  K'e. 

Par.  6.  The  practice  in  hunting  which  is  alluded  to  had  something  to  do 
witii  the  olfering  of  sacrifices,  and  Confucius,  by  the  measures  which  he 
took,  wished  to  obviate  the  necessity  for  using  any  flesh  so  obtained  in 
sacrifice,  so  that  the  practice  might  thus  die  of  itself,  and  fall  into  disuse. 


208  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   V 

ciples  was  his  business,  what  had  he  to  do  with  that  strug- 
gling for  the  captured  game  ? "  [Mencius]  answered, 
"■  Coufucius  first  rectified  tiie  vessels  of  sacrifice  accordmo- 
to  the  registers,  and  [enacted]  that  being  so  rectified 
they  should  not  be  supplied  with  food  gathered  from 
every  quarter."  '^  But  why  did  he  not  leave  [the  State]  ?  " 
said  [Chang] .  [Mencius]  rephed,  "  He  would  first  make 
a  trial  [of  can-ying  his  principles  into  practice].  When 
this  trial  was  sufiicient  [to  show]  they  could  be  practised, 
and  they  were  still  not  practised  [oh  a  larger  scale],  he 
would  then  go  away.  Thus  it  was  that  he  never  com- 
pleted a  residence  [in  any  State]  of  three  years. 

7.  "  Confucius  took  office  when  he  saw  that  the  prac- 
tice [of  his  principles]  was  possible ;  when  the  reception 
accorded  to  him  was  proper ;  and  when  he  was  supported 
by  the  State.  In  his  relations  with  the  minister  Ke  Hwan, 
he  took  office  because  he  saw  that  the  practice  [of  his 
principles]  was  possible.  With  the  duke  Ling  of  Wei  he 
took  office,  because  the  reception  accorded  to  him  was 
proper.  With  duke  Heaou  of  Wei  he  took  office,  because 
he  was  maintained  by  the  State." 

V.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Office  should  not  be  [sought] 
on  account  of  poverty,  but  there  are  times  [when  it  may 
be  sought]  on  that  account.  A  wife  should  not  be  taken 
for  the   sake  of  being  attended  to  by  her,   but  there  are 


Par.  7.  The  text  says  that  Confucius  took  service  with  Ke  Ilwan,  and  not 
witli  duke  Ting,  because  the  duke  and  his  government  were  under  tlie  con- 
trol of  that  nobleman.  I  do  not  know  that  the  sage  ever  held  ofHce  in 
Wei,  though  Mencius  here  says  so.  When  he  first  went  to  that  State,  its 
manjuis  was  he  who  is  here  called  "  duke  Ling,"  and  whose  incumbency  ex- 
tended from  B.C.  533  to  4'J2.  Ling  allotted  to  Confucius  the  salary  which 
he  had  had  in  Loo.  When  he  went  to  it  the  second  time,  the  State  was 
probably  held  by  duke  Ling's  son  Cheh,  whom  his  father  had  expelled.  He 
was,  we  may  suppose,  called  Hijaou  ("  The  B'ilial  ")  by  his  partisans  after  his 
death,  but  we  have  no  "  duke  Heaou  "  in  the  Annals  of  Wei.  He  would 
oiler  libei'al  support  to  Confucius  iu  order  to  get  on  his  side  the  influence  of 
his  character  aud  name. 

Cji.  V.  That  office  may  sometime.s  re  taken  on  account  of  pover- 
ty, BUT  ONLY  UNDER  CERTAIN  SPECIFIED  CONDITIONS. 

Par.  1.  The  proper  reason  for  taking  office  is  said  to  be  the  carrying  out 
of  principles, — the  truth  and  the  right,  and  the  proper  reason  for  marrying 


PT    II.    CH.  Vr.]  WAN    CHANG.  299 

times  [when  marriage  may  be  entered  on]  with  that 
view. 

2.  ''  He  who  takes  office  because  of  his  poverty  must 
decline  an  honourable  situation,  and  occupy'" a  poor  one  ; 
he  must  decline  riches  and  prefer  a  poor  [sufficiency]. 

3.  "  What  [office]  will  be  in  harmony  with  this  de- 
clining an  honourable  situation  and  occupying  a  low  one, 
with  this  declining  riches  and  preferring  a  poor  suffi- 
ciency ?  [Such  an  one]  as  that  of  being  a  gate- warder, 
or  beating  the  watchman's  stick. 

4.  *^  Confucius  was  once  keeper  of  stores,  and  he  [then] 
said,  *  My  accounts  must  all  be  correct ;  that  is  all  I  have 
to  think  about'  He  was  once  in  charge  of  the  [ducal] 
lands,  and  he  [then]  said,  '  The  oxen  and  sheep  must  be 
large,  and  fat,  and  superior.  That  is  all  I  have  to  think 
about.' 

5.  ''When  one  is  in  a  low  station,  to  speak  of  high 
mattei'S  is  a  crime.  To  stand  in  the  court  of  his  prince, 
and  his  principles  not  be  cai'ried  into  practice,  is  a  dis- 
grace." 

YI.  1.  Wan  Chang  said,  ''What  is  the  reason  that 
an  officer  [unemployed]  does  not  look  to  a  prince  for  his 

is  the  begetting  of  children,  or  rather  of  a  son,  to  continue  one's  line,  and 
not  allow  the  sacrifices  to  one's  ancestors  to  be  discontinued. 

Par.  3.  Chaou  K"e  thinks  that  only  one  office  is  here  specified, — that  of 
a  gate-warder.  It  seems  better  to  understand  two  offices  ;  that  of  a 
warder,  one  who  "  embraces  the  gate,"  i.  c,  does  not  leave  it,  and  that  of  a 
watchman,  one  "who  beats  his  stick  or  rattle." 

Par.  4.  What  Mencius  calls  here  "  keeper  of  stores  "  appears  in  Sze-ma 
Ts'een  as  "  an  officer  of  the  Ke  family."  Mencius'  authority  in  such  a  case 
is  to  be  followed.  This  was  the  first  office  which  Confucius  held,  when  he 
was  young  and  poor.  Ts'een  also  gives  a  different  name  for  the  second 
office,  but  apparently  having  the  same  meaning. 

Par.  5.  This  is  to  the  effect  that  he  who  takes  office  because  of  his  poverty, 
should  not  be  as  in  a  higher  position  where  he  would  have  to  speak  of  high 
matters,  and  that  he  who  is  in  a  high  office  and  a  frequenter  of  the  court 
should  make  it  his  business  to  be  carrying  out  his  principles. 

Ch.  VI.  How  A  SCHOLAR  UNEMPLOYED  SHOULD  NOT  BECOME  A  DEPEND- 
ENT BY  ACCEPTING  PAY  WITHOUT  OFFICE,  WHILE  YET  A  PRINCE  MAY  SEND 
HIM  REPEATED  GIFTS,  PROVIDED  HE  DO  SO  IN  THE  PROPER  MANNER. 
There  is,  no  doubt,  here,  as  in  chapter  iv.,  a  reference  to  Mencius'  habit  of 
receiving  gifts,  and  yet  keeping  himself  aloof,  from  the  princes. 

Par.  1.  In  the  Le  Ke,  IX.  i.  13,  it  is  said  that  a  prince  should  not  employ 


300  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   V. 

maintenance  ?  "  Mencius  answered,  '^  He  does  not  pre- 
sume [to  do  so].  When  one  prince  loses  his  State,  and 
then  throws  himself  on  anothfer  for  his  maintenance,  this 
is  in  accordance  with  propriety.  But  for  [such  an]  officer 
to  look  to  any  of  the  princes  for  his  maintenance  is  contrary 
to  propriety." 

2.  Wan  Chang  said,  "If  the  prince  sends  him  a  pre- 
sent of  grain,  will  he  receive  it  ?  "  "  He  will  receive  it,^' 
was  the  answer.  "  What  is  the  principle  of  right  in  his 
receiving  it  ?  "  [Mencius]  said,  "  Such  is  the  relation 
between  a  ruler  and  his  people  that  as  a  matter  of  course 
he  should  help  them  in  their  necessities." 

3.  "  What  is  the  reason  that  [an  officer  unemployed] 
will  [thus]  accept  relief,  but  will  not  accept  a  [stated] 
bounty?"  asked  [Chang],  and  [Mencius]  said,  ''He 
does  not  presume  [to  do  the  latter] ."  "  Allow  me  to 
ask,"  urged  the  other,  "  why  he  does  not  presume  to  do 
so."  The  reply  was,  "  [Even]  the  warder  of  a  gate  and 
the  SIbeater  of  a  watchman's  rattle  have  their  regular 
duties  for  which  they  can  take  their  support  from  their 
superiors  ;  but  he  who  without  any  regular  office  receives 
his  superior's  bounty  must  be  deemed  wanting  in  humility." 

4.  [Chang  again]  said,  "  When  a  ruler  sends  a  present 
[to  an  officer  unemployed] ,  he  accepts  it ; — I  do  not 
know  whether  this  present  may  be  constantly  repeated." 
[Mencius]  answered,  "  There  was  the  way  of  duke  Muh 
towards  Tsze-sze  : — He  sent  frequent  inquiries  after  his 
health,  and  made  frequent  presents  of  cooked  meat. 
Tsze-sze   Avas    displeased,    and    at    last,    having    motioned 

another  prince,  a  refugee  with  him,  as  a  minister,  but  it  is  only  from  Men- 
cius here,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  that  we  know  that  a  prince,  driven  from  his 
own  territory,  would  find  maintenance  in  another  Htate,  according  to  a  sort 
of  law. 

Par.  2.  This  is  making  the  case  very  simple. 

Par.  3.  "  Must  be  deemed  wanting  in  humility  "  is  given  by  Julien  as 
"  censctur  ed-pers  rcrerentife."  The  idea  is  that  such  a  scholar  puts  him- 
self in  the  position  of  one  who  has  a  regular  office,  and  does  not  recognize 
his  own  unofficial  position. 

Par.  4.  On  the  duke  Muh  and  Tsze-sze,  see  II.  ii.  XL  3.  See  also  ch.  iii. 
.3.  The  modes  of  salutation  in  ancient  times  are  thus  described; — "The 
ancients  sat  on  their  mats  on  the  ground.  When  one  raised  up  his  body 
erect,  resting  on  the  knees,  that  was  a  long  kneeling.  When  the  head  was 
-bowed  down  to  the  hands,  that  was  a  paf.  or  bow  with  the  hands  ;  when  the 
hands  were  put  to  the  ground,  that  was  a  _/^ae  or  bow  ;  when  the  head  was 


PT   II.    CH.  VII.]  WAN    CHANG.  301 

to  the  messenger  to  go  outside  the  great  door^  he  bowed  his 
head  to  the  ground  with  his  face  to  the  north,  then  put 
his  hands  twice  to  the  ground,  and  declined  the  present, 
saying,  *  From  this  time  forth  I  shall  know  that  the 
ruler  supports  me  as  a  dog  or  a  horse.'  And  from  this 
time  an  inferior  officer  was  not  sent  with  the  present. 
When  [a  ruler]  professes  to  be  pleased  with  a  man  of 
talents  and  virtue,  and  can  neither  raise  him  to  office  nor 
support  him  [in  the  proper  way],  can  he  bo  said  to  be 
[really]  pleased  with  his  talents  and  virtue  ? '' 

5.  [Cliang]  said,  "  I  venture  to  ask  how  the  ruler  of  a 
State,  when  he  wishes  to  support  a  superior  man,  must 
proceed  that  he  may  be  said  to  do  so  [in  the  proper 
way]."  [Meucius]  answered,  "  The  present  will  [at 
first]  be  offered  as  by  the  ruler's  commission,  and  [the 
superior  man]  will  receive  it,  twice  putting  his  hands  to 
the  ground,  and  then  his  head  to  the  ground.  After  this, 
the  store-keeper  will  continue  to  send  gTain,  and  the 
master  of  the  kitchen  to  send  meat,  presenting  it  without 
any  mention  of  the  ruler's  commission.  Tsze-sze  con- 
sidered that  the  meat  from  the  [ruler's]  caldron,  giving 
him  the  trouble  of  constantly  doing  obeisance,  was  not 
the  way  to  support  a  superior  man. 

6.  "  There  was  the  way  of  Yaou  with  Shun  : — He  caused 
his  nine  sons  to  seiwehim,  and  gave  him  his  two  daughters  as 
wives  ;  he  caused  the  various  officers,  oxen  and  sheep,  store- 
houses and  granaries,  [all]  to  be  prepared  to  support  Shun 
amid  the  channeled  fields  ;  and  then  he  raised  him  to  the 
most  exalted  station.  Hence  we  have  the  expression — 
'  The  honouring  of  virtue  and  talents  proper  to  a  king  or 
a  duke.'" 

VII.     1.  Wan  Chang  said,  "I  venture  to    ask  what   is 

put  to  the  earth,  that  was  a  bo\ving  with  the  head  to  the  ground.  Tsze- 
sze  is  here  described  as  making  first  the  third  or  profoiuidest  obeisance,  and 
then  twice  bowing  with  his  hands  to  the  ground.  "  An  inferior  officer  "  here 
denotes  one  of  a  mean  order  employed  to  convey  messages. 

Par.  5.  The  method  of  obeisance  or  acknowledgment  described  here  is,  it 
Avill  be  seen,  the  reverse  of  that  employed  by  Tsze-sze  in  the  preceding 
paragraph.  This  method  indicated,  it  is  said,  the  acceptance  of  the  gift, 
while  the  other  indicated  its  refusal. 

Par.  6.  See  Pt  i.  I.  3,  ct  al. 

Ch.  VII,  Why  a  scholar  not  in  office  should  decline  to  go  to 


302  THE    WORKS   OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   V. 

the  principle  of  riglit  in  not  going  to  see  the  princes." 
Mencius  replied,  "  [A  scholar  unemployed],  residing  in  the 
city,  is  called  '  a  minister  of  the  market-place  and  well ; '  one 
residing  in  the  country  is  called  '  a  minister  of  the  grass 
and  plants/  In  both  cases  he  is  a  common  man,  and  it 
is  a  rule  of  propriety  that  common  men  who  have  not  pre- 
sented the  introductory  present,  and  so  become  ministers 
[of  the  court],  should  not  presume  to  have  interviews  with 
any  of  the  pi-inces." 

2.  Wan  Chang  said,  "  If  a  common  man  be  called  to 
perform  any  service,  he  goes  and  performs  it.  When  a 
ruler  wishes  to  see  a  scholar,  and  calls  him,  how  is  it  that  he 
does  not  go  ?  "  "  To  go  and  perform  the  service  is  right ; 
to  go  and  see  the  ruler  would  not  be  right. 

3.  "  And ''  [added  Mencius]  "  on  what  account  is  it 
that  the  prince  wishes  to  see  [the  scholar]  ?  "  "  Because 
of  his  extensive  information,"  was  the  reply,  "  or  because 
of  his  talents  and  virtue."  "  If  because  of  his  extensive 
information,"  said  [Mencius],  "even  the  son  of  Heaven 
does  not  call  [one  thus  fit  to  be]  a  teacher,  and  how  much 
less  may  one  of  the  princes  do  so  !  If  because  of  his  talents 
and  virtue,  I  have  not  heard  of  any  one's  wishing  to  see  a 
person  with  these  qualities,  and  calling  him  to  his  presence. 

4.  *'  During  the  frequent  interviews  of  duke  Muh  with 
Tsze-sze,  he  [once]  said,  '  Anciently  in  States  of  a  thou- 
sand chariots,  their  rulers,  with  all  their  resources,  have 
been  on  terms  of  friendship  with  scholars ; — what  do  you 
think  of  such  cases  ?  '  Tsze-sze  was  displeased  and  said, 
'  The  ancients  had  a  saying  that,  "  [The  scholar]  should 
be  served ;  "  how  should  they  have  said  merely  that  ^'  He 
should  be  made  a  friend  of?"     Did  not  the  displeasure  of 

SEE  ANY  OF  THE  PRINCES,  WHEN  CALLED  BY  THEM.  Wan  Chang  evidently- 
had  his  master,  and  the  way  in  which  he  kept  himself  aloof  from  the  princes, 
in  his  mind  here,  though  he  does  not  say  so.  Our  philosopher's  practice 
in  this  respect  was  matter  of  surprise  and  of  frequent  imiuiry  to  his  disci- 
ples.    See  III.  ii.  I.,  et  al. 

Par.  1.  Every  one  may  be  called  a  minister  (shin),  as  being  a  subject, 
and  bound  to  serve  the  ruler.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  term  in  the  first 
two  instances  of  its  occurrence  in  this  paragraph.  In  the  other  instance  it 
denotes  those  who  are  ministers  holding  office.  On  the  "  introductory 
present,"  see  III.  ii.  III. 

Par.  3.  Here  and  throughout  this  chapter  we  see  in  a  striking  manner  how 
Mencius  magnified  his  position  as  a  scholar  and  teacher. 


PT  II.    CH.  VII.]  WAN    CHANG.  303 

Tsze-sze  say  [in  effect],  '  So  far  as  station  is  concerned, 
you  are  ruler,  and  I  am  a  subject ;  how  should  I  presume 
to  be  on  terms  of  friendship  with  my  ruler  ?  But  in  respect 
of  virtue,  you  ought  to  make  me  your  master ;  how  can  you 
be  on  terms  of  friendship  with  me  ?  '  [Thus],  when  a  ruler 
of  a  thousand  chariots  sought  to  be  on  terms  of  friendship 
with  a  scholar,  he  could  not  obtain  his  wish,  and  how  much 
less  might  he  [presume  to]  call  him  [to  his  presence]  ! 

5.  "  Duke  King  of  Ts'e  [once]  when  he  was  hunting, 
called  the  forester  to  him  with  a  flag.  [The  forester] 
refused  to  come,  and  the  duke  was  going  to  kill  him. 
[With  reference  to  this  incident,  Confucius  said,]  '  The 
resolute  officer  does  not  forget  [that  his  end  may  be]  in 
a  ditch  or  in  a  stream  ;  the  bold  officer  does  not  forget 
that  he  may  lose  his  head.'  What  was  it  [in  the  forester] 
that  Confucius  [thus]  approved  ?  He  approved  his  not 
going  when  summoned  by  an  article  which  was  not  appro- 
priate to  him.''^ 

6.  [Chang]  said,  "  I  venture  to  ask  with  what  a  forester 
should  be  called.^'  "  With  a  fur  cap,"  was  the  reply. 
"  A  common  man  should  be  called  with  a  plain  banner ;  a 
scholar  [who  has  taken  office],  with  a  flag  having  dragons 
embroidered  on  it;  and  a  great  officer,  with  one  having 
feathers  suspended  from  the  top  of  the  staff. 

7.  "  When  a  forester  is  called  with  the  article  appropri- 
ate to  the  calling  of  a  great  officer,  he  would  die  rather 
than  presume  to  go.  When  a  common  man  is  called  with 
the  article  for  the  calling  of  a  scholar  [in  office],  how 
should  he  presume  to  go  ?  How  much  moi'e  may  we  expect 
a  man  of  talents  and  virtue  to  refuse  to  go,  when  he  is  called 
in  a  way  unbecoming  his  character  ! 

8.  "  To  wish  to  see  a  man  of  talents  and  virtue,  and 
not  take  the  way  to  bring  it  about,  is  like  calling  him  to 
enter  and  shutting  the  door  against  him.  Now  righteous- 
ness is  the  way,  and  propriety  is  the  door,  but  it  is  only 

Par.  5.  See  III.  ii.  I.  2. 

Par.  8.  See  the  She.  II.  v.  IX.  1.  Righteousness  is  the  way  which  all 
men  ought  to  be  found  in,  and  propriety  the  door  by  which  they  should 
enter  it.  Many,  however,  forsake  the  way,  and  try  to  enter  by  other  doors. 
But  not  so  with  the  superior  man  ;  and  therefore  rulers  in  dealing  with  him 
should  be  specially  observant  of  righteousness  and  propriet}'.  This  seems  to 
be  the  under  current  of  thought  in  this  paragraph.     And  so  it  seems,  as  in- 


304  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [dK   V. 

the  superior  man  who  can  follow  this  way,  and  go  out  and 
in  by  this  door.     It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry  : — 

'  The  way  to  Chow  was  like  a  whetstone 
And  straight  as  an  arrow. 
[80]  the  officers  trod  it, 
And  the  common  people  looked  on  it.'  " 

9.  Wan  Chang  said,  ^^When  Confucius  received  his 
ruler's  message  calling  him  [to  his  presence],  he  went 
without  waiting  for  his  carriage  to  be  yoked  ;  did  Con- 
fucius then  do  wrong  ?  "  [Mencius]  replied,  "  Confucius 
was  in  office,  and  had  its  appropriate  duties  devolving  on 
him  ;  and  moreover  he  was  called  on  the  ground  of  his  office." 

VIII.  1.  Mencius  said  to  Wan  Chang,  "  The  scholar 
whose  excellence  is  most  distinguished  in  a  village  will 
thereon  make  friends  of  the  [other]  excellent  scholars  of 
the  village.  The  scholar  whose  excellence  is  most  dis- 
tinguished in  a  State  will  thereon  make  friends  of  the 
[other]  excellent  scholars  of  the  State.  The  scholar  whose 
excellence  is  most  distinguished  in  the  kingdom  will 
thereon  make  friends  of  the  [other]  excellent  scholars  of 
the  kingdom. 

2.  "When  [a  scholar]  finds '  that  his  friendship  with 
the  excellent  scholars  of  the  kingdom  is  not  sufficient  [to 
satisfy  him],  he  will  ascend  to  consider  the  men  of  anti- 
quity.   He  will  repeat  their  poems,  and  read  their  books ; 

dicated  in  the  words  of  the  ode  quoted,  it  once  was  in  the  best  da)'S  of  the 
Chow.  Tlie  way  to  Chow  was  as  it  is  here  described,  because  the  ways 
of  the  kings  of  Chow  had  been  fashioned  according  to  righteousness  and 
l)ropriety. 

Par.  9.   See  Ana.  X.  xiii.  4. 

CH.  VIII.  How  FRIENDSHIP  WILL  FIND  ITS  CONOEXIAL  ASSOCIATIONS 
ACCORDING  TO  THE  CONDITIONS  OF  PLACE  AND  TIME,  AND  WE  MAY  MAKE 
OUR  FRIENDS  OF  THE  GREAT  AND  GOOD  OF  ANTIQUITY  liY  STUDYING  THEIR 
I'OEMS  AND  OTHER  HOOKS,   AND  HISTORY. 

Pur.  1.  The  eminence  of  the  most  excellent  .scholars  specified  attracts 
others  to  them,  atid  they  have  thus  the  opportunity  of  learning  and  adding 
to  their  own  excellence,  which  no  inflation  arising  from  their  own  superiority 
jirevents  them  from  doing.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  Chinese  mind  should  be  so 
unwilling  to  admit  that  excellence  may  be  found  out  of  China. 

Pur.  2.  It  is  certainly  a  discriminating  study  of  the  worthies  of  antiquity 
vhich  Mencius  here  recommends. 


rx    II.    CH.  IX.]  WAN    CHANG.  305 

and  as  lie  does  not  know  whether  they  were  as  men  all 
that  was  approvable,  he  will  consider  their  history.  This 
is  to  ascend  and  make   friends    [of  the  men  of  antiquity].^' 

IX.  1.  King  Seuen  of  Ts'e  asked  about  high  minis- 
ters. Mencius  said,  "  Which  high  ministers  is  your 
Majesty  asking  about  ? "  "  Are  there  differences  among 
them  ?  "  said  the  king.  "  Yes,"  was  the  reply  ;  "  there 
are  high  ministers  who  are  noble,  and  relatives  of  the 
ruler,  and  there  are  those  who  are  of  a  different  surname 
from  him."  "  Allow  me  to  ask,"  said  the  king,  "  about 
the  high  ministers  v/ho  are  noble,  and  relatives  of  the 
ruler."  [Mencius]  answered,  "  If  the  ruler  have  great 
faults,  they  ought  to  remonstrate  with  him  ;  and  if  he  do 
not  listen  to  them,  when  they  have  done  so  again  and 
again,  they  ought  to  appoint  another  in  his  place." 

2.  The  king  looked  moved,  and  changed  countenance. 

3.  [Mencius]  said,  "  Let  not  your  Majesty  think  [what 
I  say]  strange.  You  asked  me,  and  I  did  not  dare  to 
reply  but  correctly." 

4.  The  king's  countenance  became  composed,  and  he 
begged  to  ask  about  the  high  ministers  who  were  of  a 
different  surname  from  the  ruler.  [Mencius]  said, 
"  When  the  ruler  has  faults,  they  ought  to  remonstrate 
with  him ;  and  if  he  do  not  listen  to  them  when  they 
have  done  so  again  and  again,  thev  ought  to  leave  [the 
State] ." 

Ch.  IX.   The  duties  of  ministers  to  their  ruler,  accordixc  as 

THEY  ARE  OF  THE  SAME  SURNAME  WITH  HIM,  OR  A  DIFFERENT,  THAT  IS, 
ACCORDING  AS  THEY  AKE  RELATED  TO  HIM  OR  NOT. 

Par.  1.  By  "great  faults"  Is  meant  such  as  endangered  the  State,  or  at 
least  the  safety  of  the  ruling  House.  It  seems  to  be  hitimated  that  of  other 
and  lesser  faults  these  ministers  would  not  take  any  notice.  In  par.  4  all 
the  ruler's  faults,  small  or  great,  come  under  the  notice  and  criticism  of  his 
other  ministers. 

Pun:  2,  3.  It  was  not  surprising  that  king  Seuen  should  be  annoyed  and 
surprised  at  the  words  of  Mencius.  They  certainlA'aflord  a  striking  instance 
of  the  boldness  of  our  philosopher's  thinking,  and  of  the  decided  manner 
in  which  he  gave  expression  to  his  sentiments.  All  the  members  of  the 
family  of  which  the  ruler  is  the  Head  may  be  said  to  have  an  interest  in 
the  throne,  but  to  suggest  to  them  that  it  may  become  their  duty  to  dis- 
place the  actual  occupant  of  it.  and  substitute  another  of  their  number  in 
his  place,  may  open  the  way  to  confusion  and  disaster. 
VOL.  II.  i;o 


>06  THE    WORKS    OF    MEXCIUS. 


BOOK  VI. 

KAOU-TSZE.       PART    I. 

Chapter  I.  1.  Kaou-tsze  said,  "  [Man's]  nature  is  like 
a  willow  tree,  and  righteousness  is  like  a  cup  or  a  bowl. 
The  fashioning  benevolence  and  righteousness  out  of  man's 
nature  is  like  making  cups  and  bowls  from  a  willow  tree.-" 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  Can  you,  in  accordance  with  the 
nature  of  the  willow  tree,  make  cups  and  bowls  from  it  ? 
You  will  do  violence  and  injury  to  the  tree  before  you  can 
make  cups  and  bowls  from  it.     If  you  will  do  violence  and 

Title  of  this  Book.  Kaou-tsze,  i.  e.,  Mr  Kaou,  or  the  scholar  Kaou, 
who  appears  in  the  first  and  other  chapters  questioning  Mencius,  gives  his 
name  to  the  Book.  He  is  prohably  the  same  who  is  i-eferred  to  by  our 
philosopher  in  II.  Part  I.  ii.  2.  Chaou  K'e  tells  us  that  his  name  was  Puli- 
Lae,  seeming  to  identify  him  with  Haou-sang  Puh-hae  of  VII.  Pt  II.  xxv. 
He  adds  that  Kaou,  while  a  student  under  Mencius,  gave  himself  also  to  the 
examination  of  the  doctrines  of  the  heresiarch  Mih  (III.  Pt  I.  v.,  Pt  II.  ix. 
0) ;  and  from  a  passage  in  Mih's  writings  this  is  not  unlikely,  but  the  name 
of  Kaou  appears  there  as  Shing. 

Kaou  appears  from  this  Book  to  have  been  much  perplexed  respecting  the 
real  character  of  human  nature  in  its  relations  to  good  and  evil,  which  is 
the  subject  mainly  discussed  throughout  it ;  and  it  is  to  the  view  of  human 
nature  as  here  developed  that  Mencius  is  chiefly  indebted  for  his  place 
among  the  sages  of  his  country.  "  The  Book,"  says  the  Relish  and  Eoot 
of  the  four  Books,  "treats  first  of  the  nature;  then  of  the /(mr^;  and  then 
of  \iutruction  :  the  whole  being  analogous  to  the  lessons  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  Mean.  The  second  Part  continues  to  treat  of  the  same  subject,  and  a 
resemblance  will  generally  be  found  between  the  views  of  the  parties  there 
combated  and  those  of  the  scholar  Kaou." 

Ch.  I.  That  benevolence  and  righteousness  are  no  unnatural 

AND  FORCED  PRODUCTS  OP  HUMAN  NATURE.  Choo  He  says  that  there 
underlies  the  words  of  Kaou  here  the  view  of  human  nature  afterwards 
insisted  on  by  the  philosopher  Seun  (see  the  2^'>'<>l<gomeua),  that  human 
nature  is  evil.  But  Kaou  might  have  disallowed  such  an  induction  from 
his  words.  Seun  maintained  that  human  nature  was  positively  evil,  and 
that  any  good  in  it  was  an  artificial  product.  Kaou  perhaps  would  have 
contended  that  it  was  like  a  tahula  rasa,  on  which  either  good  or  evil 
in  ight  be  made  to  appeiir. 

Par.  2.  "  In  accordance  with  the  nature  of  the  willow  tree  ; '"  /.  e.,  leaving 


PT    I.    CH.   II.]  KAOU-TSZE.  307 

injury  to  the  willow  tree  in  order  to  make  cups  and  bowls, 
will  you  also  do  violence  and  injury  to  a  man,  to  fashion 
benevolence  and  righteousness  [from  him]  ?  Your  words, 
alas !  would  certainly  with  all  men  occasion  calamity  to 
benevolence  and  righteousness." 

II.  1.  Kaou-tsze  said,  ''[Man's]  nature  is  like  water 
whirling  round  [in  a  corner].  Open  a  passage  for  it  on 
the  east,  and  it  will  flow  to  the  east ;  open  a  passage  for 
it  on  the  west,  and  it  will  flow  to  the  west.  Man's 
nature  is  indifferent  to  good  and  evil,  just  as  water  is 
indiSerent  to  the  east  and  west." 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  Water  indeed  will  flow  indifier- 
ently  to  the  east  or  west,  but  will  it  flow  indiflerently  up 
or  down  ?  The  [tendency  of]  man's  nature  to  goodness 
is  like  the  [tendency  of]  water  to  flow  downwards.  There 
are  jione  but  have  [this  tendency  to]  goodness,  [just  as] 
water  flows  downwards. 

3.  "  Now  by  striking  water,  and  causing  it  to  leap  up,  you 
may  make  it  go  over  your  forehead ;  and  by  damming  and 
leading  it,  you  may  make  it  go  up  a  hill ;  but  are  [such 
movements  according  to]  the  nature  of  water.  It  is  the 
force  applied  which  causes  them.     In  the  case  of  a  man's 

its  nature  iintoucliecl,  doing  no  violence  to  it.  "  Will  you  also  do  violence 
and  injury  to  a  man  ?  " — i.  e.  to  a  man's  nature,  to  humanity. 

C'H.  II.  That  man"s  nature  is  not  indifferent  to  good  and  evil. 
Its  proper  tendency  is  to  good.  Here,  it  seems  to  me,  Kaou  more 
clearly  explains  what  he  meant  in  the  last  chapter.  Choo  He  says,  however, 
that  his  idea  here  was  akin  to  that  of  Yang  Hcuug,  a  writer  about  the  begin- 
ning of  our  era.  Yang  held  that  good  and  evil  were  mixed  in  the  nature 
of  man,  and  that  the  passion-nature  was  like  a  horse  drawing  the  man,  ac- 
cording as  it  moved,  either  to  good  or  to  evil.  Kaou,  liowever,  appears  to 
have  differed  from  him  in  thinking  that  there  was  neither  good  nor  evil  in 
the  nature  itself. 

Par.  1.  The  phrase  which  I  have  translated — "  water  whirling  round"  is 
explained  in  the  dictionaries  as  "  water  flowing  rapidly,"  "  water  flowing 
quickly  over  sand  ;"  and  hence  Julien  renders  it  by  "■  rapule,  flncns  aqua.''' 
So  also  Williams.  Chaou  K'e,  followed  by  Choo  He,  gives  the  medning  which 
I  have  adopted. 

Parr.  2,  3.  Choo  He  says  : — "  This  chapter  tells  us  that  the  nature  is 
properly  good,  so  that  if  we  accord  with  it,  we  shall  do  nothing  but  what  is 
good  ;  and  that  it  is  properly  without  evil,  so  that  we  must  violate  it  before 
we  do  what  is  evil.  It  shows  that  the  nature  is  not  properly  without  a  de- 
cided character  so  that  it  maj'  do  good  or  evil  indiflerently." 


3'^8  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   VI. 

being  made   to   do  what  is  not    good,   his  nature  is  dealt 
with  in  this  way/' 

III.  1 .  Kaou-tsze  said,  "  [The  pha3noraena  of]  life  is 
what  I  call  nature." 

2,  Mencius  replied,  "Do  you  say  that  life  is  nature  just 
as  you  say  that  white  is  white  ?  "  "  Yes/'  was  the  reply. 
[Mencius  asked  again],  "Is  the  whiteness  of  a  white 
feather  like  the  whiteness  of  white  snow,  and  the  white- 
ness of  white  snow  like  that  of  white  jade  ? "  "  Yes,'' 
returned  [the  other]. 

3.  Mencius  retorted,  "Very  well.  Is  the  nature  of  a 
dog  like  the  nature  of  an  ox,  and  the  nature  of  an  ox  like 
the  nature  of  a  man  ?  " 

IV.  1.  Kaou-tsze  said,  "  [To  delight  in]  food  and  in 
sexual  pleasuz-e  is  nature.  Benevolence  is  from  within, 
and  not  from  without ;  righteousness  is  from  without  and 
not  from  within." 

2.  Mencius  said,  "  What  is  the  ground  of  your  saying 
that  benevolence  is  from   within,   and   righteousness  from 

Ch.  III.  The  nature  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  ph.kno- 
MENA  OF  LIFE.  C'hoo  He  siiys  that  "  by  life  is  inteiidetl  that  whereby  nieu 
and  animals  perceive  and  move,"  and  he  adds  that  Kaou's  sentiment  was 
analogous  to  that  of  the  Buddhists,  who  made  "  doing  and  moving  "  to  be  the 
nature.  We  nmst  understand,  I  think,  by  life  here  the  pha3nomena  of  the 
life  of  sen.sation,  and  Kaou's  idea  led  to  the  ridiculous  conclusion  that  wher- 
ever there  were  those  pha-numena  the  nature  of  the  subjects  is  the  same. 
We  find  it  difficult  to  place  ourselves  in  sympathy  with  him  iu  this  convers- 
ation, and  also  to  follow  Mencius  in  passing  from  the  second  paragraph  to 
the  third.  His  questions  in  the  former  refer  to  the  qualities  of  inanimate 
things,  and  then  he  jumps  to  others  about  the  nature  of  animals  and  of  man. 

Ch.  IV.    That  the  discrimination  of  what  is  rioht,  as  well  as 

THE  feeling  of  LOVE  OR  BENEVOLENCE,  IS   INTERNAL,  AND   NOT   MKRELV 

])i:teriiined  by  what  is  external  TO  us. 

Par.  1.  The  first  remark  of  Kaou  here  would  seem  to  be  intended  to  ex- 
plain his  statement  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  "life  was  nature."  Then 
he  seems  to  give  in  to  the  view  of  Mencius  that  benevolence  proceeds  from  a 
principle  within  us,  just  as  we  are  moved  by  an  internal  feeling  to  food  and 
sexual  jdeasure,  but  he  still  contends  that  it  is  not  so  in  the  exercise  of 
righteoasne.ss ; — by  which  term  Chinese  writers  mean,  "  the  conduct  proper 
in  refi;rence  to  men  and  things  without  us,  and  the  showing  it  to  them.' 
This  meaning  of  "  righteousness  "  is  put  out  by  Mencius  at  the  close  of  the 
third  paragraph. 


PT    I.    Cn.  v.]  KAOU-TSZE.  309 

without?"  [Til e  other]  replied,  " There  is  a  man  older 
than  I,  and  I  give  honour  to  his  age  ; — it  is  not  that  there 
is  in  me  a  principle  of  reverence  for  age.  It  is  just  as 
when  there  is  a  white  man,  and  I  consider  him  white ; 
— according  as  he  is  so  externally  to  me.  It  is  on  this 
account  that  I  say  [of  righteousness]  that  it  is  from 
without." 

3.  [Mencius]  said,  '*^  There  is  no  difference  to  us 
between  the  whiteness  of  a  white  horse,  and  the  whiteness 
of  a  white  man,  but  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  no  differ- 
ence between  the  regard  with  which  we  acknowledge  the 
age  of  an  old  horse,  and  that  with  which  we  acknowledge 
the  age  of  a  man  older  [than  ourselves]  ?  And  what  is  it 
which  we  call  righteousness  ?  The  fact  of  a  man's  being 
older  [than  we]  ?  or  the  fact  of  our  giving  honour  to  his 
age  ?  " 

4.  [Kaou]  said,  "  There  is  my  younger  brother ;  I  love 
him.  But  the  younger  brother  of  a  man  of  Ts^in  I  do  not 
love ;  that  is,  it  is  [the  relationship  to]  myself  which 
occasions  my  complacency,  and  therefore  I  say  that 
benevolence  is  from  within.  I  give  the  honouT*  due  to 
age  to  an  old  man  of  Ts'oo,  and  to  an  old  man  of  my  own 
[kindred]  ;  that  is,  it  is  the  age  which  occasions  the  com- 
placency, and  therefore  I  say  that  righteousness  is  from 
without." 

5.  [Mencius]  answered  him,  ''  Our  enjoyment  of  meat 
broiled  by  a  man  of  Ts'in  does  not  differ  from  our  enjoy- 
ment of  meat  broiled  by  [one  of]  our  [own  kindred] . 
Thus  [what  you  insist  on]  takes  place  also  in  the  case  of 
[such]  things  ;  but  is  our  enjoyment  of  broiled  meat  also 
from  without  ?  " 

V.      1.  Mr  Mang  Ke  asked  the  disciple  Kung-too,  say- 


Par.  4.  "  A  man  of  Ts'in,"  '•  a  man  of  Ts'oo  ;  " — i.  e.,  people  indifferent 
to  me,  strangers  to  me. 

Par.  o.  Mencius  silences  his  opponent  by  showing  that  the  cliflBculty 
whiclVjhe  alleged  in  regard  to  righteousness  would  attach  also  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  food,  which  he  had  himself  allowed,  at  the  outset  of  the  convers- 
ation, to  be  internal,  from  the  inward  constitution  of  our  nature. 

Ch.  V.  The  s>me  subject  : — a  difficulty  obviated  in  the  way  of 


310  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK    VI. 

ing,  "On  what  ground  is  it  said  that  righteousness  is 
from  within  ?  " 

2.  [Kuug-too]  rephed,  "It  is  the  acting  out  of  our  feel- 
ing of  respect,  and  therefore  it  is  said  to  be  from  within.'-" 

3.  [The  other]  said,  "  [In  the  case  of]  a  villager  one 
year  older  than  your  elder  brother,  to  which  of  them  will 
you  show  the  [greater]  respect  ? "  "  To  my  brother," 
was  the  reply.  "  But  for  which  would  you  pour  out 
spirits  first  ?  "  [Kung-too]  said,  "  For  the  villager." 
[Mang  Ke  then  argued],  "Your  feeling  of  respect  rests 
on  the  one,  but  your  reverence  for  age  is  rendered  to  the 
other ;  [righteousness]  is  certainly  determined  by  what 
is  without,  and  not  by  internal  feeling." 

4.  The  disciple  Kung-too  was  unable  to  reply,  and 
reported  [the  conversation]  to  Mencius,  who  said,  "  [You 
should  ask  him],  '  Which  do  you  respect  more,  your  uncle, 
or  your  younger  brother  ?  ■*  He  will  reply,  '  My  uncle.-* 
[Ask  him  again] ,  '  If  your  younger  brother  be  personat- 
ing a  deceased  ancestor,  to  whom  Avill  you  show  respect 
more, —  [to  him  or  to  your  uncle]  ?  '  He  will  say,  '  To  my 
younger  brother.'  [You  can  go  on],  'But  where  is  the 
[greater]  respect  due,  as  you  said,  to  your  uncle  ?  '  He 
■vvill  say,  '  [I  show  it  to  my  younger  brother,]  because  he 
is  in  the  position  [of  the  deceased  ancestor] .'  And  then 
you  must  say,  'Because  he  is  in  that  position ;— and  so 
ordinarily  my  respect  is  given  to  my  elder  brother,  but  a 
momentary  respect  is  given  to  the  villager.^  " 

5.  When    Ke-tsze   heard    this,    he    observed,    "  When 

THE  CONCLUSION  THAT  THE  DISCRIMINATION  OF  WHAT  IS  RIGHT  IS  FROM 
WITHIN.  • 

I'ar.  1.  Mang  Ke  was,  probably,  a  younger  brother  of  Mang  Chung,  who 
appears  in  II.  Ft  II.  ii.  .3  in  close  attendance  on  Mencius.  He  had  heard 
the  previous  conversation  with  Kaou,  or  heard  of  it ;  and  feeling  some 
doubts  on  the  subject,  he  applied  to  the  disciple  Kung-too. 

Par.  3.  "  For  whom  would  you  pour  out  spirits  first  ?  " — I.  e.,  at  a  feast. 
Courtesy  then  required  that  the  honour  should  be  given  to  a  stranger  ;  but 
Mang  Ke  does  not  consider  this,  but  maintains  that  the  manifestation  of 
respect  varied  with  the  individual,  and  was  therefore  not  from  within. 

Par.  4.  "  Personating  a  deceased  ancestor ;  " — see  the  Trolegomena  to 
Vol.  rV.  of  my  larger  Work,  pp.  135,  i;](;,  on  the  strange  custom  under  the 
Chow  dynasty  of  personating  a  d(!ceased  ancestor  at  a  sacrificial  feast  by 
one  of  the  descendants  of  the  family. 

Par.  5.  Kung-too  here  beats  down  the  cavilling  of  Mang  Ke  as  Mencius 
did  that  of  Kaou  in  the  conclusion  of  last  chapter. 


PT    I.    CII.  VI.]  KAOU-TSZE.  311 

respect  is  clue  to  my  uncle,  I  give  it  to  him ;  and  when 
respect  is  due  to  my  younger  brother,  I  give  it  to  him. 
The  thing  is  certainly  determined  by  what  is  without  us, 
and  does  not  come  from  within."  Kung-too  replied,  "  In 
winter  we  drink  things  warm,  but  in  summer  we  drink 
things  cold;  but  is  then  our  eating  and  drinking  deter- 
mined by  what  is  external  to  us  ?  " 

VI.  1 .  The  disciple  Kung-too  said,  '^  Kaou-tsze  says, 
'  [Man's]  nature  is  neither  good  nor  bad.' 

2.  ''Some  say,  '[Man's]  nature  may  be  made  to  do 
»good,  and  it  may  be  made  to  do  evil;  and  accordingly, 
under  Wan  and  Woo,  the  people  loved  what  was  good, 
and  under  Yew  and  Le  they  loved  what  was  cruel.' 

3-  "  Some  say,  '  The  nature  of  some  is  good,  and  the 
nature  of  others  is  bad.  Hence  it  was  that  under  such  a 
ruler  as  Yaou,  there  yet  appeared  Seang;  that  with  such 
a  father  as  Koo-sow,  there  yet  appeared  Shun ;  and  that, 
with  Chow  for  their  ruler  and  the  son  of  their  elder 
brother  besides,  there  yet  appeared  K'e,  the  viscount  of 
Wei,  and  prince  Pe-kan.' 

4.  "  And  now  you  say,  '  The  nature  is  good.'  Then 
are  all  those  wrong  ?  " 

5.  Mencius  replied,  "From  the  feelings  proper  to  it, 
[we  see]  that  it  is  constituted  for  the  doing  of  what  is 
good.  This  is  what  I  mean  in  saying  that  [the  nature] 
is  good. 

6.  "  If  [men]  do  what  is  not  good,  the  guilt  cannot  be 
imputed  to  their  natural  powers. 

Ch.  VI.  Various  views  of  human  natuee,  and  Mencius'  vindication 

OF  HIS  OWN  DOCTRINE,  THAT  IT  IS  GOOD. 

Par.  1.  Choo  He  sajs  that  this  view  had  been  revived  near  his  own  times 
by  the  famous  Soo  Tung-po,  and  by  Hoo  "Woo-fung,  a  son  of  the  more  cele- 
brated Hoo  Wan-ting. 

Par.  2.  Kaou  had  also  given  this  view, —  in  the  second  chapter.  Wan 
and  Woo  are  the  famous  founders  of  the  Chow  dynasty  ;  Yew  and  Le  were 
two  of  their  successors  whose  character  and  course  damaged  the  dynasty 
not  a  little. 

Par.  3.  This  view  was  afterwards  advocated,  with  an  addition  to  it,  by 
Han  Yu  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  ; — see  his  essay  in  the  i)rolegomena.  Scang 
was  the  wicked  brother  of  Shun  ; — for  him  and  Koo-sow  see  V.  Pt  I.  ii.,  et 
al.  For  Chow  (or  Show)  of  the  Shang  dynasty  and  his  relatives,  see  on  the 
Analects  XVIII;  i.,  and  on  the  Book  of  History,  Pt  IV.  xi. 

Parr.  5,  6.  These  paragraphs  are  important  for  the  correct  understanding 
of  our  philosopher's  views. 


312  THE  WORKS  OF  MEXCIUS.  [bK  VI. 

7.  "  The  feeling  of  compassionate  distress  belongs  to 
all  men ;  so  does  that  of  shame  and  dislike ;  and  that  of 
modesty  and  respect ;  and  that  of  approving  and  disap- 
proving. The  feeling  of  compassion  and  distress  is  the 
principle  of  benevolence  ;  the  feeling  of  shame  and  dis- 
like is  the  principle  of  righteousness  ;  the  feeling  of 
modesty  and  respect  is  the  principle  of  propriety  ;  and  the 
feeling  of  approving  and  disapproving  is  the  principle  of 
knowledge.  Benevolence,  righteousness,  propriety,  and 
knowledge  are  not  fused  into  us  from  without ;  they 
naturally  belong  to  us,  and  [a  different  view]  is  simply 
from  want  of  reflection.  Hence  it  is  said,  '  Seek,  and  you 
will  find  them  ;  neglect,  and  you  will  lose  them.'  [Men 
differ  from  one  another  in  regard  to  them]  ;  some  as  much 
again  as  others,  some  five  times  as  much,  and  some  to  an 
incalculable  amount ;  it  is  because  they  cannot  fully  carry 
out  their  [natural]  endowments. 

8.  "It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'Heaven  in  giving  birth  to  the  multitudes  of  the  people, 
To  every  faculty  and  relationship  annexed  its  law  : 
The  people  possess  this  normal  nature, 
And  they  [consequently]  love  its  normal  virtue.' 

Confucius  said,  '  The  maker  of  this  ode  knew  indeed 
the  constitution  [of  our  nature].'  We  may  thus  see  that 
to  every  faculty  and  relationship  there  must  belong  its 
law,  and  that  since  the  people  possess  this  normal  nature, 
they  therefore  love  its  normal  virtue.'' 

VII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "In  good  years  the  children  of 
the  people  are  most  of  them  good,  and  in  bad  years  they 
are  most  of  them  evil.     It  is  not  owing  to   their  natural 

Par.  7.  See  II.  Pt  I.  vi.  4,  5. 

Par.  8.  See  the  Book  of  Poetry,  Bk  III.  Pt  III.  vi.  1,  and  my  comment- 
ary there. 

CH.  VII.  The  PHyKNOMENA  OP  GOOD  AND  EVIL  IN  MEN'S  CHARACTER 
AND  CONDUCT  ARE  TO  BE  EXPLAINED  FROM  THE  DIKI'ERENT  CIRCUJl- 
STANCES  ACTING  ON  THEM.  ALL  MEN,  SAGES  AND  OTHERS,  ARE  THE  SAME 
IN  MIND,  AND  IT  FOLLOWS  THAT  THE  NATURE  OF  OTHER  MEN  IS  GOOD, 
LIKE  THAT  OF  THE  SAGES. 

Piir.  1 .  The  idea  seems  to  l)e  that  in  good  years,  the  supply  of  food  and 
clothes  being  soflicieut,  the  young  escape  temptations  to  robbery  and  other 


PT   I.    CH.  VII.]  KAOU-TSZE.  313 

endowments  conferred  by  Heaven,  that  they  are  thus 
different.  It  is  owing  to  the  circumstances  in  which  tlicy 
allow  their  minds  to  be  ensnared  and  devoured  that  they 
appear  so  [as  in  the  latter  case]. 

2.  "  There  now  is  barley. — Let  the  seed  be  sown  and 
covered  up ;  the  ground  being  the  same,  and  the  time  of 
sowing  also  the  same,  it  grows  luxuriantly,  and  when  the 
full  time  is  come,  it  is  all  found  to  be  ripe.  Although 
there  may  be  inequalities  [of  produce],  that  is  owing  to 
[the  difference  of]  the  soil  as  rich  or  poor,  to  the  [unequal] 
nourishment  afforded  by  rain  and  dew,  and  to  the  different 
ways  in  which  man  has  performed  his  business. 

3.  "  Thus  all  things  which  are  the  same  in  kind  are 
like  to  one  another ; — why  should  we  doubt  in  regard  to 
man,  as  if  he  were  a  solitary  exception  to  this  ?  The 
sage  and  we  are  the  same  in  kind. 

4.  "  In  accordance  with  this,  Lung-tsze  said,  '  If  a 
man  make  hempen  sandals,  without  knowing  [the  size  of 
people's]  feet,  yet  I  know  that  he  will  not  make  them  like 
baskets.'  Sandals  ai-e  like  one  another,  because  all  men's 
feet  are  like  one  other. 

5.  "  So  with  the  mouth  and  flavours  ; — all  mouths  have 
the  same  relishes.  Yih  Ya  [simply]  appreciated  before 
me  what  my  mouth  relishes.  Suppose  that  his  mouth,  in 
its  relish  for  flavours,  were  of  a  different  nature  from  [the 
mouths  of]  other  men,  in  the  same  way  as  dogs  and 
horses  are  not  of  the  same  kind  with  us,  how  should  all 
men  be  found  following  Yih  Ya  in  their  relishes  ?  In  the 
matter  of  tastes,  the  whole  kingdom  models  itself  after 
Yih  Ya ;  that  is,  the  mouths  of  all  men  are  like  one 
another. 

6.  "  So    it    is    with    the    ear    also.      In    the    matter   of 


wickedness.  Mencius  elsewhere  puts  forth  powerfully  the  truth  that  ad- 
versity is  ofteu  a  school  of  superior  virtue.  The  general  sentiment  enun- 
ciated here,  that  a  competence  is  favourable  to  virtue,  must  be  admitted, 
and  it  has  the  warrant  of  Confucius  in  Ana.  XIII.  ix. 

Par.  4.  Of  Mr  Lung,  who  is  here  quoted,  nothing  is  known.  Mencius  pur- 
posely quotes  his  saying  on  an  ordinary  matter  as  being  well  known,  and 
serving  {o  illustrate  the  point  in  hand. 

Par.  5.  Yih'Ya  was  the  cook  of  the  famous  duke  Hwan  of  Ts'e  (B.C. 
68i  — 642),  otherwise  a  worthless  man,  but  great  in  his  art. 

Par.  6.  Of  the  music-master  Kwang  see  on  IV.  Pt  I.  i.  1. 


31  t  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS.  [bK  VI. 

sounds,  tlie  wliole  kingdom  models  itself  after  tlie  music- 
master  Kwang;  that  is,  tlie  ears  of  all  men  are  like  one 
another. 

7.  "And  so  it  is  also  with  the  eye.  In  the  case  of 
Tsze-too,  there  is  no  one  under  heaven  but  would 
recognize  that  he  was  beautiful.  Any  one  who  did  not 
recognize  the  beauty  of  Tsze-too  would  [be  said  to]  have 
no  eyes. 

8.  "  Therefore  [I]  say, — [Men's]  mouths  agree  in  having 
the  same  relishes;  their  ears  agree  in  enjoying  the  same 
sounds;  their  eyes  agree  in  recognizing  the  same  beauty: — 
shall  their  minds  alone  be  without  that  which  they  similarly 
approve  ?  ^Vhat  is  it  then  of  which  their  minds  similarly 
approve  ?  It  is  the  principles  [of  things] ,  and  the  [conse- 
quent determinations  of]  righteousness.  The  sages  only 
apprehended  before  me  that  which  I  and  other  men  agree  in 
approving.  Therefore  the  principles  [of  things]  and  [the  de- 
terminations of]  righteousness  are  agreeable  to  my  mind  just 
as  [the  flesh]  of  grass  and  grain-fed  [animals]  is  agreeable 
to  my  mouth." 

VIII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  The  trees  of  New  hill  were  once 
beautiful.  Being  situated,  howevei-,  in  the  suburbs  of  [the 
capital  of]  a  large  State,  they  were  hewn  down  with  axes 
and  bills ;  and  could  they  retain  their  beauty  ?  Still 
through  the  growth  from  the  vegetative  life  day  and  night, 
and  the  nourishing  influence  of  the  rain  and  dew,  they  were 
not  without  buds  and  sprouts  springing  out.  But  then 
came  the  cattle  and  goats,  and  browsed  upon  them.  To 
these  things  is  owing  the  bare  and  stript  appearance  [of  the 
hill]  ;  and  when  people  see  this,  they  think  it  was  never 
finely  wooded.     But  is  this  the  nature  of  the  hill  ? 

Par.  7.  Tsze-too  was  the  designation  of  Kiing-sun  Oh,  a  scion  of  the 
house  of  Ch'ing  about  B.C.  700,  distingui.shed  for  iiis  beauty.  See  an  account 
of  his  villainy  and  death  in  the  7th  chapter  of  the  "  History  of  the  several 
Ktates."  See  also  in  the  Tso  Chueu  under  the  Uth  year  of  duke  Yin,  and 
the  16th  year  of  duke  Chwang. 

CH.  VIII.  How  IT  IS  THAT  THE  NATURE,  PEOPBRLT  GOOD,  COMES  TO 
APPEAB  AS  IF  IT  WERE  NOT  SO  ;— FROM  NOT  RECEIVING  ITS  PROPER 
NOURISHMENT. 

Par.  1.  New  hill,  i.  e.  Ox  hill,  was  a  mountain  not  far  from  the  capital 
of  Ts'e.  It  is  10  le  south  of  the  present  district  city  of  Lia-tsze,  depart- 
ment of  Ts'ing-chow. 


PT    I.    CII.  IX.]  KAOU-TSZE.  3]  5 

2.  "  And  so  even  of  what  properly  belongs  to  man  ;  shall 
it  be  said  that  the  mind  [of  any  man]  was  without  benevo- 
lence and  righteousness.  The  way  in  which  a  man  loses  the 
proper  goodness  of-his  mind  is  like  the  way  in  which  [those] 
trees  were  denuded  by  axes  and  bills.  Hewn  down  day 
after  day,  can  it  retain  its  excellence  ?  But  there  is  some 
growth  of  its  life  day  and  night,  and  in  the  [calm]  air  of 
the  morning,  just  between  night  and  day,  the  mind  feels 
in  a  degree  those  desires  and  aversions  which  are  proper  to 
humanity;  but  the  feeling  is  not  strong;  and  then  it  is 
fettered  and  destroyed  by  what  the  man  does  during  the 
day.  This  fettering  takes  place  again  and  again ;  the 
restorative  influence  of  the  night  is  not  sufficient  to  preserve 
[the  proper  goodness]  ;  and  when  this  proves  insufficient 
for  that  purpose,  the  [natm*e]  becomes  not  nmch  different  from 
[that  of]  the  irrational  animals  ;  and  when  people  see  this, 
they  think  that  it  never  had  those  endowments  [which  I 
assert].  But  does  this  condition  represent  the  feelings 
proper  to  humanity  ? 

3.  "  Therefore  if  it  receive  its  proper  nourishment,  there  is 
nothing  which  will  not  grow ;  if  it  lose  its  proper  nourish- 
ment, there  is  nothing  which  will  not  decay  away. 

4.  "  Confucius  said,  '  Hold  it  fast,  and  it  remains  with 
you ;  let  it  go,  and  you  lose  it.  Its  out-going  and  in-coming 
cannot  be  defined  as  to  time  and  place. ^  It  was  the  mental 
nature  of  which  this  was  said.^^ 

IX.  1.  Mencius  said,  ''It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
the  king  is  not  wise  ! 

Par.  4.  This  is  a  saying  of  Confucius  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  Men- 
cius. Choo  He  thus  expands  the  paragraph  : — "  Confucius  said  of  the  mind, 
^  If  you  hold  it  fast,  it  is  here  ;  if  yow  let  it  go,  it  is  lost  and  gone  ;  so 
indeterminate  in  regard  to  time  is  its  outgoing  and  incoming,  and  also  in 
regard  to  place.'  Mencius  quoted  his  words  to  illustrate  the  unfathomable- 
ne&s  of  the  mind  as  spiritual  and  intelligent,  how  easy  it  is  to  have  it  or  to 
lose  it,  and  how  difficult  to  preserve  and  keep  it  so  that  it  should  not  be 
left  unnourished  for  a  moment.  Learners  ought  constantly  to  be  using  their 
strength  to  insure  the  pureness  of  its  spirit  and  the  settledness  of  its  passion- 
nature,  as  in  the  calm  of  the  morning  between  day  and  night ;  then  will  the 
proper  mind  always  be  preserved,  and  everywhere  and  in  all  circumstances 
Its  manifestations  will  be  those  of  benevolence  and  righteousness." 

Ch.  IX.  Illustrating  the  pkeceding  chapter. — How  the  king  of 


316  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   VI.' 

2.  "  Suppose  tlie  case  of  the  most  easily  growing  thing 
in  the  world; — if  you  let  it  have  one  day's  genial  heat,  and 
then  expose  it  for  ten  days  to  cold,  it  will  not  be  able  to 
grow.  It  is  but  seldom  that  I  have  an  audience  [of  the 
king],  and  when  I  retire,  there  come  [all]  those  who  act 
upon  him  like  the  cold.  Though  I  succeed  in  bringing  out 
some  buds  of  goodness,  of  what  avail  is  it  ? 

3.  "  Now  chess-playing  is  an  art,  though  a  small  one ; 
but  without  his  whole  mind  being  given,  and  his  will  bent 
to  it,  a  man  cannot  succeed  in  it.  Chess  Ts'ew  is  the  best 
chess-player  in  all  the  kingdom.  Suppose  that  he  is  teach- 
ing two  men  to  play ; — the  one  gives  all  his  mind  to  the 
game,  and  bends  to  it  all  his  will,  doing  nothing  but  Hsten 
to  Chess  Ts'ew ;  the  other,  though  he  [seems  to]  be  listen- 
ing to  him,  has  his  whole  mind  running  on  a  swan  which  he 
thinks  is  approaching,  and  wishes  to  bend  his  bow,  adjust 
the  arrow  to  the  string,  and  shoot  it.  Though  the  latter  is 
learning  along  with  the  former,  his  progress  is  not  equal  to 
his.     Is  it  because  his  intelligence  is  not  equal  ?     Not  so." 

X.  1.  Mencius  said,  "1  like  fish,  and  I  also  like  bears' 
paws.  If  I  cannot  get  both  together,  I  will  let  the  fish  go, 
and  take  the  bears'  paws.  So  I  like  life,  and  I  also  like 
righteousness.  If  I  cannot  keep  the  two  together,  I  will 
let  life  go,  and  choose  righteousness. 

2.  "  I  like  life  indeed,  but  there  is  that  which  I  like  more 
than  life ;  and  therefore  I  will  not  seek  to  hold  it  by  any 

TS'E'S  WANT   OP  WISDOM  WAS    OWING   TO    HIS    NEGLECT    OF    MENCIUS'  IN- 
STRUCTIONS AND  TO  BAD  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Par.  1.  The  king  is  understood  to  have  been  Seuen  of  Ts'e  ; — see  I.  Pt  I. 
vii.,  et  al. 

Par.  2.  The  last  sentence  may  also  be  taken,  with  Choo  He,  as  meaning 
— "  Though  -there  may  be  [some]  sprouts  of  goodness  in  him,  what  can 
I  do  ?  " 

Par.  3.  "  Chess  Ts'ew;  " — Ts'iiw  was  the  man's  name,  and  he  was  called 
Chess  Ts'ew  from  his  skill  at  the  game. 

Ch.  X.  That  it  is  proper  to  man's  nature  to  love  righteousness 

MORE  than  life  ;  AND  HOW  IT  IS  THAT  MANY  ACT  AS  IF  IT  WERE  NOT  SO. 
Par.  1.  "  Bears'  paws,"  Ut..  palms,  have  been  a  delicacy  in  China  from 
the  earliest  times.  They  require  a  long  time  to  cook  them  thoroughly.  In 
B.C.  425,  the  king  Ch'ing  of  Ts'oo,  being  besieged  in  his  palace,  requested 
that  he  might  have  a  dish  of  bears'  palms  before  he  was  put  to  death, — 
hoping  that  help  would  come  while  they  were  being  cooked. 


PT  I.    CH,  X.]  KAOD-TSZE.  317 

improper  ways.  I  dislike  death  indeed,  but  there  is  that 
which  I  dislike  more  than  death,  and  therefore  there  are 
occasions  when  I  will  not  avoid  calamity  [that  may  occasion 
death]. 

3.  "  If  among  the  things  which  man  likes  there  were  no- 
thing which  he  liked  more  than  life,  why  should  he  not  use 
all  means  by  which  he  could  preserve  it  ?  If  among  the 
things  which  man  dislikes  there  were  nothing  which  he  dis- 
liked more  than  death,  why  should  he  not  do  everything 
by  which  he  could  avoid  calamity  [that  might  occasion  it] . 

4.  "  [But  as  man  is] ,  there  are  cases  when  by  a  certain 
course  men  might  preserve  life,  and  yet  they  do  not  employ 
it ;  and  when  by  certain  things  they  might  avoid  calamity 
[that  will  occasion  death],  and  yet  they  will  not  do  them. 

5.  "  Therefore  men  have  that  which  they  like  more  than 
life,  and  that  which  they  dislike  more  than  death.  They  are 
not  men  of  talents  and  virtue  only  who  have  this  mental 
natui'e.  All  men  have  it ; — what  belongs  to  such  men  is 
simply  that  they  are  able  not  to  lose  it. 

6.  "  Here  are  a  small  basket  of  rice  and  a  basin  of  soup ; 
— and  the  case  is  one  where  the  getting  them  will  preserve 
life,  and  the  want  of  them  will  be  death.  If  they  are  offered 
to  him  in  an  insulting  tone,  [even]  a  tramper  on  the  road 
will  not  receive  them,  or  if  you  first  tread  upon  them,  [even] 
a  beggar  will  not  stoop  to  take  them. 

7.  "  [And  yet]  a  man  will  accept  of  ten  thousand  chnng, 
without  any  question  as  to  the  propriety  and  righteousness 
of  his  doing  so.  What  can  the  ten  thousand  chung  really 
add  to  him  ?  [When  he  takes  them],  is  it  not  that  he  may 
get  beautiful  mansions  ?  or  that  he  may  secure  the  services 
of  wives  and  concubines  ?  or  that  the  poor  and  needy  of  his 
acquaintance  may  be  helped  by  him  ? 

8.  "  In  the  former  case,  the  [offered  bounty]  was  not  re- 

Piir.  5.  Up  to  this  point  our  philosopher  has  been  bringing  out  his  great 
point, — that  all  men  have  the  good  heart,  wliich  he  clinches  by  the  cases 
in  the  two  paragra|)hs  that  follow,  which  are  very  well  conceived  and  ex- 
pressed. 

I'an\  6 — 8.  The  reader  will  remember  that  it  was  with  10,000  cluing  that 
the  king  of  Ts'e  tried  to  bribe  Mencius  to  remain  in  his  country  ; — see  II. 
Pt  II. x!  '-What  can  the  10,000  chunr/  really  add  to  him  ?  "  is  literally,  in 
Chinese — "  "What  do  tlie  10.000  rhiing  add  to  lue  ?  "  The  meaning  is  better 
brought  out  in  English  by  changing  the  person  from  the  first  to  the  third  ; 
but  there  is  in  the  Chinese  idiom  also  the  lofty,  and  true,  idea — that  a  man's 


318  THE    WOKKS    or   MENCIUS.  [eK   VI. 

ceived,  though  it  would  have  saved  from  death,  and  now  the 
man  takes  [the  emolument]  for  the  sake  of  beautiful  man- 
sions. [The  bounty]  that  would  have  saved  from  death 
was  not  received,  and  [the  emolument]  is  taken  to  get  the 
services  of  wives  and  concubines.  [The  bounty]  that  would 
have  saved  from  death  was  not  received,  and  [the  emolu- 
ment] is  taken  that  one's  poor  and  needy  acquaintances 
may  be  helped  by  him.  Was  it  not  possible  then  to  decline 
[the  emolument]  in  these  instances  ?  This  is  a  case  of  what 
is  called — losing  the  proper  nature  of  one's  mind.'' 

XL  1.  Mencius  said,  "Benevolence  is  [the  proper  quality 
of]  man's  mind,  and  righteousness  is  man's  [proper]  path. 

2.  "  How  lamentable  is  it  to  neglect  this  path  and  not 
pursue   it,  to    lose    this    mind   and    not    know    to    seek    it 


3.  ''When  men's  fowls  and  dogs  are  lost,  they  know  to 
seek  them  [again]  ;  but  they  lose  their  mind,  and  do  not 
know  to  seek  it  [again] . 

4,  "  The  object  of  learning  is  nothing  else  but  to  seek  for 
the  lost  mind." 

personalitj'  is  something  independent  of,  and  higher  thnn,  all  external  ad- 
vantages. The  same  peculiarity  of  Chinese  idiom  appears  in  the  conclusion 
of  the  paragraph.  "  Is  it  not  that  the  poor  and  needy  of  his  acquaintance 
may  be  helped  by  him  ?  "  is,  litemlly,  "  Is  it  not  that  the  poor  and  needy  may- 
get  VIC?  i.  e.,  may  get  my  help  ?  "  On  this  a  Chiiie.se  writer  says,  "The 
thinking  of  the  poor  would  seem  to  show  a  kindly  feeling,  but  the  true 
nature  of  it  appears  in  the — '?«ay  ffct  jue.'  The  idea  is  not  one  of  benevo- 
lence, but  of  selfishness." 

CH.  XI.  How  MEN,  HAVING  LOST  THE  PROPER  QUALITIES  OF  THEIR  NA- 
TURE, SHOULD  SEEK  TO  RECOVER  THEM. 

Par.  1.  "  Benevolence  is  man's  mind  (or  heart),"  i.  e.,  it  is  the  proper  and 
universal  characteristic  of  man's  nature,  what,  as  the  commentators  often 
Bay,  "  all  men  have."  "  Benevolence  "  would  seem  here  to  include  all  the 
moral  qualities  of  humanity  ;  but  it  is  followed  by  the  Meneian  specifica- 
tion of  '•  righteousness."  Compare  our  philosopher's  yet  more  remarkable 
saying  in  VII.  Pt  II.  xvi.,  that  "  Benevolence  is  man." 

Par.  4.  "  The  object  of  learning  "  i.s,  literally,  "  The  way  of  learning  and 
asking,"  "  the  way  "  meaning  the  proper  course,  that  which  is  to  be  pursued. 
Mencius  would  seem  to  be  guarding  himself  against  being  supposed  to  teach 
that  man  need  not  go  beyond  himself  to  secure  his  renovation.  To  illus- 
trate his  "  learning  and  asking  "  we  are  referred  to  Confucius'  words  in  the 
Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  XX.  11),  and  those  of  Tsze-hiia  in  Ana.  XIX.  vi. — It 
will  be  noted  that  the  Chinese  sages  always  end  with  the  recovery  of  the 


PT    I.    CH.  XIV.]  KAOU-TSZE.  319 

XTI.  1.  Moncius  said,  "  Here  is  a  man  whose  fourth 
finger  is  bent,  and  cannot  be  stretched  out  straight.  It  is 
not  painful,  nor  does  it  incommode  his  business ;  but  if  there 
were  any  one  who  coukl  make  it  straight,  he  would  not  think 
it  far  to  go  all  the  way  from  Ts'in  to  Ts'oo  [to  find  him]  ; 
— because  his  finger  is  not  like  those  of  other  people. 

2.  "  When  a  man's  finger  is  not  like  other  people's,  he 
knows  to  feel  dissatisfied;  but  when  his  mind  is  not  like 
other  people's,  he  does  not  know  to  feel  dissatisfied.  This 
is  what  is  called — ignorance  of  the  relative  [importance  of 
things]." 

XIII.  Mencius  said,  "  Anybody  who  wishes  to  cultivate 
a  t'ung  tree,  or  a  tsze,  which  may  be  grasped  with  the  two' 
hands,  [perhaps]  with  one,  knows  by  what  means  to  nourish 
it ;  but  in  the  case  of  their  own  persons  men  do  not  know 
by  what  means  to  nourish  them.  Is  it  to  be  supposed  that 
their  regard  for  their  own  persons  is  inferior  to  their  regard 
for  a  t'uitg  or  a  tsze  ?     Their  want  of  reflection  is  extreme." 

XIY.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Men  love  every  part  of  their 
persons ;  and  as   they  love    every  part,   so  they    [should] 

old  heart,  and  that  the  Christian  idea  of  "  a  new  heart  "  is  unknown  to 
them. 

CH.  XII.  How  MEN  ARE  SENSIBLE  OF  BODILY  DEFECTS,  HOWEVER 
SLIGHT,  BUT  ARE  NOT  SENSIBLE  OF  3IENTAL  OR  MORAL  DEFECTS. 

Par.  1.  The  thumb  is  called  by  the  Cliinese  "the  great  finger  ;  "  next  to 
it  is  "  the  eating  finger  ;  "  then  "  the  lea<ling  finger  ;  "  then  "  the  fourth  or 
nameless  finger;"  and  last,  "the  little  finger."  The  fourth  is  called 
"nameless,"  as  being  of  less  use  than  the  others.  The  capital  of  Ts'ia 
was  in  the  present  department  of  Fung-ts'eang,  Shen-se,  and  that  of  Ts'oo 
in  King-chow,  Hoo-pih. 

Ch.  XIII.  Men's  extreme  want  or  thought  in  regard  to  the  cul- 
tivation OF  themselves. 

The  t'unf/  here  is  probably  the  bignonia.  The  wood  of  it  was  good  for 
making  lutes.  The  tsze  also  yields  a  valuable  wood,  and  is  spoken  of  as 
"  the  king  of  all  trees." 

Ch.  xrv.  The  attention  given  by  men  to  the  nourishjient  of 

the  DIFFERENT  PARTS  OP  THEIR  NATURE  MUST  BE  REGULATED  BY  THE 
RELATIVE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THOSE  PARTS,  WHICH  EVERY  MAN*  CAN  DETER- 
MINE   FOR  HIMSELF    BY    REFLECTION. 

Par.  1.  The  concluding  part  of  this  par.  is  rather  difficult  to  translate,  but 


320  THE    WORKS   OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    VI. 

nourisli  every  part.  There  is  not  an  inch  of  skin  which  they 
do  not  love,  and  so  there  is  not  an  inch  of  skin  which  they 
will  not  nourish.  For  examining  whether  his  [way  of  nour- 
ishing] be  good  or  not,  what  other  rule  is  there  but  simply 
this,  that  a  uian  determine,  [by  reflecting]  on  himself,  where 
it  should  be  applied  ? 

2.  "  Some  parts  of  the  body  are  noble,  and  some  ignoble  ; 
some  great,  and  some  small.  The  great  must  not  be  injured 
for  the  small,  nor  the  noble  for  the  ignoble.  He  Avho  nour- 
islies  the  little  belonging  to  him  is  a  small  man ;  he  who 
nourishes  the  great  is  a  great  man. 

3.  "  Here  is  a  plantation-keeper,  who  neglects  his  ivoo 
and  liHa,  and  nourishes  his  small  jujube  trees; — he  is  a  poor 
plantation-keeper. 

4.  "  He  who  nourishes  one  of  his  fingers,  neglecting  his 
shoulders  and  back,  without  knowing  that  he  is  doing  so,  is 
a  man  [who  resembles]  a  hurried  wolf. 

5.  "  A  man  who  [only]  eats  and  drinks  is  counted  mean 
by  others ;  because  he  nourishes  what  is  little  to  the  neglect 
of  what  is  great. 

6.  "'  If  a  man,  [fond  of]  eating  and  drinking,  do  [yet]  not 
fail  [in  nourishing  what  in  him  is  great],  how  should  his 
mouth  and  belly  be  accounted  as  no  more  than  an  inch  of 
skin  ?  " 

the  meaning  is  plain  : — A  man  is  to  detfrmine,  by  reflection  on  his  constitu- 
tion, what  parts  are  more  iniportiiiit,  aiul  should  have  the  greater  attention 
j)ai(l  to  them.  It  will  he  seoii  tiiat  there  underlies  the  argument  of  Mencius 
in  this  chapt(!r  the  important  point  tiiat  the  human  constitution  is  a  s^'stem, 
certain  parts  of  which  should  be  i<e|it  subordinate  to  others. 

Par.  2.  "The  great  must  not  be  injured  for  the  small  "  ; — it  is  implied 
that  to  neglect  the  greater  and  nobler  jjarts  of  the  constitution,  is  really  to 
injure  them.  They  are  badly  treated,  not  receiving  the  attention  they 
deserve  ;   and  the  language  implies  that  positive  injury  is  done  to  them. 

Par.  :?.  The  "  plantation-keeper"  was  an  officer  under  the  Chow  dynasty, 
who  had  the  superintendence  of  the  sovereign's  plantations  and  orchards. 
The  troo  was  the  woo-t'ung,  the  drijandra  coiidlfolia  of  Thunberg.  The  kca 
was  also  a  valuable  tree  ;  some  identify  it  with  the  fnze  of  last  chapter. 

Par.  4.  The  illustrations  here  are  not  so  happy.  Chaou  K'e,  indeed,  intro- 
duces the  idea  of  the  parts  mentioned  l»eiiig  diseased  so  that  the  '•  nourish- 
ing "  is  equivalent  to  trying  to  lieal  ;  but  this  does  not  appear  in  the  text. 
The  wolf,  it  is  said,  is  very  warj',  and  has  a  (piiek  sight  to  discern  danger  ; 
but  when  chased,  he  is  unable  to  exercise  this  faculty,  hence  "a  hurried 
wolf"  is  the  image  of  a  man  pursuing  his  eoiu-se  heedlessly. 

Par.  (i.  The  meaning  here  is — that  the  i)arts considered  small  and  ignoble 
may  have,  and  should  have,  their  share  of  attention,  if  the  more  important 


PT    I.  CH.  XVI. J 


KAOU-T.SZE.  321 


XV.  1.  The  disciple  Kung-too  asked,  saying,  "All  are 
equally  men,  hut  some  are  great  men,  and  otliers  are  little 
men;  how  is  this?''  Mencius  replied,  "  Those  who  follow 
that  part  of  themselves  which  is  great  are  gi-eat  men ;  those 
who  follow  that  part  which  is  little  are  little  men." 

2.  Kung-too  pursued,  '^  All  are  equally  men  ;  but  some 
follow  that  part  of  themselves  which  is  great,  and  some 
that  which  is  little  ;  how  is  this  ?  "  Mencius  said,  "  The 
ears  and  the  eyes  have  it  not  in  their  office  to  think,  and  are 
[liable  to  be]  obscured  by  things  [affectiiig  them]  ;  and 
when  one  thing  comes  into  contact  with  another,  it  simply 
leads  it  away.  But  it  is  in  the  office  of  the  mind  to  think. 
By  thinking,  it  gets  [the  right  view  of  things]  ;  when 
neglecting  to  think,  it  fails  to  do  this.  These — [the  senses 
and  the  mind] — are  what  Heaven  has  given  to  us.  Let  a  man 
first  stand  in  [the  supremacy  of]  the  greater  [and  nobler] 
part  of  his  constitution,  and  the  smaller  pai't  will  not  be 
able  to  take  it  from  him.  It  is  simply  this  which  makes 
the  great  man." 

XVI.  1.  Mencius  said,  "There  is  a  nobility  of  Heaven, 
and  there  is  a  nobility  of  man.  Benevolence,  righteousness, 
self-consecration,   and    fidelity,  with  unweai'ied  joy  in    the 

parts  are  first  cared  for  as  they  ought  to  be.  While  IMenciiis  arsriied  that  the 
appetites  and  passions  should  be  ke[)t  in  subjection,  he  would  give  uo  coun- 
tenance to  the  practice  of  asceticism. 

Ch.  XV.  That  some  are  great  men,  lords  of  reason  ;  and  some 

ARE  LITTLE  MEN,  SL.\VE&  OF   SENSE. 

Kung-too  might  iiave  gone  on  to  inquire  : — "  All  are  equally  men  ;  but 
some  stand  fast  in  tlie  nobler  part  of  their  constitution,  and  others  allow  its 
supremacy  to  be  snatched  away  by  the  inferior  part  : — how  is  this  ?  "  Mencius 
would  have  tried  to  carry  the  difticulty  a  stej)  farther  back,  and  after  all  have 
left  it  where  it  originally  was.  His  saying  that  the  nature  of  man  is  good 
can  be  reconciled  with  the  teaching  of  Christianity  ;  but  his  views  of  human 
nature  as  a  whole  are  open  to  the  three  objections  which  I  have  stated  in 
the  note  to  the  21st  chapter  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mian. 

Ch.  XVI.  There  is  a  nobility  that  is  of  Heavf,n,  and  a  nop.ility 

THAT  IS  OF  MAN  ;  AND  THE  NEGLECT  OF  THE  FORMER  LEADS  TO  THE  LOSS 
OP  THE  LATTER. 

Piir.  1.  On  the  "nobility  of  man,"'  and  its  classes,  see  V.  Pt  II.  ii.  What 
I  have  translated  ''self-consecration"  and  "fidelity"  are  taken  as  devotion  in 
miniland  act  to'*  benevolence  and  righteousness,"  and  the  "joy  in  goodness" 
is  also  the  goodness  of  those  virtues. 

VOL.    II.  21 


322  THS    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK    Vt 

goodness  [of  ttese  virtues] , — tliese  constitute  the  nobility  of 
Heaven.  To  be  a  duke,  a  minister,  or  a  great  officer, — this 
constitutes  the  nobiHty  of  man. 

2.  "  The  men  of  antiquity  cultivated  their  nobility  of 
Heaven,  and  the  nobility  of  man  came  in  its  train. 

3.  "  The  men  of  the  present  day  cultivate  their  nobility 
of  Heaven  in  order  to  seek  for  the  nobility  of  man,  and 
when  they  have  obtained  this,  they  throw  away  the  other ; 
their  delusion  is  extreme.  The  issue  is  simply  this,  that 
they  must  lose  [that  nobility  of  man]  as  well." 

XVII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  To  desire  to  be  what  is  con- 
sidered honourable  is  the  common  mind  of  men.  And  all 
men  have  what  is  [truly]  honourable  in  themselves ;  only 
they  do  not  think  of  it. 

2.  ''  The  honour  which  man  confers  is  not  the  truly  good 
honour.  Those  to  whom  Chaou-mang  gave  honourable 
rank  he  could  make  mean  again. 

3.  "  It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry 

V 

Par.  2.  We  have  here  merely  the  laudation  teirqwrin  acti. 

Par.  3.  On  "their  delusion  is  extreme"  it  is  said  : — ''When  the  nobility 
of  Heaven  is  cultivated  in  order  to  seek  for  the  nobility  of  man,  at  the  very 
time  it  is  cultivated,  there  is  a  previous  mind  to  throw  it  away  ; — showing  the 
existence  of  delusion.  Then  when  the  nobility  of  man  has  been  got,  to  throw 
away  the  nobility  of  Heaven  exhibits  conduct  after  the  attainment  not  equal 
even  to  that  in  the  time  of  search,  so  that  the  delusion  is  extreme."  Several 
commentators  observe  that  facts  may  be  referred  to,  apparently  inconsistent 
with  what  is  s:iid  in  the  last  sentence  of  this  paragraph,  and  then  go  on  to 
gay  that  the  preservation  of  the  nobility  of  man,  iu  the  case  sup[)Ose(l,  is  only 
a  lucky  accident,  and  that  the  issue  ought  always  to  be  as  Mencius  affirms. 
Yes;  but  all  moral  teachings  must  be  imperfect  where  the  thoughts  are 
bounded  by  what  is  seen  and  temporal. 

Ch.  XVII.  The  true  honour  which  men  should  desire.  A  sequel 
to  the  jireceding  chapter.  "  Nobility  "  is  the  material  dignity,  and  "  honour  " 
is  the  estimation  which  springs  from  it. 

J^di'.  2.  The  "  really  good  honour"  is  that  which  springs  from  the  nobility 
of  Heaven,  and  of  which  human  power  cannot  deprive  its  possessor.  The 
Chaou  family  was  one  of  the  principal  houses  of  the  State  of  Tsin,  and  four 
of  its  chiefs  had  had  the  title  of  Mang,  or  "  the  chief,"  comi>ined  with 
their  surname.  They  were  a  sort  of  "king-making  Warwicks,"  and  figure 
largely  in  the  narratives  of  Tso  K'ew-ming. 

Par.  ;!.  See  the  Book  of  I'oetry,  Part  HI.  ii.  Ode  HI.  st.  1.  The  Ode 
is  one  resjionsive  from  the  uncles  and  cousins  of  the  reigning  king  of  Chow 
for  the  kindness  he  had  shown   and  the  honour  he  had  done  to  them  at  a 


PT   I.    CH.  XIX.]  KAOU-TSZE.  323 

'  You  have  raade  us  to  drink  to  the  full  of  your  spirits  ; 
You  liave  satiated  us  with  your  kindness  ; 

meaning  tliat  [the'guests]  were  filled  with  benevolence  and 
righteousness,  and  therefore  did  not  wish  for  the  fat  meat 
and  fine  millet  of  men.  When  a  good  reputation  and  far- 
reachinp-  praise  fall  to  [a  man's]  person,  he  does  not  desire 
the  elegant  embroidered  garments  of  men/' 

XVIII.  1.  Mencius  said,  '^Benevolence  subdues  its 
opposite  just  as  water  subdues  fire.  Those,  however,  who 
uow-a-days  practise  benevolence  [do  it]  as  if  with  a  cup  of 
water  they  could  save  a  whole  waggon-load  of  faggots 
which  was  on  fire,  and  when  the  flames  were  not  extin- 
guished were  to  say  that  water  cannot  subdue  fire.  Such 
a  course,  moreovei',  is  the  greatest  aid  to  what  is  not 
benevolent. 

2.  "  The  final  issue  will  simply  be  this,  the  loss  [of  that 
small  amount  of  benevolence]/' 

XIX.  Mencius  said,  "  Of  all  seeds  the  best  are  the  five 
kinds  of  grain,  but  if  they  are  not  ripe,  they  arc  not  equal 
to  the  t'e  or  the  pae.  So  the  value  of  benevolence  lies 
simply  in  its  being  brought  to  maturity.'^ 

sacrificial  feast.  Mencius'  use  of  the  lines  is  a  mere  accommodation  of 
them. 

Ch.  XVIII.  In  order  to  accomplish  avhat  it  is  adapted  to  do, 

BENEVOLENCE  MUST'  BE  PRACTISED  VIGOROUSLY  AND  FULLY.  SO  ONLY, 
INDEED,  CAN  IT  BE  PRESERVED.  Compare  witfi  this  chapter  ilencius'  con- 
versation with  king  Hwuy  of  Leang  in  I.  Pt  I.  iii.,  and  also  his  saying  in 
VI.  Pt  II.  i.  G. 

Pa-".  1.  Chaou  K'e  takes  the  conclusion  of  this  paragraph  as  meaning — 
"  This  moreover  is  equivalent  to  the  course  of  those  who  are  the  grea[e>t 
practisers  of  what  is  not  benevolent."  But  both  the  sentiment  and  con- 
struction are  in  this  way  made  more  difificult.  , 

Ch.  XIX.  Benevolence  must  be  matured.  The  sentiment  here  is 
akin  to  that  of  the  former  chapter,  and  is  perhaps  rather  unguardedly  ex- 
pressed. 

For  "  the  five  kinds  of  grain  "  see  on  III.  Pt  I.  iv.  8.  The  t'e  and  pne 
are  two  plants  closely  resembling  each  other.  "  They  arc  a  kind  of  spu- 
rious grain,  yielding  a  small  seed  like  rice  or  millet.  They  are  to  be  found  at 
all  times,  in  wet  situations  and  dry,  and,  wlien  crushed  aud  roasted,  may 
satisfy  the  hunger  in  a  time  of  famine." 


324  THE   WORKS    OF   MEXCIUS.  [bk   TI. 

XX.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  E,  in  teaching  men  to  shoot, 
made  it  a  rule  to  draw  the  bow  to  the  full,  and  his  pupils 
were  required  to  do  the  same. 

2.  "  A  master-workman,  in  teaching  others,  must  use  the 
compass  and  square,  and  his  pupils  must  do  the  same.''' 


BOOK  VI. 

KAOU-TSZE.       PART    11. 

Chapter  I.  1.  A  man  of  Jin  asked  the  disciple  ITh-loo, 
saying,  "  Is  [an  observance  of]  the  rules  of  propriety  [in 
regard  to  eating]  or  the  eating  the  more  important  t  "  The 
answer  was,  "  [The  observance  of]  the  rules  of  joropriety  is 
the  more  important.^' 

2.  "■  Is  [the  gratifying]  the  appetite  of  sex  or  [the  doing 
so  only]  according  to  the  rules  of  propriety  the  more 
important  ?  " 

Ch.  XX.  Learning  must  not  br  by  halves,  but  by  the  full  use 

OF    THE    RULES  APPROPRIATE   TO  WHAT  IS  LEARNED.      Compare  with   tbis 
chapter  what  Mencius  says  in  IV.  Pt  I.  i.  and  ii. 

Par.  1.  For  E  see  on  IV.  Pt  II.  x.\iv.  1.  On  this  chapter  Choo  He  says  : 
— "  This  chapter  shows  tliat  alEairs  must  be  proceeded  with  according  to 
their  laws,  and  then  they  can  be  accomplished.  But  if  a  master  neglect 
these,  he  cannot  teach  ;  and  if  a  pupil  neglect  them,  he  cannot  learn.  la 
small  arts  it  is  so  ; — how  much  more  with  the  principles  of  the  sages  !  " 

Ch.  I.  To  OBSERVE  THE  RULES  OF  PROPRIETY  IN  OUR  CONDUCT  IS  A 
MO.ST  IMPORTANT  PRINCIPLE,  AND  WIFERE  THEY  MAY  BE  DISREGARDED, 
THE  EXCEPTION  WH.L  BE  FOUND  TO  PROVE  THE  RILE.  EXTREME  CASES 
'must  NOT  BE  PRESSED  SO  AS  TO  IN\'ALIDATE  THE  PKINCIPLE. 

Par.  1.  Jin  was  a  small  earldom,  referred  to  the  present  Tse-ning  Chow, 
in  Yen  chow  department,  Shan-tung.  The  distance  between  the  city  of  Jia 
and  Mencius'  native  city  of  Tsow  was  only  between  30  and  40  miles.  Uh- 
loo,  by  name  Leen,  a  native  of  Tsin,  was  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  and  is  said 
by  some  to  liave  written  on  the  doctrines  of  "  the  old  P'ang  "  and  Laou- 
tsze.  The  man  of  Jin's  questions  are  not  to  be  understood  of  propriety  in 
the  abstract,  but  of  the  rules  of  propriety  understood  to  regulate  the  other 
things  which  be  mentioned. 

\ 


PT    II.    CH.  I.]  KAOU-TSZE.  325 

3.  The  answer  [again]  was,  "  [The  observance  of]  the 
rules  of  propriety  [in  the  matter]  is  the  more  important;  " 
[and  then  the  man]  said,  "  If  the  consequence  of  eating 
[only]  according  to  the  rules  of  propriety  will  be  death 
from  starvation,  while  by  disregarding  those  rules  one  can 
get  food,  must  he  still  observe  them  [in  such  a  case]  ?  If, 
according  to  the  rule  that  he  shall  go  in  person  to  meet  his 
bride,  a  man  cannot  get  married,  while  by  disregarding  the 
rule  he  can  get  married,  must  he  still  hold  to  the  rule  [in 
such  a  case]  ?  " 

4.  Uh-loo  was  unable  to  reply  [to  these  questions],  and 
next  day  he  went  to  Tsow  and  told  them  to  Mencius,  who 
said,  "  What  difficulty  is  thei-e  in  answering  these  inquiries  ? 

5.  "If  you  do  not  bring  them  together  at  the  bottom, 
but  only  at  their  tops,  a  piece  of  wood  an  inch  square 
may  be  made  to  be  higher  than  the  pointed  ridge  of  a  high 
building. 

6.  "  '  Metal  is  heavier  than  feathers ; ' — but  does  that  say- 
ing have  reference  to  a  single  clasp  of  metal  and  a  waggon- 
load  of  feathers  ? 

7.  "  If  you  take  a  case  whei-e  the  eating  is  all-important, 
and  the  ol)serving  the  rules  of  propriety  is  of  little  import- 
ance, and  compare  them  together,  why  merely  say  that  the 
eating  is  the  more  important  ?  [So,]  taking  the  case 
where  the  gratifying  the  appetite  of  sex  is  all-important, 
and  the  observing  the  rules  of  propriety  is  of  little  import- 
ance, why  merely  say  that  the  gratifying  the  appetite  is  the 
more  important  ? 

8.  "  Go  and  answer  liim  thus  :  '  If  by  twisting  round 
your  elder  brother's  arm,  and  snatching  from  him  what  he  is 
eating,  you  can  get  food  for  yourself,  while,  if  you  do  not  do 
so,  you  cannot  get  such  food,  will  j^ou  so  twist  round  his 
arm  ?  And  if  by  getting  over  your  neighbour's  wall,  and 
dragging  away  his  virgin  daughter,  you  can  get  a  wife  for 
yourself,  while  if  you  do  not  do  so,  you  cannot  get  such 
wife,  will  you  so  drag  her  away  ?  '  " 


Par.  7.  See  in  V.  Pt  T.  ii.  1  how  Mencius  disposes  of  the  charge  against 
Shun  for  marrying  without  the  icnowledge  of  his  parents, —  an  oft'ence  against 
the  rules  of  propriety  greater  than  that  which  the  man  of  Jin  liad  supposed. 
That  case  and  even  those  adduced  here  came  under  the  category  of  that 
necessity  which  has  no  law. 


326  THE    WORKS    OP   MENCIDS.  [bK   Vt. 

II,  1.  Keaou  of  Ts'aou  asked,  saying,  '■'  [It  is  said,] 
'  All  men  may  be  Yaous  and  Shuns  ; ' — is  it  so  ?  "  Mencius 
said,  "  It  is.'' 

2.  [Keaou  went  on],  "  I  have  heard  that  king  Wan  was 
ten  cubits  high,  and  T'ang  nine.  Now  I  am  nine  cubits 
and  four  inches  in  height ;  but  I  can  do  nothing  but  eat  my 
millet.     What  am  I  to  do  to  realize  that  saying  ?  " 

3.  The  reply  was,  "  What  has  the  thing  to  do  with  this,— 
[the  question  of  size]  ?  It  all  lies  simply  in  acting  as  such. 
Here  is  a  man  whose  strength  was  not  equal  to  lift  a  duck- 
ling or  a  chicken, — he  was  [then]  a  man  of  no  strength. 
[But]  to-day  he  says,  '  I  can  lift  three  thousand  catties ;  * 
lie  is  [now]  a  man  of  strength.  And  so,  he  who  can  lift  the 
weight  which  Woo  Hwoh  lifted  is  just  another  Woo  Hwoh. 
Why  should  a  man  make  a  want  of  ability  the  subject  of 
his  grief?     It  is  only  that  ho  Avill  not  do  the  thing. 

4.  "  To  walk  slowly,  keeping  behind  his  elders,  is  to  per- 
form the  part  of  a  younger.  To  walk  rapidly,  going  before 
his  elders,  is  to  violate  the  duty  of  a  younger.  But  is  walk- 
ing slowly  what  any  man  can  not  do  ?  it  is  [only]  what  he 

Ch.  II.  All  mat  become  Yaous  and   Shuns,  and  to  do  so  they 

HAVE  only  sincerely  TO  CULTIVATE  YAOU  AND   ShUN'S  PRINCIl'LES  AND 

WAYS.  It  is  thi-:  mind  which  is  the  measure  of  the  man.  How 
Mencius  dealt  with  an  applicant  in  whom  he  had  not  confidence. 

Fa7\  1.  Ts'aou  had  been  an  earldom,  held  hy  descendants  of  one  of 
king  Wan'ssons  ;  hut  it  had  been  e.vtinguished  and  absorbed  by  Sung  before 
the  end  of  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew  period, — a  considerable  time  before  Mencius. 
The  descendants  of  its  earls  had  probably  adopted  the  name  of  tlieir  ancient 
patrimony  as  their  surname  ;  and  tlie  Keaou  of  the  tc.x.t  was,  we  may  sup- 
po.sc,  one  of  them. 

Par.  2.  As  to  the  heights  mentioned  here,  see  on  Ana.  VIII.  vi.  The 
ancient  cubit  was  only,  it  is  said,  -74  of  tlie  [)resent,  so  that  VViin's  10  cubits 
become  reduced  to  7-4,  and  T'ang's  9  to  0-66  of  the  present  standard  ;  but 
these  estimates  must  still  be  too  high.  Keaou  was  evidently  pluming  him- 
self on  his  dimensions. 

Par.  .S.  "It  all  lies  simply  in  acting  as  such;" — compare  the  way  in 
which  Mencius  jiuts  the  question  of  physical  and  moral  ability  in  I.  Pt  I. 
vii.  10,  11.  Woo  Ilwoh  was  a  man  noted  for  his  strength.  Sze-ma  Ts'een 
and  others  nieution  him  in  connexion  with  king  Woo  of  Ts'in  (.B.C.  309 — 
.^00). 

Par.  4.  In  illustration  of  this  paragraph,  Choo  lie  quotes  two  other 
commentators,— Ch'in  Yang,  or  Ch'in  Tsin-che  (about  the  beginning  of  the 
nth  century),  who  says  :— "  Filial  piety  and  fraternal  duty,  of  which  men 
have  an  intuitive  knowledge,  and  for  which  they  have  an  inborn  aldlihs  are 
the  natural  out-goings  of  the  nature.    Yaou  and  Shun  exhibited  the  perfection 


n   II.   CH.  II.]  KAOU-TSZE.  327 

does  not  do.  The  course  of  Yaou  and  Shun  was  simply  that 
of  fiHal  piety  and  fraternal  duty. 

5.  "  Do  you  wear  the  clothes  of  Yaou,  repeat  the  words 
of  Yaou,  and  do  the  actions  of  Yaou,  and  you  will  just  be  a 
Yaou.  And  if  you  wear  the  clothes  of  Keeh,  repeat  the 
words  of  Keeh,  and  do  the  actions  of  Keeh,  you  will  just  be 
a  Keeh.^^ 

6.  [Keaou]  said,  '^'^  When  I  have  an  audience  of  the  ruler 
of  Tsow,  I  can  ask  him  to  let  me  have  a  house  to  lodge  in. 
I  wish  to  remain  here,  and  receive  instruction  at  your  gate." 

7.  [Mencius]  replied,  "The  way  [of  truth]  is  like  a  great 
road  ;  it  is  not  difficult  to  know  it.  The  evil  is  only  that 
men  will  not  seek  for  it.  Do  you  go  home,  and  seek  it,  and 
you  will  have  abundance  of  teachers.^' 

III.  1.  Kung-sun  Ch^ow  asked,  saying,  "Kaou-tsze 
says  that  the  Seaoit  pwan  is  the  ode  of  a  small  man; — [is  it 

of  the  human  relations  ;  but  yet  they  simply  acted  in  alccordance  with  this 
nature.  How  could  they  add  a  hair's  point  to  it  ?  "  and  Yang  8he  or  Yang 
Chung-teih  (a.d.  10.58 — 1099),  who  says  : — "  The  way  of  Yaou  and  Shun 
was  great,  but  what  made  it  so  was  now  the  rapidity  and  now  the  slow- 
ness of  their  walking  and  stopping,  and  not  tilings  that  were  very  high  and 
difficult  to  practise.  This  is  what  maj^  be  present  to  the  common  people  in 
their  daii}'  usages,  but  they  do  not  know  it." 

Pai:  5.  The  meaning  is  simply — Imitate  the  men,  doing  as  they  did,  and 
you  will  be  such  as  they. 

Pai'.  6.  There  is  an  indication  here  that  Keaou  was  presuming  on  his 
nobility,  and  vaunting  his  influence  with  the  ruler  of  Tsow.  Moreover,  his 
wish  to  secure  a  lodging  before  he  became  a  pupil  in  Mencius'  school  is  held 
to  show  that  he  was  devoid  of  genuine  earnestness.  On  these  grounds 
Mencius  would  give  him  no  encouragement,  yet  there  ai-e  important  truths 
and  a  valuable  lesson  in  the  words  of  the  next  paragraph,  with  which  he 
sent  him  away. 

Ch.  III.  Mencius'  explanation  op  the  odes  Seaou  Pwan  and  K'ae 
Fung.  Co-mplaints  against  a  parent  are  not  necessarily  unfilial. 
,  Paf.  1.  Who  the  Kaou-tsze,  mentioned  here,  was,  must  be  left  in  doubt. 
From  Mencius  calling  him  "  that  old  Kaou,"  it  would  seem  plain  that  he 
could  not  be  the  individual  of  the  same  surname  who  aj^pears  in  II.  Part 
II.  xii.  2,  and'  was,  we  maj'  supjwse,  a  disciple  of  our  philosopher. 

For  the  Seaou  pwan  see  the  Book  of  Poetry,  Part  II.  vii.  Ode  III.  That 
Ode  is  commonly,  though  not  by  Chaou  K'e,  accepted  as  having  -been  writ- 
ten by  E-k'ew,  the  son  and  heir-apparent  of  king  Yew  (B.C.  780 — 770),  or  by 
the  prince's  master.  Led  away  by  the  arts  of  a  mistress,  the  king  degraded 
E-k'ew  and  his  mother,  and  the  Ode  expresses  the  sorrow  and  dissatisfaction 
which  the  son  could  not  but  feel  in  such  circumstances. 


328  THE   WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [bK    VI. 

SO  ?]  "  Mencius  replied,  "  Why  does  he  say  so  ? "  and 
[the  disciple]  said,  "  Because  of  the  murmm-ing  [which  it 
expresses]." 

2.  [Mencius]  answered,  "How  stupid  is  that  old  Kaouin 
dealing  with  the  ode  I  There  is  a  man  here,  and  a  native 
of  Yueh  bends  his  bow  to  shoot  him,  while  I  will  talk 
smilingly,  and  advise  him  [not  to  do  so]  ; — for  no  other 
reason  but  that  he  is  not  related  to  me.  [But]  if  my  own 
elder  brother  be  bending  his  bow  to  shoot  the  man,  then  I 
will  advise  him  [not  to  do  so],  weeping  and  crying  the 
while  ; — for  no  other  reason  but  that  he  is  related  to  me. 
The  dissatisfaction  expressed  in  the  Seaoii  pivan  is  the 
w^orking  of  relative  affection ;  and  that  affection  shows 
benevolence.  Stupid  indeed  is  that  old  Kaou's  criticism  of 
the  ode  !  " 

3.  [Ch'ow  then]  said,  "  How  is  it  that  there  is  no  murmur- 
ing in  the  K' as  fang  ? '' 

4.  [Mencius]  replied,  "  The  parent's  fault  referred  to  in 
the  K'aefumj  was  small,  while  that  referred  to  in  the  Seaou 
2)ioan  was  great.  Where  the  parent's  fault  was  great,  not 
to  have  murmured  at  it  would  have  increased  the  alienation 
[betweenfatherand  son].  Where  the  pai-ent's  faultwas  small, 
to  have  murmured  at  it  would  have  been  [hke  water  which 
frets  and  foams  about  a  rock  that  stands  in  its  channel], 
unable  to  suffer  the  interruption  to  its  course.  To  increase 
the  want  of  natural  affection  would  have  been  unfilial ;  to 
have  refused  to  suffer  such  an  interruption  [to  the  tlow  of 
natural  affection]  would  also  have  been  unfilial. 

5.  ''  Confucius   said,  '  Shun  was  indeed  perfectly    filial  ! 

Pur.  2.  This  is  Mencius'  vindication  of  the  dissatisfaction  and  even  in- 
dignation expressed  in  the  Seaou  pwan.  The  first  shooter  well  appears  as  a 
man  of  Yiieli,  a  barbarous  country  in  the  south,  in  whom  the  beholder  could 
have  no  inter(!st. 

Ptn:  ii.  For  the  K'ae  fung  see  the  Book  of  Poetr}',  Part  I.  iii.  Ode  VII. 
Tliat  Odo  is  supi)Osed  to  be  the  production  of  seven  sons  in  the  State  of  Wei, 
wiiuse  widowed  raotiier  could  not  live  quietly  and  chastely  at  home  ;  but 
they  take  all  the  blame  for  her  conduct  to  themselves,  and  express  no  dis- 
satisfaction with  her. 

P)/}-.  4.  We  must  think  there  was  room  for  dissatisfaction  in  both  cases. 
Mencius'  justification  of  the  K'ae  fung  is  an  instance  in  point  to  show  how 
filial  piety  in  China  often  dominates  other  feelings,  though  he  would 
seem  to  intimate  that,  where  great  public  interests  are  in  ciuestion,  it  should 
be  kept  in  check. 

Par.  5.  See  V.  Ft  I.  i. 


PT    II.    CH.  IV.]  KAOtT-TSZE.  329 

Even  when  fifty,  he  was  full  of  longing  desire  for  [the  affec- 
tion of]  his  parents."' 

TV.  1.  Sung  K'ang  being  on  his  way  to  Ts^oo,  Mencius 
mot  him  in  Shih-k'ew. 

2.  "Where  are  you  going,  respected  Sir  ? '^  said 
[Mencius] . 

3.  [K'ang]  replied,  "  I  have  heard  that  Ts'in  and  Ts'oo 
are  fighting  together,  and  I  am  going  to  see  the  king  of 
Ts'oo,  and  advise  him  to  cease  hostilities.  If  he  should  not 
be  pleased  with  my  advice,  I  will  go  a-nd  see  the  king  of 
Ts'in,  and  advise  him  in  the  same  way.  Of  the  two  kings  I 
shall  [surely]  find  that  I  can  succeed  with  one  of  theni.'^ 

4.  [Mencius]  said,  "  I  will  not  presume  to  ask  the  par- 
ticulars, but  I  should  like  to  hear  the  scope  [of  your  plan]. 
What  course  will  you  take  in  advising  them  ?  '^  "I  will 
tell  them,"  was  the  reply,  "  the  unprofitableness  [of  their 
strife]."  "Your  aim,  Sir,"  rejoined  [Mencius],  ''is  great, 
but  your  argument  is  not  good. 

5.  "  If  you,  respected  Sir,  starting  from  the  point  of 
profit,  offer  your  counsels  to  the  kings  of  Ts'in  and  Ts'oo, 
and  they,  being  pleased  with  the  consideration  of  profit, 
should  stop  the  movements  of  their  armies,  then  all  belong- 
ing to  those  armies  will  rejoice  in  the  cessation  [of  war], 
and  find  their  pleasure  in  [the  pursuit  of]  profit.  Ministers 
Avill  serve  their  rulers  for  the  profit  of  which  they  cherish 
the  thought ;    sons  will  serve  their  fathers,  and    younger 

Cu.  TV.  Mexcius'  warxing  to  Sung  K'a\'t  ox  the  error  and  dan- 
ger OP  COUNSELLING  THE  PltlNCES  TO  ABSTAIN  FROM  WAR  ON  THE  GROUND 
OF  ITS  UNI'ROFITABLEXESS,  THE  PROPER  GROUND  BEING  THAT  OF  BENEVO- 
LENCE AND  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  Compare  especially  I.  Ft  I.  i.,  where  we  have 
the  key-note  to  much  of  our  philosopher's  tenchiug. 

P<7r.  1.  Sung  K'ang,  or  K'ang  of  Sung,  was  one  of  the  travelling  scholars 
of  the  times,  who  made  it  their  business  to  go  from  State  to  State  to  counsel 
the  princes.  He  was,  it  is  said,  a  disciple  of  Mill  Teih.  Shih-k'ew  was  in 
Sung,  but  where  does  not  seem  to  be  ascertained. 

Par.  2.  "  Respected  Sir,"  is  literally  "  elder  born."  It  would  seem  that 
Mencius  and  K'ang  must  have  had  some  previous  acquaintance.  Our  phi- 
losopher must  have  been  travelling  at  this  time  in  Sung.  The  hostilities 
which  had  called  forth  K'ang  on  his  mission  have  been  referred  to  the  year 
B.C.  311. 

Pill'.  3.  Does  not  ^Mencius  himself  in  the  conclusion  bring  in  the  idea  of 
profitableness,  when  he  says  that  the  course  which  he  recommended  would 
raise  the  kinglet  who  followed  it  to  the  true  royal  sway  ? 


830  THE    WOEKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK    VI. 

brothers  will  sei've  tlieir  elder  brothers,  from  the  same  con- 
sideration ;  and  the  issue  will  be  that,  abandoning  benevo- 
lence and  rie^hteousness,  ruler  and  minister,  father  and  son, 
elder  brother  and  3'ounger,  will  carry  on  their  interconrse 
with  this  thought  of  profit  cherished  in  their  breasts.  But 
never  has  there  been  such  a  state  [of  society]  without  ruiu 
being  ^e  result  of  it. 

6.  "If  you.  Sir,  starting  from  the  ground  of  benevolence 
and  righteousness,  offer  your  counsels  to  the  kings  of  Ts'in 
and  Ts'oo,  and  they,  being  pleased  with  benevolence  and 
righteousness,  should  stop  the  movements  of  their  armies, 
then  all  belonging  to  those  armies  will  rejoice  in  the  cessa- 
tion [of  war],  and  find  their  pleasure  in  benevolence  and 
righteousness.  Ministers  will  serve  their  rulers  from  the 
benevolence  and  righteousness  of  which  they  cherish  the 
thought.  Sons  will  serve  their  fathers,  and  younger  brothers 
will  serve  their  elder  brothers,  from  the  t^ame  ;  —  and  the  issue 
will  be  that,  abandoning  [the  thought  of]  profit,  ruler  and 
minister,  father  ^nd  son,  elder  brother  and  younger,  will 
carry  on  their  intercourse  with  benevolence  and  righteousness 
cherished  in  their  breasts.  But  never  has  there  been  such 
a  state  [of  society]  without  the  result  of  it  being  the  attain- 
ment of  true  Eoyal  sway.    Why  must  you  speak  of  j^rofit  ?  " 

V.  1.  When  Mencius  was  residing  in  Tsow,  the  younger 
brother  of  [the  ruler  of]  Jin,  who  was  guardian  of  the  State 
at  the  time,  sent  him  a  gift  of  [some]  pieces  of  silk,  which 
he  received,  without  [going]  to  give  thanks  for  it.  When 
he  was  staying  for  a  time  in  P'ing-luh,  Ch'oo,  who  was 
pi-imc-minister  [ofTs'e],  sent  him  [likewise]  a  gift  of  silks, 
which  he  received,  without  [going]  to  give  thauk;s  for  it. 

2.  Subsequently,  when  he  went  froni  Tsow  to  Jin,  he 
visited  the  younger  brother  of  the  ruler,  but  when  he  went 
from  P'ing-luh  to  [the  capital  of]  Ts'e,  he  did  not  visit  the 
minister  Ch'oo.  The  disciple  Uh-loo  was  glad,  and  said, 
"  I  have  got  an  opportunity  [to  obtain  some  information]  .•" 

3.  He   asked  accordingly,  "  Master,   when  you  went   to 

Ch.  V.  How  Mencius  regulated  himself  in  diffekextly  acknow- 
ledging DIFFEEENT  FAVOURS  WHICH  HE  RECEIVED. 

P(i7'.\.  Jin,— 8ce  on  ch.  i.  P'in{,'-luli, — see  on  II.  Pt  IT.  iv.  1.  The 
nilcr  of  Jin  must  have  fxnne  abroad  on  some  ytHte  duty  or  service,  leaving 
his  brother  guardian  of  the  State  for  the  time. 


Pi'    II.    CH.  VI.]  KAOU-TSZE.  331 

Jin,  you  visited  tlie  ruler's  younger  brother.  But  when  you 
went  to  [the  capital  of]  Ts^e^  you  did  not  visit  tlio  minister 
Ch'oo  ;  was  it  because  he  is  [only]  the  minister  ?  " 

4.  [Mencius]  replied,  "  No.  It  is  said  in  tiio  Book  of 
History,  '  In  olForings,  there  are  many  ceremonial  observ- 
ances. If  the  observances  are  not  equal  to  the  articles,  it 
may  be  said  that  there  is  no  oflfering,  there  being  no  service 
of  the  will  in  the  offering. ' 

5.  "  [This  is]  because  the  things  [so  presented]  do  not 
constitute  an  offering.^' 

t).  Uh-loo  was  pleased;  and  when  some  one  asked  him 
[what  Mencius  meant],  he  said,  "The  younger  brother  [of 
the  ruler  of  Jin]  could  not  go  to  Tsow,  but  the  minister 
Ch'oo  could  have  gone  to  P'ing-luh." 

VI.  1.  Shun-yu  KSvan,  said,/^He  who  makes  the  fame 
and  real  service  his  first  object  acts  from  a  regard  to 
others;  he  who  makes  them  only  secondary  objects  acts 
from  a  regard  to  himself.  You,  Master,  were  ranked  among 
the  three  high  ministers  of  the  kingdom,  and  before  your  fame 
and  services  had  reached  either  to  the  ruler  or  the  people, 
you  went  away.    Is  this  indeed  the  way  of  the  benevolent?" 


Prf.r.  4.  See  the  Book  of  History,  V.  xiii.  12. 

Par.  5.  This  is  Mencius'  explanation  of  the  passage  which  he  had  quoted. 

Par.  6.  Uh-loo  now  understood  the  reasons  of  Mencius'  different  conduct. 
By  his  guardianship  the  prince  of  Jin  was  prevented  from  leaving  the  State 
to  go  to  Tsow  ;  but  the  minister  of  Ts'e  could  have  gone  to  P-iag-luh  Avhich 
was  m  that  State. 

Cri.  VI.    ITow  Mencius  eeplied  to  the  lnsinuations  of  Shux-yu 

K'WAN,    WHO    CONDEMNED    HIM    FOR  LEAVING  OFFICE    IN    Ts'E    "WITHOUT 
HAVING  ACCOMPLISHED  ANYTHING. 

Par.  1.  For  Shun-yu  K'wiin  see  on  IV.  Pt  I.  xvii.  He  there  appears,  as 
here,  captiously  questioning  our  philosopher.  "Acts  from  a  regard  to 
others;" — i.  e.,  such  a  man's  motive  is  to  benefit  others.  "Acts  from  a 
regard  to  himself  ; " — I.  e.,  such  a  man  is  bent  on  the  personal  cultivation 
of  liimself.  "  The  three  high  ministers"  were  tho.se  of  Instruction,  of  Wai^, 
and  of  Works.  The  kings  of  Chow  had  six  high  ministers  ;  but  though  the 
princes  of  Ts'e  and  other  States  had  usurped  the  title  of  king,  it  would  ap- 
pear that  their  organization  of  oftices  had  not  been  fully  completed. 
Some  say  that  in  tliese  kingdoms  the  higli  ministers  were  distinguished  into 
three  classes, —  upper,  middle,  and  lower,  without  the  special  designations 
used  in  Chow. 


332  THE   WORKS   OF   MENCIUS.  [bK   VI. 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  There  was  Pih-e  ; — lie  abode  in  an 
inferior  position,  and  would  not  with  his  virtue  and  talents 
serve  a  degenerate  ruler.  There  was  E  Yin; — he  five  times 
went  to  T'ang,  and  five  times  went  to  Keeh.  There  was 
Hwuy  of  Liiw-hea ; — he  did  not  disdain  to  serve  a  vile  ruler, 
nor  did  he  decline  a  small  office.  The  courses  pursued  by 
those  three  worthies  were  different,  but  their  aim  was  one. 
And  what  was  their  one  aim  ?  We  must  answer — benevo- 
lence. And  so  it  is  simply  after  this  that  superior  men 
strive  ; — why  must  they  [all]  pursue  the  same  [course]  ?  " 

3.  [KSvuu]  pursued,  "In  the  time  of  duke  Muh  of  Loo, 
the  government  was  in  the  hands  of  Kung-e,  while  Tsze- 
lew  and  Tsze-sze  were  ministers.  [And  yet]  the  dismem- 
berment of  Loo  increased  exceedingly.  Such  was  the  case, 
— a  specimen  of  how  your  men  of  talents  and  virtue  are  of 
no  use  to  a  State  !  '^ 

4.  [Mencius]- replied,  "  [The  duke  of]  Yu  did  not  use  Pih- 
le  He,  and  [thereby]  lost  his  State  ;  duke  Muh  of  Ts'in 
used  him,  and  became  chief  of  all  the  princes.  The  conse- 
quence of  not  employing  men  of  talents  and  virtue  is  ruin ; 
— how  can  it  end  in  dismemberment  [merely]  ?  " 

5.  [KSvan]  urged  [again],  "  Formerly,  when  Wang  Paou 
dwelt  on  the  K'e,  the  people  on  the  west  of  the  Ho  became 
skilful  at  singing  in  his  abrupt  manner.  When  Meen  K'eu 
dwelt  in  Kaou-t^ang,  the  people  in  the  west  of  Ts^e  became 
skilful  at  singing  in  his  prolonged  manner.  The  wives  of 
Hwa    Chow  and  IsJq  Leang-    bewailed    their   husbands  so 


Par.  2.  For  Pih-e,  E  Yin,  and  Hwuy  of  Le\v-he;i,  see  II.  Pt  I.  ii.  ix.  : 
IV.  Pt  I.  xiii.  :  V.  Pt.  II.  i.  ;  et  al. 

Pur.  3.  K'wan  here  advances  in  his  condemnation  of  Mencius.  He  had 
charged  him  with  having  left  his  office  before  he  had  accomplished  any- 
thing, but  here  he  insinuates  that  though  he  had  remained  in  office,  he  would 
not  have  done  anything.  Tsze-lew  is  the  same  with  the  Seeh  Liiw  of  II. 
Pt  II.  xi.,  which  paragraph  should  be  companid  with  this.  Kung-e,  called 
Hew,  was  prime-minister  of  Loo, — a  man  of  merit  and  principle.  The 
facts  of  duke  Muh's  history  by  no  means  justify  what  K'wan  alleges  here  as 
to  the  dismemberment  of  Loo  in  his  time. 

Par.  4.  For  Pih-le  He  see  V.  Pt  I.  9. 

Par.  5.  Of  the  men  here  all  belonged  to  Ts'e,  except  Wang  Paou,  who 
was  of  Wei,  in  which  was  the  river  K'e.  Of  him  and  Moen  K'eu  little  is 
known.  The  bravery  of  K'e  Liiang  and  II wa  Chow  is  much  celebrated,  and 
also  the  virtue  of  K'e  Leang's  wife,  with  the  way  in  which  she  and  tiie  wife 
of  Hwa  Chow  bewailed  their  husbands.     See  a  narrative  in  the  Tso  Chuen, 


PT    II.    CH.  Vri.]  KAOU-TSZE.  333 

skilfully  that  tlicy  changed  the  manners  of  the  State.  When 
there  is  [the  gift]  within,  it  is  siu-e  to  manifest  itself  with- 
out. I  have  never  seen  the  man  who  could  do  the  deeds  [of 
a  worthy]  and  did  not  realize  the  work  of  one.  Therefore 
there  are  [now]  no  men  of  talents  and  virtue;  if  there  were, 
I  should  know  them.^^ 

6.  [Mencius]  replied,  '^AVTien  Confucius  was  minister  of 
crime  in  Loo,  [the  ruler]  came  not  to  follow  [his  counsels]. 
Soon  after  there  was  the  [solstitial]  sacrifice,  and  when  a  part 
of  the  flesh  there  presented  did  not  come  to  him,  he  went 
away  [even]  without  taking  otf  his  cap  of  cei-emony.  Those 
who  did  not  know  him  supposed  that  [he  went  away] 
because  the  flesh  [did  not  come  to  him].  Those  who  knew 
him  [somewhat]  supposed  that  it  was  because  of  the  neglect 
of  the  [usual]  ceremony.  The  truth  was  that  Confucius 
wished  to  go  on  occasion  of  some  small  offence,  and  did  not 
wish  to  go  without  an  apparent  cause.  All  men  cannot  be 
expected  to  understand  the  conduct  of  a  superior  man." 

VII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "The  five  pi-esidents  of  the 
princes  were  sinners  against  the  three  kings.  The  princes 
of  the  present  day  are  sinners  against  the  five  presidents. 

under  the  23rd  year  of  duke  Seang  ;  the  Le  Ke,  II.  Pt  II.  iii.  1  ;  et  al.  In 
the  citation  of  these  instances,  K'wan's  object  was  to  insinuate  that  Mencius 
was  a  preteniier,  because,  wherever  there  was  ability,  it  was  sure  to  come  out, 
and  to  prove  itself  by  its  fruits. 

Par.  (>.  Mencius  shields  himself  by  the  example  of  Confucius,  implying 
that  he  was  beyond  the  knowledge  of  a  sophist  like  K'wan.  See  the  Life  of 
Confucius  in  Vol.  I. 

Ch.  VII.  The  progress  and  manner  of  degeneracy  from  the  three 

KINGS  TO  THE  FIVE  PRESIDKNTS  OF  THE  PRINCES.  AND  FROM  THE  FIVE 
PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  PRINCES  TO  THE  PRINCES  AND  OFFICERS  OF  MencIUS' 
TIME. 

Par.  1.  "The  three  kings  "  are  the  founders  of  the  three  dynasties  of 
Hea,  Shang,  and  Chow.  "  The  five  presidents  of  the  princes  "  were  Hwan 
of  Ts'e  (B.C.  (18:^—642).  Wan  of  Tsin  (03-t— (527),  Seang  of  Sung,  (649— 
636);  Muh  of  Tsin  ((;58— G20)  ;  and  Chwang  of  Ts-oo  ((J 12— 590).  These 
professed  to  take  the  lead  and  direction  of  the  various  States,  and  exercised 
really  royal  functions  throughout  the  kingdom,  while  yet  there  was  a  pro- 
fession of  loyal  attachment  to  the  house  of  Ciiow.  There  are  two  enumera- 
tions of  the  "  five  presidents;" — ont^  caled  "  the  presidents  of  the  three 
dynasties,"  and  one  called  "  the  presidents  of  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew  period  :  " — only 
Hwan  of  Ts'e  and  Wan  of  Tsin  are  common  to  the  two.  But  Mencius  is 
speaking,  probably,  only  of  those  included  in  the  second  enumeration  ;  and 


334  THE    WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.  [bK  71. 

The  great  officers  of  tlie  present   day  are  sinners  against 
the  princes  of  the  present  day, 

2.  "When  the  son  of  Heaven  visited  the  princes,  it  was 
called  'A  tour  of  inspection/  When  the  princes  attended 
at  his  court,  it  was  called  '  A  report  of  office/  In  the 
spring  they  examined  the  ploughing,  and  supplied  any 
deficiency  [of  seed]  ;  in  the  autumn  they  examined  the 
reaping,  and  assisted  where  there  was  a  deficiency  [of  yield]. 
When  [the  son  of  Heaven]  entered  the  boundaries  [of  a 
State],  if  [new]  ground  was  being  reclaimed,  and  the  old 
fields  were  well  cultivated ;  if  the  old  were  nourished,  and 
honour  shown  to  men  of  talents  and  virtue ;  and  if  men  of 
distinguished  ability  were  placed  in  office  : — then  [the  ruler] 
was  rewarded, — rewarded  with  [an  addition  to  his]  territory. 
[On  the  other  hand],  if  on  his  entering  a  State,  the  ground 
was  found  left  wild  or  overrun  with  weeds ;  if  the  old  were 
neglected,  and  no  attention  paid  to  men  of  talents  and 
virtue ;  and  if  hard  tax-gatherers  were  placed  in  office  : 
— then  [the  ruler]  was  reprimanded.  If  [a  pi'ince]  once 
omitted  his  attendance  at  court,  he  was  punished  by  degrada- 
tion of  rank ;  if  he  did  so  a  second  time,  he  was  deprived 
of  a  portion  of  his  territory ;  and  if  he  did  so  a  third  time, 
the  royal  armies  [were  set  in  motion],  and  he  was  removed 
[from  his  government].  Thus  the  son  of  Heaven  com- 
manded the  punishment,  but  did  not  himself  inflict  it,  while, 
the  various  feudal  princes  inflicted  the  punishment,  but  did 
not  command  it.  The  five  presidents,  [however,]  dragged 
the  princes  of  the  States  to  attack  other  pi'inces,  and  there- 
fore I  say  that  they  were  sinners  against  the  three  kings*. 

3.  "  Of  the  five  pi-esidents  duke  Hwan  was  the  most  dis- 
tinguished. At  the  assembly  of  the  princes  in  KSvei-k'iiw, 
they  bound  the  victim,  and  placed  the  writing  [of  the 
covenant]    upon   it,  but  did  not  [shxy   it],  and  smear  their 

though  there  is  some  difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  individuals  ia 
the  list,  the  names  I  have  given  were,  I  think,  those  he  had  in  his  mind. 
"  Were  sinners  against ;  " — i.  e.  violated  their  principles  and  ways. 

Pur.  2.  See  I.  Pt  II.  iv.  5.  This  par.  exhihits  the  principles  and  ways  of 
"  the  three  kings,"  and  concludes  by  showing  how  "  the  five  presidents  " 
violated  them. 

Par.  ^.  Duke  Hwan  brought  the  princes  of  the  States  together  many 
times,  but  no  occasion  perhaps  was  greater  than  the  assembly  at  K'wei- 
k-eiv  (probably  in   the   present  district  of    K'aou-shing,  department  K'wei- 


PT    II.    CH.  V    III.]  KAOU-TSZE.  335 

mouths  with  its  blood.  The  first  article  in  the  covenant 
was: — ^  Slay  the  unfilial ;  do  not  chanf^e  the  son  who  has 
been  appointed  heir  ;  do  not  exalt  a  concubine  to  the  rank 
of  wife.'  The  second  was  : — '  Give  honour  to  the  worthy, 
and  cherish  the  talented, — to  give  distinction  to  the  virtuous.' 
The  third  was  : — '  llevei^ence  the  old,  and  be  kind  to  the 
young ;  be  not  forgetful  of  visitors  and  travellers.'  The 
fourth  was  : — '  Let  not  offices  be  hereditary,  nor  lot  officers 
be  pluralists  ;  in  the  selection  of  officers  let  the  object  be  to 
get  the  proper  men  ;  let  not  [a  ruler]  take  it  on  himself  to 
put  a  great  officer  to  death.'  The  fifth  was  : — '  Follow  no 
crooked  policy  in  making  embankments  ;  do  not  restrict 
the  sale  of  grain ;  do  not  grant  any  investiture  without 
[first]  informing  [the  king,  and  getting  his  sanction].'  It 
was  [then]  said,  '  All  we  who  have  nnited  in  this  covenant 
shall  hereafter  maintain  amicable  relations.'  The  princes  of 
the  present  day  all  violate  those  five  prohibitions,  and  there- 
fore I  say  that  they  are  sinners  against  the  five  presidents. 

4.  "  The  crime  of  him  who  connives  at  and  aids  the 
wickedness  of  his  ruler  is  small,  but  the  crime  of  him  who 
anticipates  and  excites  that  wickedness  is  great.  The  great 
officers  of  the  present  day  all  are  guilty  of  this  latter  crime, 
and  I  say  that  they  are  sinners  against  the  princes." 

VIII.  1.  [The  ruler  of]  Loo  wanted  to  employ  Shin- 
tsze  in  the  command  of  an  army. 

fling),  in  B.C.  fi50.  Mencius,  no  doubt,  selected  this  because  he  had  a  full 
account  of  it,  which  enabled  him  to  exhibit  it  as  a  specimen  of  the  principles 
and  ways  of  the  presidents  of  the  States.  The  object  in  assemblin.2;  the 
princes  was  to  get  them  to  form  a  covenant  with  conditions  required  by  the 
existing  state  of  things  in  the  kingdom.  The  usual  practice  at  those  meet- 
ings was  first  to  dig  a  square  pit  over  which  the  victim  was  slain.  Its  left 
ear  was  then  cut  off,  and  placed  in  a  vessel  ornamented  with  pearls,  and  the 
blood  was  received  in  a  vessel  of  jade.  Holding  these  vessels  the  president 
of  the  a.«senibl_v  read  out  the  articles  of  the  covenant,  with  his  face  to  the 
north,  announcing  them  to  the  Spirits  of  the  sun  and  moon,  the  mountains 
and  rivers.  After  this  he  and  all  the  others  smeared  the  corners  of  their 
mouths  with  the  blood,  placed  the  victim  in  tlie  pit,  with  the  articles  of  the 
covenant  upon  it,  and  then  covered  it  up. 

Ch.  VIII.  JIenoius'  opposition  to  the  warlike  ambitiox  of  the 

MARQUIS  OF  Loo  : — A  CONVEIiSATION  WITH  THE  GENERAL  SHIN  KUH-LE. 

Pdi'.  1.  We  do  not  have  much  information  ai)0ut  the  Shin  w;ho  appears 
ht-re.     According  to  Sze-ma  Ts'eeu  there  was,  in  Mencius'  time,  a  Shin  Taou, 


336  THE    WORKS    OP    MEXCIUS.  [bK   VI. 

2.  Mencius  said  [to  Shin],  "To  employ  an  uninstructed 
people  [in  war]  is  what  is  called — destroying  the  people.  A 
destroyer  of  the  people  was  not  tolerated  in  the  age  of 
Yaou  and  Shun. 

3.  "  Though  by  a  single  battle  you  should  vanquish  Ts'e, 
and  so  get  possession  of  Nan-yang,  the  thing  ought  not  to 
be  done.'^ 

4.  Shin  changed  countenance,  was  displeased,  and  said, 
*'  This  is  what  I,  Kuh-le,  do  not  understand/' 

5.  [Mencius]  said,  "  I  will  lay  the  case  plainly  before  you. 
The  territory  of  the  son  of  Heaven  is  a  thousand  le  square; 
— without  a  thousand  le,  he  would  not  have  enough  for  his 
entertainment  of  the  princes.  The  territory  of  a  prince  [of 
the  highest  rank]  is  a  hundred  le  square  ; — without  a  hundred 
le,  he  would  not  have  enough  wherewith  to  observe  the 
statutes  kept  in  his  ancestral  temple. 

6.  "  When  the  duke  of  Chow  was  invested  with  [the 
marquisate  of]  Loo,  it  was  a  hundred  le  square.  The  terri- 
tory was  indeed  enough,  but  it  was  limited  to  a  hundred  le. 
When  T'ae-kung  was  invested  with  [the  marquisate  of] 
Ts'e,  it  was  also  a  hundred  le  square  ; — sufficient  indeed,  but 
limited  to  that  amount. 

7.  "  Now  Loo  is  five  times  a  hundred  le  square.     If  a 

a  native  of  Chaou,  and  a  writer  of  tlie  Taouist  sect.  It  is  supposed  that  he 
had  also  studied  the  art  of  vvar,  and  that  dnke  P'ing  of  Loo  now  wished  to 
take  advantajje  of  his  skill.  In  par.  4,  Shin  appears  to  call  himself  by  the 
name  of  Kuh-le — which  is  against  liis  being  tliis  Shin  Taou.  Some  there- 
fore say  that  he  liad  studied  under  a  !\Iiliist  professor  of  the  time,  who  was 
called  K'in  Kuh-le,  and  that  we  should  translate  in  jiar.  4 — "  This  is  what 
[even]  Kuh-le  does  not  understand."  But  Kuh-le  there  must  be  Sliin'sowii 
name.  We  must  leave  the  question  of  who  he  was  undetermined.  The 
title  of  "  army-commander"  which  appears  here  had  come  into  use  in  the 
Ch'un  Ts'cw  period. 

Par.  2.  Compare  what  Coiifucius  says  in  Ana.  XIII.  xxix.  and  xxx. 

Pur.  3.  Nan-yang  was  a  tract  of  country  south  of  mount  T'ae,  which 
originally  belonged  to  Loo,  but  had  been  taken  and  appropriated  by  Ts'e. 
Duke  P'ing  of  Loo  now  wanted  to  take  advantage  of  the  difficulties  of  Ts'e 
to  regain  the  territory. — The  fact  of  Nan-yang's  having  originally  been  Loo 
territory  certainly  made  it  a  bad  text  for  Mencius  to  give  his  lecture  to 
Shin-tsze  on  it. 

Par.  4.  The  statutes  kept  in  the  ancestral  temple  would  ]u-escribe  all 
things  relating  to  the  public  sacrifices,  the  interviews  of  the  ruler  of  Loo 
with  other  princes,  and  other  public  matters,  the  expense  of  which  required 
a  territory  of  100  le.  square  to  defray  them. 

Far.  G.  "  Tae-kung ;  " — see  on  IV.  I't  I.  xiii. 


PT  II.    Cn.  X.]  KAOU-TSZE.  337 

true  king  were  to  arise,  whetliev  do  you  tliiuk  that  Loo 
would  be  diminished  or  increased  by  him  ? 

8.  "  If  it  were  merely  taking  from  one  [State]  to  gi\^e  to 
another,  a  benevolent  person  would  not  do  it;  how  much 
less  would  he  do  so,  when  the  thing  has  to  be  sought  by  the 
slaughter  of  men ! 

9.  "  The  way  in  which  a  superior  man  serves  his  ruler  is 
simply  an  earnest  endeavour  to  lead  him  in  the  right  path, 
and  to  direct  his  mind  to  benevolence." 

IX.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Those  who  now-a-days  serve  their 
rulers,  say,  '  We  can  for  our  ruler  enlarge  the  limits  of  the 
cultivated  ground,  and  fill  his  treasuries  and  arsenals.'  Such 
men  are  now-a-darcs  called  '  Good  ministers,^  but  anciently 
they  were  called  '  Robbers  of  the  people.'  If  a  ruler  is  not 
following  the  [right]  path,  nor  has  his  mind  bent  on  benevo- 
lence, to  seek  to  enrich  him  is  to  enrich  a  Keeli." 

2.  "  [Or  they  will  say],  'We  can  for  our  ruler  make 
engfaofements  with  our  allied  States,  so  that  our  battles  must 
be  successful.'  Such  men  are  now-a-days  called  '  Good 
ministers,'  but  anciently  they  were  called  'Robbers  of  the 
people.'  If  a  ruler  is  not  following  the  [right]  path,  nor 
has  his  mind  bent  on  benevolence,  to  seek  to  make  him 
stronger  in  battle  is  to  help  a  Keeh. 

3.  "  Although  a  [ruler],  by  the  path  of  the  present  day, 
and  with  no  change  of  its  practices,  were  to  have  all  under 
heaven  given  to  him,  he  could  not  keep  it  for  a  single 
morniug." 

X.  1,  Pih  Kwei  said,  "  I  want  to  take  [for  the  govern- 


Ch.  IX.  Mencixjs  condemns  the  ministers  op  his  time  for  pander- 

INC  to,  AND  EVEN  ENCOURAGING,  THEIR  RULERS'  THIRST  FOR  WEALTH 
AND  POWER.  This  chapter  probabl}^  owes  its  place  here  to  its  being  a  sort 
of  sequel  to  the  last  paragraph  of  the  preceding  one. 

Par.  1.  "  We  can  enlarge  the  territory  of  the  cultivated  ground  ;  " — 
compare  IV.  Ft  I.  xiv.  3.  The  territory  would  be  enlarged  at  the  expense 
of  the  people,  taking  their  commons  from  them,  and  making  them  labour 
upon  them  for  the  ruler.  Chaou  K'e  takes  the  phrase  as  meaning  the  ap- 
propriation of  small  States: — which  is  not  so  good. 

Par.  4.  See  IV.  Pt  1.  xiw  2. 

CH.  X.   An  ORDERED    STATE  CAX  ONLY  SUBSIST  WITH  A  PROPER  SYSTEM 
VOL.    II.  22 


838  THE  WORKS  OF  MEXCIUS.  [bK  VI. 

ment]  only  a  tweiitietli  [of  the  produce]  ;  what  do  you  say 
to  it  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  ''  Your  way,  Sir,  would  be  that  of  the 
Mih. 

3.  '^  In  a  State  of  ten  thousand  families,  would  it  do  to 
have  [only]  one  potter  ?  "  "  No/^  said  the  other  ;  "  the 
vessels  would  not  be  enow  for  use.'^ 

4.  [Mencius]  went  on,  ''  In  Mih  [all]  the  five  kinds  of 
grain  are  not  grown; — it  only  produces  the  millet.  There 
are  no  fortified  cities  with  their  walled  suburbs,  no  great 
edifices,  no  ancestral  temples,  no  ceremonies  of  sacrifice; 
there  ai'e  no  feudal  princes  requiring  gifts  of  silk  and  enter- 
tainments ;  there  is  no  system  of  officers  with  their  various 
subordinates.  On  this  account  a  tax  of  one  twentieth  of  the 
pi'oduce  is  [there]  sufficient. 

5.  "  But  now,  [as]  we  live  in  the  middle  States,  how  can 
such  a  state  of  things  be  thought  of,  which  would  do  away 
with  the  relationships  of  men,  and  have  no  officers  of 
superior  rank  ? 

6.  "A  State  cannot  be  made  to  subsist  with  but  few 
potters;  how  much  less  can  it  be  so  without  men  of  a 
superior  rank  to  others  ! 

7.  "  If  we  wish  to  make  the  taxation  lighter  than  the 
system  of  Yaou  and  Shun,  we  shall  have  a  great  Mih  and  a 
small  Mill.  If  we  wish  to  make  it  heavier,  we  shall  have 
the  great  Keeh  and  the  small  Kcieh.^' 


OF  TAXATION  ;   AND  THAT  WHICH   ORIGINATED  WITH   YAOU  AND    SHUN   IS 
THE  I'RGl'ER  ONi;  FDR  CHINA. 

Par.  1.  Pill  Kwei  (as  appears  from  next  chapter,  named  Tan)  is  generally 
supposed  to  have  been  a  man  of  Chow,  ascetic  in  his  own  habits  and  fond 
of  innovations.  Such  is  the  account  of  him  fjlven  by  Sze-ma  Ts'iien  ;  but 
there  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  our  supposing  Ts'een's  Pih  Kwei  to  be 
the  same  as  the  person  who  appears  here. 

Par.  2.  The  Mih  were  one  of  the  wild  tribes  lying  on  the  north  of  the 
middle  S.'ates,—  the  China  of  Mencius'  time.  The  name  does  not  occur  in 
the  Ch'nu  Ts'ew,  nor  in  tlie  Tso  Cliuen.  Its  territory,  lying  far  north,  would 
lie  unfit  for  most  of  the  kinds  of  grain.  The  people  would  be  for  the  most 
])art  nomad.s,  and  very  inferior  in  civilization  to  those  of  the  iStates  of  China, 
though  Mencius  perhajis  rather  exaggerates  the  extent  of  their  barbarism. 

Par.  7.  Undc  the  system  of  taxation  pro|)osed  by  Pih  Kwei,  China  would 
become  a  cojiy  of  the  Mih  ;  under  a  heavier  system  tliim  that  of  Yaou  and 
Shim,  it  would  be  brought  to  its  state  under  the  tyrant  Keeh. 


PT    II.    CII.  XIII.]  KAOU-TSZE.  339 

XI.  1.  Pill  Kwei  said,  "  My  manag-emont  of  tlio  waters 
is  superior  to  that  of  Yu.'^ 

2.  Mencius  said,  "  Yon  are  wront^,  Sir.  Yvi's  regulation 
of  the  waters  was  according  to  the  laws  of  water. 

3.  "  He  therefore  made  the  four  seas  their  receptacle, 
while  yon  now.  Sir,  make  the  neighbouring  States  their 
receptacle. 

4.  "  When  waters  flow  out  of  their  natural  channels,  wo 
have  what  is  called  an  inundation.  Inundating  waters  form 
a  vast  [waste]  of  water,  and  are  v/hat  a  benevolent  man 
detests.     You  are  wrong,  my  good  Sir.^' 

XII.  Mencius  said,  "  If  a  superior  man  have  not  con- 
fidence [in  his  views],  how  shall  he  take  a  firm  hold  [of 
things]  ?  " 

XIII.  1.  [The  ruler  of]  Loo  wishing  to  commit  the 
administration  of  his  government  to  the  disciple  Yoh-ching, 
Mencius  said,  "  When  I  hoard  of  it,  I  was  so  glad  that  I 
could  not  sleep." 

2.  Kung-sun  Ch'^owsaid,  "Is  Yoh-ching  a  man  of  vigour?" 
"  No."  "  Is  he  wise  in  council  ?  "  "  No."  "  Is  ho  a  man  of 
much  information  ?  "     "  No." 

3.  "  What  then  made  you  so  glad  that  you  could  not 
sleep  ?  " 

4.  ''  He  is  a  man  who  loves  what  is  good,"  was  the  reply. 


CH.  XT.  PlH  KWEl's  PRESUMPTUOU.-!  IDEA  THAT  HE  COULD  EEOULATE 
INUNDATIONS  OV  THE  RIVEKS  BETTEK  THAN  Yu  HAD  DONE. 

There  must  have  been  some  partial  inundations  at  this  time,  and  Pih  Kwei 
had  been  called  in  to  remedy  them.  Tiiis  he  had  done  in  an  unsatisfactory 
way,  beuetiting  one  State  at  the  expense  of  others. 

Ch.  XII.  Faith  in  principles  is  necessary  to  firmness  in  action. 

Ch.  XIII.  Of  what  import.vnce  it  is  to  a  minister — to  government 
— to  love  what  is  good. 

Par.  I.   Yoh-ching, — .>ee  I.  Pt  II  xvi.:  et  al. 

Par.  '2.  The  three  gifts  moatioued  here  wt-re  those  generally  considered 
most  important  to  governnient,  and  Kung-sun  Ch'ow,  knowing  Y'oh-ching  to 
be  deficient  in  them,  sha[)L'd  his  questions  accordiiiglj'. 

Pur.  4.  On  this  it  is  said  : — "  In  the  administration  of  government,  the 
most  excellent  quality  is  witliout  prejudice  and  dispassionately  to  receive 


340  THE   WORKS    OF    MENCICS.  [bK    71, 

5.  ''  Is  tlie  love  of  what  is  good  sufficient  ?  " 

6.  [Mencius]  replied,  "The  love  of  what  is  good  is  more 
than  a  sufficient  qualification  for  the  government  of  the 
whole  kingdom  ;  how  much  more  is  it  so  for  the  State  of 
Loo  ! 

7.  "If  [a  minister]  love  what  is  good,  then  all  within 
the  four  seas  will  think  a  thousand  lo  but  a  small  distance  to 
come  and  lay  [their  thoughts  about]  what  is  good  before 
him. 

8.  "  If  he  do  not  love  what  is  good,  men  will  say,  '  How 
self-conceited  he  looks!  [He  is  saying],  "I  know  it/' * 
The  language  and  looks  of  that  self-conceit  will  repel  men  to 
more  than  the  distance  of  a  thousand  I.e.  When  good  men 
stop  more  than  a  thousand  le  off,  calumniators,  flntterers, 
and  sycophants  will  make  their  appearance.  When  [a 
minister]  lives  with  calumniators,  flatterers,  and  sycophants 
about  him,  though  he  may  wish  the  State  to  be  well 
governed,  is  it  possible  for  it  to  be  so  ?  " 

XIV.  1.  The  disciple  Ch'in  said,  "What  were  the 
principles  on  which  superior  men  of  old  took  office  ?  " 
Mencius  said,  "  There  were  three  cases  in  which  they 
accepted  office,  and  three  in  which  they  left  it. 

2.  "If  received  with  the  utmost  respect  and  all  courteous 
observances,  and  they  could  say  [to  themselves]  that  [the 
ruler]  would  carry  their  words  into  practice,  then  they  went 
to  him  [and  took  office].  [Afterwards],  though  there 
might  be  no  remission  of  the  courteous  observances,  if  their 
words  were  not  carried  into  practice,  they  left  him. 

3.  "  The  second  case  was  that  in  which,  though  [the 
ruler]  could  not  [be  expected]  at  once  to  carry  their  words 
into  practice,  yet  being  received  by  him  with  the  utmost 

what  is  good.     Now  Yoh-cliing  in  his  heart  sincerely  loved  all  good  word:* 
and  good  actions." 

Ch.  XIV.  The  grounds  on  which  worthies  op  old  took  office  ok 

LEFT  IT. 

Ptir.  1.   "The  disciple  Ch'in"  here  w.as  the  Ch'in  Ts'in  of  II.  Pt  II.  iii. 

Parr.  2  —  4.  Compare  V.  Pt  II.  iv.  7.  Tliore  Confucius  appears  as  having 
taken  office  on  all  the  grounds  mentioned  Imro.  In  this  chapter  our  philo- 
sopher enters  more  into  the  grounds  wliy  the  office  once  uidortaUen  should 
again  be  abandoned  ; — if  in  the  third  case  we  can  speak  of  office  having  been 
taken. 


PT    II.    CH.  XV.]  KAOU-TSZE.  311 

respect  and  all  courteous  observances,  they  went  to  him 
[and  took  office].  [But  afterwards],  if  there  was  a  remis- 
sion of  the  courteous  observances,  they  left  him. 

4.  "  The  last  case  was  that  of  [the  superior  man]  who  had 
nothing  to  eat  either  morning  or  evening,  and  was  so 
famished  that  he  could  not  move  out  of  his  door.  If  the 
ruler,  on  hearing  of  his  state,  said,  '  I  must  fail  of  the  great 
point, — that  of  carrying  his  principles  into  practice,  and 
moreover  I  cannot  follow  his  words,  but  I  am  ashamed  to 
allow  him  to  starve  in  my  country,'  and  so  assisted  him,  the 
help  might  be  accepted  in  such  a  case,  but  not  beyond  what 
was  sufficient  to  avert  death." 

XV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Shun  rose  [to  the  empire]  from 
among  the  channeled  fields.  Foo  Yueh  was  called  to  office 
from  the  midst  of  his  [building]  frames  and  [earth-] 
beaters ;  Kaou  Kih  from  kis  fish  and  salt ;  Kwan  E-woo 
from  the  hands  of  the  officer  in  charge  of  him  ;    Sun  Shuh- 

Ch.  XV.  Trials  and  hardships  the  wav  in  which  Heavex  pre- 
pares MEN  for  great  SERVICES.  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  CASES  OF  SEVERAL 
EMINENT  WORTHIES  OF  FORMER  TIMES. 

JPar.  1.  The  rise  of  Shun  is  well  known  : — see  the  1st  part  of  the  Book 
of  History.  Foo  Yueh, — see  the  Book  of  History,  PartlV.  viii.,  where  it  is 
related  that  king  Kaou-tsung,  having  dreamt  that  "  God  gave  him  a  good 
assistant,"  caused  a  picture  of  the  man  he  had  seen  in  his  dream  to  be  made, 
and  search  made  for  him  through  the  kingdom,  when  he  was  found  dwelling 
in  the  wilderness  of  Foo-yen.  Sze-ma  Ts'een  says  that  the  surname  of  the 
man  was  given  in  ihe  dream  as  Foo,  and  his  name  as  Yueh,  which  the  king 
interpreted  as  meaning,  that  he  would  be  a  "  tutor  "  (foo)  to  himself,  and 
a  "blessing"  (t/ueJi)  to  the  people.  Kaou  Kih  is  mentioned  in  II.  Pt  I.  i.  8, 
as  an  able  assistant  of  the  last  king  of  Yin.  In  the  disorders  and  niis- 
governnient  of  that  king  Kaou  Kih  had  retired  to  obscurity,  and  was  dis- 
covered by  the  lord  of  Chow  in  the  guise  of  a  seller  of  fish  and  salt,  and 
induced  to  take  office  under  the  king,  with  whom  Kih  continued  faithful  to 
the  last. 

Kwan  E-woo  was  the  chief  minister  of  duke  Hvvan  of  Ts'e  ; — see  II.  Pt 
I.  i.  ;  et  al.  He  was  carried  from  Loo  to  Ts'e  in  a  cage,  Hwan  having  de- 
manded his  surrender  that  he  might  have  tiie  pleasure  of  putting  him  to 
death  ;  but  he  met  him  outside  the  city  and  raised  him  to  the  greatest  dis- 
tinction. Shuh-sun  Gaou  was  chief  minister  to  king  Chwang  of  Ts'oo, 
one  of  the  five  presidents  of  the  States.  He  appears  in  the  narratives  of 
the  Tso  Chuon  (see  Book  VII.  xi.  ;  ef  al.)  as  Wei  Gae-leeh.  He  belonged 
to  one  of  the  principal  families  of  Ts'oo  ;  but  being  at  one  time  treated 
with  neglect  by  the  king,  he  had  retired  into  obscurity',  and  lived  somewhere 
(it  must  have  been  out  of  Ts'oo)  on  the  sea-coast.  The  events  of  his  life  at 
this  time,  however,  are  all  but  lost  to  history.   Afterwards,  he  did  good  serv- 


342  THE  WORKS  OF  aiENCius.  [bk  VI, 

gaou  from  [liis  hiding  by]  tlio  sea-sliore ;  and  Pili-le  lie 
from  tlio  market-place. 

2.  "  Thus,  when  Heaven  is  about  to  confer  a  great  office 
on  any  one,  it  first  exercises  his  mind  with  suflfering,  and  his 
sinews  and  bones  with  toil;  it  exposes  his  body  to  hunger, 
and  subjects  him  to  extreme  poverty;  and  it  confounds  his 
undertakings.  In  all  these  ways  it  stimulates  his  mind, 
hardens  his  nature,  and  supplies  his  incompetencies. 

3.  "  Men  constantly  err,  but  are  afterwards  able  to  reform. 
They  are  distressed  in  mind,  and  perplexed  in  thought,  and 
then  they  arise  to  vigorous  endeavour.  When  things  have 
been  evidenced  in  men^s  looks,  and  set  forth  in  their  words, 
then  they  understand  them. 

4.  "  If  a  ruler  have  not  about  his  coui-t  families  attached 
to  the  laws  and  able  officers,  and  if  abroad  there  are  no 
hostile  States  or  other  external  calamities,  the  State  will 
generally  come  to  ruin. 

5.  "  From  such  things  we  see  how  life  springs  from 
sorrow  and  calamity,  and  death  from  ease  and  pleasure." 

XVI.  Alencius  said,  '^  There  are  many  arts  in  teaching. 
I  refuse,  as  inconsistent  with  my  character,  to  teach  a  man, 
but  I  am  only  thereby  still  teaching  him.*' 

ice  to  the  State.  Sun-shuh  must  have  been  his  designation  originally,  and 
Gaou  was  tiie  name  of  an  office  in  Ts'oo, — prohably  the  sound  of  its  appellation 
in  tlie  original  language  of  the  country.         Pih-le  He, — see  V.  Pt  I.  ix. 

Par.  3.  This  par.  is  intended  to  show  that  tlie  same  thing  ma)'  in  a  man- 
ner be  predicated  of  ordinary  men.  The  concluding  part  seems  to  say  that 
though  most  men  are  not  quiclc  of  apprehension,  yet  when  things  are 
bronglit  clearly  before  them,  they  can  lay  hold  of  them. 

Par.  4.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  a  State,  "  Families  attached  to  the 
laws"  will  not  reaiiily  submit  to  the  infraction  of  those  laws  without  re- 
monstrating, and  their  feelings  will  find  a  voice  In  the  "  able  counsellors." 
Tins  will  stimulate  the  ruler's  mind  ;  and  foreign  danger  will  make  him 
careful,  and  rouse  him  to  e.\ertiou. 

Ch.  XVI.  That  a  refusal  to  teach  may  he  tracuing. 
There  is  a  sufficient  example  of  what  Meucius  states  here  in  the  second 
chapter. 


TSIN    SIN.  3i3 


BOOK  VII. 


TSIN    SIN.       PAPa'    I. 

CuAi'TEE  I.  1 .  Mencius  said,  "  He  who  has  exhaustively 
studied  all  his  mental  constitution  knows  his  nature. 
Knowing  his  nature,  he  knows  Heaven. 

2.  "To  preserve  one's  mental  constitution,  and  nourish 
one's  nature,  is  the  way  to  serve  Heaven. 

3.  "  When  neither  [the  thought]  of  premature  death  nor 

Title  op  this  Book.  Like  the  previous  Books,  this  is  named  from  the 
commencing  words — Txiii  Shi,  '"The  exhausting  of  all  the  mental  constitu- 
tion." It  contains  man}'^  more  chapters' than  any  of  the  others, — brief, 
enigmatical  sentences  for  the  most  part,  conveying  Mencius'  views  on  human 
nature.  It  is  more  ahstruse  also,  and  the  student  will  have  much  difHculty 
in  satisfying  himself  that  he  lias  hit  the  exact  meaning  of  our  philoso- 
pher. The  author  of  "The  Root  and  Relish  of  the  four  Books  "says: — 
"  This  Book  was  made  by  Mencius  in  his  old  age.  Its  style  is  terse,  :and  its 
meaning  deep,  and  we  cannot  discover  an  order  of  subjects  in  its  chapters. 
He  had  completed  the  previous  cliapters,  and  tins  grew  up  vmder  his  sti/lus, 
as  his  mind  was  affected,  and  he  was  prompted  to  give  expression  to  his 
thoughts.  The  first  chapter,  however,  may  be  regarded  as  a  compendium 
of  the  whole." 

Ch.  I.  By  the  knowledge  of  oukselves  we  come  to  the  knowledge 
OF  Heaven,  and  Heaven  is  served  by  our  obeving  our  natuke. 

Pur.  1.  "To  exhaust  our  mental  constitution"  is,  I  conceive,  to  make 
one's-sclf  acquainted  with  all  bis  mental  constitution,  having  arrested  his 
consciousness,  and  ascertained  what  it  is.  This  of  course  gives  a  man  the 
knowledge  of  his  nature  ;  and  as  he  is  the  creature  of  Heaven,  its  attributes 
must  be  corresponding.  I  can  get  no  other  meaning  from  this  paragraph. 
Choo  He,  however,  and  all  his  school,  say  that  there  is  no  work  or  labour  in 
"exhausting  the  mental  constitution;" — that  it  is  "  the  extension  to  the 
utmost  of  knowledge"  of  the  1st  chapter  of  "The  Great  Learning;"  and 
that  all  tlie  labour  is  in  "  knowing  the  nature,"  which  is  "the  investigation 
of  things"  of  that  chapter.  On  this  view  we  should  translate,  "  He  who 
completely  developes  his  mental  constitution  has  known  (come  to  know)  his 
nature  ;  "  but  this  is  a  foiced  construction  of  the  text. 

Pa7\  2.  The  "  preservation  "  is  the  holding  fast  that  which  we  have  from 
Heaven,  and  the  "  nourishing  "  is  the  acting  in  accordance  therewith,  so 
that  the  "  serving  Heaven  "  is  just  the  being  and  doing  what  It  has  intimated 
in  our  constitution  to  be  Its  will  concerning  us. 

Pu):  3.  Man's  "  [Heaven-]ordained  being  "  is  his  nature  according  to  the 
opening  words  of  "  The  Doctrine  of  the  Mean  ;  " — "  What  Heaven  has  con- 


3ii  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIFS.  [bK   VII." 

[that]  of  long  life  causes  a  man  any  double-mindedness,  but 
lie  waits  in  the  cultivation  of  himself  for  whichever  issue, — 
this  is  the  way  in  which  he  establishes  his  [Heaven-]  ordain- 
ed being/^ 

II.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  There  is  an  appointment  for 
everything.  A  man  should  submissively  receive  what  is 
correctly  ascribed  thereto. 

2.  "  Therefore,  he  who  knows  what  is  [Heaven's]  appoint- 
ment will  not  stand  beneath  a  dang-erous  wall. 

ferred  is  called  The  Nature."  "  Establishing  "  this  means  "  keeping  entire 
what  Heaveu  has  conferred  upon  us,  and  not  injuring  it  by  any  doing  of 
our  own." 

It  may  be  well  to  give  the  remarks  of  Chaou  K'e  on  this  chapter.  On 
the  1st  par.  he  .sa3's  : — "  To  the  nature  there  belong  the  principles  of  benevo- 
lence, righteousness,  projiriety,  and  knowledge.  The  miud  is  designed  to 
regulate  them.  Wheu  the  mind  is  correct,  a  man  can  put  it  all  forth  in 
thinking  of  doing  good,  and  then  he  may  be  said  to  know  his  nature.  When 
he  knows  his  nature,  then  he  knows  how  the  way  of  Heaven  considers  as 
excellent  what  is  good." 

On  the  2nd  par.  he  saj^s  : — "When  one  is  able  to  preserve  his  mind  and 
nourish  his  correct  [nature],  he  may  be  called  a  man  of  perfect  virtue. 
The  way  of  Heaven  loves  life,  and  the  perfect  man  also  loves  life.  The  way 
of  Heaven  is  without  partiality,  and  only  approves  of  the  virtuous.  [Thus] 
the  acting  [of  the  perfect  man]  agrees  with  Heaven,  and  tiierefore  it  is 
said,  '  This  is  the  way  by  which  he  servos  Heaven.'  "     . 

On  the  3rd  par.  he  says  : — "  '  Double  '  means  two.  The  perfect  man  in 
his  conduct  is  guided  by  one  rule  simp!}'.  Although  he  sees  that  some  who 
have  gone  before  him  have  been  short-lived,  and  some  long-lived,  he  never 
has  two  minds  or  changes  his  way.  Let  life  be  short  like  that  of  Yen. 
Yuen,  or  lotig  like  that  of  the  duke  of  Shaou,  he  refers  both  eases  equally 
to  the  appointment  of  Heaven,  and  cultivates  and  rectifies  his  own  person 
to  wait  for  that.  It  is  in  this  way  that  he  establishes  the  root  of  [Heaven's] 
appointments." 

Tlie  differences  between  these  interpretations  and  those  of  Choo  He  may 
well  lead  the  foreign  student  to  put  forth  his  strength  ou  the  study  of  the 
text  more  than  on  the  c(;mnientaries. 

Ch.  II.  Man's  duty  as  affected  by  the  decrees  or  AProiNT.Mi;NT8 
OF  Heaven.  Wh.vt  may  ue  coruectly  ascribed  to  thoi^e,  and  v?hat 
NOT.  Choo  He  says  this  is  a  oontinuatiou  of  tiie  last  chapter,  developing 
the  meaning  of  its  concluding  [jaragraph.  There  is  a  connexion  between 
the  chapters,  but  Heaven's  decree  or  ai)|)ointnient  is  here  taken  more  widely, 
as  extending  not  only  to  man's  nature,  but  to  all  the  events  that  befall  him. 

Par.  1.  '•  A  man  should  submissively  receive  vvliat  may  be  correctly  as- 
cribed to  appointment  "  is,  literally,  "  a  man  should  submissively  receive  the 
correct  appointment."  Tlie  correct  appointment  is  that  which  is  directly 
from  the  will  of  ll(;aven  ;  and  no  consecjuence  flowing  from  evil  or  careless 
conduct  is  to  be  understood  as  being  so. 


FT    I.    CH.  IV.]  TSIN    SIN.  345 

3.  "  Deatli  sustained  in  the  fulfilment  of  one's  proper 
course  may  correctly  be  ascribed  to.tbe  appointment  [of 
Heaven] . 

4.  "  Deatli  under  handcuffs  and  fetters  cannot  correctly 
be  so  ascribed." 

III.  1.  Mencius  said,  "When  we  get  by  our  seeking, 
and  lose  by  our  neglecting,  in  that  case  seeking  is  of  use  to 
getting; — the  things  sought  are  those  which  are  in  ourselves. 

2.  "  When  the  seeking  is  according  to  the  proper  course, 
and  the  getting  is  [only]  as  appointed,  in  that  case  the 
seeking  is  of  no  use  to  getting ; — the  things  sought  are  with- 
out ourselves.'' 

IV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "All  things  are  already  complete 
in  us. 

2.  "  There  is  no  greater  delight  than  to  be  conscious  of 
sincerity  on  self-examination. 

3.  "If  one  acts  with  a  vio-orous  effort  at  the  law  of  reci- 


pe?'. 4.  The  handcuffs  or  fetters  are  understood  to  be  those  of  an  evil- 
doer.— There  is  important  truth  underljiug  this  chapter.  Compare  with  it 
various  passages  in  the  1st  Epistle  of  Peter. 

Ch.  III.  Virtue  is  sure  to  be  found  by  seeking  it,  but  riches  ani> 

OTHKR  EXTERNAL  THINGS  NOT. 

The  general  sentiment  of  this  chapter  is  good,  but  truth  is  sacrificed  to 
the  poHit  of  the  antithesis,  when  it  is  said  in  the  second  case  that  seeking  is 
of  no  use  to  getting.  The  things  "  in  our.-selves  "  are  the  virtues  of  benevo- 
lence, righteousness,  propriety,  and  knowledge, — the  endowments  proper  of 
our  nature.  Those  "  without  ourselves  "  are  riches  and  dignities.  The 
"proper  course"  to  seek  them  is  that  ascribed  to  Confucius, — "  Advancing 
according  to  propriety,  and  retiring  according  to  righteousness ;"  but  yet 
they  are  not  at  our  command  and  control.  Chaou  K'e  appropriately  quotes 
in  reference  to  them  the  words  of  the  sage  in  Ana.  VII.  xi.,  "  as  the  search 
may  not  be  successful,  I  will  follow  after  that  which  I  love." 

Ch.  IV.  Man  is  fitted  for  and  happy  in  doing  good,  and  may  be- 

COJIR   PERFECT   THEREIN. 

Par.  1.  This  brief  saying  is  quite  my-ticnl.  The  "all  things  "  are  taken 
as  "  the  radical  nature  of  the  reasons  of  things,"  and  then  the  things  must 
be  further  restricted  to  the  relations  of  society  and  the  duties  belonging  to 
them.     If  we  extend  them  farther,  we  only  get  perplexed. 

Par.  2.  The  "sincerity  "  is  that  so  largely  treated  of  in  the  Doctrine  of 
the  Mean. 

Par.  3.   For  "the  law  of  reciprocity"   see   Ana.   XV.  xxiii.      To  have 


3i6  THE    WORKS    OF    MEXCIUS.  [p.K   VII. 

procity,  nothing,  when  he  seeks  for  [the  realization  of]  perfect 
virtue,  can  be  closer  than  his  approximation  to  it." 

V.  Mencias  said,  "  They  do  the  thing,  without  clearly 
knowing  [its  propriety]  ;  they  practise  the  doing,  without 
discriminating  [the  reason  of  it]  ;  they  [thus]  pursue  the 
path  all  their  life,  without  knowing  its  nature  : — this  is  the 
case  of  multitudes." 

VI.  Mencius  said,  "'  A  man  should  not  be  without 
shame.  When  a  man  is  ashamed  of  having  been  without 
shame,  he  will  [afterwards]  not  have  [occasion  for]  shame." 

VII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  The  sense  of  shame  is  to  a  man  of 
great  importance. 

2.  "  Those  who  form  contrivances  and  versatile  schemes 
distinguished  for  their  artfulness  do  not  allow  their  sense  of 
shame  to  come  into  action. 

3.  "  When  one  differs  from  other  men  in  not  having  this 
sense  of  shame,  what  will  he  have  in  common  with  them  ?  " 


complete  sincerity,  it  is  said,  would  be  perfect  virtue.     Where  there  is  some- 
thing wanting  in  this,  the  way  is  to  act  vigorously  on  the  law  of  reciprocity. 

Ch.  V.  Many  may  act  riohtly  without  knowing  why  they  do  so. 
A  lesson  fob  the  philosopher's  pupils. 

It  would  be  easier  to  understand  such  chapters  as  this,  if  we  had  before 
lis  the  conversation  or  discussion  out  of  which  they  grew,  and  of  which 
they  contain  Mencius'  own  condensed  summary. 

Ch.  VI.  The  value  of  the  peeling  of  shame.  A  wise  and  deep 
utterance. 

Ch.  VII.  The  importance  of  the  ferling  op  shame,  and  the  con- 
sequence OF  BEING  WITHOUT  IT.  The  former  chapter,  it  is  said,  was  by 
way  of  exhortation  ;  and  this  is  by  way  of  warning. 

Par.  2.  In  this  Mencius  may  liave  been  aiming  at  the  wandering  scholars 
of  his  time,  who  were  full  of  plots  and  schemes  to  unite  and  disunite  the 
various  kinglets.  Chaou  K'e  supposes  that  the  inventors  of  destructive 
engines  for  purposes  of  war  are  intended.  It  is  implied  that  if  tho.se  parties 
liad  the  sense  of  shame,  they  would  not  form  such  plots  nor  make  such 
engines. 

Par.  .3.  Choo  He  gives  another  view  of  this  par.,  as  also  admissible  ; — 
"  If  a  man  be  not  ashamed  of  not  being  like  other  men,  how  will  he  be  able 
to  be  like  them  ?  "     This  is  Chaou  K'c's  view  generalized. 


rx  I.  CH.  IX.]  Tsix  SIN.  3i7 

VIII.  Mencius  said,  "  The  able  and  virtuous  monai'clis 
of  antiquity  loved  what  was  good  and  forgot  [their  own] 
power.  And  shall  an  exception  be  made  of  the  able  and 
virtuous  scholars  of  antiquity — that  they  did  not  act  in  a 
similar  w^ay  ?  'J'hey  delighted  in  their  own  principles,  and 
forgot  the  power  [of  princes].  Therefore,  if  kings  and  dukes 
did  not  cherish  the  utmost  respect  [for  them]  and  observe  all 
forms  of  ceremony,  they  wei'e  not  permitted  to  see  them  fre- 
quently. If  they  found  it  not  in  their  power  to  see  them 
frequently,  how  much  less  could  they  get  to  employ  them  as 
ministers  !  " 

IX.  1.  Mencius  said,  to  Sung  Kow-tseen,  "'Are  you  fond, 
Sir,  of  travelling  [to  the  different  courts]  ?  I  will  tell  you 
about  [such]  travelling. 

2.  "  If  any  [of  the  princes]  acknowledge  you  [and  follow 
your  counsels],  look  perfectly  satisfied.  If  no  one  do  so, 
still  do  the  same.'' 

3.  [The  other]  asked,  "  What  must  I  do  that  I  may 
always  wear  this  look  of  perfect  satisfaction  ?  "  "  Honour 
vii'tue,"  was  the  reply,  '^  and  delight  in  righteousness  ;  and 
so  you  may  [always]  appear  to  be  perfectly  satisfied. 

4.  "  So  it  is  that  a  scholar,  though  he  may  be  poor,  does 
not  let  go  his  righteousness,  and,  though  prosperous,  does 
not  leave  [his  own]  path. 

5.  "  Poor  and  not  letting  go  his  righteousness  ; — it  is  thus 
that  the  scholar  holds  possession  of  himself.      Prosperous, 

Ch.  V'IIT.  How  the  ancient  scholars  maintained  their  dignity 
and  reserve,  and  how  the  ancient  kings  appreciated  them. 

Mencius  had,  no  doubt  in  mind  in  these  remarks  to  indicate  his  own 
character  and  course,  and  to  condemn  the  wandering  scholars  of  his  time. 

Ch.  IX.  KOW  AN  ADVISER  OF  THE  PRINCES  MIGHT  ALWAYS  APPEAR 
PF.RFECTLY  SATISFIED  ; — ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  EXAJU'LE  OP  THE  SCHOLARS 
OF  ANTIQUITY. 

Par.  1.  Nothing  is  known  of  Sung  Kow-tseen  beyond  what  appears  here. 
He  was,  w-e  may  assume,  like  Sung  K'ang  (VI.  Pt  II.  iv.)  one  of  the  adven- 
turers who  travelled  about  tendering  their  advice  to  the  different  princes. 

Pai'.  5.  "  Holds  possession  of  himself ;  " — Chaou  K'e  expounds  : — "  Holds 
possession  of  his  proper  nature."  Rather  it  is — holds  possession  of  himself 
as  described  in  par.  3,  "  honouring  virtue,  and  delighting  in  righteousness." 
Choo  He  says  : — "  This  chapter  shows  how  the  scholar,  attaching  weight 
to  what  is  internal,  and  holding  what  is  external  light,  will  approve  himself 
good  in  all  places  and  circumstances." 


318  THE    WORKS    OP    IIENCIUS.  [bK    VII. 

and  not  leaving  [his  own]  patli ; — it  is  thus  that  the  expect- 
ations of  the  people  [from  him]  are  not  disappointed. 

6.  "  When  the  men  of  antiquity  realized  their  wishes, 
benefits  accrued  [from  them]  to  the  people.  When  they  did 
not  realize  their  wishes,  they  cultivated  their  personal  cha- 
racter, and  became  illustrious  in  the  world.  When  poor, 
they  attended  to  the  improvement  of  themselves  in  solitude ; 
when  advanced  to  dignity,  they  promoted  the  improvement 
of  all  under  heaven  as  well.'^ 

X.  Mencius  said,  "  The  mass  of  men  waitfor  aking  Wan, 
and  then  receive  a  rousing  impulse.  Scholars  distinguished 
from  the  mass,  even  without  a  king  Wan,  rouse  themselves." 

XI.  Mencius  said,  "Add  to  a  man  [the  wealth  of]  the 
families  of  Han  and  Wei,  and,  if  he  [still]  look  upon  himself 
without  being  elated,  he  is  far  beyond  [the  mass  of]  men." 

XII.  Mencius  said,  "  Let  the  people  be  employed  in  the 
way  which  is  intended  to  secure  their  ease,  and,  though  they 
be  toiled,  they  will  not  murmur.  Let  them  be  put  to  death 
in  the  way  which  is  intended  to  preserve  their  lives,  and,; 
though  they  die,  they  will  not  murmur.^' 

XIII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Under  a  president  of  the  States, 

CH.  X.  How  SUPERIOR  PEOPLE  GET  THEIR  INSPIRATION  TO  GOOD  IN 
THEMSELVES. 

"The  mass  of  men  "  is  literally  "all  men  ;  "  i.  e.,  ordinary  people. 

Ch.  XI.  Not  to  be  elated  by  great  riches  is  a  proof  of  real 

SUPERIORITY. 

The  word  "  add,"  especially  the  Chinese  term  here  so  rendered,  implies 
that  the  person  here  spoken  of  is  already  wealthy.  Han  and  Wei  were  two 
of  the  six  great  families  of  the  State  of  Tsin, — of  wliom  some  account  is 
given  on  I.  Ft  I.  i.  1. 

Ch.  XII.  When  a  ruler's  aim  is  evidently  the  people's  good,  t«ey 

WILL  not  murmur  AT  HIS  HARSHEST  MEASURES. 

The  first  part  is  explained  ri,L,'htly  of  toils  in  agriculture,  road-making, 
bridge-making,  &c. ;  and  the  second  is  supjjosed  to  refer  to  the  administra- 
tion of  justice,  but  I  should  prefer  thinking  tbat  Mencius  had  the  idea  of 
a  just  war  before  him.     Compare  Ana.  XX.  ii.  2. 

Ch.  XIII.    The  influence  exerted  by  a  true  sovereign  and  his 


PT  I.  cn.  XIV.]  TSiN  SIN.  349 

the  people  look  brisk  and  cheerful ;    under  a  true  king  they 
have  an  air  of  deep  contentment. 

2.  "  Though  he  slay  them,  they  do  not  murmur;  when  he 
benefits  them,  they  do  not  think  of  hi.s  merit.  From  day  to 
day  they  make  progress  towards  what  is  good,  without  know- 
ing who  makes  them  do  so. 

3.  "  Wherever  the  superior  man  passes  through,  transform- 
ation follows  ;  wherever  he  abides,  his  influence  is  of  a 
spiritual  nature.  It  flows  abroad,  above,  and  beneath  like 
that  of  heaven  and  earth.  How  can  it  be  said  that  he 
mends  [society]  but  in  a  small  way  ?  " 

XIV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Kindly  words  do  not  enter  into 
men  so  deeply  as  a  reputation  for  kindness. 

RULE.     The  different  and  inferior  influence  op  a  president  of 
THE  States. 

Par:  1.  "Brisk  and  cheerful  ;" — but  the  permanence  of  this  cannot  be 
looked  for.  In  illustration  of  the  condition  and  appearance  of  the  people 
under  a  true  sovereign,  commentators  generally  quote  a  tradition  of  their 
state  under  Yaou,  when  "entire  harmony  reigned  under  heaven,  and  the 
lives  of  the  people  passed  easily  away."  Then  the  old  men  struck  the  clods, 
and  sang  : — 

"  We  rise  at  sunrise, 
We  rest  at  sunset, 
Dig  wells  and  drink, 
Till  our  fields  and  eat ; — 
What  is  the  strength  of  the  emperor  to  us  ? " 

Par.  2.  There  is  the  same  difficulty  in  interpreting  the  first  clause  here  of 
the  administration  of  justice,  which  I  have  adverted  to  in  the  note  on  ch.  xii. 

Par.  3.  "  The  superior  man "  has  the  highest  meaning  of  which  the 
phrase  is  susceptible,  and  =:  a  sage,  and  even  a  sage  on  the  throne.  In  the 
iutluence  of  Shun  in  the  time  of  his  obscurity,  when  the  ploughmen  yielded 
the  furVow  among  themselves,  and  the  potters  made  their  vessels  all  sound, 
we  have  an  example,  it  is  said,  of  a  sage's  transforming  influence  wherever  he 
passed  through,  or  resided  for  a  time.  In  what  would  have  been  the  influence 
of  Confucius,  had  he  been  in  the  position  of  a  ruler,  as  described  in  Ana. 
XIX.  XXV.  4,  we  have,  it  is  said,  an  example  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  a 
sage,  wherever  he  abides.  A  "  spiritual  "  influence  is  one  which  is  wonder- 
ful and  mysterious,  great  but  not  palpable,  like  the  plastic  energy  of  nature, 
— the  growth  and  transformations  constantly  going  on  under  heaven  and 
earth.  These  last  terms  show  that  a  pantlieistic  view  of  the  universe  had 
come,  at  times  at  least,  to  supersede  the  idea  of  the  operation  of  a  personal 
God. 

Ch.  XIV.  The  a'alue  to  a  ruler  of  a  good  reputation  and  of 
aiosAL  influences. 


850  THE    WORKS    OP    MENCIUS.  [bK   VII. 

2.  "  Good  f^overnment  does  not  lay  liold  of  the  people  so 
much  as  good  instructions. 

3.  "  Good  government  is  feared  by  the  people,  [but] 
good  instructions  are  loved  by  them.  Good  government 
gets  the  people's  wealth,  [but]  good  instructions  get  their 
hearts." 

XV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  The  ability  possessed  by  men  with- 
out having  been  acquired  by  learning  is  their  intuitive 
ability,  and  the  knowledge  possessed  by  them  without  the 
exercise  of  thought  is  their  intuitive  knowledge. 

2.  *'  Children  cari'ied  in  the  arms  all  know  to  love  their 
parents  ;  and  when  they  are  grown  [a  little],  they  all  know 
to  respect  their  elder  brothers. 

3.  "  Filial  affection  for  parents  is  benevolence  ;  respect 
for  elders  is  righteousness.  There  is  no  other  [cause  for 
these  feelings];— they  belong  to  all  under  heaven." 

XVI.  Mencius  said,  "  When  Shun  was  living  amidst  the 
deep  retired  mountains,  dwelling  with  the  trees  and  rocks, 
and  wandering  with  the  deer  and  swine,  the  difference 
between  him  and  the  rude  inhabitants  of  those  remote  hills 
was  very  small.     But  when  he  heard  a  single  good  word,  or 

Par.  1.  Kindly  words  are  but  brief,  and  on  an  occasion.  A  reputation 
for  kindness  is  the  growth  of  time  and  of  many  evidences. 

Par.  2.  "Good  government"  refers  to  the  various  enactments  of  law, 
affecting  the  external  condition  of  the  people  "Good  insti'uctions  "  are 
the  lessons  of  duty,  which  shoulil  be  impressed  in  connexion  with  these. — 
Commentators,  to  make  out  a  connexion  between  this  par.  and  the  former, 
say  that  the  "  good  reputation  "  ha.i  grown  out  of  the  good  government. 

Par.  3.  Compare  Ana.  II.  iii. 

Cn.  XV.  Benevolence  and  laoiiTEOtJSNEss  proved  hy  the  case  of 
cimmjukx  to  be  natural  to  ma.v,  and  parts  of  his  constitution. 

Par.  1.  'I'lie  ])hras('s  translated  "  intuitive  ainlity,"  "  intuitive  knowledge" 
have  also  the  idea  of  f/i>odiu:ss  in  them. 

Par.  'A.  The  latter  half  of  thi.-j  paragraph  is  by  no  means  clear,  or  easily 
translated.  I  have  given  Choo  He's  view  of  it.  Cliaou  K'e  says  : — 
"  Those  who  wi.sh  to  do  good  have  nothing  el.se  to  do  but  to  extend  these 
ways  of  cliildren  to  all  umler  heaven." 

Cn.  X\'I.  How  WHAT  Shun  was  discovehed  itself  in  his  gkeatkst 

OBSCUKITY. 

iShuu's  emotion  of  mind  was  as  here  jiictured. 


PT    I.    CH.  XIX.]  TSIN    SIN.  351 

saw  a  single  good  action^  lie  was  like  the  Keang  or  the  IIo, 
bursting  its  banks,  and  grandly  flowing  out  in  an  irresistible 
flood." 

XVII.  Mencius  said,  "  Let  a  man  not  do  what  [his  sense 
of  righteousness  tells  him]  not  to  do,  and  let  him  not  desire 
what  [the  same  sense  tells  him]  not  to  desire  : — to  act  thus 
is  all  that  he  has  to  do." 

XVIII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "^'When  men  ai-e  possessed  of 
intelligent  virtue  and  prudence  in  the  management  of 
aS'airs,  it  generally  arises  fi-om  their  having  been  in  distress. 

2,  "  They  are  the  friendless  minister  and  the  despised  con- 
cubine's son  who  keep  their  hearts  under  a  sense  of  peril, 
and  use  deep  precautions  against  calamity.  They  become  in 
consequence  distinguished  for  their  intelligence.''' 

XIX.  1.  Mencius  said,  "There  are  persons  who  serve 
the  ruler ; — they  serve  the  ruler,  that  is,  for  the  sake  of  his 
countenance  and  favour. 

2.  "  There  are  ministers  who  seek  the  safety  of  the  altars ; 
— they  find  their  pleasure  in  securing  that  tranquillity. 

3.  "There  are  those  who  are  the  people  of  Heaven; — 
[judging  that],  if  they  were  in  office,  they  could  carry  out 
[their  principles]  all  under  heaven,  they  proceed  [so]  to 
carry  them  out. 


Ch.  XVII.  Man's  whole  duty  is  to  obey  the  law  in  himself. 

It  would  not  be  easy  to  make  this  utterance  intelligible  without  supple- 
ment. Chaou  interprets  and  supplies  thus  :  "  Do  not  make  a  man  do  what 
you  yourself  do  not  do,"  &c. 

Ch.  XVIII.  The  benefits  of  teouble  and  affliction  ; — illustrated. 
Compare  VI.  Pt  II.  xv. 

Cn.  XIX.  Four  different  classes  ofministeus  : — the  mercenary  ; 

the  loyal  ;    the  unselfish  and  far-reaching  ;    THE  TKULY  GREAT. 

Par.  1.  Mencius  speaks  of  this  class  as  only  "  persons," — in  contempt. 

Par.  2.   Compare  Pt  II.  xiv. 

Par.  3.  Compare  V.  Pt  I.  vii.  5,  though  some  contend   that  "  the  people 

of  Heaven  "  has  a  wider  meaning  there  than  here.     The  phrase  here  denotes 

men  who  are  contented  with  their  position  in  obscurity,  and  would   continue 

•all  their  life  in  it,  but  are  prepared  at  the  same  time  to  go  forth   to  public 

duty,  when  they  see  the  call. 


352  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [eK   VII. 

4.  "  There  are  those  who  are  great  men  ; — they  rectify 
themselves,  and  [all]  things  are  rectified.'^ 

XX.  1.  Mencius  said,  "The  superior  man  has  three 
things  in  which  he  delights,  and  to  be  sovereign  over  all 
under  heaven  is  not  one  of  them. 

2.  "  That  his  father  and  mother  are  both  alive,  and  that 
his  brothers  afford  no  cause  [for  distress  of  mind]  ; — this  is 
his  first  delight. 

3.  "That,  when  looking  up,  ho  has  no  occasion  for  shame 
before  Heaven,  and,  below,  he  has  no  occasion  to  blush 
before  men  ; — this  is  his  second  delight. 

4.  "  That  he   gets   hold  of  the    individuals  of  the  most 
superior  abilities  in  the  kingdom,  and  teaches  and  nourishes, 
them ; — this  is  his  third  delight. 

5.  ''The  superior  man  has  three  things  in  which  he 
delights,  and  to  be  sovereign  over  all  under  heaven  is  not 
one  of  them.^^ 

XXI.  I.  Mencius  said,  '' Wide  territor}'^  and  a  numerous 
people  are  desired  by  the  superior  man,  but  what  he  delights 
in  is  not  here. 

2.  "To  stand  in  the  centre  of  the  kingdom  and  give 
tranquillity  to  the  people  within  the  four  seas  is  an  occasion 
of  delight  to  the  superior  man  ;  but  [the  highest  element  of] 
what  belongs  to  him  by  his  nature  is  not  here. 

Par.  4.  The  "  [all]  tiling:^,"  must  be  understood  first  of  the  ruler  and 
people. 

Ch.  XX.  The  three  things  which  the  superior  man  delights  in. 
Royal  sway  is  not  one  of  them. 
A  very  flue  chapter. 

Ch.  XXI.  Man's  nature  the  most  important  thing  to  him,  and  the 
SOURCE  OP  nis  gpwKAtkst  en.;oyment.  Its  constituents  and  their 
.manifestation.  This  iilso  is  a  fine  chapter,  but  it  is  not  so.  intelligible  as 
the  fast.     There  is  a  mistiness  about  the  two  last  paragraphs. 

Par.  1.  This  describes  the  condition  of  the  lord  of  a  large  State,  who  has 
many  opportunites  of  doing  good.  Why  he  should  not  delight  in  it,  as 
mucii  as  the  .subject  of  tlie  next  paragraph  in  his  condition,  I  do  not  see. 

Par.  2.  The  subject  of  this  par.  is  a  true  king,  and  why  he  should  delight 
in  his  condition  contrary  to  the  dictum  in  par.  1  of  last  chapter,  I  do  not 
see.  "  What  belongs  to  his  nature"  would  appear  to  be  here  as  much  as  in 
the  manifestations  of  it  mentioned  in  par.  4. 


FT    I.    CH.  XXII.]  TSIN    SIN.  353 

3.  ^^  What  belongs  to  the  superior  man  by  his  nature  can- 
not be  increased  by  the  largeness  of  his  sphere  of  actioa, 
nor  diminished  by  his  being  in  poverty  and  retirement ; — 
for  this  reason,  that  it  is  determinately  apportioned  to  him 
[by  Heaven] . 

4.  "  What  belong  to  the  superior  man  are — benevolence, 
righteousness,  propriety,  and  knowledge,  rooted  in  his  heart. 
Their  growth  and  manifestation  area  mild  harmony  appear- 
ing in  the  countenance,  a  rich  fulness  in  the  back,  and  the 
character  imparted  to  the  four  limbs.  The  four  limbs  under- 
stand [their  several  motions]  without  being  told." 

XXII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Pili-e,  that  he  might  avoid  [the 
tyrant]  Chow,  was  dwelling  on  the  coast  of  the  northern  sea. 
When  he  heard  of  the  rise  of  king  Wan,  he  roused  himself 
and  said, '  Why  should  I  not  attach  myself  to  him  ?  I  have 
heard  that  the  chief  of  the  West  knows  well  how  to  nourish 
the  old.'  T'ae-kung,  that  he  might  avoid  Chow,  was  dwell- 
ing on  the  coast  of  the  eastern  sea.  When  he  heard  of  the  rise 
of  king  Wan,  he  roused  himself,  and  said,  'Why  should  I 
not  attach  myself  to  him  ?  I  have  heard  that  the  chief  of 
the  West  knows  well  how  to  nourish  the  old.'  If  in  the  king- 
dom there  were  [now]  a  prince  who  knew  well  how  to  nour- 
ish the  old,  benevolent  men  would  consider  that  he  was  the 
proper  object  for  them  to  gather  to. 

2.  "  Around  the  homestead  with  its  five  mow,  the  space  at 
the  foot  of  the  walls  was  planted  with  mulberry  trees,  with 
which  the  [farmer's]  wife  nourished  silkworms,  and  thus  the 
old  were  able  to  have  silk  to  wear.  When  the  five  brood- 
Par.  3.  Does  Mencius  mean  to  say  that  the  nature,  being  given  from 
Heaven  complete,  cannot,  where  it  is  cherished,  be  added  to  or  improved 
from  without  by  any  course  of  its  possessor  ?  What  he  seems  to  assert 
■would  need  to  be  more  clearly  defined. 

Par.  4.  Here  our  philosopher  is  more  magniloquent  than  precise.  Tlie 
last  sentence  means  that  the  limbs  are  instantaneously  obedient  to  the  will. 

Ch.  XXn.    The  goverxment  of  king  Wan,  by  which  he  showed 

THAT  HE  KNEW  WELL  HOW  TO  SUPPOET  THE  OLD. 

Par.  1.  See  IV.  Ft  I.  xiii.  1. 

Par.  2.  This  par.  is  to  be  translated  historically,  as  it  describes  king 
Wan's  government.  See  I.  Pt  I.  iii.  4  ;  et  al.  Mencius  has  not  mentioned 
before  the  number  of  brood  hens  and  sows  requh-ed  to  be  kept  by  each 
family. 

VOL.  II.  23 


354  THE  WORKS  OP  MENCIUS.  [bK  VII. 

liens  and  the  two  brood-sows  [of  each  family]  were  kept  to 
their  [breeding]  seasons,  the  old  were  able  to  have  flesh  to 
eat.  The  husbandmen  cultivated  their  fields  of  a  hundred 
mow,  and  their  families  of  eight  mouths  were  secured  against 
want. 

3.  "The  expression,  'The  chief  of  the  West  knows  well 
how  to  nourish  the  old,'  referred  to  his  regulations  about  the 
fields  and  dwellings,  his  teaching  [the  farmers]  to  plant  [the 
mulberry  tree]  ,  and  nourish  [those  animals];  his  instructing 
their  wives  and  children,  so  that  they  should  nourish  their 
acj-ed.  At  fifty  warmth  cannot  be  maintained  without  silks  ; 
and  at  seventy  flesh  is  necessary  to  satisfy  the  appetite. 
[The  aged],  not  kept  warm,  nor  well  supplied  with  food,  are 
said  to  be  '  starved  and  famished,'  but  among  the  people  of 
kino-  Wan  there  were  no  a":ed  in  that  condition. — This  was 
the  meaning  of  that  expression. 

XXTIL  1 .  Mencius  said,  "■  Let  it  be  seen  to  that  their  fields 
of  grain  and  flax  are  well  cultivated,  and  make  the  taxes  on 
them  light : — so  the  people  may  be  made  rich. 

2,  "  Let  [the  people]  use  their  resources  of  food  seasonably 
and  expend  thetn  [only]  on  the  prescribed  ceremonies  : — so 
they  will  bo  more  than  can  be  consumed. 

3.  "  The  people  cannot  live  without  water  and  fire  ;  yet, 
if  you  knock  at  a  man's  door  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening, 
and  ask  for  water  and  fire,  there  is  no  one  who  will  not  give 
them,  such  is  the  great  abundance  of  them.  A  sage  would 
govern  the  kingdom  so  as  to  cause  pulse  and  millet  to  be  as 
abundant  as  fire  and  water.  When  pulse  and  millet  are  as 
abundant  as  fire  and  water,  how  shall  there  be  among  the 
people  any  that  are  not  virtuous  ?  " 

Par.  ii.  By  "  fields  "  we  are  to  understand  the  allotments  of  100  mow, 
and  by  "  dwellings,"  the  homesteads,  each  with  its  five  motv. 

Ch.  XXIII,  The  first  care  op  a  government,  to  promote  the  vir- 
tue VV  THE  PEOPLE,  SHOULD  BE  TO  JIAKE  THEM  WELL  OFF  ;  AND  HOW 
THIS  IS  TO  BE  DONE. 

J'.ir.  2.  "  Seasonalily  ; " — see  I.  Ft  I.  ill.  .3,  4.  The  "  prescribed  cere- 
monies "  would  be  the  occasions  of  capping,  marriage,  funerals,  Sec,  excepting 
on  which  a  strict  economy  was  to  be  observed. 

J'.ir.  3.  With  the  concluding  sentiment  compare  VI.  Pt  I.  vii.  1  ;  et  al. 


PT  I.  CH,  XXIV.]  TsiN  sr^.  355 

XXIV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Confucius  ascended  tlie  eastern 
hill,  and  Loo  appeared  to  him  small.  He  ascended  tlie  T'ae 
mountain,  and  all  beneath  the  heavens  appeared  to  him  small. 
So,  he  who  has  contemplated  the  sea  finds  it  difficult  to  think 
anything  of  other  waters ;  and  he  who  has  been  a  student 
in  the  gate  of  the  sage  finds  it  diflicult  to  think  anything 
of  the  words  of  others. 

2.  "  There  is  an  art  in  the  contemplation  of  water; — it  is 
necessary  to  contemplate  its  swelling  waves.  When  the  sun 
or  the  moon  is  at  its  brightest,  its  light  admitted  [even] 
through  an  orifice  is  sure  to  illuminate. 

3.  "  Flowing  water  is  a  thing  which  does  not  proceed  till 
it  has  filled  the  hollows  [in  its  course].  The  student  who 
has  set  his  mind  on  the  doctrines  [of  the  sage]  does  not 
come  to  the  understanding  of  them  but  by  completing  one 
lesson  after  another." 


Ch.  XXIV.  The  doctrines  of  the  sage,  though  great,  have  their 

RADICAL  PRINCIPLES,  AND  THE  STUDENT  CAN  GET  A  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THEM 
ONLY  BY  A  GRADUAL  PROCESS. 

Par.  1.  The  higher  one  is,  the  smaller  does  what  is  heneath  him  appear  to 
be  ;  the  more  familiar  we  are  with  what  is  great,  the  more  difficult  do  we 
find  it  to  ai)prpciate  what  is  small.  This  appears  to  he  the  lesson  in  this 
paragrajih,  which  is  aptly  compared  to  the  allitit'irc  stanzas  and  odes  in  the 
Book  of  Poetry  ;  the  whole  being  designed  to  imjiress  the  mind  with  the 
greatness  of  the  doctrines  of  tlie  snge, — of  Confucius,  by  way  of  eminence. 
There  is  a  difficulty  in  identifying  what  is  here  called  "  the  eastern  hill." 
Some  will  have  it  to  be  a  small  hill,  called  Fang,  in  the  present  district  of 
K'euh-fow,  at  the  foot  of  which  Confucius'  parents  were  buried  ;  others,  the 
Mung  hill  (Ana.  XVI.  i.  4),  in  the  district  of  Pe,  department  E-chow.  Mount 
T'ae  was  the  cliief  of  the  five  great  mountains  of  China.  It  lay  on  the 
extreme  east  of  Ts'e, — in  the  present  department  of  T'ae-gan,  and  about 
two  miles  from  the  city  of  that  name.  A  place  is  shown  on  the  mountain, 
barely  half  way  to  its  summit,  as  the  point  to  which  Confucius  ascended  ; 
but  there  is  a  temple  to  him,  now  sadly  dilapidated,  near  the  summit  itself. 
Confucius,  no  doubt,  would  go  to  the  very  top  of  it. 

Par.  2.  The  lesson  here  seems  to  be  that  the  very  greatness  of  the  sage's 
doctrines  must  lead  us  to  thiidi  of  their  elementary  principles.  WTio  can 
look  at  tlie  foaming  waves,  and  suppose  that  they  are  fortuitous  and  source- 
less?  The  full-orbed  sun  or  moon  is  so  bright  that  we  can  hardly  look  at  it, 
but  its  light  evidences  itself  even  through  the  smallest  orifice.  This  par.  is 
compared  to  the  inefaphorlcdl  stanzas  and  odes  in  the  Book  of  Poetry. 

Par.  3.  This  ]iar.  is  the  practical  application  of  the  chapter.  .  "  Flowing 
water;" — see  IV.  Pt  II.  xviii.  2.  "T,ie  student"  is,  literally,  "  the  .su- 
perior man," — meaning  such  a  man  bent  on  learning  the  doctrines  di  the 


356  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [l3K    TIT. 

XXV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  He  who  rises  at  cock-crow,  and 
addresses  himself  earnestly  to  the  practice  of  what  is  good,  is 
a  disciple  of  Shun. 

2.  "  He  who  rises  at  cock-crow,  and  addresses  himself 
earnestly  to  the  pursuit  of  gain,  is  a  disciple  of  Chih. 

3.  "  If  you  want  to  know  what  separated  Shun  from  Chih 
it  was  nothing  but  this, — the  interval  between  [the  thought 
of]  gain  and  [the  thought  of]  goodness." 

XXVI.  1.  MenciVis  said,  ''The  principle  of  Yang-tsze  was 
— 'Each  one  for  himself.^  Though  by  plucking  out  one 
hair  he  might  have  benefited  all  under  heaven,  he  would  not 
have  done  it. 

2.  "  Mih-tsze  loves  all  equally.  If,  by  rubbing  [bare  all 
his  body]  from  the  crown  to  the  heel,  he  could  have  benefit- 
ed all  under  heaven,  he  would  have  done  it. 

3.  "  Tsze-moh  holds  a  medium  [between  these],  and  by 
holding  that  medium  he  is  nearer  the  right.  But  by  holding 
it  without  leaving  room  for  the  exigency  of  circumstances,  it 
becomes  like  their  holding  their  one  point. 

4.  "  What  I  dislike  in   that   holding  one  point  is  the  in- 


Ch.  XXV.   The  different  results  op  the  thought  of  goodness 

AND  THE  THOUGHT  OF  GAIN. 

Par.  1.  "  A  disciple  of  Shun  ;  " — i.  c,  although  such  a  man  may  not 
himself  attain  to  be  a  sage,  he  is  treading  in  the  steps  of  one. 

Par.  2.   "  Chih  ;  "—see  III.  Pt  II.  x.  3. 

Ch.  XXVI.  The  errors  of  Yano-tsze,  Mih-tsze,  and  Tsze-moh. 
Obstinate  adherence  to  a  princu'le,  irrespective  of  all  opposino 
considerations,  is  very  perilous. 

Par.  1.  Yang-tsze  is  the  Yang  Choo  of  III.  ii.  ix.  3  ; — see  what  I  have 
said  on  him  in  the  prolcrjnmena.  One  of  the  paragraphs  there,  exhibiting 
his  sayings  and  views,  contains  the  words  here  used  to  describe  his  principle 
by  Mencius.     It  was,  no  doubt,  current  among  scholars. 

Par.  2.  Mih-tsze  has  appeared  already  in  III.  Pt  I.  v.  1,  and  Pt  JI.  ix.  ; 
— see  al.so  the  account  of  him  and  of  his  principle  in  the  prolrgomcti'i. 

Par.  3.  Tsze-moh  is  sai<l  to  have  belonged  to  Loo,  but  nothing  more  is 
known  of  him.  What  his  principle  was  cannot  therefore  be  defined.  It 
could  not  have  been  that  developed  in  the  "  Doctrine  of  the  Mean  ;  "  what 
he  held  must  have  been  something  intermediate  between  the  selfishness  of 
Yang  and  the  trans -endentalism  of  Mill.  What  Mencius  meant  l)y  "the 
exigency  of  circumstances"  will  be  understood  by  a  reference  to  IV.  Pt  I. 
xvii. 

Par.  4.  The  orthodox  way  of  the  scholars  of  China  is  to  do  what  is  right 


PT  I.  cn.  XXIX.]  Tsra  sm.  357 

jury  it  does  to  the  way  [of  right  principle] .     It  takes  up  one 
point  and  disregards  a  hundred  others.'' 

XXVII.  I.  Mencius  st;id,  "  The  hungry  think  any  food 
sweet,  and  the  thirsty  think  the  same  of  any  drink  ;  and  thus 
they  do  not  know  the  right  [taste]^  of  what  they  eat  and  drink. 
The  hunger  and  thirst,  [in  fact,]  injure  [their  pahite].  And 
is  it  only  the  mouth  and  belly  that  are  injured  ^by  hunger 
and  thirst  ?     Men's  minds  are  also  injured  by  them. 

2.  "If  a  man  can  prevent  the  injurious  evils  of  hunger 
and  thirst  from  doing  any  injury  to  his  mind,  there  need  be 
no  anxiety  about  his  not  being  up  with  other  men." 

XXVIII.  Mencius  said,  "  liwuy  of  Lew-hea  would  not  for 
the  three  highest  offices  at  the  royal  court  have  changed  his 
guiding  plan  of  life." 

XXIX.  Mencius  said,  ''  A  man  with  definite  aims  to  be 
accomplished  may  be  compared  to  one  digging  a  well.  To 
dig  the  well  to  a  depth  of  seventy-two  cubits,  [and  stop] 
without  reaching  the  spring,  is  after  all  throwing  away  the 
well." 

with  reference  to  the  whole  circumstances  of  every  case  and  time.     See 
Mencius'  defence  of  it  in  VI.  I't  II.  1. 

Ch.  XXVII.  The  importance  of  not  allowing  the  mind  to  be  in- 

JURKD  BY  POVERTY  AND  A  MEAN  CONDITION. 

Par.  1.  With  reference  to  the  mind,  hunger  and  thirst  stand  for  poverty 
and  a  mean  condition. 

Par.  2.  "  Other  men  "  here  are  not  the  wealthy  and  honourable,  but  sages 
and  worthies.     Such  a  man  is  on  the  way  to  become  one  of  them. 

Ch.  XXVIII.  Hwuv  of  Lsw-niiA's  stedfast  adherence  to  his  plan 

OP  LIFE. 

On  Hwuy  of  Lew-hea  see  II.  Pt  I.  ix.  2,  3  ;  et  al.  In  V.  Pt  I.  i.  .5,  a 
certain  mildness,  or  accommodating  of  himself  to  others,  is  mentioned  as 
Hwuy's  characteristic,  but  Mencius  takes  care  here  that  that  should  not  be 
confounded  with  vacillating  weakness.  For  the  "three  Aw/i^,"  or  highest 
ministers  at  the  royal  court,  see  the  Book  of  Historj',  V.  xx.  5. 

Ch.  XXIX.  That  labour  only  is  to  be  prized  which  accomplishes 
its  ob.iect. 

Compare  Ana.  IX.  xviii.  ;  and  VI.  Pt  I.  xix.  The  commentators  mostly 
suppose  that  Mencius  had  the  prosecution  of  learning  in  view  ;  but  the  ap- 
plication of  his  words  may  be  very  wide. 


358  THE    WORKS    OP  MENCIUS.  [bK   VIT. 

XXX.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  [Benevolence  and  righteousness] 
were  natural  to  Yaou  and  Shun.  T'ang  and  Woo  made 
them  their  own.  The  five  presidents  of  the  States  feigned 
them. 

2.  "  Having  borrowed  them  long  and  not, returned  them, 
how  could  it  be  known  that  they  did  not  own  them  ?  " 

XXXI.  1.  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  said,  "E  Yin  said,  *I  cannot 
be  near  so  disobedient  a  person/  and  therewith  he  banished 
T'ae-keah  to  T'ung.  The  people  were  much  pleased. 
When  T^ae-keah  became  virtuous,  he  then  brought  him  back ; 
and  the  people  were  much  pleased. 

2.  "  When  worthies  are  ministers,  and  their  rulers  are 
not  virtuous,  may  they  indeed  banish  them  in  tliis  way  ?  " 

3.  Mencius  replied,  "If  they  have  the  mind  of  E  Yin, 
they  may.  If  they  have  not  the  mind,  it  would  be  usurpa- 
tion." 

XXXII.  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  said,  "  It  is  said  in  the  Book 
of  Poetry, 

'  He  would  not  eat  the  bread  of  idleness  ! ' 

How  is  it  that  we  see  superior  men  eating  without  plough- 
in  fj-  ?  '^     Mencius  replied,  "When  a  superior  man  resides  in 

Ch.  XXX.  The  differexce  of  the  chaeacters  displayed  by  Yaou 
AND  Shun,  by  T'ang  a^td  Woo,  and  ry  the  five  presidents  op  the 
States,  as  natural,  acquired,  and  fekined. 

Par.  1.  Mencius  is  speaking  of  tlie  attributes  displayed  by  the  parties 
mentioned  in  their  several  rules.  "The  five  presidents  of  the  States;" — 
see  VI.  Pt  II.  vii. 

Far.  2.  Some  would  interpret  this  par.  : — "  Having  feigned  tliem  long, 
and  not  returned  [to  the  right],  how  could  they  know  that  they  did  not 
[really]  have  them  1  " 

Cn.  XXXI.  The  end  may  justify  the  means  in  dealing  with  a 

BAD  RL'LEIt,  BUT  THE  PKINCIPLE  IS  NOT  TO  BE  EASILY  APPLIED. 

Par.  1.  E  Yin  and  his  dealing  with  T'ae-keah  ; — see  V.  I't  I.  vi.  5,  and 
the  Book  of  History,  IV.  v.  Pt   I.  D. 

Par.  3.  The  mind  of  E  Yin  was  entirely  loyal,  and  his  aim  was  only  the 
public  good. — Compare  for  the  general  sentiment  what  Mencius  says  in  V. 
Pt  II.  ix.,  and  II.  Pt  11.  viii.  2. 

Ch.  XXXII.  The  services  which  a  superior  man  renders  to  a 
State  entitle  him,  without  doing  oi  ticial  duty,  to  sui'port. 

We  have  here  an  instance  of  the  insinuation  repeatedly  made  by  disciples 


PT    I.    CH.  XXXIV,]  TSIN    SIN.  3-j9 

any  State,  let  its  ruler  employ  liis  counsels,  and  lie  comes  to 
tranquillity,  wealth,  honour,  and  glory.  Let  the  young  in  it 
follow  his  instructions,  and  they  become  filial,  obedient  to 
their  elders,  true-hearted,  and  faithful.  What  greater  ex- 
ample can  there  be  than  this  of  not  eating  the  bread  of 
idleness  ?  " 

XXXIII.  1.  The  king's  son.  Teen,  asked,  saying, 
"  What  is  the  business  of  the  [unemployed]  scholar  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  To  exalt  his  aim." 

3.  "  What  do  you  mean  by  exalting  the  aim  ?  "  asked 
[the  other] .  The  answer  was,  "  [Setting  it]  simply  on 
benevolence  and  righteousness.  ['L'he  scholar  thinks]  how 
to  put  a  single  innocent  person  to  death  is  contrary  to 
benevolence ;  how  to  take  what  one  has  not  [a  right  to]  is 
contrary  to  righteousness  ;  that  one's  dwelling-place  should 
be  benevolence,  and  one's  path  righteousness.  When  benevo- 
lence is  the  dwelling-place  [of  the  mind],  and  righteousness 
the  path  [of  the  life] ,  the  business  of  the  great  man  is  com- 
plete." 

XXXIV.  Mencius  said,  "  Supposing  that  the  kingdom 
of  Ts^e  were  otfered,  contrary  to  righteousness,  to  Chuug- 

of  Mencius,  that  it  was  wrong  in  him  to  he  supported  hy  the  princes,  while 
he  would  not  take  office  under  them.     Compare  III.  Pt  I.  iv.  ;  Pt  II.  iv.  :  ct 
al.     On  the  nature  of  Mencius'  defence  of  his  practice,  see  what  I  have  said 
in  the  sketcli  of  his  Life  and  Character  in  the  Prolegomena. 
The  Ode  quoted  from  is  the  8th  of  Book  IX.  Pt  I. 

CH.  XXXIII.  How  A  SCHOLAR  SHOULD  PREPARE  HIMSELF  FOR  THE 
DUTIES  TO  WHICH  HE  ASPIRES. 

Par.  1.  Teen  was,  probably,  a  son  of  king  Seuen  of  Ts'e.     In  the  time  of 
the  Warring  States,  the  number  of  wandering  scholars,  seeking   to  be  em 
ploj'ed,  had  greatly  increased.     Thej'  were  no  favourites  with  Mencius,  but 
he  here  answers  the  prince  according  to  his  ideal  of  the  scholar. 

Par.  3.  On  benevolence  as  man's  dwelling-place,  and  righteousness  as 
man^s  path,  see  VI.  Pt  I.  xi.  We  can  ha'rdly  understand  "the  great  man  " 
here  as  in  xi.v.  -i.  There  it  denotes  sages,  the  higliest  style  of  man ;  here, 
the  individuals  in  the  various  grades  of  official  employment,  with  an  impli- 
cation, perhaps,  that  such  a  scholar  was  lit  for  the  highest  office. 

CH.  XXXIV.  HOWMEX  JUDGE  WROXGLY  OP  CHARACTER,  OVERLOOKING, 
IN  THEIR  ADJURATION  OF  ONE  ECCENTRIC  E.XCELLENCE,  GREAT  FAILURES 
AND  DEFICIENCIES. 

Chung-tsze,  or  Mr   Chung,  is  the  Ch'in   Chung  of   III.  Pt  II.  x.,  which 


360  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK   VIT. 

tsze,  lie  would  not  receive  it ;  and  all  men  believe  in  him 
[as  a  man  of  the  highest  worth].  But  this  is  [only]  the 
righteousness  which  declines  a  small  basket  of  rice  and  a 
dish  of  soup.  A  man  can  have  no  greater  [crimes]  than  to 
disown  his  parents  and  relatives,  and  [the  relations  of] 
ruler  and  minister,  superioi's  and  inferiors.  How  can  it  be 
allowed  to  give  a  man  credit  for  the  great  [excellences]  be- 
cause he  possesses  a  small  one.'^ 

XXXV.  1.  T'aou  Ying  asked,  saying,  "  Shun  being 
emperor,  and  Kaou  Yaou  chief  minister  of  justice,  if  Koo- 
sow  had  murdered  a  man,  what  would  have  been  done  in 
the  case  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  said, ''  [Kaou  Yaou]  would  simply  have  appre- 
hended him." 

'6.     "  But  would  not  Shun  have  forbidden  such  a  thins:  ?  " 

4.  "  Indeed,"  was  the  reply,  "how  could  Shun  have  for- 
bidden it  ?  [The  other]  had  received  [the  law]  from  a 
proper  source." 

5.  "  In  that  case  what  would  Shun  have  done  ?  " 

6.  [Mencius]  said,  '^  Shun  would  have  regarded  aband- 
oning all  under  heaven  as  throwing  away  a  worn-out  sandal. 
He  would  privately  have  taken  [his  father]  on  his  back,  and 
withdrawn  into  concealment,  living  somewhere  on  the  sea- 
board. There  he  would  have  becu  all  his  life,  cheerful  and 
happy,  forgetting  the  empire." 

XXXVI.  1.    Mencius,  going  from  Fan  to   [the  capital 

chapter  should  be  read  ia  connexion  witli  this.  On  declining  a  small  basket 
of  rice,  &c.,  see  VI.  Pt  I.  x.  6. 

Ch.  XXXV.  What  Shu.v  ANf)  uis  iiixisTicit  of  Justice  would  have 

DONE  IP  SHUN'S  KATUEU  HAD  COMMITTKD  A  MURDER. 

Par.  1.  T'aou  Ying,  it  is  .^^upposcd,  wn.s  a  disciple  of  Mencius.  AVe  hardly 
know  an)'thii)g  more  of  him  than  what  appearts  liero.  hjee  Kaou  Yaou's  ap- 
pointment to  be  minister  of  Justice  in  the  Book  of  History,  II.  i.  2'). 

Par.  2.  HewoulJ  have  apprehended  Kdo-.sow,  and  dealt  with  him  ac- 
cording to  hi.s  crime. 

Par.  4.  The  "  proper  .source  "  from  which  Kaon  Yaou  had  received  the 
law,  and  especially  that  of  death  for  the  murderer,  was  Heaven.  8ee  Kaou 
Yaou's  "  Counsels"  in  the  Book  of  History,  11.  iii. 

Par.  5.  This  is  Mencius'  view  of  wh;it  Slum  would  have  done  according 
to  the  Chinese  idea  of  the  relation  of  father  and  son. 

Ch.  XXXVI.  How  one's  elevated  social  position  affects  his  air, 

AND  MUCH  JIORE  MAY  A  SCHOLAR'S  POSITION  BE  EXPECTKD  TO  DO  SO. 


rr  I.  CH.  xxxviii.]  tsin  sin.  3G1 

of]  Ts'c,  saw  the  sons  of  tlio  king  of  T.s''e  at  a  distance,  and 
said  with  a  sigh,  "  One's  position  alters  tlie  air,  [.just'  as] 
the  nurture  alters  the  body.  Great  is  [the  iniluenco  of] 
position  !     Are  not  [we]  all  men's  sons  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  said,  "  The  residences,  the  carriages  and 
horses,  and  the  dress  of  kings'  sons,  are  mostly  the  same 
as  those  of  other  men.  That  the  king's  sons  look  so  is 
occasioned  by  their  position, — how  much  more  should  [a 
peculiar  air  distinguish]  him  whose  position  is  in  the  wide 
house  of  the  whole  world  ! 

3.  "  When  the  ruler  of  Loo  went  to  Sung,  he  called  out 
at  the  Teeh-chih  gate,  the  warder  of  which  said,  '  This  is 
not  our  ruler,  but  how  like  is  his  voice  to  our  ruler's  ! ' 
This  was  occasioned  by  nothing  but  the  correspondence  of 
their  positions. ^^ 

XXXVII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "To  feed  [a  scholar]  and 
not  love  him  is  to  treat  him  as  a  pig  ;  to  love  him  and  not 
respect  him  is  to  keep  him  as  a  domestic  animal. 

2.  "  Honouring  and  respecting  are  what  should  exist 
before  any  offering  of  gifts. 

3.  "  If  there  be  honouring  and  respecting  without  [that] 
reality  of  them,  a  superior  man  cannot  be  retained  by  such 
empty  [demonstrations] ." 

XXXVIII.  Mencius  said,  "  The  bodily  organs  and  the 

Pur.'l.  Ffin  was  at  this  time  a  city  of  Ts'e,  and  still  gives  its  name  to  a 
district  of  Puh  Chow,  in  the  department  of  Tung-ch'ang.  Chaou  lye  says 
that  it  was  an  appanage  of  the  king's  sons  by  his  concubines.  We  cannot 
tell,  liowever,  whether  it  was  in  Fan,  or  after  his  arrival  at  the  capital,  that 
Mencius  saw  the  king's  son  or  sons.  Thfi  last  sentence  may  also  be  under- 
stood—"Are  not  they — the  king's  sons — all  men's  sons?  " 

P.ir.  '2.  '■  The  wide  house  of  the  world  ;  "—see  III.  Pt  II.  ii.  3. 

Piir.  3.  The  T'eeh  chih  was  the  gate  of  the  capital  of  Sung  on  the  east. 

Cii.  XXXVII.  That  he  be  eeally  respected  should  be  essential 

TO  A  sCHOLAIi's  REMAINING  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  A  PRINCE. 

Till-:  utterance  was,  no  doubt,  drawn  tbrth  by  the  conduct  of  the  vvander- 
ing  Si'  lular.;  of  Mencius'  time,  who  were  glad  to  be  at  a  court  for  what  they 
'CouM  '4  -f.  There  is  admonition  in  it  also  to  the  kinglets  and  princes,  who 
thoui:  1  it  enough,  in  order  to  get  help  from  men  who  might  be  really 
sch()lar>.  K)  support  them. 

Ch.  XXXVIII.  OSL.Y  BY  A  SAGE  ARE  THE  BODILY  ORGANS  AND  THE 
BENSEti  ISED  ACCORDING  TO  THEIR  DESIGN. 


362  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  TbK   VII. 

manifestations  of  sense  belong  to  the  heaven- conferred 
nature.  But  a  man  must  be  a  sage,  and  then  he  may  satisfy 
[the  design  of]   his  bodily  organization.^^ 

XXXIX.  1.  King  Seuen  of  Ts^e  wanted  to  shorten  the 
period  of  mourning.  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  said,  "  To  have  a 
whole  yeai^'s  mourning  is  better  than  doing  away  with  it 
altogether.^' 

2.  Mencius  said,  "  That  is  just  as  if  there  wei-e  one  twist- 
ing round  the  arm  of  his  elder  brother,  and  you  were  merely 
to  say  to  him,  '  Gently,  gently,  if  you  please.'  Your  only 
course  should  be  to  teach  him  filial  piety  and  fraternal 
duty." 

3.  [A.t  that  time]  the  mother  of  one  of  the  king's  sons  had 
died,  and  his  tutor  asked  for  him  that  he  might  be  allowed 
some  months'  mourning.  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  said,  "  What  do 
you  say  to  this  ?  " 

4  "This  is  a  case,"  was  the  reply,  "  where  the  part}''  wishes 
to  complete  the  whole  pei'iod,  but  finds  it  impossible  to  do 
so  ;  the  addition  of  a  single  day  is  better  than  not  mourning 
at  all.  I  spoke  of  the  case  where  there  was  no  liiudrance  and 
the  thing  was  not  done." 

XL.  1.  Mencius  said,  "There  are  five  ways  by  which  the 
superior  man  teaches. 

Mencius'  meaning  is  that,  besides  his  body  and  his  senses,  man  has  his 
mind,  with  the  principles  of  benevolence,  rigliteousness,  propriety,  and 
kTiowlodge ;  and  the  mind  ought  to  rule  tlie  body.  This  is  the  will  of 
Heaven. 

CH.  XXXIX.  riEPROOF  OF  KlTNG-SUN  CH'OW"  FOR  SEEMING  TO  ASSENT 
TO  THE  PROPOSAL  TO  SHORTEN  THE  PERIOD  OF  MOUKNINU.  Compare  Ana. 
XVir.  xxi. 

Par.  1.  The  mourning  here  referred  to  was  that  of  three  years  for  a  pa- 
rent ;  but  perhaps  the  king  wanted  to  shorten  tlie  period  in  other  cases  as 
well. 

Par.  3.  The  "  king's  son  "  here,  it  is  supposed,  was  a  son  by  a  concul)ine, 
and  he  was  prevented  by  the  jealous  or  other  opposition  of  the  queen  proper 
from  completing  the  full  period  of  mourning.  We  cannot  »tiy  whether  this 
was  tlie  case  or  not.  Other  explanations  of  it  have  been  devised  ;  but  it  is 
not  worth  while  to  discuss  them. 

Ch.  XL.  Five  ways  in  which  the  teaching  of  the  superior  man 
IS  effected. 

Par.  1.  The  wish  of  the  superior  man  in  all  cases  is  one  and  the  same, — to 


PT    I.    CH.  XLI.]  TSIN    SIN.  363 

2.  ''  There  are  some  on  whom  his  transforming  influence 
comes  like  seasonable  rain. 

3.  "  There  are  some  whose  virtue  he  perfects,  and  some 
to  whose  talents  he  gives  their  development. 

4.  "  There  are  some  whose  inquiries  he  answers. 

5.  "  There  are  some  who  privately  make  themselves  good, 
and  correct  themselves  [from  his  example  and  recorded  les- 
sons]. 

6.  "  These  five  are  the  ways  by  which  the  superior  man 
teaches. ^^ 

XLI.  1.  Kung-sun  Ch'^ow  said,  "Lofty  are  your  doctrines 
and  admirable,  but  [to  learn  them]  may  well  be  likened  to 
ascending  the  heavens  ; — they  seem  to  be  unattainable.  Why 
not  [adapt  them]  so  as  to  make  those  [learners]  consider 
them  nearly  within  their  reach,  and  so  daily  exert  them- 
selves ?  " 

2.  Mencius  said,  "  A  great  artificer  does  not,  for  the  sake 
of  a  stupid  workman,  alter  or  do  away  with  the  marking-line. 
E  did  not,  for  the  sake  of  a  stupid  archer,  change  his  rule 
for  drawing  the  bow  to  the  full. 

3.  "  The  superior  man  draws  the  bow  to  the  full,  but  does 
not  discharge  the  arrow  ; — in  a  way,  [however,]  which  makes 

teach.  His  methods  are  modified,  however,  by  the  different  characters  of 
men.     Five  methods  are  specified  here,  and  VI.  Pt'  I.  xvi.  gives  us  another. 

Par.  2.  Tiiis  class  only  want  the  influence  of  the  superior  man,  as  plants 
need  the  rain  and  dew.  So  was  it,  it  is  said,  with  Confucius  and  his  dis- 
ciples Yen  Hwuy  and  Tsang-tsze. 

Piw.  S.  So  was  it  with  Confucius  and  the  virtuous  Jen  K"ew  and  Min 
Tsze-k'een,  with  the  talented  Tsze-loo  and  Tsze-kung. 

Par.  4.  So  was  it  with  Confucius  and  Fan-ch'e  (Ana.  II.  v.  :  et  al.),  with 
Mencius  and  Wan  Chang. 

Par.  5.  So  was  it  with  Confucius  and  Ch'in  K'ang  (Ana.  XYI.  xiii.),  with 
Mencius  and  E  Che  (III.  Pt  I.  v.).  The  best  example  of  the  case,  however, 
is  that  of  the  influence  of  Confucius  on  our  philosopher  (IV.  Pt  II.  xxii.). 

Ch.  XLI.  The  teacher  of  truth  must  not  lower  his  doctrines  to 

ADAPT  THEM  TO  THE  CAPACITY  OP  HIS  LEARNERS  : — A  LESSON  TO  KUNG- 
SUN  Ch'OW. 

Par.  2.  E  ;— see  IV.  Pt  II.  xxiv.  :  et  al. 

Par.  3.  "In  a  way,  however,  which  makes  the  thing  leap  before  the 
learner  ;  " — the  phrase,  "  leaping-like,"  which  requires  to  be  so  much  sup- 
plemented, is  difficult.  It  belongs,  I  think,  to  the  superior  man  in  all  the 
action  which  is  represented.  No  man  can  be  taught  how  to  hit ;  that  is 
every  man's  own  act.    But  he  is  taught  to  shoot,  and  that  in  so  lively  a  manner, 


3G4  THE    WORKS    OF   MENC1U.3.  [ijK    VII, 

tlie  thiiifr  leap  [before  tlio  learner].  [So]  does  he  stand  in 
the  middle  of  the  right  path ; — those  who  are  able  follow 
him." 

XLII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "Whenright  ways  prevail  through- 
out the  kingdom,  one's  principles  appear  Avith  one's  person. 
AVhen  riglit  waj'^s  disappear  from  the  kingdom,  one's  person 
must  vanish  along  with  one's  principles. 

2.  "  I  have  not  heard  of  one's  principles  being  dependent 
for  their  manifestation  on  other  men." 

XLIII.  1.  The  disciple  Kung-too  said,  "When  Kang  of 
T'aug  appeared  at  your  gate,  it  seemed  proper  that  a  polite 
consideration  should  be  shown  to  him,  and  yet  yon  did  not 
answer  him  ; — why  was  that  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "I  do  not  answer  him  wlio  questions 
me  presuming  on  his  ability,  nor  him  who  presumes  on  his 
talents  and  virtue,  nor  him  who  presumes  on  his  age,  nor 
him  who  presumes  on  services  performed  to  me,  nor  him 
who  presumes  on  old  acquaintance  : — I  answer  in  none  of 
these  cases.  And  Kang  of  T'ang  was  chargeable  with  two 
of  them." 

XLIV.   1.  Mencius  said,    "  He  who    stops    short    where 

that  the  hitting  also  is,  as  it  were,  set  forth  before  him.  So  with  tlie  teacher 
and  learner  of  truth.  As  the  learner  tries  to  do  as  he  is  taught,  he  will  be 
found  laying  hold  Of  what  seemed  unapproachalile. 

Ch.  XLII.  One  must  live  or  die  with  his  principles  actinm;  from 

HIMSKLF,  NOT  WITH  RECARl*  TO  0T1IF:R  MEN. 

A  man  must  direct  his  course  frnni  his  own  conviction  of  what  is  right, 
appearing  in  office  when  it  is  beiitting,  disappearing  in  obscurity,  wlieu  to  be 
in  office  would  be  inconsistent  with  his  principles. 

Cfi.  XLIII.    Different  CLASSES  WHOM  Mencius  WOULD  not  receive 

INTO  HIS  SCHOOL.  HoW  HE  REQUIRED  THK  SIMPLE  PURSUIT  Ol''  TRUTH 
IN  THOSE  WHOM  HE  TAUGHT.       Compare  VI.   I'C  II.  ii. 

Par.  1.  Kang  of  T'arig  was,  it  is  said,  a  younger  brother  of  thi-  ruler  of 
T'ang.  His  rank  made  Kung-too  suppose  that  more  tiiau  or  liiiarv  rt'spect 
should  have  been  shown  to  him,  and  yet  it  was  one  of  llK).-e  ildugs,  do 
doubt,  which  made  Mencius  jealously  watch  his  spirit. 

Par.  2.  The  two  things  on  which  Kang  presumed  were,  it  is  supposed,  his 
rank  and  his  talents  and  virtue. 

Ch.  XLIV.  Where  virtues  are  wanting,  decencies  cannot  be 
EXPECTED.    Precipitate  advances  are  followed  bv  speedy  kktreats. 


PT    T.    Cn.  XLVI.]  TSIN    SIN.  365 

stopping  is  not  proper  will  stop  short  in  everything.  He 
who  behaves  shabbily  to  those  whom  he  ought  to  treat  well 
will  behave  shabbily  to  all. 

2.  "  He  who  advances  with  precipitation  will  retire  with 
speed." 

XLV.  Mencius  said,  "  In  regard  to  the  [inferior]  creatures, 
the  superior  maTi  is  loving,  but  does  not  show  benevolence. 
In  regard  to  people  generally,  he  exercises  benevolence  but 
is  not  affectionate.  He  is  affectionate  to  his  parents,  and 
exercises  benevolence  to  people  generally.  He  exercises 
benevolence  to  people  generally,  and  is  loving  to  [inferior] 
creatures. '•' 

XLVI.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  The  wise  embrace  all  knowledge, 
but  they  are  most  earnest  about  what  they  ought  to  be  most 
concerned  about.  The  benevolent  embrace  all  in  their  love, 
but  to  be  earnest  in  cultivating  an  affection  for  the  worthy  is 
what  most  concerns  them.  [Even]  the  knowledge  of  Yaou 
and  Shun  did  not  extend  to  everything,  but  they  were 
earnest  about  what  first  concerned  them.  The  benevo- 
lence of  Yaou  and  Shun  did  not  show  itself  in  [acts  of]  love  to 
every  man,  but  they  were  earnest  in  cultivating  an  affection 
for  the  worthy. 

2.  "  Not  to  be  able  to  keep  the  three  years'  mourning,  and 
to  bo  very  particular  about  that  of  three  months,  or  that  of 

Ch.  XLV.  The  different  spheres  of  kindness  or  lovingnes?;,  op 

BENEVOLENCE,  AND  OF  AFFECTION. 

Compare  the  liinguage  of  Confucius  on  the  graduated  scaJe  of  regard  and 
liehaviour  to  different  chxsses  of  men  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  XX.  12. 
The  utterance  here  was  directed,  most  probably,  against  the  Mihist  doctrine 
of  loving  all  equally. 

Ch.  XLVI.  On  knowing  and  pursuing  what  is  most  important  to 

BE  KNOWN  AND  PURSUED  : — ILLUSTRATED  BY    THE    CASES    OP    YaOU    AND 

Shun,  and  by  opposite  instances.  ' 

Par.  1.  See  the  conversation  of  Confucius  with  Fan  Ch'e  in  Ana.  XIL 
x.xii.,  where  the  principles  enunciated  here  by  Mencius  are  implied.  The 
lirst  two  Parts  of  the  Book  of  History  may  also  be  referred  to.  In  them 
we  have  Yaou  and  Shun  looking  out  for  the  best  men  whom  they  could  be 
friendly  with  and  employ,  and  attending  to  the  things  which  in  their  time 
and  eirciinistances  were  most  re(iuired  for  tiie  well-being  of  the  empire. 

Par.  '2.  The  illustrations  here  are  of  men  neglecting  what  is  important, 
a II J  con  orned  about  what  is   trivial  in  comparison.     For  the  references 


366  THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.  [bK  VII. 

five  montlis ;  to  eat  immoderately  and  swill  down  the  drink, 
and  [at  the  same  time]  to  inquire  about  [the  precept]  not 
to  tear  off  the  flesh  with  the  teeth ; — such  things  illustrate 
what  I  say  about  not  knowing  what  is  most  to  be  attended 
to." 


BOOK  yii. 


TSIN    SIN.       PART    II. 


Chapter  I.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Opposite  indeed  of  benevo- 
lent was  king  Hwuy  of  Leang  !  The  benevolent  begin 
with  what  they  [Tuost]  love,  and  proceed  to  what  they  do  not 
[so  naturally]  love.  Those  w^io  are  not  benevolent,  begin- 
ning with  what  they  do  not  [so  naturally]  love,  proceed  to 
what  they  [most]  love." 

2.  Kung-sun  Ch'ow  said,  "  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  [Men- 
cius  replied] ,  "  King  Hwuy  of  Leang,  for  the  matter  of 
territory,  tore  and  destroyed  his  people  by  employing  them 
in  fighting.  Having  sustained  a  great  defeat,  he  wished  to 
fight  again;  and,  fearing  lest  the  people  should  not  be  able 
to  get  the  victory,  he  urged  his  son,  a  youth,  wliom  ho 
loved,  [to  take  the  command,]  and  sacrificed  him  with  them. 
This  is  what  I  call — beginning  with  what  they  do  not  [so 
naturally]  love,  and  proceeding  to  what  they  [most]  love." 


to  customs  at  meals,  see  the  Le  Ke,  I.  Pt  I.  iii.  54 — 59.  To  tenr  off  the 
roasted  me;it  from  a  bone  with  tlie  teeth  was  but  a  small  matter  compared 
with  such  au  exhibition  of  gluttony  as  the  other  clauses  speak  of. 

Ch.  T.  The  opposite  ways  of  the  henevolent  and  those  who  are 
nor  benevolent  :  — an  emphatic  condemnation  of  king  hwuy  of 
Leano. 

Par.  1.  Kiiij,'  Hwuy  of  Lean;; ; — see  on  I.  Pt  T.  i.  1.  See  the  gradation 
of  Iwving  regards  in  the  benevolent  in  Pt  I.  xlv.  With  what  is  said  of  those 
who  are  not  benevolent,  we  may  coinpare  Pt  I.  xliv. 

Par.  2.  "  He  tore  and  lacerated  his  people  ;  " — J,he  characters  suggest  the 
idea  of  the  king's  dealing  with  his  people  as  rice  is  dealt  with  when  it  is 
boiled  to  a  pulpy  mass.     "  He  sacriliced  his  sou  ;  " — see  I.  Pt  I.  v.  1. 


rr  u.  cii.  III.]  TSiN  SIN.  3G7 

II.  1.  Moncius  said,  ''  In  the  '  Spring  and  Autumn  '  there 
are  no  righteous  wars.  Instances  indeed  there  are  of  one 
war  better  than  another. 

2.  "  '  Punitive  expeditions'  are  when  the  supreme  authori- 
ty smites  its  subjects.  Hostile  States  conduct  no  punitive 
expeditions  against  one  another.'" 

III.  1.  ]\roncius  said,  "  It  would  be  better  to  be  without 
the  Book  of  History  than  to  give  entire  credit  to  it. 

2.  ''In  the  '  Successful  Completion  of  the  War'  I  select 
two  or  three  passages  only,  [and  repose  entire  credit  in 
them] . 

3.  "  The  benevolent  manhas  no  enemy  underheaven.  When 
[the  prince]  the  most  benevolent  was  attacking  him  who 
was  the  most  the  opposite,  Iioav  could  the  blood  have  flowed 
till  it  floated  the  pestles  of  the  mortars  ?  " 

Ch.  it.  How  all  thr  fiohtingstn  the  Ch'tn  Ts'is'w  were  xinrtght- 

EOUS  : — A  WARNING  TO  THE  WARltING  STATES  OP  MENCIUs'  TIME. 

Par.  1.  "  Tlie  S|)riiij?an(l  Aiitiiiiin  ;  " — see  I  he  5111  volume  of  m,v  larsrer  work, 
"  The  Ch'iin  Ts'ew,  with  tlie  TsoCJhueii."  "  Wsirs  ;  '"^the  term,  according  to  the 
])hraseolojfy  of  tlie  Spring  ainl  Autumn,  should  be  translated  "battles  ;  "  but 
Mencius  ineaut,  I  believe,  to  indicate  by  it  all  the  operations  of  war  mentioned 
in  the  Classic  of  Confucius.  We  have  there  'SA  battles  or  fightings,  213 
attacks  or  smitings,  with  a  multitude  of  "incursions,"  "sieges,"  "carryings 
away,"  "  surprises,"  &c. 

Piir.  2.  "  ruriitive,"  or  perhajjs,  from  the  composition  of  the  Chinese  term, 
I  should  say  corrective,  "  expeditions  "  were  competent  only  to  tlie  king, 
who  might  carry  them  out  in  hjs  own  person,  or  entrust  them  to  one  of  the 
princes,  or  to  a  combination  of  them.  And  some  of  the  presidents  of  the 
States  in  the  Cli'un  Ts'ew  period  might  in  a  measure  plead  his  delegation  for 
their  proceedings.     Comjiare  what  Mencius  says  in  VI.  Pt  II.  vii.  2. 

Ch.  III.  With  what  abatement  of  faith  in  it  Mencius  read  the 
Book,  of  Histouy. 

Par.  1.  The  utterance  here  seems  at  first  sight  of  it  in  Chinese  to  mean 
— "  It  would  be  better  to  have  no  books,  than  to  put  entire  credit  in  them ; '' 
but  the  relerence  in  par.  2  shows  that  Mencius  had  in  mind  "  the  Book  " 
])ar  excellence, — the  Book  of  History. 

Par.  2.  See  the  Book  of  History,  V.  iii.  The  par.  referred  to  in  the  next 
par.  here,  about  the  bloodshed,  is  the  0th.  "  Passages  "  is  literally  "  tablets," 
referring  to  the  slips  of  wood  or  bamboo,  on  which  the  characters  were 
pricked  out  with  a  .'iti/ln.i. 

Par.  3.  The  slaughter  here  described  wtis  made  by  the  forces  of  the  tyrant 
Chow  turning  against  one  another,  and  not  b)'  the  troops  of  "  the  most  bene- 
volent '"'  king  Woo.  The  amount  of  it  is  probably  exaggerated  ;  but  some- 
thing of  tlie  Ivind  is  easily  conceivable. 

Some  writers  thiuk  that  Mencius  expressed  himself  so  strongly,  foreseeing 


368  THE   WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bk    VII. 

IV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  There  are  some  who  say,  '  We  are 
skilful  at  marshalling  troops;  we  are  skilful  at  conducting 
battles.'     They  are  great  criminals. 

2.  "  If  the  ruler  of  a  State  love  benevolence,  he  will  have 
no  adversary  under  heaven. 

3.  "  When  [T'ang]  was  conducting  his  punitive  expedi- 
tions in  the  south,  the  rude  tribes  on  the  north  murmured. 
When  he  was  doing  so  in  the  east,  the  rude  tribes  on  the 
west  murmured  Their  cry  was, — '  Why  does  he  make  us 
last  ?  ' 

4.  "  When  king  Woo  attacked  Yin,  he  had  [only]  three 
hundred  chariots  of  war,  and  three  thousand  guards. 

5.  "  The  king  said,  '  Do  not  fear.  Let  me  give  you  re- 
pose. I  am  no  enemy  to  the  people.'  [On  this]  they 
bowed  thoir  heads  to  the  ground,  like  the  horns  [of  animals] 
falling  off. 

6.  "  The  phrase  '  punitive  expedition '  has  in  it  the  mean- 
ing of  correction.  Each  [State]  wishing  to  have  itself  cor- 
rected, what  need  is  there  for  fio-htinof  ?  " 

V.    Mencius    said,    "  Cabinet-makers,    builders,    wheel- 

what  precedents  for  their  abnormal  courses  might  in  future  time  be  sought 
in  the  Book  of  History  b}' rebels  and  oppressors.  Compare  our  philosopher's 
rule  for  the  interpretation  of  the  Book  of  Poetry  in  V.  Pt  I.  iv.  2. 

Ch.  IV.    Counsel  intended  foe  rulers, — that  they  should  not 

ALLOW  THEMSELVES  TO  BE  DECEIVED    BY  MEN  WHO  WOULD  ADVISE  THEM 

TO  WAR.     Grand  success  is  to  be  obtained  by  benevolence. 

Pat-.  1.   Compare  IV.  Pt  I.  xiv.,  and  VI.  Pt  II.  ix. 

Far.  2.  See  the  saying  at  the  beginning  of  par.  3  of  the  preceditig  chap- 
ter. 

Par.  3.   See  I.  Pt  II.  xi.  2  :  et  al. 

Par.  4.  In  the  Preface  to  the  Book  of  History,  par.  3,  it  is  said  that  on 
the  occasion  referred  to  here  Woo  had  .300  war  chariots,  and  300' guards. 
Much  has  been  written  on  the  difference  between  the  two  statements,  but  it 
is  needless  to  enter  here  on  the  matter.  Mencius  wants  to  show  that  Woo's 
forces  were  very  small  as  compared  with  those  of  his  opponent ; — and  so, 
no  doubt,  they  were. 

Pur.  .->.  See  the  Book  of  Hi.story,  V.  i.  Pt  II.  1)  ;  bat  the  text  of  that 
Classic  is  hardly  recognizable  in  Mencius'  version  of  it,  and  the  meaning  of 
Woo"s  words  in  the  two  Works  is  different.  I  do  not  know  how  to  account 
for  the  different  texts. 

Par.  6.  See  the  note  on  par.  2  of  chapter  ii. 

Cii.  V.  Real  attainments  must  be  made  by  the  learner  for  him- 
self. 


rr  II.  CH.  vin.]  tsin  si:t.  369 

wriglits,  and  carriao^e-bniklers  can  give  to  a  man  tlio  com- 
pass and  square,  but  they  cannot  make  him  skilful  [in  the 
use  of  them] ." 

VI.  Mencius  said,  "  Shun  ate  [liis]  parched  grain, 
and  r)artook  of  [his]  coarse  herbs,  jis  if  he  were  to  be  doing 
so  all  his  life.  When  ho  became  emperor,  and  had  the  em- 
broidered robes  to  wear,  [his]  lute  to  play  on,  and  [Yaou'.s] 
two  daughters  to  wait  on  him,  he  was  as  if  those  things  be- 
longed to  him  as  a  matter  of  course.^'  ^ 

VII.  Mencius  said,  "  From  this  time  forth  I  know  the 
heavy  consequences  of  killing  a  man's  near  relations.  When 
a  man  kills  another's  father,  that  other  will  kill  his  father; 
when  a  man  kills  another's  elder  brother,  that  other  will 
kill  his  elder  brother.  So  he  does  not  himself  indeed  do 
the  act,  but  there  is  only  a  [small]  interval  [between  him 
and  it] ." 

VIII.  1.  ]\Iencius  said,  "Anciently,  the  establishment 
of  frontier-gates  was  to  guard  against  violence. 

2.    "  Now-a-days,  it  is  to  exercise  violence." 


For  (he  general  sentiment  compare  Pt  I.  xli.  The  same  names  of  workers 
in  wood,  &c.,  occur  in  III.  Pt  II.  iv. 

Ch.  VI.  The  equaximity  of  Shun  in  poverty  and  as  emperor. 
Ch.  VII.    The  thought  of  its  consequences  should  siakk  aien 

CAREFUL,  OF  THEIR  CONDUCT  : — ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  RESULT  OF  KILLING 
THE  NEAR  RELATIVES  OP  ANOTHER. 

This  remark  was  made,  probably,  as  observed  b_v  Choo  He,  with  reference 
to  some  particular  case  wliich  had  come  under  Mencius'  observation.  It  was 
a  ma.xim  of  Chinese  society,  sanctioned  by  Confucius,  that  "  a  man  should 
not  live  under  the  same  lieaven  with  the  slayer  of  his  father,  nor  in  the 
same  State  with  the  slayer  of  his  elder  brother." 

Ch.  VIII.  The  benevolence  op  ancient  rule  and  the  selfishness 
OP  modern  seen  in  the  regul.\tions  about  the  frontier-gates. 

Par.  1.  Anciently  the  object  contemplated  by  these  gates  was  to  prevent 
the  ingress  or  egress  of  parties  dangerous  to  the  State. 

Par.  2.  In  Mencius"  time  they  were  maintained  chiefly  for  the  collection 
of  duties. — Compare  II.  Pt  I.  v.  3. 

vol.  II.  2i 


370  THE   WORKS   OP   MENCIUS.  [bk   vri. 

IX.  Mencius  said,  "  If  a  man  do  not  himself  walk  in  the 
right  way,  it  will  not  be  walked  in  [eVen]  by  his  wife  and 
children.  If  he  order  others  but  not  according  to  the  right 
way,  he  will  not  be  able  to  get  the  obedience  [even]  of  his 
wife  and  children." 

X.  Mencius  said,  "  A  tjad  year  cannot  prove  the  cause 
of  death  to  him  whose  [stores  of]  what  is  needful  are  com- 
plete;  an  age  of  corruption  cannot  throw  liiui  into  disorder 
whose  [equipment  of]  virtue  is  complete.''^ 

XI.  Mencius  said,  "^  A  man  who  loves  fame  may  be  able 
to  decline  a  kingdom  of  a  thousand  chai'iots  ;  but  if  he  be 
not  [really]  the  man  [to  do  such  a  thing],  it  will  appear  in 
his  countenance  in  the  matter  of  a  small  basket  of  rice,  or  a 
dish  of  soup.'''' 

XII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  If  the  benevolent  and  worthy  be 
not  confided  in,  a  State  will  become  empty  and  void. 

2.  "  Without  the  rules  of  propriety  and  distinctions  of 
what  is  right,  high  and  low  will  be  thrown  into  confusion. 


Ch.  IX.  How  A  MAN'S  INFLUENCE  DEPENDS  ON  HIS  OWN  EXAMPLE  AND 
PROCEDURE. 

Hi.s  wife  and  children  are  the  most  amenable  to  a  man's  example  and 
orders,  but  unless  he  i.s  all  right  in  his  example  and  procedure,  they  will  not 
he  or  do  what  is  right  ; — how  much  less  other  men  1  On  the  latter  part 
compare  Ana.  Xlll.  xiii. 

Cii.  X.  Corrupt  times  are  provided  against  by  established  vir- 
tue.    Compare  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  XX.  16. 

Ch.  XI.  A  MAN'S  TRUE  DISPOSrnON  WILL  APPEAR  IN  SMALL  MATTERS, 
WHEN  A  LOVE  OF  FAME  MAY  HAVE  ENAI'.LHO  HIM  TO  DO  GREAT  THINGS. 

Choo  He  says  on  this  : — "  A  man  is  seen  not  so  much  in  things  that  re- 
quire an  etfort  as  in  things  which  he  thinks  little  of.  By  bearing  this  in  mind 
when  we  observe  him,  we  can  see  what  he  really  rests  in."  Chaou  K'e,  on 
the  contrary,  takes  the  utterance  superlicially,  as  an  approval  of  the  love  of 
fame. 

Ch.  XII.  Three  things  are  essential  to  the  well-being  of  a 
State  : — the  right  men  ;  the  rulks  of  propriety  ;  and  wise  ad- 
ministration. 

Par.  1.  This  condition  not  obtaining,  such  men  will  leave  the  State,  and 
then  it  will  become  as  if  no  men  were  in  it. 


rr  II.  CH.  XIV.]  TSiN  sin.  371 

3.  '^  Without  tlie  various  business  of  governrnent,  there 
will  not  be  resoui'ces  sufficient  for  the  expenditure." 

XIII.  Mencius  said,  "  There  are  instances  of  individuals 
without  benevolence  who  have  got  possession  of  a  [single] 
State,  but  tlicre  is  no  instance  of  the  whole  kingdom's  being 
got  by  one  without  benevolence." 

XIV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  The  people  are  the  most  import- 
ant element  [in  a  country]  ;  the  Spirits  of  the  land  and 
grain  are  the  nexl; ;  the  ruler  is  the  lightest. 

2.  "  Therefore  to  gain  the  peasantiy  is  the  way  to  be- 
come the  son  of  Heaven ;,  to  gain  the  son  of  Heaven  is  the 
way  to  become  the  prince  of  a  State ;  to  gain  the  prince  of 
a  State  is  the  way  to  become  a  great  officer. 

3.  "  When  the  prince  of  a  State  endangers  the  altars  of 
the  Spirits  of  the  land  and  grain,  he  is  changed  and  another 
appointed  [in  his  place]  . 


Par.  3.  The  various  business  of  government  refers  to  all  the  sources  of 
revenue  and  their  administration. 

Ch.  XIII.  Only  by  the  benevolent  can  the  KiXGDo:\r  be  rot. 

A  commentator  observes  : — "  From  the  dynasty  of  Ts'in  downwards,  there 
have  been  cases  when  the  empire  was  got  by  men  without  benevolence  ;  but 
it  has  been  lost  again  in  such  instances  after  one  or  two  reigns." 

Ch.  XIV.  The  different  constituents  of  a  country  in  respect  of 
their  importance  ; — the  ruler,  the  tutelary  spirits,  and  the 
people. 

Far.  1.  Translated  into  our  modes  of  thinking,  the  three  elements  in  a  nation 
would  be, — the  ruler,  the  established  religion,  and  the  people.  It  is  not  easy 
to  determine  the  exact  force  of  the  terms  by  which  the  second  element  is 
described  ; — whether  we  are  to  understand  merely  the  altars  to  the  tutolaiy 
Spirits,  or  those  Spirits  themselves.  Choo  He  takes  the  former  view  ;  otiier 
commentators  maintain  the  latter  ; — and  with  them  I  am  inclined  to  agree. 
Of  course  when  the  presiding  S{)irits  were  changed,  the  place  and  form  of 
their  altars  might  also  be  changed. 

Par.  2.  This  shows  that  the  people  are  the  most  important  constituent  in 
a  country.  "  The  peasantry  "  is  here  equivalent  to  "  the  people,"  the  land 
being  the  source  of  the  maintenance  of  all  classes,  and  the  original  consti- 
tution of  the  Chinese  nation  as  a  whole,  as  well  as  of  every  State,  being 
based  on  a  recognition  of  this.  Even  the  highest  authority  therefore  came 
from  the  people. 

Par.  3.  This  shows  that  the  tutelary  Spirits  of  a  State  were  of  more  im- 
portance than  its  ruler. 


372  THR    "WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   VII. 

4.  "  Wlien  the  sacrificial  victims  have  been  perfect,  the 
raillet  in  its  vessels  all  pure,  and  the  sacrifices  offered  at 
their  proper  seasons,  if  there  yet  ensue  drought  or  inunda- 
tions, then  the  altars  of  the  Spirits  of  the  land  and  grain  are 
changed,  and  others  appointed." 

X\^.  Mencius  said,  '^A  sage  is  the  teacher  of  a  hundred 
generations ; — this  is  true  of  Pih-e  and  Hwuy  of  Lew-hea. 
Therefore  when  men  [now]  hear  the  character  of  Pih-e,  the 
corrupt  become  pure,  and  the  weak  acquire  determination. 
When  they  hear  the  character  of  Hwuy'  of  Liiw-hea,  the 
mean  become  generous,  and  the  niggardly  become  liberal. 
[Those  two]  made  themselves  distinguished  a  hundred 
generations  back,  and,  a  hundred  generations  after  them, 
those  who  hear  of  them  are  all  aroused  [in  this  manner] . 
Could  such  effects  be  produced  by  them  if  they  had  not  been 
sages  ?  And  how  much  more  did  they  affect  those  who 
were  in  contiguity  with  them  and  warned  by  them  !  " 

XVI.  Mencius  said,  "  By  benevolence  is  meant  [the  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  of]  man.  When  it  is  embodied  in 
man's  conduct,  we  have  what  we  call  the  path  [of  duty] ." 

XVII.  Mencius  said,  "  When  Confucius  was  about  to  leave 
Loo,  he  said,  '  I  will  go  by  and  by  ; ' — it  was  right  that  he 
should  leave  the  State  of  his  parents  in  this  way.     When  he 

Pnr.  4.  This  shows  that  tho  people  were  still  more  important  than  the 
tutelary  Spirits.  They  were  appointed  and  worshipped  for  the  good  of  the 
people  ;  the  people  did  not  exist  for  them. — No  chapter  in  his  Works  shows 
the  boldness  of  Mencius'  thiniiing  more  than  this. 

Ch.  XV.  That  Pih-e  and  Hwcy  op  Lew-hea  were  sages  is  proveu 

BY  THE  PERMANENCE  OV  THEIR  INFLUENCE. 

Compare  V.  I't  II.  i.,  and  the  references  there  given.  I  do  not  think  that 
Mencius  intended  sages  here  to  be  understood  in  the  highest  sense  of  the 
name.     Confucius  is  "  the  teacher  of  ten  thousand  generations." 

Ch.  XVI.  The  principle  of  benevolence  in  man's  nature,  and  in 

HIS  conduct. 

Compare  VI.  Pt  I.  xi.  1.     See  also  tho  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  XX.  5. 
Ch.  XVII.  The  different  ways  in  which  Confucius  left  Loo  and 

TS'E. 

See  V.  Pt  II.  i.  4. 


rr  11.  CH.  XX.]  TSiN  sin.  373 

was  leaving  Ts'e,  lie  took  witli  his  hands  the  water  from  the 
rice  which  was  being-  washed  in  it,  and  went  away  [with  the 
rice  uncooked] ; — it  was  right  he  should  leave  another  State  in 
this  way.^' 

XVIII.  Mencius  said,  "  The  reason  why  the  superior  man 
was  reduced  to  straits  between  Ch'in  and  Ts'ae  was  because 
none  of  the  rulers  or  of  their  ministers  communicated  with 
him.'' 

XIX.  1.  Mih  K'e  said,  "  Greatly  am  I  without  anything 
to  depend  on  from  the  mouths  [of  men].'' 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  There  is  no  harm  in  that.  Scholars 
suffer  more  than  others  from  the  mouths  of  people. 

3.  "'It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry, 

'  My  anxious  heart  is  full  of  trouble  ; 
I  am  hated  by  the  herd  of  mean  people.' 

[Such  was  the  case  of]  Confucius.     And  again, 

'  Thoufjh  he  could  not  prevent  the  rage  [of  his  foes], 
He  did  not  let  fall  his  own  fame.' 

[Such  was  the  case  of]  king  Wan." 

XX.  Mencius  said,  "  [Anciently] ,  men  of  virtue  and  tal- 
ents by  means  of  their  own  enlightenment  made  others  en- 


Ch.  XVIII.  The  reasox  of  Confucius  being  in  straits  between 
Ch'in  and  Ts'ae. 

See  Ana.  XI.  ii.,  which  puts  it  beyond  doubt  that  by  "  the  superior  man  " 
here  we  are  to  understand  Confucius.  !So  to  designate  him,  however,  is  not 
after  the  usual  style  of  our  philosopher. 

Ch.  XIX.  Mencius  comforts  one  Mih  K'e  under  calumny  by  the 
reflection  that  distinguished  men  were  more  especially  exposed 
TO  such  a  thino. 

Pnr.  1.  Jlih  K'e  was,  it  is  supposed,  a  scholar  of  the  time.  He  was 
smarting,  we  must  assume,  under  some  calumny  when  he  bad  this  conversa- 
tion with  Mencius. 

Par.  3."  See  the  Book  of  Poetry,  Pt  I.  iii.,  Ode  I.  4,  and  Pt  III.  i.  Ode 
III.  8.  It  is  ditticult  to  see  why  Mencius  sliould  apply  the  former  passage 
to  Confucius,  and  the  latter  to  king  Wan. 

Ch.  XX.  How  of  old  men  of  worth  led  on  men  bt  their  example. 


374  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIDS.  [eK    VII. 

litrlitened.  Now-a-days,  [those  who  would  be  deemed  such, 
seek]  by  means  of  their  own  darkness  to  make  others  en- 
lightened/' 

XXI.  Mencius  said  to  Kaon-tszo,  "There  are  the  narrow 
foot-paths  along  the  hills ; — if  suddenly  they  be  used,  they 
become  roads,  and  if  in  a  short  space  they  are  [again]  dis- 
used, the  wild  grass  fills  them  up.  Now  the  wild  grass  is 
filling  up  your  mind.  Sir.'' 

XXII.  1.  Kaou-tsze  said,  "  The  music  of  Yu  was  better 
than  that  of  king  Wan." 

2.  Mencius  asked,  "  On  what  ground  do  you  say  so  ?  "  and 
the  other  replied,  "  Because  the  knob  of  [Yu's]  bells  is  near- 
ly worn  through." 

3.  Mencius  rejoined,  "  How  can  that  be  a  sufficient  proof? 
Have  the  ruts  at  a  city-gate  been  made  [merely]  by  the  two- 
horsed  carriag-e  ?  " 


WHILE  IN  MENCItrs'  TIME   IT  WAS   TRIED   RY  RULEIIS   TO  URGE   MEN   CON- 
TRARY TO  THKIR  EXAMPLE. 

Of  old  laws  and  example  went  together  in  the  ruling  class  ;  in  Meficius' 
time  there  remained  the  laws,  but  the  exaiDple  was  all  bad. 

Ch.  XXI.  That  the  cultivation  of  the  mind  should  not  be  in- 
termitted. 

Kaou-tsze, — see  on  VI.  Pt  II.  iii.  1.  The  individual  here  would  seem  to  be 
the  same  as  the  one  in  II.  Pt  II.  xii.  2.  Chaou  K'e  says  that  after  studying 
with  Mencius  for  some  time,  and  before  he  fully  understood  hi.s  jirinciples,  he 
went  off  and  addicted  himself  to  some  other  teacher,  so  that  what  our 
philosopher  here  sajs  to  him  was  with  reference  to  this  course  and  its  con- 
sequences. 

Ch.  XXII.  Refutation  of  an  absurd  remark  of  Kaou-tsze  ahoit 

YU'S  MUSIC  HEING  BETTER  THAN  THAT  OP  KING  WAN. 

What  Kaou  insisted  on  as  the  basis  of  his  assertion  was  only  the  effect  of 
time  or  long  use.  As  Yu  was  long  anterior  to  king  Wan,  those  of  his  bells 
which  remained -were  necessarily  niort!  worn  than  the  more  recent  ones,  but 
this  did  not  imply  any  superiority  of  the  music  which  they  made.  At  the 
entrance  to  a  gate  the  road  contracts,  and  all  the  carriages  which  had  been 
distributed  over  its  breadth  are  obliged  to  run  in  the  same  ruts,  which  hence 
are  deeper  there  than  elsewhere.  How  much  more  must  this  be  the  case 
when  in  the  case  supposed  we  have  to  think  of  the  two-hor.^ed  carriages  of  the 
Hea  dynasty,  followed  by  the  three-horsed  ones  of  the  Shang,  and  those  by 
the  four-horsed  of  the  Chow  1 


PT  ii.  en.  XXIV.]  TSiN  SIN.  375 

XXIII.  1.  There  was  a  famine  in  Ts'e,  and  Ch'in  Tsin  said 
[to  Mencius],  "  The  people  are  all  thinking  that  you,  Master, 
will  again  obtain  for  thein  the  opening  of  [the  granary  of] 
T'ang,  bnt  I  apprehend  you  will  not  do  so  a  second  time.'' 

2.  [Mencius]  replied,  "  To  do  so  would  be  to  act  like 
Fung  Foo.  There  was  a  man  of  that  name  in  Tsin,  distin- 
guished for  his  skill  in  seizing  tigers.  He  afterwards  became 
a  scholar  of  reputation,  and  going  once  into  the  wild  country, 
he  found  a  ci-owd  in  pursuit  of  a  tiger.  The  tiger  took  re- 
fuge in  a  corner  of  a  hill,  where  no  one  dared  to  attack  him  ; 
butwhenthe  people  descried  Fung  Foo, they  ran  and  met  him. 
He  [immediately]  barod  his  arms,  and  descended  from  his 
carriage.  The  multitude  were  pleased  with  him,  but  those 
who  were  scholars  laughed  at  him." 

XXIV.  1.  Mencius  said,  ^'  For  the  mouth  to  desire  tastes, 
the  eye  colours,  the  ear  sounds,  the  nose  odours^  and  the 
four  limbs  ease  and  rest ; — these  things  are  natural.  But 
there  is  the  appointment  [of  Heaven  in  connexion  with  them]  ; 
and  the  superior  man  does  not  say  [in  his  pursuit  of  them], 
'  It  is  my  nature.' 


Ch.  XXIII.  How  Menctus  knew  where  to  stop  and  maintain  his 

OWN.  DIGNITY  IN  HIS  INTERCOUKSE  WITH  THE  PRINCES. 

Par.  1.  Ch'iu  Tsin, — see  II.  Pt.  II.  iii. ;  et  al.  At  T'ang,  the  name  of  which 
is  still  preserved  in  the  village  of  Kan-t'ang,  district  of  Tseih-mih,  depart- 
ment Lae-chow,  Shan-tuug,  the  rulers  of  Ts"e,  it  would  appear,  kept  grain 
in  store,  and  on  some  previous  occurrence  of  famine,  Mencius  had  advised 
the  king  to  open  the  granarj'  and  give  out  its  contents.  In  the  mean  time, 
however,  he  had  not  found  the  king  willing  to  obey  his  higher  counsels,  and 
intended  to  leave  the  State.  He  considered  that  his  work  in  Ts'e  was  done, 
and  that  it  would  be  inconsistent  with  his  character  to  make  such  an  appli- 
cation as  he  had  done  before. — I  must  believe  also  that  the  famine  at  this 
time  was  not  very  severe. 

Par.  2.  It  did  not  belong  to  Fung  Foo,  now  an  officer  and  scholar,  to  be 
fighting  with  tigers  and  playing  the  part  of  a  bravo. 

Ch.  XXrv.  The  superior  man  subjects  the  gr.vtification  of  his 

NATURAL  appetites  TO  THE  WILL  OF  HEAVEN,  AND  PURSUES  THE  DOING 
OF  GOOD  WITHOUT  THINKING  THAT  THE  AMOUNT  WHICH  HE  CAN  DO  MAY 
BE  LIMITED  BY  TH.VT  WILL. 

Par.  1.  Every  appetite  naturally  desires  its  unlimited  gratification,  but  a 
limited  amount  or  an  entire  denial  of  such  gratification  may  be  the  will  of 
Heaven  ;  and  the  superior  man  submits  to  that  will.  He  holds  that  the 
appetites  belong  to  the  part  of  his  constitution  which  is  less  noble  ; — see  VI. 
Pt  I.  xiv. 


376  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK   VII. 

2.  "  [The  exercise  of]  love  between  father  and  son,  [the 
observance  of]  righteousness  between  ruler  and  minister,  the 
rules  of  ceremony  between  guest  and  host,  [the  display  of] 
knowledge  in  [recognizing]  the  able  and  virtuous,  and  the 
[fulfilling  the  whole]  heavenly  course  by  the  sage  : — these 
are  appointed  [by  Heaven  and  may  be  realized  in  different 
degrees].  But  there  is  [an  adaptation  of  our]  nature  [for 
them],  and  the  superior  man  docs  not  say  [in  reference  to 
them] ,  '  There  is  a  [limiting]  appointment  [of  Heaven]  .'  " 

XXV.  1.  Haou-sang  Puh-hae  asked,  saying,  "  What  sort 
of  man  is  Yoh-ching  t  "  Mencius  replied,  "  He  is  a  good 
man,  a  real  man.'^ 

2.  "  What  do  you  mean  by  '  A  good  man  ?  ^  What  do 
you  mean  by  '  A  real  man  ?  '  " 

3.  The  reply  was,/' A  man  who  commands  our  liking  is 
what  is  called  good. 

4.  "  He  whose  [goodness]  is  part  of  himself  is  what  is 
called  a  real  man. 

5.  "  He  whose  [goodness]  is  accumulated  in  full  measure 
is  what  is  called  a  beaidifal  uian. 

6.  "  He  whose  completed  [goodness]  is  brightly  displayed 
is  what  is  called  a  great  man. 

Par.  2.  Underneath  this  paragraph  there  lies  the  Mencian  doctrine  of 
huiuan  nature  as  formed  for  the  practice  of  wluit  is  good.  — Clioo  lie  says 
well  on  the  whole  : — "  I  have  heard  it  observed  bj'  my  master  that  the 
things  mentioned  in  both  of  these  paragraphs  are  in  the  constitution  ot'our 
nature,  and  are  limited  also  by  the  api)oiiitment  of  Heaven.  Mankind, 
however,  consider  that  the  former  five  are  more  especially  natural,  and, 
though  they  may  be  prevented  from  obtaining  them,  still  desire  them  ;  and 
that  the  latter  five  are  indeed  apijoititcd  by  lltjaven,  l)Ut  if  the  fulliluKMit  of 
them  does  not  come  to  them  readily,  they  do  not  go  on  to  pat  forth  their 
strength  to  attain  to  it.  On  this  account  Meiieius  shows  what  is  most  im- 
portant in  each  case,  that  he  may  induce  a  broader  way  of  tiiinking  in  I'egard 
to  the  latter  class,  and  repress  the  way  of  thinking  in  regard  to  the  former." 

Ch,  XXV.  The  character  of  Yoh-ching.     Different  degrees  op 

ATTAINMENT  IN  CHARACTER. 

Par.  1.  Chaou  K'e  says  that  Haou-sang  Puh-liae  was  a  man  ofTa'e. 
Nothing  is  known  of  him.  Yoh-ching, — see  I.  Ft  II.  xvi.,  et  al.,  especially 
VI.  Pt  II.  xiv. 

Par.  3.  It  is  as.suraed  here  that  the  general  verdict  of  mankind  will  be 
on  the  side  of  goodness.  Hence  when  a  man  is  desirable,  and  commands 
universal  liking,  he  must  be  a  good  man. 


rx  II.  cir.  XXVII.]  tsin  sin.  377 

7.  ''When  this  great  man  exercises  a  transforming  influ- 
encBj  he  is  what  is  called  a  sage. 

8.  "  When  the  sage  is  beyond  oar  knowledge^  he  is  what 
is  called  a  spirlt-ynan. 

9.  "  Yoh-ching  is  between  the  [first]  two  characters^  and 
below  the  [last]  four.-" 

XXVI.  1.  Mencius  said,  ''Those  who  are  fleeing  from 
[the  errors  of]  Mill  naturally  turn  to  Yang,  and  those  who 
are  fleeing  from  [the  errors  of]  Yang  naturally  turn  to  or- 
thodoxy. When  they  so  turn,  they  should  at  once  and  sim- 
ply be  received. 

2.  "  Those  who  now-a-days  dispute  with  [those  who  had 
been]  Yangists  and  Mihists,  do  so  as  if  they  had  been  pur- 
suing a  stray  pig,  the  leg  of  which,  after  they  have  got  it 
to  enter  the  pen,  they  proceed  to  tie.'^ 

XXVII.  Mencius  said,  "  There  are  the  exactions  of  hempen 
cloth  and  silken  thread,  of  grain,  and  of  personal   service. 

Par.  8.  Compare  with  this  what  is  said  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  ch. 
xxiv.,  that  "  the  individual  possessed  of  complete  sincerity  is  like  a  Spirit." 
It  is  said  tliat  the  expression  in  the  text  is  stronger  than  that  there,  but  the 
two  are  substantially  to  the  same  effect.  Ch'ing-tsze  says  here,  "  Sage  and 
beyond  our  knowledge  denotes  the  utmost  profundity  of  sage-hood,  what  is 
unfathomable  by  men.  We  are  not  to  supjjose  that  above  the  sage  there  is 
another  ^tyle  of  man, — the  spirit-man."  Some  would  indeed  say  here — 
"the  divine  man,"  but  that  is  a  rendering  of  the  Chinese  term  which  it  never 
admits  of ;  and  yet  in  applying  to  man  the  term  appropriate  to  Him  whose 
way  is  in  the  sea  and  His  judgments  a  great  deep,  Chinese  writers  are  guilty 
of  blasphemy  in  the  sense  of  derogating  from  the  prerogatives  of  God. 

Ch.  XXVI.    Recovered  heretics   should  be  received  without 

CASTING  THEIR  OLD  ERRORS  IN  THEIR  TEETH. 

Par.  1.  Many  of  the  commentators  protest  against  its  being  supposed 
from  the  words  of  Mencius  tiiat  he  thought  worse  of  the  errors  of  Mih  thaa 
he  did  of  those  of  Yang.  It  is  certainly  not  easy  to  understand  the  process 
of  conversion  as  indicated  by  our  philosopher.  We  must  rank  Yang  as  far 
more  astray  than  Mih.  "Turn  to  orthodoxy  "  is,  literally,  "  turn  to  the 
learned."  "The  learned"  in  Chinese  phrase  is  equivalent  to  our  "  the  or- 
thodox." The  name  is  still  claimed  by  the  followers  of  Confucius  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  Taouists  and  Buddhists. 

Par.  2.  Not  the  orthodox  of  China  only  have  dealt  with  recovered  heretics 
in  the  waj'  that  Mencius  condemns. 

Ch.  XXVIT.  The  just  e.xactions  of  the  government  should  be 
made  discrlsiinatingly  and  considerately. 


373  THE    WORKS    OF    JIEXCIUS.  [bK    VII. 

The  wise  ruler  requires  but  one  of  these  [at  once],  deferring 
tlie  otlier  two.  If  ho  require  two  of  them  [at  once],  then 
the  people  die  of  hunger.  If  he  require  the  three  [at  once] , 
then  fathers  and  sons  are  separated." 

XXVIII.  Mencius  said,  "  The  precious  things  of  the  prince 
of  a  State  ai'e  three  ; — the  territory,  the  people,  and  the 
business  of  the  government.  If  a  prince  vakie  as  most 
precious  pearls  and  gems,  calamity  is  sure  to  befall  him.'' 

XXIX.  P'wan-shing'Kwoh  having  obtained  an  official  situ- 
ation in  Ts'e,  Mencius  said,  "  He  is  a  dead  man, — P'wan- 
shing  Kwoh  !  "  P'wan-shing  Kwoh  having  been  put  to 
death,  the  disciples  asked,  saying,  "  How  did  you  know, 
Master,  that  he  would  be  put  to  death  ?  "  ]\Iencius  replied, 
"  He  was  a  man  who  had  a  little  ability,  but  he  had  not 
learned  the  great  principles  of  the  superior  man.  He  was 
just  qualified  to  bring  death  upon  himself,  but  for  nothing 
more." 

XXX.  1.  \yhen  Mencius  went  to  Tang,  he  was  lodged  in 
the  upper  palace.     A  sandal  in  the  process  of  making  had 

The  tax  of  cloth  and  silk  was  due  in  summer,  that  of  grain  after  harvest, 
and  personal  service, — in  war,  building,  road-making,  &c.,  in  winter,  when  it 
would  not  interfere  with  the  labours  of  liusbandry.  The  government  ouglit 
to  require  them  at  their  proper  seasons,  and  only  one  at  a  time. 

Ch.  XXVTII.  The  precious  things  of  the  PRnccE  of  a  State,  and 

THE  DANGER  OF  HIS  OVERLOOKING  THEM  FOR  OTHER  THINGS. 

Ch.  XXIX.  A  LITTLE  ARILITY,  WITHOUT  A  KNOWLEDGE  OP  GREAT 
PRINCIPLES,  JU.Y  BE  A  PERILOUS  THING  :— ILLUSTRATED  BY   THE   CASE  OF 

P'WAN-SHiNG  Kwoh. 

Comiiare  Confucius' prediction  of  tlie  death  of  Tsze-loo  ;— Ana.  XI.  xii. 
Nothing  is  known  of  the  P'wan-shing  Kwoh  here,  though  Chaou  K'e  says 
that  he  had  wished  to  be  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  but  had  soon  gone  away, 
not  understanding  what  he  heard. 

Ch.  XXX.  An  awkward  disappearance  of  a  sandal  from   Men- 
cius'   LODGING.       Ills    readiness  TO    RECEIVE    LEARNERS    WITHOUT    IN-  , 
QUII.'ING  INTO  THEIR  PAST  HISTORY. 

T-ang,— see  on  I.  Pt  II.  xiii.    "  The  upper  palace  "  was  the  name,  probably, 


PT   11.    CH.  XXXI.]  TSIN    SIN.  370 

been  placed  there  in  a  M-indow,  and  wlien  the  keeper  of  the 
place  [came  to]  look  for  it,  he  could  not  find  it. 

2.  [On  this],  some  one  asked  [Mencius]  about  the  matter, 
saying,  "  Is  it  thus  that  your  followers  pilfer  ?  "  "  Do  you 
think.  Sir,"  was  the  reply,  "  that  they  came  here  for  the 
purpose  of  pilfering  the  sandal?'''  The  man  said,  "I  ap- 
prehend not.  But  you,  Mnster,  having  arranged  to  give 
lessons,  do  not  go  back  to  inquire  into  the  past,  and  you  do 
not  reject  those  who  come  to  you.  If  they  come  with  the 
mind  [to  learn],  you  at  once  receive  them  without  any 
more  ado.'' 

XXXI.  1 .  Mencius  said,  "  All  men  have  some  things 
which  they  cannot  bear  [to  see]  ; — extend  that  feeling  to 
what  they  can  bear,  and  the  result  will  be  benevolence.  All 
men  have  some  things  which  they  will  not  do  ; — extend 
that  feeling  to  the  things  which  they  do,  and  righteousness 
will  be  the  result. 

2.  "  If  a  man  can  give  full  development  to  the  feeling 
which  makes  him  shrink  from  injuring  others,  his  benevo- 
lence will  be  more  than  can  be  put  into  practice.  If  he  can 
give  full  development  to  the  feeling  which  refuses  to  dig 
through  or  jump  over  [a  wall,  for  a  bad  purpose],  his  right- 
eousness will  be  more  than  can  be  put  into  practice. 

8.  "  If  a  man  can  give  full  development  to  the  real  feeling 
[of  dislike]  with  which  he  receives  [the  salutation  of] 
'  Thou,'  '  Thou,'  he  will  act  righteously  in  all  places  and  cir- 
cumstances. 


of  a  palace  in  the  capital  of  T'ang,  appropriated  to  the  lodging  of  honour- 
able visitors. 

CH.  XXXI.  A  MAX  HAS  ONLY  TO  GIVE  DEVELOPJIEXT  TO  THE  PRINCI- 
PLES OF  GOOD  MHICH  ARE  NATURAL  TO  HIM  AND  SHOW  THEMSELVES  IX 
SOME  THINGS,  TO  BE  ENTIRELY  GOOD  AND  CORRECT. 

Par.  1.  Compare  II.  Ft  I.  vi.  :  ct  al.  The  sentiment  of  this  chapter  is 
continually  insisted  on  by  Mencius ;  but  it  supposes  that  man  has  much 
more  power  over  himself  than  he  reallj'  has. 

Par.  3.  "Thou,"  "Thou,"  is  a  style  of  address  greatly  at  variance  with 
Chinese  notions  of  propriety.  It  can  onlj'  be  used  with  the  very  young  and 
the  very  mean.  However  it  may  be  submitted  to  occasionally,  there  is  a 
real  feeling  of  dislike  to  it  ;  and  if  a  man  be  as  careful  to  avoid  all  other 
things  which  would  make  him  be  looked  down  upon,  or  liberties  be  taken 
with  him,  he  will  eveiywhere  quit  himself  as  a  righteous  man. 


380  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUST.  [bK   VII. 

4.  ^' When  a  scholar  speaks  what  he  oug-ht  not  to  speak, 
by  his  speaking  seeking  to  gain  some  end,  and  when  he  does 
not  speak  what  he  ought  to  speak,  by  his  silence  seeking  to 
gain  the  same  end  ; — both  these  cases  are  of  a  piece  with 
digging  through  or  jumping  over  a  wall/' 

XXXII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "Words  which  are  plain  and 
simple,  while  their  scope  is  far-reaciiing,  are  good  words. 
Principles  which,  as  held,  are  compendious,  while  their  ap- 
plication is  extensive,  are  good  principles.  The  words  of  the 
superior  man  do  not  go  below  the  girdle,  but  [great]  prin- 
ciples are  contained  in  them. 

2.  "  The  principle  which  the  superior  man  holds  is  that  of 
personal  cultivation,  but  all  under  heaven  is  thereby  tran- 
quillized. 

8.  "  The  disease  of  men  is  this  : — that  they  neglect  their 
own  fields  and  go  to  weed  the  fields  of  others,  and  that  what 
they  require  from  others  is  great,  while  what  they  lay  upon 
themselves  is  light." 

XXXIII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  Yaou  and  Shun  were  what 
they  were  by  nature;  T'ang  and  Woo  were  so  by  returning 
to  [their  natural  virtues]. 

2.  ''  When  all  the  movements  in  the  countenance  and 
every  turn  [of  the  body],  are  exactly  according  to  propriety, 

Ch.  XXXII.  The  way  to  arrive  at  what  is  remote  is  to  attend 
TO  what  is  near.  What  are  good  words  and  good  imuxcii'les. 
Wheukin  jien  err  in  dealing  with  themselves  and  others. 

Pur.  1.  "Do  uot  go  below  the  girdle,"  — .see  the  Book  of  Kites,  I.  Pt  II. 
ch.  iii.  14,  where  we  have  the  rule  for  looking  at  tlie  sovereign,  the  eyes 
not  going  above  his  collar  nor  below  his  girdle.  Generally,  the  ancient  rule 
was — not  to  look  at  a  per.son  below  the  girdle,  so  that  all  above  might  be 
considered  as  {)lain  and  near,  beneath  the  eyes.  Chaou  K'e  says  merely  that 
"  words  not  below  the  girdle  are  from  near  the  lieart." 

Far.  2.  This  is  the  exjjlanation  of  good  principles, — compendious,  but  of 
extensive  application.  It  is  a  good  summary  of  the  teaching  of  "  The 
Great  Learning." 

Ch.  XXXIII.  The  virtue  of  the  highest  sages,  and  how  other  men 

MAY  TRY  TO  FOLLOW  IT. 

Par.  1.   Compare  I't  I.  xxx. 

Par.  2.  Here  is  the  highest  virtue,  where  evei7thing  is  done  riglit,  with 
no  motive  beyond  the  doing  so.     If  the  dead  be  mourned  for  as  the  tribute 


PT    ir.    CH.  XXXV.]  TSIN    SIN.  381 

that  shows  the  greatest  degree  of  complete  virtue.  Weeping 
for  the  dead  [should  bo]  the  expression  of  [real]  sorrow, 
and  not  as  the  [proper  affection]  of  the  living.  The  regu- 
lar path  of  virtue  [is  to  be  pursued]  without  any  bend, 
from  no  view  to  emolument.  Words  should  be  in  themselves 
sincere,  not  with  a  desire  to  make  one's  conduct  [appear  to 
be]  correct. 

3.  "  The  superior  man  obeys  the  law  [of  right],  and  waits 
simply  for  what  is  appointed.'' 

XXXIV.  1.  Mencius  said,  "Those  who  give  counsel  to 
great  men  should  despise  them,  and  not  look  at  their  pomp 
and  display. 

2.  "  Halls  several  times  eight  cubits  high,  with  beams 
projecting  at  the  eaves  several  cubits  ;  —these,  if  I  could 
realize  my  wishes,  I  would  not  have.  Food  spread  before 
me  over  ten  cubits  square,  and  attendant  gnrls  to  the  num- 
ber of  several  hundred ; — these,  if  I  could  realize  my 
wishes,  I  would  not  have.  Pleasure  and  drinking-,  and  the 
dash  of  hunting,  with  a  thousand  chariots  following  after 
me  ; — these,  if  I  could  realize  my  wishes,  I  would  not  have. 
What  they  esteem  are  what  I  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  ; 
what  I  esteem  are  the  rules  of  the  ancients. — Why  should  I 
stand  in  awe  of  them  ?  " 

XXXY.  Mencius  said,  "  For  nourishing  the  mind  there  is 
nothing  better  than  to  make  the  desires  few.  Here  is 
a  man  whose  desires   are   few  : — there   may  be  some  [fight 

due  to  them  from  the  living,  a  depraving  element  has  been  admitted  into 
the  grief. 

Pdi'.  3.  Here  is  a  virtue  equally  correct  as  the  above,  but  from  an  intel- 
lectual constraint. 

Cu.  XXXIV.  He  who  undertakes  to  counsel  the  great  should 

IN  HIS  tastes  and  PRINCIPLES  BE  FAR  ABOVE  THEII. 

P(tr.  I.  The  "  great  men  "  here  are  merely  tiie  socially  great.  Mencius 
had  special  reference  to  the  princes  and  nobles  of  his  time,  dignitied  by  their 
position,  but  with  no  corresponding  moral  qualities. 

Par.  2.  This  is  a  good  description  of  Mencius'  own  tastes  and  principles, 
but  it  is  somewhat  magniloquent. 

Ch.  XXXV.  The  regulation  of  the  desires  is  essential  to  the 

HEALTHY  MORAL  NOURISHMENT  OF  THE  MIND. 

A  truly  valuable  utterance. 


332  THE    WORKS    OF    MEXCIUS.  [uK    VI F. 

qualities]  not  kept  in  liis  lioartj  but  they  will  be  few.  Here 
is  a  man  whose  desires  are  many ; — there  may  be  some 
[right  qualities]  kept  in  his  heart,  but  they  will  be  few." 

XXXVL  1.  Mencius  saiJ,  *■' Tsang  Seih  was  fond  of 
sheep-dates,  and  [his  son]  Tsang-tsze  could  not  bear  to 
eat  them/^ 

2.  Kung-snn  Ch'ow  asked,  saying,  "  WTaich  is  better, 
—  minced  meat  and  roasted  meat,  or  sheep-dates  ? " 
Mencius  said,  "  Mince  and  roast-meat  to  be  sure  !  "  Kung- 
sun  Ch'ow  went  on,  "  Then  why  did  Tsang-tsze  eat  mince 
and  roast-meat,  while  he  would  not  eat  sheep-dates  ? " 
"  For  mince  and  roast-meat,"  was  the  reply,  "  there  is  a 
common  liking,  while  that  for  sheep-dates  was  peculiar. 
We  avoid  the  name,  but  do  not  avoid  the  surname.  The 
surname  is  common,  but  the  name  is  peculiar.'' 

XXXVII.  1.  Wan  Chang  asked,  saying, ''  Confucius,  when 
he  was  in  Ch'in,  said,  '  Why  not  return  ?  The  scholars  of 
my  school  are  Irdent  and  hasty.  They  advance  and  seize 
[their  object],  but  do  not  forgot  their  early  ways.'  When 
Confucius  was  in  Ch'in,  why  did  ho  think  of  the  ambitious 
scholars  of  Loo  ?  " 

2.  Mencius  replied,  "  Confucius,   not    getting   men  who 

Ch.  XXXVI.  The  filial  feeling  of  Tsang-tsze  seen  in  his  not 

EATING  SHEEP'S  DATES. 

Par.  1.  Tsang  Seih  smd  Tsiing-tsze,— see  IV.  Tt  I.  xix.  The  "sheep's 
date"  was,  probahly,  the  fruit  of  the  zizif/thiisjnjuha. 

Par.  2.  yeih"s  likiny;  for  the  sheep's  <hites  was  peculiar,  so  that  the  sight 
of  them  brouiflit  him  vividly  back  to  his  son,  who  therefore  could  not  bear 
to  eat  such  dates.  There  are  many  rules  for  avoiding  the  names  of  parents, 
ance.stons,  rulers,  &c. ; — see  the  Book  of  Rites,  I.  Pt  I.  Ch.  v.  15  —  20  ;  et  al. 
Tliis  is  peculiar,  probably,  to  the  Chinese,  to  avoid  calling  a  sou  by  the  name 
of  the  father. 

Ch.  XXXVII.  The  character  of  many  of  Confucius'  disciples.  The 

BAGE  has  one  OIUECT,— TO  GET  MEN  TO  PUUSUE  THE  PERFECT  PATH. 
He  hates  all  mere  semblances,  and  especially  THOSE  WHO  ARE 
CONSIDERED  BY  THK  MULTITUDE  GOOD,  CAREFUL  MEN,  WHO  YET  HAVE 
NO  HIGH  AUI  OR  AMBITION. 

Par.  1.  Kee  Ana.  V.  xxi.  ;  though  the  text  there  is  considerably  different 
from  what  we  find  here.  Perhaps  Kuug-suu  Ch'ow  quoted  loosely  from 
memory. 

Par.  2.  Most  of  Mencius"  reply  here  is  taken  from  the  words  of  Confucius 
in  Ana.  XIII.  xxi. 


rr  n.  en.  xxxvii.]  tsin  six.  383 

would  pursue  the  duo  medium,  felt  that  he  must  take  the 
ardent  and  cautiously-decided.  The  ardent  would  advance 
and  seize  [their  object]  ;  the  cautiously-decided  would  keep 
themselves  from  certain  things.  It  is  not  to  be  thought  that 
Confucius  did  not  wish  for  men  pursuing  the  due  medium, 
but  being  unable  to  assure  himself  of  finding  such,  he  there- 
fore thought  of  the  next  class. ^' 

3.  "  I  venture  to  ask,^'  [said  Ch''ow,]  "  what  sort  of  men 
they  were  who  could  be  called  '  the  ardent  ? '  " 

4.  "  Such,"  was  the  reply,  "  as  K'in  Chang,  Tsang  Seih, 
and  Muh  P^ei  were  those  whom  Confucius  styled  '  the 
ardent.' " 

5.  "  Why  are  they  styled  '  the  ardent  ? ' " 

6.  [Mencius]  said,  "  Their  aim  led  them  to  talk  magni- 
loquently,  saying,  'The  ancients!  The  ancients!'  But 
their  actions,  compared  with  [their  words] ,  did  not  come  up 
to  them. 

7.  "  When  he  found  that  neither  could  he  get  those  who 
were  [thus]  ardent,  he  wished  to  get  scholars  who  would 
consider  anything  impure  as  beneath  them'  and  to  com- 
municate [his  instructions]  to  them.  These  were  the  cau- 
tiously-decided,— a  class  next  to  the  other.'' 

8.  [Chang  pursued  his  questioning] ,  "  Confucius  said, 
'  They  are  only  the  good  careful  people  of  the  villages  at 
whom  I  feel  no  indignation  when  they  pass  my  door  without 
entering  my  house.  Your  good  careful  people  of  the  vil- 
lages are  the  thieves  of  virtue.'  What  sort  of  people  were 
they  who  could  be  styled  '  the  good  careful  people  of  the 
villages  ? ' " 

9.  [Mencius  replied],  "They  say  [of  the  ardent], '^  Why  are 
they  so  magniloquent?  Their  words  have  not  respect  to 
their  actions,  nor  their  actions  to  their  words,  and  then  they 
say,  "  The  ancients  !  The  ancients  !  "  [And]  why  do  these 
—  [the  cautiously-decided] — act  so  peculiarly,  and  carry 
themselves  so  cold  and  distant  ?  Born  in  this  age,  we  should 
be  of  this  age ; — to  be  [deemed]  good  is  all  that  is  needed.' 

Par.  4.  K'in  Chang  was  the  Laou  mentioned  in  Ana.  IX.  vi.  4.  Tsang 
Seih  is  the  same  who  appears  in  the  preceding  chapter.  Of  Muh  Fei 
nothing  is  known. 

Puj'.  8.  The  first  part  of  the  saying  here  attributed  to  Confucius  is  not 
found  in  the  Analects.     For  the  second  see  XVII.  xiii. 

Parr.  9  to  12  contain  a  good  description  of  the  parties  in  hand. 


38  i  THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.  [bK    VIT. 

Ennnch-like  flattering  their  generation, — such  are  your  good 
careful  men  of  the  viUages." 

10.  Wan  Chang  said,  "  Their  whole  village  styles  those 
men  good  and  careful.  In  all  their  conduct  they  are  so. 
Why  was  it  that  Confucius  considered  them  to  be  the  thieves 
of  virtue  ? '' 

11.  [Mencius]  replied,  "If  you  would  blame  them,  you 
find  nothing  to  allege.  If  you  would  criticize  them,  you 
have  nothing  to  criticize.  They  agree  with  the  currelit  cus- 
toms ;  they  are  at  one  with  an  impure  age.  Their  principles 
have  a  semblance  of  right-heartedness  and  truth  ;  their  con- 
duct has  a  semblance  of  disinterestedness  and  purity.  All 
men  are  pleased  with  them,  and  they  think  themselves  right, 
so  that  it  is  impossible  to  proceed  with  them  to  the  princi- 
ples of  Yaou  and  Shun.  Ou  this  account  they  are  called 
'  the  thieves  of  virtue.' 

12.  "  Confucius  said,  '  I  hate  a  semblance  which  is  not 
the  reality.  I  hate  the  yihv-weed,  lest  it  be  confounded 
with  the  growing  corn.  I  hate  glib-tonguedness,  lest  it  be 
confounded  with  righteousness.  I  hate  sharpness  of  tongue, 
lest  it  be  confounded  with  sincerity.  I  hate  the  notes  of 
Ch'ing,  lest  they  be  confounded  with  [ti-ue]  music.  I  hate 
the  reddish-blue,  lest  it  be  confounded  with  vermilion.  1 
hate  your  good  careful  men  of  the  villages,  lest  they  be  con- 
founded with  the  [truly]  virtuous.-" 

13.  "  The  superior  man  would  simply  bring  back  the  un- 
changing standard  [of  truth  and  duty].  That  being  i-ectified, 
the  masses  of  the  people  are  roused  [to  virtue] .  When  they 
are  so  aroused,  forthwith  perversities  and  glossed  wickedness 
disappear. '^ 

XXXVIII.  1.  Mencius  said,  "  From  Yaou  and  Shun  down 
to  T'ang  were  five  hundred  years  and  more.  As  to  Yu  and 
Kaou  Yaou,  they  saw  [those  eai'liest  sages],  and  [so]  knew 

Pfir.  12.  These  payings  of  Confucius  aro.  only  found  here.  Such  a  string 
of  them  is  not  in  the  sage's  style.     The  notes  of  Ch'ing, — see  Ana.  XV.  x.  6. 

Ch.  XXXVITI.  Ox  the  transmissiox  ov  tuk  link  of  doctimne  from 
Yaou  to  Confucius.  Sagks  may  be  exi'kcted  to  akise  at  intervai,s 
OF  about  five  mundred  yearh.  Mencius  might  himself  claim  to  be 
A  transmitter  of  Confucius'  doctrines. 

I^ar.  1.  According  to  the  received  chronology,  from  the  commencement 


PT   II.    CH.  XXXVIII.]  TSIN   SIN.  385 

[their  doctrines],  while  T^ang  heard   those  doctrines   [as 
transmitted],  and  [so]  knew  them. 

2.  "  From  T'ang  to  king  Wan  were  five  hundred  years 
and  more.  As  to  E  Yin  and  Lae  Choo,  they  saw  [T'ang], 
and  [so]  knew  [his  doctrines],  while  king  Wan  heard  them 
[as  transmitted],  and  so  knew  them. 

3.  "  From  king  Wan  to  Confucius  were  five  hundred  years 
and  more.  As  to  T'ae-kung  Wang  and  San  E-silng,  they 
saw  [Wan],  and  [so]  knew  his  doctrines,  while  Confucius 
heard  them  [as  transmitted],  and  [so]  knew  them. 

4.  "■  From  Confucius  to  now  there  are  [only]  a  hundred 
years  and  [somewhat]  more  ; — so  far  from  being  remote  is 
the  distance  from  the  sage  in  point  of  time,  and  so  very 
near  at  hand  was  the  sage's  residence.  In  these  circum- 
stances, is  there  no  one  [to  transmit  his  doctrines]  ?  Yea,  is 
there  no  one  [to  do  so]  Y" 


of  Yaou's  reign  to  T'ang  were  more  than  550  years.  Mencius  uses  a  round 
number. 

Par.  2.  From  T'ang  to  king  Wan  were  more  than  600  years.  Lae  Clioo 
was,  perhaps,  Chung-hwuy,  T'ang's  minister  ; — see  the  Book  of  History,  IV.  ii. 

Par.  3.  San  E-sang  or  San-e  Sang  was  an  able  minister  of  king  Wan  ; 
but  little  more  is  known  of  him. 

Par.  i.  The  concluding  two  sentences  wonderfully  vex  commentators ; 
but  all  agree  that  Mencius  somehow  takes  on  himself  the  duty  and  responsi- 
bility of  handing  down  the  doctrines  of  Confucius. — Compare  what  he  says 
in  II.  Pt  II.  xiii.  ;  III.  Pt  II.  x.  ;  ct  al. 


VOL.  II.  25 


INDEXES. 


INDEX  L 


OF  SUBJECTS  IN  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS. 


Absurdity  of  a  ruler  not  following  wise 

counsellors,  I.  Pt  II.  ix. 
Acknowledged  favours,  how  Mencius, 

VI.  Pt  II.  V. 
Action,  faith  necessary  to  firmne.ss  in, 

VI.  Pt  II.  xii. 
Adherence  to  one  course,  against  obsti- 
nate, VII.  Pt  I.  xxvi. 
Advantages,  the  greatest,  of  friendship, 

V.  Pt  11.  viii. 
Advice  of    Mencius    with    regard    to 

mourning,  III.  Pt  I.  ii. 
Adviser  of  the  princes  might  always  be 

perfectly  satisfied,  how  an,  VII.  Pt 

I.  ix. 

AtHietion,  benciits  of,  VII.  Pt  I.  xviii. 

Aged,  the,  were  nourished  by  the  go- 
vernment of  king  Wan,  VII.  Pt  I. 
xxii. 

Ages,  different  conduct  of  gxpa.t  men  in 
different,  reconcileable,  IV.  Pt  II. 
xxix. 

Agreement  of  sages  not  affected  by 
place  or  time,  IV.  Pt  II.  i. 

Agriculture,  importance  of  a  ruler  at- 
tending to.  III.  Pt  I.  iii. — a  ruler 
should  not  labour  at,  with  his  own 
hands.  III.  Pt  I.  iv. 

Air,  how  one's  material  position  affects 
his,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxxvi. 

Ambition,  and  avarice,  evils  of,  I.  Pt 

II.  xi.— of  Hwuy  of  Leaug,  VII.  Pt 
II.  i. 

Ambitious,  who  among  Confucius'  dis- 
ciples were  the,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxxvii. 

Ancient (s),  the,  shared  their  pleasures 
with  the  people,  I.  Pt  I.  ii. — sur- 
passed other  men,  in  what,  I.  Pt  1. 
vii. — the  music  of  the,  I.  Pt  II,  i. — 


true  kings,  tours  of  inspection  made 
by,  I.  Pt  II.  iv. :  VI.  Pt  II.  vii.— 
coffins  used  by  the,  II.  Pt  II.  vii. — 
sage.s,  hdw  all  men  may  become  equal 
to  the.  III.  Pt  I.  i. — kings  practised 
benevolent  government.  III.  Pt  II. 
V. — Mencius  appeals  to  the  example 
and  maxims  of  the.  III.  Pt  II.  vii. — 
kings,  the  example  and  principles  of, 
must  be  studied,  IV.  Pt  I.  i.  ;  ii. — 
the,  exchanged  .sons,  each  one  teach- 
ing the  son  of  the  other,  IV.  Pt  I. 
xviii. — making  friends  of  the,  V.  Pt 
II.  viii. — the,  cultivated  the  nobility 
that  is  of  Heaven,  VI.  Pt  I.  xvi. — 
scholars  maintained  the  dignity  of 
their  characters,  how,  VII.  Pt  I. 
viii. — and  modem  rule  contrasted, 
VII.  Pt  II.  viii.— the,  led  men  by 
their  example,  VII.  Pt  II.  xx. 

Animals,  man  how  much  diti'erent  from. 
IV.  Pt  II.  xix. 

Antiquity,  the  example  of,  VII.  Pt 
I.  ix. 

Appetites,  the  superior  man  subjects  his, 
to  the  wiU  of  Heaven,  VII.  Pt  II. 
xxiv. 

Archer,  he  who  would  be  benevolent  is 
like  an,  II.  Pt  I.  vii. 

Archery,  learning,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxiv.  : 
VI.  Pt  I.  XX. 

Arrangement  of  dignities  and  emolu- 
ments according  to  the  dynasty  of 
Chow,  V.  Pt  II.  ii. 

Association,  influence  of.  III.  Pt  II. 
vi. :  VI.  Pt  I.  ix.— with  those  of 
wh(jm  one  does  not  approve,  unavoid- 
able, III.  Pt  II.  X. 

Attainment,  real,  must  be  made  by  the 


INDEX    I.]       SUBJECTS    IN    THE    WORKS    OF   MENCIUS. 


387 


learner  for  himsdf,  VII.  Pt  II.  v. 
Authority,  punishment   should  be  in- 
flicted only  by  the  proper,  II.  Pt  II. 
viii. 

Barbarians,  influence  of  the  Chinese  on, 

III.  Pt  I.  iv. 

Barley,  illustration  taken  from,  VI.  Pt 
I.  vii. 

Beauty,  the  love  of,  compatible  with 
royal  government,  I.  Pt  II.  v. — only 
moral,  is  truly  excellent,  IV.  Pt  II. 

XXV. 

Behaviour  of  Mencius  with  an  un- 
worthy associate,  II.  Pt  II.  vi. 

Beuelits'of  trouble  and  affliction,  VII. 
Pt  I.  xviii. 

Benevolence,  and  righteousness,  I.  Pt 
I.  i.  :  VI.  Pt  II.  iv. — belongs  natur- 
ally to  man,  II.  Pt  I.   vi. :  IV.  Pt 

I.  X.  :  VI.  Pt  I.  i.  :  VII.  Pt  I.  xv. ; 
Pt  II.  xvi.— exhortation  to,  II.  Pt  I. 
vii. — importance  to  all  of  exercising, 

IV.  Pt  1.  ii. — the  only  security  of  a 
prince,  IV.  Pt  I.  vii.  ;  viii.  ;  ix. — 
filial  piety  the  richest  fruit  of,  IV. 
Pt  I.  xxvii.— the  .superior  man  pre- 
serves, IV.  Pt  II.  XX viii. — and  right- 
eousness equally  internal,  VI.  Pt  I. 
iv. ;  v. — it  is  necessary  to  practise 
with  all  one's  might,  VI.  Pt  I.  xviii. 
— must  be  matured,  VI.  Pt  I.  xix. 
— and  righteousness,  the  dift'ereuce 
between  Yaou  and  Shun,  T'ang  and 
Woo,  and  the  five  Chiefs  in  relation 
tOj  VII.  Pt  I.  XXX. — the  empire  cau 
be  got  only  by,  VII,  Pt  II.  xiii. 

Benevolent  government,  I.  Pt  I.  v.  ; 
vii.  :  III.  Pt  1.  iii.  :  IV.  Pt  I.  i.— 
safety  and  pro.sperity  lie  in,  I.  Pt  II. 
xi. — atl'ections  of  the  people  secured 
by,  I.  Pt  II.  xii. — glory  the  result  of, 

II.  Pt  I.  iv. — the  prince  who  sets 
about  practising  has  none  to  fear.  III. 
Pt  U.  V. 

Bodily  defects,  how  men  are  sensible  of, 

VI.  Pt  I.  xii. — organization,  only  a 
sage  cau  satisfy  the  design  of  his, 

VII.  Pt  I.  xxxviii. 

Book  of  Rites,  quotations  from,  II.  Pt 

II.  ii.  :   111.  Pt  II.  iii. 
Brilliaut  Palace,  the,  I.  Pt  II.  v. 
Burial,  Meucius',  of  his  mother,  II.  Pt 

II.  vii. — of  a  Mihist's  parents.  III. 

Pt  I.  v. 

Calamity  and  happiness,  arc  men's  own 
seeking,  II.  Pt  I.  iv. — the  superior 
man  is  beyond  the  reach  of,  IV.  Pt 
II.  xxviii. 

Calumny,  comfort  under,  VII.  Pt  II. 

XIX. 


Careful,  the  thought  of  consequences 

should  make  men,  VII.  Pt  II.  vii. 
Citttle    and    sheep,    illustration    taken 

from  feeding,  II.  Pt  II.  iv. 
Character,  how  men  judge  wrongly  of, 

VII.  Pt  I.  xxxiv. — diflerent  degrees 

of  attainment  in,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxv. 
Charge  of   one's-self    the   greatest   of 

charges,  IV.  Pt  I.  xix. 
Chess-planng,   illustration  from,    VI. 

Pt  I.  ix'. 
Chief  ministers,  the  duties  of,   V.  Pt 

II.  ix. 
Chiefs  of  the  princes,  the  five,  VI.  Pt 

II.  vii. 
Chieftain  of  the  princes  not  a  sovereign 

of  the  kingdom,  II.  Pt  I.  iii. — in- 
fluence of  a,  different  from  that  of  a 

true  sovereign,  VII.  Pt  I.  xiii. 
Child-like,  the  great  man  is,  IV.  Pt 

II.  xii. 
Comfort  under  calumny,  VII.   Pt  II. 

xix. 
Common  relations  of  life,  importance  of, 

to  the  prosperity  of  the  kingdom,  IV. 

Pt  I.  xi. 
Compass  and  square,  use  of  the,  IV. 

Pt  I.  ii.  ■ 
Concert,  the  character  of  Confucius  a 

complete,  V.  Pt  II.  i. 
Condemnation  of  Hwuy  of  Leang,  VII. 

Pt  II.  i. 
Confidence  of  the  Sovereign,  how  to 

obtain,  IV.  Pt  I.  xii. 
Consequences,  the  thought  of,  should 

make  men  careful,  VI.  Pt  II.  vii. 
Conspicuous  mound,  monopolizing  the, 

II.  PtII.  X. 

Constitution,  benevolence  and  right- 
eousness part  of  man's,  VII.  Pt  I. 

XV. 

Conviction,     how    Mencius     brought 

home,  II.  Pt  II.  iv. 
Cookery,  E  Yin's  knowledge  of,  V.  Pt 

I.  vii. 
Corn,  assisting,  to  grow,  II.  Pt  I.  ii. 
Corrupt  times  are  provided  against  by 

established  virtue,  VII.  Pt  II.  x. 
Counselling  princes  from  the  ground  of 

profit,  danger  of,  VI.  Pt  II.  iv. 
Counsellors   of   great  men   should    be 

morally   above   them,    VII.  Pt    II. 

xxxiv. 
Counsels  for  the  government  of  a  State, 

III.  Pt  I.  iii. 

Courses,  two,  open  to  a  prince  pursued 
bv  his  enemies,  I.  Pt  II.  xv. — of 
Yaou  and  Shun,  VI.  Pt  II.  ii. 

Court,  Mencius  would  not  pay,  to  a 
favourite,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxvii. 

Cultivation,  men's  disregard  of  self-, 
VI.  Pt  I.  xiii. — men  may  become 


388 


SUBJECTS    FN    THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS. 


[index 


Yaous  and  Shuns  by  the,  of  their  prin- 
ciples and  ways,  VI.  Pt  II.  ii. — of 
the  mind  must  not  be  intermitted, 
VII.  Pt  II.  xxi. 

Death,  or  flight,  whether  should  be 
chosen,  I.  Pt  II.  xv. — there  are 
things  which  men  dislike  more  than 
death,  VI.  Pt  I.  x. — how  Mencius 
pi-edicted  the,  of  P'wan  Shing-kwoh, 
VII.  Pt  II.  xxix. 

Decencies  may  not  be  expected,  where 
virtues  are  wanting,  VII.  Pt  I.  xliv. 

Decrees  of  Heaven,  man's  duty  as  af- 
fected by  the,  VII.  Pt  I.  ii. 

Deeds,  not  words  or  manners,  prove 
mental  qualities,  IV.  Pt  I.  xvi. 

Defects,  men  are  sensible  of  bodily,  but 
not  of  mental  or  moral,  VI.  Pt  I. 
xii. 

Defence,  of  Shun's  conduct,  V.  Pt  I. 
ii.  ;  iii.— of  E  Yin,  V.  Pt  I.  vii. — of 
Confucius,  V.  Pt  I.  viii. — of  accept- 
ing presents  from  oppressors  of  the 
people,  V.  Pt  II.  iv. 

Degeneracy,  the  progress  of,  from  the 
three  kings  to  the  five  chiefs  of  the 
princes,  VI.  Pt  II.  vii.  , 

Deluge,  the  Chinese,  III.  Pt  I.  iv. ;  Pt 
II.  ix. :  IV.  Pt  II.  xxvi. ;  VI.  Pt 

II.  xi. 

Desires,   the  regulation    of,   essential, 

VII.  Pt  II.  XXXV. 
Developing  their  natural  goodness  may 

make  men  equal  the  ancient   sages, 

III.  Pt  1.  i. :  Vll.Pt  II.  xxxi. 
Dignities,  arrangement  of,  in  the  dyn- 
asty of  Chow,  V.  Pt  II.  ii. 

Dignity,  how  the  ancient  scholars 
maintained  their,  VII.  Pt  I.  viii. — 
how  Mencius  maintained  his,  with 
the  prince.s,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxiii. 

Disappointment  of  Mencius  with  the 
king  Seang,  I.  Pt  I.  vi. 

Discrimination  of  what  is  right  and 
wTong  must  precede  vigorous  right- 
doing,  IV.  Pt  II.  viii. 

Disg:raceful  means  which  men  take  to 
seek  wealth  and  honour,  IV.  Pt  II. 
xsxiii. 

Disposition,  a  man's  true,  will  often 
appear  in  small  matters,  VII.  Pt  II. 
xi. 

Disputing,  Mencius  not  fond  of,  III. 
Pt  II.  ix. 

Dis.satisfaction  with  a  parent,  not 
necessarily  unfilial,  VI.  Pt  II.  iii. 

Division  of  labour,  propriety  of  the, 
III.  Pt  I.  iv. 

Doctrine,  of  the  Mihists  refuted,  III. 
Pt  I.  v.— heretical,  III.  Pt  II.  ix.— 
of  the  Menu,  quotation  from  the,  IV. 


Pt  I.  xii. — of  the  sages,  to  be  ad- 
vanced to  by  successive  steps,  VII. 
Pt  I.  xxiv. — on  the  transmis.sion  of, 
from  Yaou  to  Mencius'  own  time, 
VII.  Pt  II.  xxxviii. 

Duties  which  the  virtuous  jind  talented 
owe  to  the  young  and  ignoi'ant,  IV. 
Pt  II.  vii. — of  ditfereut  classes  of 
chief  ministers,  V.  Pt  II.  ix. 

Duty,  man's,  how  affected  by  the  de- 
crees of  Heaven,  VII.  Pt  I.  ii. —  be- 
nevolence the  path  of,  VII.  Pt  II. 
xvi. 

DjTiasties,  Hea,  Yin,  and  Chow,  II.  Pt 
I.  i. :  III.  Pt  I.  iii.  :  V.  Pt  II.  vi. : 
—Chow,  II.  Pt  II.  xiii.  :  V.  Pt  II. 
ii.— the  three.  III.  Pt  I.  iii. :  IV. 
Pt  I.  iii. ;  Pt  II.  XX.— Ilea  and 
Yin,  IV.  Pt  I.  ii. — Shangor  Yin,  and 
Chow,  IV.  Pt  I.  vii. 

Earth,  advantages  of  situation  afforded 
by  the,  II.  Pt  II.  i. 

•Earth-worm,  an  over-fastidious  scholar 
compared  to  an.  III.  Pt  II.  x. 

Education,  importance  of  a  ruler  at- 
tending to,  III.  Pt  I.  iii. 

Elated  by  riches,  not  to  be,  a  proof  of 
.superiority,  VII.  Pt  I.  xi. 

Emoluments,  arrangement  of,  in  the 
Chow  dynasty,  V.  Pt  II.  ii. 

Emperor,  friendship  with  an,  V.  Pt  II, 
iii. — equauimity  of  Shun  as  an,  VII. 
Pt  II.  vi.  ' 

Empire  or  whole  kingdom,  by  whom 
the  torn,  may  be  united,  I.  Pt  I.  vi. 
— king  Ilwuy's  competence  to  obtain 
the,  I.  Pt  I.  vii. — employment  of 
Mencius  would  be  for  the  good  of  the 
whole,  II.  I't  II.  xii. — the,  the  State, 
the  Family,  IV.  Pt  I.  v. — the  way  to 
get  the,  IV.  Pt  I.  ix. :  VII.  Pt  II.  xiii. 
— tranquillity  of,  dependent  on  what, 

IV.  Pt  I.  xi.— a  drowning,  IV.  Pt  I. 
xvii. — how  Shun  got  the,  V.  Pt  I. 
V. — how  Shun  would  have  regarded 
abandoning  the,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxxv. 

End,  the,  may  justify  the  means,  VII. 

Pt  I.  xxxi. 
Enjoyment,  man's  nature  the  source  of 

his  true,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxi. 
Equanimity  of  Shun  in  poverty,  and  as 

emperor,  VII.  Pt  II.  vi. 
Error  of  a  Mihist  refuted,  III.  Pt  I. 

V.  ;  Pt  II.  ix. 

Errors  of  Yang,  Mih,  and  Tsze-moh, 
VII.  Pt  I.  xxvi.  ;  Pt  II.  xxvi. 

Evil,  a  warning  to  the  violently,  and 
the  weakly,  IV.  Pt  I.  x.— speaking, 
brings  with  it  evil  consequences,  1 V. 
Pt  II.  ix. 

Exactions,  just,  should  be  made  with 


IXDEX    I.]        SUBJECTS    IN    THE    WORKS    OF   MEXCIUS. 


580 


discrimination,  VII.  Vt  II.  xxvii. 
Exaiiiple,  inliuence  of,  HI.  Pt  II.  vi. 
— iniluence  of  a  ruler  .s,  IV.  Pt  II. 
V. — the  ancients  led  men  by,  VII.  Pt 

II.  XX. 

Excellence,  how  a  prince  may  subdue 
men  by,  IV.  Pt  II.  xvi. 

Excusing'  of  crror.s,  how  Mencius  beat 
down  the,  II.  Pt  II.  ix. 

Exhortation  to  benevolence,  II.  Pt  I. 
vii. 

Explanation  of  friendly  intercourse 
with  K'wans;-  Chan-  IV.  Pt  II.  xxx. 
— of  tlie  ditferent  conduct  of  T-sang 
and  Tsze-sze,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxxi. — of 
Shun's  conduct  towards  his  brother, 
V.  Pt  I.  iii. — id.  towards  the  emper- 
or Yaou,  and  his  father  Koo-sow,  V. 
Pt  I.  iv. — of  the  Odes  Seaou  P'wan 
and  K'ae  Fang,  VI.  Pt  II.  iii. 

Extreme  cases  must  not  be  pressed  to 
invalidate  a  principle,  VI.  Pt  II.  i. 

Faith,  the  necessity  of,  VI.  Pt  II.  xii. 

Fame,  a  love  of,  may  carry  a  man 
over  great  difficulties,  VII.  Pt  II. 
xi. 

Father,  why  a,  does  not  himself  teach 
his  own  son,  IV.  Pt  I.  xviii. 

Favour  to  individuals,  good  govern- 
ment does  not  lie  in,  IV.  Pt  II.  ii. — 
how  Mencius  acknowledged  a,  VI. 
Pt  II.  V. 

Favourite,  Mencius  •would  not  pay 
court  to  a,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxvii. 

Filial  piety,  to  have  po.sterity,  a  part 
of,  IV.  Pt  I.  xxvi. — in  relation  to  be- 
nevolence, (fcc,  IV.  Pt  I.  xxvii. — 
how  Shun  valued  and  exemplified, 
IV.  Pt  I.  xxviii. — seen  in  the  obse- 
quies of  parents,  IV.  Pt  II.  xiii. — of 
K'wang  Chang,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxx. — 
great,  of  Shun,  V.  Pt  I.  i. ;  iv. — of 
Tsang-tsze  seen,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxxvi. 

Firmness  of  H\vuy  of  Lew-hea,  VII. 
Pt  I.  xxviii. 

First  judgments  are  not  always  correct, 
IV.  Pt  II.  xxiii. 

Five  things  which  are  unfilial,  IV.  Pt 
II.  xxx. — injunctions  of  a  covenant 
of  the  princes,  VI.  Pt  II.  vii. — ways 
in  which  the  sage  teaches,  VII.  Pt 

I.  xl. 

Force,  submission  secured  by,  II.  Pt  I. 

iii. 
Forester  refusing  to  come  to  the  king 

of  Ts'e  when  called  by  a  flag,  V.  Pt 

II.  vii. 

Four  limbs,  principles  of  the  mind  com- 
pared to  the,  II.  Pt  I.  vi. — ditferent 
classes  of  ministers,  VII.  Pt  I.  xix. 

Fraternal    obedience,    in    relation    to 


righteousness,  &c.,  IV.  Pt  T.  xxvii. 

— affection  of  Shun,  V.  Pt  I.  iii. 
Freedom  of  ^Mencius,  as  unsalaried,  to 

speak  out  his  mind,  II.  Pt  II.  v. 
Friends,  carefulness  in    making,  I V. 

Pt  II.  xxiv. 
Friendship,  the  principles  of,  V.  Pt  II. 

iii. ;  vii. ;  viii. 

Gain,  the  love  of,  and  the  love  of  good, 
contrasted,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxv. 

Generosity  of  Mencius  in  receiving 
pupils,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxx. 

Gifts  of  prince.s,  how  Mencius  declined 
or  accepted,  II.  Pt  II.  iii. 

Glory  the  result  of  benevolent  govern- 
ment, II.  Pt  I.  iv. 

God,  rulers  and  teachers  assisting  to, 

I.  Pt  II.  iii. — the  ordinances  of,  II. 
Pt  I.  iv.  :  IV.  Pt  I.  iv.— the  decree 
of,  IV.  Pt  I.  vii. — \^ho  may  sacrifice 
to,  ly.  Ft  II.  XXV. 

Goodr  sages  and  worthies  delighted  in 
what  is,  II.  Pt  I.  viii. — importance 
to  a  government  of  loving  what  is, 

VI.  Pt  II.  xiii. — man  is  fitted  for, 
and  happy  in  doing,  VII.  Pt  I.  iv. 
(See  2\'(7tiire) — people  should  get 
their  inspiration  to,  in    them.selves, 

VII.  Pt  I.  X.— the  love  of,  and  the 
love  of  gain  contrasted,  VII.  Pt  I. 
xxv. — Words  and  principles,  what 
are,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxxii. 

Goodness,  ditferent  degrees  of,  VII.  Pt 

II.  xxv. 

Government,  character  of  king  Hwuy's, 
I.  Pt  I.  iii. ;  iv. — the  love  of  music 
subservient  to  good,  I.  Pt  II.  i. — 
bad,  of  the  king  of  Ts'e,  I.  Pt  II.  vi. 
— of  a  kingdom,  counsels  for  the.  III. 
Pt  I.  iii. — there  is  an  art  of,  which 
requires  to  be  studied  by  rulers  and 
their  ministers,  IV.  Pt  I.  i. — the  ad- 
ministration of,  not  difficult,  IV.  Pt 
I.  vi. — the  influence  of  king  Wan's, 
IV.  Pt  I.  xiii.— good,  lies  in  equal 
measures  for  the  general  good,  IV. 
Pt  II.  ii. — the  aged  were  nourished 
by  king  "Wan's,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxii.— 
the  well-being  of  the  people  the  first 
care  of  a,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxiii. 

Grain,  illustration  from  growing,  I.  Pt 

I.  vi. 

Great,  Houses,  a  ruler  should  secure  the 
esteem  of  the,  IV.  Pt  I.  vi. — services, 
Heaven  prepares  men  for,  how,  VI. 

Pt  II.  XV. 

Great  man,  Mencius'  conception  of  the, 

III.  Pt  II.  ii. — makes  no  mistakes  in 
propriety  and  righteousness,  IV.  Pt 

II.  vi.— simply  pursues  what  is  right, 

IV.  Pt  II.  xi.— is  child-like,  IV.  Pt 


ri>//A' 


^ 


i^:i 


390 


SUBJECTS   IN    THE    WOKKS    OF    MENCIUS.       [iNDEX    T. 


II.  xii. — in  good  men  a  reconciling 
principle  will  be  found  for  the  out- 
wardly difi'erent  conduct  of,  IV.  I't 
II.  xxix. — how  some  are,  VI.  Pt  I. 
XV.  —  he  who  counsel.s,  should  be 
morally  above  them,  VII.  Pt  II. 
xxxiv. 
Grief  of  Mencius  at  not  finding  an  op- 
portunity to  do  good,  II.  Pt  II.  xiii. 

Half  measures  of  little  use,  I.  Pt  I.  iii. 

Hearts,  of  men,  importance  of  getting 
the,  II.  Pt  11.  i. :  IV.  Pt  I.  ix  —the 
pupil  of  the  eye  index  of  the,  IV.  Pt 

I.  XV.— how  to  nourish  the,  VII.  Pt 

II.  XXXV. 

■Heaven,  delighting  in,  and  fearing,  I. 
Pt  11.  iii. — attaining  to  the  royal 
digiiity  rests  with,  I.  Pt  II.  xiv. — a 
man's  way  in  life  is  ordered  by,  I. 
Pt  II.  xvi. :  V.  Pt  1.  viii.— he  who 
has  no  encuiy  in  the  kingdom  is  the 
minister  of,  II.  Pt  I.  v. — opportvmi- 
ties  vouchsafed  by,  II.  Pt  II.  i. — 
only  the  minister  of,  may  smite  a 
nation,  II.  Pt  II.  viii. — the  superior 
man  does  not  murmur  against,  II. 
Pt  II.  xiii. — submission  of  States 
determined  by,  IV.  Pt  I.  vii. — iShun 
got  the  empire  by  the  gift  of,  V.  Pt 

1.  V. -'s  plan  in  the  production  of 

mankind,  V.  Pt  I.  vii.  ;  Pt  II.  i. 
's  places,  offices,  and  emoluments, 

V.  Pt  II.  iii. — has  given  us,  what, 

VI.  Pt  1.  XV.— the  nobility  of,  VI. 
Pt  I.  xvi. — prepares  men  by  trials 
and  hardships,  VI.  Pt  11.  xv. — by 
the  study  of  ourselves  we  come  to  the 
knowledge  of,  VII.  Pt  1.  i.— what 
may  be  correctly  ascribed  to  the  ap- 
pointment of,  VII.  Pt  I.  ii. — con- 
ferred nature,  the  bodily  organs  a 
part  of  the,  Vll.  Pt  I.  xxxviii. — 
how  the  superior  man  regards  the 
will  of,  VII.  Pt?II.  xxiv. 

Hereditary  monarchy,  Mencius'  views 

on,  V.  Pt  I.  V. ;  vi. 
Heretics,  recovered,   should  not  have 

their  (dd  errors  cast  in  their  teeth, 

VII.  Pt  II.  xxvi. 

Hire,  the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his,  III. 

Pt  II.  iv. 
History,  quotations    from.  III.  Pt  I. 

ii.  ;  Pt  il.  i. 
Honour,  the  true,  which  naen  should 

desire,  VI.  Pt  I.  xvii. 
Husbandly,  importance  of.  III.  Pt  I. 

iii.:    VII.     I't    1.    xxii.  ;    xxiii. — a 

ruler  should  not  labour  at,  with  his 

own  hands.  III.  Pt  I.  iv. 
Hypocrisy,  Shun  defended   against   a 

charge  of,  V.  Pt  I.  ii. 


Imperial,  or  trucroyal,  government,  cha- 
racteristics of,  1.  Pt  I.  vii. — digiiity, 
attained  by  true  royal  government,  I. 
Pt  II.  V.  :  II.  Pt  I.  y.—id.  by  doing 
what  is  good  and  right,  I.  Pt  II.  xiv. 
— goveniment,  Mencius  wi.shed  to 
see,  and  could  have  realized,  a  true, 
II.  Pt  I.  i. — sovereign  should  arise 
every  oOO  years,  II.  Pt  II.  xiii. — 
sway,  not  one  of  the  things  in  which 
the  superior  man  delights,  VII.  Pt 

I.  XX. 

Impulses  must  be  weighed  in  the  bal- 
ance of  reason,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxiii. 

Inability,  defined,  I.  Pt  I.  vii. 

Inauspicious  words,  what  are  most 
truly,  IV.  Pt  II.  xvii. 

Infiuence,  of  king  "Wan's  government, 
IV.  Pt  I.  xiii.^ — a  man's,  depends  on 
his  personal  example  and  conduct, 
VII.  Pt  II.  ix.— Pih-e,  (fcc,  proved 
to  be  sages  by  the  permanence  of 
their,  VII.  Pt  II.  XV. 

Injunctions,  five,  in  a  covenant  of  the 
princes,  VI.  Pt  II.  vii. 

Insinuations  of  Shun-yn  K'wan,  how 
Mencius  repelled  the,  VI.  Pt  II.  vi. 

Inspiration  to  good,  people  should  get 
ill  themselves,  VII.  I't  I.  x. 

Iiistrumentalitj'  of  others  atfects  one's 
way  in  life,  how  far,  I.  Pt  II.  xvi. 

Intercourse  with  neighbouring  king- 
doms, I.  Pt  II.  iii. — of  Mencius 
Avith  the  princes  of  his  time.  III.  Pt 

II.  i. 

'Internal,  the  foundation  of  righteous- 
ness is,  VI.  Pt  I.  iv. ;  V. 

Judgment  concerning  Pih-o  and  Hwuy 
of  Lew-hya,  II.  Pt  I.  ix. 

Judgments,  first,  not  always  correct, 
IV.  Pt  II.  xxiii. — of  character,  how 
men  form  wrong,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxxiv. 

Killing  a  sovereign  not  necessarily 
murder,  I.  Pt  11.  viii. — men,  a  prince 
should  not  have  pleasure  in,  I.  Pt  I. 
vi.^ — the  character  of,  does  not  de- 
pend on  the  instrument  used,  I.  Pt  I. 
iv. — the  innocent,  consequences  of, 
IV.  Pt  II.  iv. 

Kings,  the  three,  VI.  Pt  II.  vii. 

Kingdoms,  intercourse  with  neighbour- 
ing, I.  Pt  II.  iii. — the  disposal  of, 
rests  with  the  people,  I.  Pt  11.  x. 

Knowledge  ought  to  be  pursued,  how, 
IV.  PtII.  xxvi. 

Labour,  propriety  of  the  division  of, 

III.  Pt  1.  iv.— only  that,  to  be  pur- 
sued, which  accoujplishes  the  object, 
VU.  Pt  I.  xxix. 


INDEX   I.]       SUBJECTS    IN    THE    WORKS   OF   MENCIUS. 


Wl 


Labourer,  the,  is  worthy  of  his  hire,  III. 

Pt  II.  iv. 
Law  in  himself,  a  man  has  but  to  obey 

the,  VII.  Pt  I.  xvii. 

Learuer(s),  teachers  of  truth  must  not 

lower  their  lessons  to  suit,  VII.  Pt  I. 

xli. — hini.><elf,  real  attainineut  must 

be  made  by  Ihe,  VII.  Pt  II.  v. 
Learning-,  inwrought  into  the  mind,  the 

value  of,  IV.  Pt  II.  xiv. — cunsists  in 

seeking  tlic  lost  mind,  VI.  Pt  I.  xi. 

— must  not  be  by  halves,  VI.  Pt  I.  xx. 
Leaving   Loo    and    Ts'e,    Confucius', 

VII.  Pt  II.  xvii. 
Lessons,  the,  of  the  sage,  reach  to  all 

classes,  VII.  Pt  I.  xl. 
Lettered  class  conducting  government, 

propriety  of  a,  III.  Pt  I.  iv* 
Lite,  not  nature,  V'l.  Pt  I.  iii. — there 

are  things  which  uieu  like  more  than, 

VI.  Pt  I.  X. 

Limbs,  the  principles  of  the  mind  com- 
pared to  the,  II.  PtI.  vi. 

Lingering,  Meneius,  in  Ts'e,  II.  Pt  II. 
xii. 

Little  men,  how  some  are,  VI.  Pt  I.  xv. 

Lords  of  reason,  how  some  are,  VI.  Pt 

I.  xv. 

Losses,  how  a  ruler  may  take  satisfac- 
tion for,  I.  Pt  I.  V. 

Loving  what  is  good,  importance  of,  to 
government,  VI.  Pt  II.  xiii. 

Man,  the  nobility  that  is  of,  VI.  Pt  I. 
xyi. — the  honour  that  is  of,  VI.  Pt  I. 
xvii. — the  duty  of,  as  aticoted  by  the 
decrees  of  Heaven,  VII.  Pt  I.  ii. — 
is  fitted  for  and  happy  in  doing  good, 

VII.  Pt  I.  iv.— has  but  to  obey  the 
law  in  himself,  VII.  Pt  I.  xvii. — be- 
nevolence in  relation  to,  VII.  Pt  II. 
xvi. 

Marriage  of  Shun  justified,  IV.  Pt  I. 

xxvi.  :  V.  Pt  I.  ii. 
Masters,  be  not  many,  IV.  Pt  I.  xxiii. 
Mean,  doctrine  of  the,  referred  to,  IV. 

Pt  II.  vii. — Confucius  kept  the,  IV. 

Pt  II.  X.— T'ang  held  fast  the,  IV. 

Pt  II.  XX. 

Means,  the  end  may  justify  the,  VII. 

Pt  I.  xxxi. 
Measure,  with  what,  a  man  metes,  it 

will  be  measured  to  him  again,  IV. 

Pt  I.  iv. 
Medium,  Confucius  and  Meneius  called 

to  the  puisuit  of  the  right,  VII.  Pt 

II.  xxxvii. 

Men,  importance  of   a  prince  gaining 

the  hearts  of.  II.  Pt  II.  i. 
Mental  qualities  proved  by  deeds,  not 

by  Words,  iV.  Pt  I.  xvi. 
Messenger,  Meneius  olleuded  because  a 


prince  sent  for  him  by  a,  II.  Pt  II. 
ii. 
Middle  kingdom,  the,  I.  Pt  I.  vii. :  III. 
Pt  I.  iv. ;  Pt  II.  ix.  :  V.  Pt  I.  v. : 

VI.  Pt  II.  X. 

Mind,  all  men  are  the  same  in,  VI.  Pt 

I.  vii. — in  danger  of  being  injured  by 
poverty  and  a  mean  condition,  VII. 
Pt  I.  xxvii. — the  cultivation  of  the, 
must  not  be  intermitted,  VII.  Pt  II. 
xxi. 

Minister(s),  care  to  be  exercised  in  em- 
ploying, I.  Pt  II.  vii. — the,  of  Hea- 
ven only  may  smite  a  nation,  II.  Pt 

II.  viii. — Meneius  condemns  the  pm-- 
suit  of  warlike  schemes  by,  IV.  Pt  I. 
xiv. — the  truly  great,  directs  his 
etforts  to  the  sovereig-n's  character, 
IV.  Pt  I.  XX. — will  serve  their  sove- 
reign according  as  he  treats  them, 

IV.  Pt  II.  iii. — the  duties  of   chief, 

V.  Pt  II.  ix.— of  Meneius'  time 
l^andered  to  their  sovereign's  thirsc 
for  wealth  and  power,  VI.  Pt  II.  ix. 
— four  different  classes  of,  VII.  Pt  I. 
xix. 

Moral,  beauty  alone  truly  excellent, 
IV.'  Pt  II.  XXV. — excellence,  the 
superior  man  cultivates,  IV.  Pt  II. 
xxviii. — intluences,  the  value  of,  to  a 
ruler,  VII.  Pt  I.  xiv. 

Mountain,  illustration  from  the  trees  of 
the  New,  VI.  Pt  I.  viii. 

Mourning  for  parents,  I.  Pt  II.  xvi.  : 

III.  Pt  I.ii.:  V.  Pt  I.  iv. ;  v.;  vi.  : 

VII.  Pt  I.  xxxix.  ;  xlvi. 
Mugwort,  illustration  taken  from,  IV. 

Pt  I.  ix. 
Murder,  what  Shun  would  have  done 
if  his  father  had  committed  a,  VII. 

Pt    I.   XXXV. 

Murmiu-  at  the  hardest  measures,  when 
the  people  will  not,  VII.  Pt  I.  xii. 

Music,  the  love  of,  I.  Pt  II.  i. — the  rich- 
est fruit  of,  IV.  Pt  I.  xxvii.— of  Yu 
and  king  Wan,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxii. 

Music-master,  the  grand,  I.  Pt  II.  iv. 

Nature,  the,  of  man  good,  III.  Pt  I.  i. : 

VI.  Pt  I.  i.  ;  ii.  ;  vi.  ;  vii. — not  to 
be  confounded  with  the  phenomena 
of  life,  VI.  Pt  I.  iii. — appears  as  if 
it  were  not  good,  how,  VI.  Pt  I.  viii. ; 
ix. — to  love  righteousness  more  than 
life  is  proper  to  man's,  VI.  Pt  I.  x. 
— how  men  should  seek  the  lost 
qualities  of  their,  VI.  Pt  I.  xi. — re- 
lative importance  of  the  different 
purls  of  the,  VI.  Pt  I.  xiv. — Heaven 
is  served  by  obeying  our,  VII.  Pt  I. 
i. — man's  own,  tho  most  important 
thing  to  him,  ice,  Vll.  Pt  I.  xxi. — 


092 


SUBJECTS    IN    THE  'WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.        [iNUEX    I, 


of  man,  and  the  appointment  of  Hea- 
ven, VII.  rt  II.  xxiv. 

Natural  benevolence  and  righteousness 
of  man,  only  requires  development  to 
be  mere  than  sutlicieut,  Yli.  I't  II. 
xxxi. 

Neighbouring:  states,  intercourse  with, 

I.  Ft  II.  iii. 

Nobility  that  is  of  Heaven  and  that  is 
of  man,  VI.  Ft  I.  x\'i. 

Nourishment,  the  nature  of  man  seems 
bad  from  not  receiving  its  proper, 
VI.  Ft  I.  viii. — of  the  diU'erent  parts 
of  the  nature,  VI.  Ft  I.  xiv. 

Object  of  Confucius  and  Mencius,  what 
was  the,  VII.  Ft  II.  xxxvii. 

Obscurity,  how  what  Shun  was  dis- 
covered itself  in  his  greatest,  VII. 
Pt  1.  xvi. 

Obstinate  adherence  to  a  course  deemed 
right,  against,  VII.  Ft  I.  xxvi. 

Odes,  quotations  from  the,  I.  Pt  I.  ii. ; 
vii. ;  Ft  II.  iii. ;  v.  :  II.  Ft  I.  iii.  ; 
iv.  :  III.  Pt  I.  iii. ;  iv. ;  Ft  II.  i.  ; 
ix. :  IV.  Ft  I.  i. ;  ii. ;  iv. ;  vii. ;  ix.  : 
V.  Pt  1.  ii. ;  iv.  ;  Pt  II.  vii.  :  VI. 
Pt  I.  vi. ;  xvii.  :  VII.  Ft  I.  xxxii. ; 
Ft  II.  xix. 

Office,  Mencius  giving  up  his,  II.  Pt 

II.  X.  ;  xi. ;  xii.  ;  xiii. :  VI.  Pt  II. 
vi.— to  be  sought,  but  only  by  the 
proper  path.  III.  Ft  II.  iii.  :  V.  Pt  I. 
viii. — may  be  taken  on  account  of 
poverty,  when,  V.  Pt  II.  v. — grounds 
of  takmg  and  leaving,  VI.  Ft  11. 
xiv. 

Otticiousness,  Mencius  repelling,  II. 
Pt  II.  xi. 

Opposition  of  Mencius  to  warlike  am- 
bition, VI.  Pt  II.  viii. 

Ox,  king  Uwuy's  compassion  for  an, 
1.  Ft  1.  vii. 

Parents,  burial  of.  III.  Pt  I.  v.  {sec 
Mournhig).  —  the  right  manner  of 
serving,  IV.  Ft  I.  xix. ;  Pt  II.  xiii. 

Parks  and  hunting,  the  love  of,  &c.,  1. 
Ft  II.  ii. 

Parts  of  the  nature,  relative  importance 
of  diflerent,  VI.  Pt  I.  xiv. 

Passion-nature,  Mencius  nourished 
his,  II.  Pt  I.  ii. 

Pecuniary  con.sidorations,  Mencius  not 
influenced  by,  II.  Ft  II.  x. 

Peojdc,  rulers  must  share  their  plea- 
sures with  the,  I.  Pt  I.  ii.— lovo  of 
valour  may  subserve  the  good  of  the, 
I.  Ft  II.  iii. — the  disposal  of  king- 
doms r'  sl.s  with  the,  I.  Pt  II.  x. — the 
afl'ections  of  the,  only  secured  by  be 
nevolent  govemmenJ,  I.  I't  II.  xii. : 


IV.  Pt  I.  ix. 's  happiness  disre- 
garded by  the  ministers  of  Mencius' 
time,  IV.  Pt  I.  xiv.— the  part  of 
the,  in  making  an  emperor,  V.  Pt  I. 
v. — how  to  promote  the  virtue  of  the, 
VII.  Pt  I.  xxiii. — the  most  import- 
ant element  in  a  nation,  VII.  Ft  II. 
xiv. 

Feisonal  character,  importance  of,  IV. 
Pt  I.  V. 

Pictures  of  Pih-e  and  Hwuy  of  Lifw- 
hea,  II.  Pt  I.  ix. 

Phenomena,  importance  of  carefully 
studying,  IV.  Ft  II.  xxvi. 

Pleasure,  rulers  must  share  with  the 
people,  I.  Ft  I.  ii. ;  Pt  II.  i. ;  iv. 

I'ositioiij  how  one's  material,  affects 
his  air,  VII.  Ft  I.  xxxvi. 

Poverty,  when  otiice  may  be  taken 
on  account  of,  V.  Ft  II.  v. — import- 
ance of  not  allowing  the  mind  to 
be  injured  by,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxvii. — 
equanimity  of  Shun  in,  VII.  Ft- II. 
vi. 

Praise  and  blame  not  always  according 
to  desert,  IV.  Pt  I.  xxi. 

Precious  things,  three,  of  a  prince, 
VII.  Pt  II.  xxviii. 

Precipitate  advances  will  be  followed 
by  speedy  retreats,  VII.  Pt  I.  xliv. 

Prediction  of  P'wan-shing  Kwoh's 
death  by  Mencius,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxix. 

Prepares  himself  for  the  duties  to 
which  he  aspires,  how  a  scholar, 
VII.  Pt  I.  xxxiii. 

Presents,  Mencius  defends  accepting, 
from  oppressors  of  the  people,  V.  Ft 
II.  iv. — of  a  prince  to  a  scholar,  how 
to  be  made  and  accepted,  V.  Ft  II. 
vi. — how  Mencius  acknowledged,  VI. 
Ft  II.  v. 

Presumptuous  idea  of  Pih  Kwei,  that 
he  could  regulate  the  waters  better 
than  Yudid,  VI.  Ft  II.  xi. 

Prince,  a,  should  employ  ministers, 
how,  I.  Pt  II,  vii. — should  depend 
on  himself,  not  on  other  Powers,  I. 
Ft  11.  xiii.— threatened  by  neigh- 
bours should  act,  how,  I.  Pt  II.  xiv. 
— two  courses  open  to,  when  pursued 
by  his  enemies,  1.  Pt  II.  xv. — should 
get  the  hearts  of  men,  II.  Pt  II.  i. — 
—slighting  Mencius,  II.  Pt  II.  ii. — 
the,  who  sets  about  practising  be- 
nevolent government  has  none  to 
fear.  III.  Ft  II.  v. — benevolence 
the  only  security  of  a,  IV.  Pt  I.  vii. 
— a  vicious,  the  agent  of  his  own 
ruin,  IV.  Ft  1.  viii. — importance  of 
rectifying  a,  IV.  Ftl.xx. — presents 
of  a,  to  a  scholar,  liow  to  be  made 
and  accepted,  V.  Ft  II.  vi. — three 


INDEX    I.]         SUBJECTS    IN    THE    WORKS   OF    MENCID9. 


303 


precious  things   of  a,  YII.   Ft  II. 
xxviii. 
Priuces,   the  only  topics  of   Mencius 
with,  I.  Pt  I.  i.— a  cliict'tain  of  the. 
not  a  sovereign  of  the  kiugiloiii,  II.  Ft 

I.  iii. — the,  of  Mencius'  time  failed 
in  true  royal  govemiiient,  II.  Pt  I. 
V. — Menciu.s  declining;  or  accepting 
gifts  of,  II.  Pt  II.  iii. :  V.  Pt  II.  iv. 
— Menciu.s'  reserve  with  the,  of  his 
time,  III.  Pt  II.  i. — Mencius  defends 
hini.self  for  not  going  to  see  the.  III. 
l*t  II.  vii. — why  a  scholar  should 
decline  going  to  see,  when  called  by 
them,  V.  Pt  II.  vii. — danger  of 
coimselling  from  the  ground  of  profit, 
\'I.  Pt  II.  iv. — intiuence  of  a  chief 
among  the,  dillerent  from  that  of  a 
true  sovereign,  VII.  Pt  I.  xiii. — of 
his  time,  Mencius  censures  the,  VII. 
Pt  I.  xlvi. — how  Mencius  main- 
tained his  o%\Ti  dignity  with  the, 
VII.  Pt  II.  xxxiv. 

Principles,   one  must  live  or  die  with 

his,  ice,  VII.  Pt  I.  xlii. 
Profit,  secondary  to   beuevolence   and 

righteousness,  I.  Pt   I.  i. :    VI.  Pt 

II.  iv. 

Progress  of  degeneracy  in  successive 
ages,  VI.  Pt  II.  vii. 

Prompt  action,  necessity  of,  at  the 
right  time,  IV.  Ft  II.  iv. 

Propriety,  belongs  naturally  to  man, 
II.  Pt  I.  vi. — parents  should  be 
served,  &c.,  according  to,  III.  Ft  I. 
ii.' — help  to  the  world  should  be 
given  according  to,  IV.  Pt  1.  xvii. 
— the  richest  fruit  of,  IV.  Pt  I.  xxvii. 
— the  great  man  makes  no  mistakes 
in,  IV.  Pt  II.  vi. — the  superior  man 
preserves,  IV.  Ft  II.  xxviii. — im- 
portance of   observing  the  rules  of, 

VI.  Pt  II.  i. 

Prosperity  of  a  country,  on  what  de- 
pendent, I.  Pt  I.  i. 

Pupil  of  the  eve,  the  index  of  the  heart, 
IV.  Ft  1.  XV. 

Puritv,  pretended,  of  Ch'iu  Chung,  III. 
Pth.  X. 

Record,  quotation  from  a,  III.  Pt  II. 

iii. 
Remote,    against   aiming  at   what  is, 

VII.  Pt  11.  xxxii. 

Repelling  otficiousness,   Mencius,    II. 

Pt  II.  xi. 
Reproof,  the  benefit  of,  IV.  Pt  I.  xxii. 

— Mencius",  of  Yoh-ching,  IV.  Ft  I. 

xxiv. ;    XXV. — of   Kung-sun  Ch'ow, 

Vll.  Ft  1   xxxix. 
Reputation,  the   value  of,  to  a   ruler, 

Vll.  Ft  I.  iiv. 


Reserve,  Mencius  defends  his,  with  the 
princes  of  his  time,  III.  Ft  11.  i. 

Respected,  that  a  scholar  be,  is  essential 
to  his  engaging  in  a  prihce's  service, 
VII.  Ft  1.  xxxvii. 

Riches,  not  to  bo  elated  by,  a  proof  of 
superiority,  VII.  Pt  I.  xi. 

Righteou.suess  belongs  naturally  to 
man,  II.  Pt  I.  vi. :  VI.  Pt  I.  i.— 
the  straight  path,  IV.  Pt  I.  x.— 
fraternal  (jbedience  the  richest  fruit  ■ 
of,  IV.  Ft  I.  xxvii. — the  great  man 
makes  no  mistakes  in,  IV.  Ft  II.  vi. 
— internal,  not  external,  VI.  Ft  I. 
iv.  ;  v. — to  be  loved  more  than  life, 

VI.  Pt  I.  X. 

Ripe  gTain,  illustration  from,  VI.   Pt 

I.  xix. 

Ritual  Usages,  quotation  from  the,  III. 

Pt  II.  ii. 
Royal  government,  the  great  principles 

of,  1.  Pt  1.  iii.  ;  iv. — will  assuredly 

raise  to  the  highest  dignity,  1.  Pt  11. 

V.  ^-various  points  of,  neglected  in 

Mencius'  time,  11.  Pt  I.  v. 
Ruin,  a  vicious  prince  the  agent  of  his 

own,  IV.  Pt  I.  viii. 
Rulers,  should   share   their  pleasures 

with  the  people,  1.  Ft  I.  ii.^shoidd 

follow  the  advice  of  the  wise,  1.  Pt 

II.  ix. — should  sympathize  with  the 
people  in  their  joys  and  sorrows,  1. 
Ft  11.  iv. — should  not  labour  at  hus- 
bandry with  their  own  hands.  III. 
Ft  1.  iv. — should  study  the  example 
and  principles  of  the  ancient  kings, 
IV.  Ft  1.  i.  ;  ii. — importance  of  be- 
nevolence to,  IV.JPt  I.  iii. '  ex- 
ample, inilaence  of,  IV.  Pt  II.  v. — 
will  not  Le  murmured  at  when  their 
aim  is  evidently  the  people's  good, 

VII.  Ft  1.  xii. — the  value  of  reputa- 
tion and  moral  influences  to,  VII. 
Pt  I.  xiv. 

Rules,  the  necessity  of  go vtming  ac- 
cording to,  IV.  Ft  I.  i.  ;  ii. 

Sacrifice,  allusions  to,  III.  Pt  I.  ii. ; 
Ft  II.  iii.;  v.:  IV.  Pt  II.  xxv. ; 
xxxiii. :  VI.  PtII.  vi. :  Vll.  Ft  11. 
xiv. 

Sage,  Mencius  not  a,  II.  Pt  I.  ii. — 
only  with  a,  does  the  body  act  ac- 
cording to  its  design,  VII.  Pt  I. 
xxxviii. — the  lessons  of  the,  reach  to 
all  classes,  VII.  Ft  I.  xl. 

Sages,  when  they  arise,  will  agree  with 
Mencius,  III.  Pt  II.  ix. — the  human 
relations  perfectly  exhibited  by,  IV. 
Pt  I.  ii. — the  agreement  of,  not 
attected  by  place  or  time,  IV.  Pt  II. 
i. — arc  distinguished  from  other  men, 


59-4 


SUBJECTS    IN   THE    WORKS    OF    MENCIUS.       INDEX   I.] 


how,  IV.  Ft  II.  xix. ;  xx.  ;  xxi.  ; 
xxii. — ju.st  like  other  men,   IV.    Pt 

II.  xxxii.  :  VI.  I't  1.  vi).^ — Confuci- 
us superior  to  all  other,  V.  Pt  II.  i. 
— I  lie  peat  doctrines  of  the,  to  be 
advanced  to  by  successive  steps, 
A'U.  I't  I.  xxiv. — Pih-e,&c.,  proved 
to  be,  by  the  permanence  of  their  in- 
fluence, VII.  Pt  II.  XV, — dctinition 
of  a,  VII.  Pt  II.  XXV.— the  perfect 
virtue  of  the  highest,  VII.  Pt  II. 
xxxiii. 

Satistied,  how  an  adviser  of  the  princes 
may  be  always  perfectly,  VII.  Pt  I. 
ix. 

Scholar  (s),  the,  ought  to  be  remuner- 
ated, III.  Pt  II.  iv. — may  accept 
pre^c•nts  from  a  prince,  on  what 
principles,  V.  Pt  II.  vi. — should  de- 
cline yoing  to  .see  the  princes  when 
called  by  them,  why,  V.  Pt  II.  vii. 
— furmiug  friendships,  rules  for,  V. 
Pt  11.  viii. — ancient,  maintained  the 
dignity  of  their  character,  &c.,  how^, 
VII.  Pt  I.  viii. — prepares  him.sulf 
for  the  duties  to  which  he  aspires, 
VII.  Pt  I.  xxxiii.  —  must  be  re- 
spected in  order  to  his  engaging  in 
the  service  of  a  prince,  Vll.  Pt  I. 
xxxvii. 

Self,  the  charge  of,  greatest,  IV.  Pt  I. 
xix. 

Self-cultivation,  men's    disregard  of, 

VI.  Pt  I.  xiii. 
Self-examination    recommended,    IV. 

Pt  I.  iv. — the  superior  man  practises, 

IV.  Pt  II.  xxviii. 
Self-restraint  necessary  to  a  ruler,  I. 

Pt  II.  iv. 
Selling  himself,  Pih-le  He  vindicated 

from  the  charge  of,  V.  Pt  I.  ix. 
Senses,  all  men  have  the  same,  VI.  Pt 

I.  vii. — some  are  slaves  of  the,  VI. 

Pt  I.   XV. 

Settling  the  empire,  I.  Pt  I.  vi. 
Sbame,  the    value  of   the   feeling  of, 

VII.  Pt  I.  vi.  ;  vii. 
Sheep-date.s,  T.sang-tsze  could  not  eat, 

VII.  Pt  II.  xxxvi. 
Shifts,  Mencius  put  to,  II.  Pt  II.  ii. 
Shoo-king,  quotations  from  the,  I.  Pt 

I.  ii. ;  Pt  II.  iii.  ;  xi. :  II.  Pt  I.  iv. : 

III.  Pt  I.  i. ;  Pt  II.  V.  ;  ix.  :  IV. 
Pt  I.  viii.  :  V.  Pt  I.  V.  :  VI.  Pt  II. 
V. — with  what  reservation  Mencius 
road  the,  VII.  Pt  II.  iii. 

Sickness,  Mencius  pretends,  II.  Pt  II.  ii. 
Sincerity,  the  great  work  of  men  .should 

be  to  strive  after  perfect,  IV.  Pt  I. 

xii. 
Slaves  of  sense  how  some  are,  VI.  Pt 

1.  XV. 


Sorrow  of  Shun  on  account  of  his 
parents,  V.  Pt  I.  i. 

Sovereign,  killing  a,  not  necessarily 
murder,  I.  Pt  II.  viii. — of  the  whole 
kingdom,  who  is  a,  II.  Pt  I.  iii. — 
importance  of  having  virtuous  men 
about  a,  III.  PtII.vi.  ; — 's  example, 
influence  of,  IV.  PtII.  v. — influence 
of  a  true,  VII.  Pt  I.  xiii. — a,  the 
least  important  element  of  a  nation, 
VII.  Pt  II.  xiv. 

Sovereigns,  will  be  served  by  their 
ministers  according  as  they  treat 
them,  IV.  Pt  II.  iii.— the  ministers 
of  JMencius'  time  pandered  to  their, 

VI.  Pt  II.  ix. 

Spirit-man,  who  is  a,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxv. 
spirits,  tutelary,  the  importance  of,  to 

a  nation,  VH.  Pt  II.  xiv. 
'Spring. and- Autumn,  The,'  referred  to, 

III.   Pt  II.   ix. :  IV.  Pt  II.  xxi.  : 

VII.  PtII.  ii. 

State,  three  things  important  in  the 
administration  of  a,  VII.  Pt  II.  xii. 

States,  intercourse  of  neighbouring, 
I.  Pt  II.  iii. — rise  and  fall  of,  de- 
pendent on  benevolence,  IV.  Pt  I. 
iii. — subjection  of,  to  one  another, 
determined  differently  at  different 
times,  IV.  Pt  I.  vii. 

Straits,  why  Confucius  was  reduced  to, 
VII.  Pt  II.  xviii. 

Subjection  of  one  State  to  another,  how 
determined,  at  diflerent  times,  IV. 
Pt  I.  vii. 

Successive  steps,  the  doctrines  of  the 
sages  to  be  advanced  to  by,  VII.  Pt 

I.  xxiv. 

Superior  man,  the,  keeps  away  from 
his  cook-room,  I.  Pt  I.  vii. — helps 
men  to  practise  virtue,  II.  Pt  I.  viii. 
— will  not  follow  narrow-minded- 
ness, &c.,  II.  Pt  I.  ix. — will  not  take 
a  bribe,  II.  Pt  II.  iii. — will  not  bo 
niggardly  to  his  parents,  II.  Pt  II. 
vii. — of  ancient  and  of  modern  times 
contrasted,  II.  Pt  II.  ix.— does  not 
murmur  against  Heaven,  &c.,  II.  Pt 

II.  xiii.  —  makes  difliculty  about 
taking  office,  why.  III.  Pt  II.  iii. — 
the  spirit  nourished  by,  may  be 
known,  how.  111.  Pt  II.  vii. — does 
not  himself  teach  his  son,  w-hy,  IV. 
I't  I.  xviii. — wishes  to  get  hold  of 
what  he  learns,  as  in  himself,  IV. 
Pt  II.  xiv.  ;  XV. — is  a.shamcd  of  a 
reputation  beyond  his  merits,  IV.  Pt 
II.  xviii  — cultivates  moral  excel- 
lence, &c.,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxviii. — may 
be  deceived,  in  what  respects,  V.  Pt 
I.  ii. — all  do  not  understand  the  con- 
duct of,   VI.  Pt  II.  vi. — serves  his 


[index    I.       SUBJECTS    IN    THE    WORKS    OF   MEXCIUS. 


395 


prince,  how,  VI.  Vt  II.  viii. — 
taking  and  leavings  oflice,  {^rounds 
of,  VI.  Pt  II.  xiv. — has  tlncc  things 
in  which  he  delights,  VII.  Ft  I.  xx. 
— finds  his  true  enjoyment  in  his  own 
nature,  VII.  I't  I.  xxi. ;  — 's  services 
to  a  country,  without  his  being  in 
office,  entitle  him  to  support,  VII. 
Pt  I.  xxxii. — is  kind  to  creatures, 
loving  to  men,  and  atfectionate  to  his 
relatives,  VII.  Ft  I.  xlv.— speaks  of 
his  nature,  and  of  the  Mill  of  Heaven, 
how,  VII.  Ft  II.  xxiv. — the  words 
and  the  principles  of,  VII.  Ft  II. 
xxxii. 

Symjjathy  of  a  ruler  with  the  people 
in  their  joys  and  sorrows,  I.  Ft  II.  iv. 

Superiority,  not  to  be  elated  by  riches, 
a  proof  of,  VII.  Pt  I.  xi. 

Talents,  and  virtue,  how  to  know  men 
of,  I.  Pt  II.  vii. — a  ruler  should  be 
•guided  by  men  of,  I.  Pt  II.  ix. — 
duties  owing  by  men  of,  to  those  who 
have  not,  IV.  Ft  II.  vii. 

Taxation,  III.  Ft  I.  iii. ;  Ft  II.  viii.  : 
VI.  Pt  II.  X. 

Teacher,  a,  in  a  higher  place  than  a 
minister,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxxi. — of  truth, 
must  not  lower  his  lessons  to  suit 
learners,  VII.  Pt  I.  xli. 

Teaching,  refusing  to  teach,  may  also 
be  a  way  of,  VI.  Pt  II.  xvi. 

Territory,  emoluments  regulated  ac- 
cording to  the  extent  of,  in  a  State, 
V.  Ft  II.  ii. 

Thought,  how  many  act  without,  VII. 
Pt  I.  v. 

Three,  things  universally  acknow- 
ledged to  be  honourable,  II.  Pt  II. 
ii. — kings,  the,  VI.  Pt  II.  vii. — 
things  in  which  the  superior  man 
delight.s,  VII.  Ft  I.  xx. — things  im- 
portant in  the  administration  of  a 
State,  VII.  Ft  II.  xii. — precious 
things  of  a  prince,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxviii. 

Throne,  the,  descended  to  Yu's  son, 
and  not  to  his  minister,  why,  V.  Pt 
I.  vi. 

Thumb  amongst  the  fingers,  Ch'in 
Chung  compared  to  the,  III.  Pt  II. 

X. 

Topics  of  Meneius  with  princes,  I.  Pt 

1.  i.  ;   vii.  :  II.  Ft  II.  ii. 
Touch,    males  and   females   must  not 

allow  their  hands  to,  IV.  Pt  I.  xvii. 
Tours   of    inspection    of    the   ancient 

kings,  I.  Ft  II.  iv. :  VI.  Ft  II.  vii. 
Tranquillity  of  the  kingdom  dependeu! 

on   the   discharge   of    the    common 

duties  of  life,  IV.  Pt  I.  xi. 
Transmission  of  doctrine  from  Yaou  to 


Menciu.s,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxxviii. 
Trials  and  hardships,  how  Heaven  pre- 
pares men  by,  VI.  Ft  II.  xv. 
Trifles,  Meneius  censures  the  princes 

of  his  time  for  occupying  themselves 

with,  VII.  Ft  I.  xlvi. 
Trouble  and  affliction,  the  benefits  of, 

VII.  Ft  I.  xviii. 
Truth,    how    Meneius     required     the 

simple  purstiit  of,  in  his  pupils,  VII. 

Pt  I.  xlii. 
Tvrant,  what  will  be  the  fate  of  a,  IV. 

'Ft  I.  ii. 

Ulcer-doctor,  Confucius  charged  with 

lodging  with  an,  V.  Ft  I.  viii. 
Unlilial,  five  things  which  are,  IV.  Ft 

II.    XXX. 

Unperturbed  mind,  Meneius  had  at- 
tained to  an,  II.  Pt  I.  ii. 

Unsalaried,  Meneius  free  to  speak  his 
opinion,  &c.,  because,  II.  Pt  II.  v.  ; 
xiv. 

Unworthy  associate,  Meneius'  behavi- 
our with  an,  II.  Ft  II.  vi. 

Valour,  the  love  of,  I.  PtII.  iii.— how 
nourished,  II.  Pt  I.  ii.  ' 

Villages,  the  good  careful  people  of 
the,  described,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxxvii. 

Vindication,  of  E  Y  in,V.  Pt  I.  vii. — 
of  Confucius  from  the  charge  of 
lodging  with  unworthy  characters, 
V.  Pt  I.  viii.— of  Pih-le  He,  V.  Pt 
I.  ix. — of  jSIencius  from  the  charge 
of  eating  the  bread  of  idleness,  VII. 
Pt  I.  xxxii. 

Virtue,  submission  secured  by,  II.  Pt 
I.  iii. — friendship  must  have  refer- 
ence to  the,  of  the  friend,  V.  Ft  II. 
iii. — is  sure  to  be  gained  by  seeking 
it,  but  external  things  not,  VII.  Pt 

I.  iii. — man  may  attain  to  perfect, 
VII.  Ft  I.  iv. — of  the  people,  how 
to  promote,  VII.  Ft  I.  xlii. — corrupt 
times  are  provided  against  by  estab- 
lished, VII.  Ft  II.  X.— of  the  high- 
est sages,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxxiii. 

Virtues,  where  are  wanting,  decencies 
may  not  be  expected,  VII.  Ft  I.  xliv. 

Virtuous  men,  importance  of  having, 
about  a  sovereign's  person.  III.  Ft 

II.  vi. 

Vox  populi  vox  Dei,  V.  Pt  I.  v. 

Warlike  and  other  schemes  of  the  min- 
isters of  his  time  condemned  by 
Meneius,  IV.  Pt  II.  xiv.  :  VI.  Ft  II. 
viii. 

Warning  to  the  violently  evil  and  the 
weakly  evil,  IV.  Pt  1.  x. — to  Sung 
Rang,  VI.  Ft  II,  iv. — to  the  cou- 


JOS 


SUBJECTS    IN   THE   WORKS    OF   MENCIUS.       [iNDEX    I. 


tciwliii?   States    of    Mencius'    time, 

VII.  i't  II.  ii. 

Wars,  all  the,  in  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew  were 
unrighteous,  VII.  Pt  II.  ii. — coun- 
sels agrainst,  VII.  Pt  II.  iv. 

Way,  a  man's,  in  life,  ordered  by  Hea- 
ven, I.  Pt  IT.  xvi. — of  truth  like  a 
great  road,  VI.  Pt  II.  ii. 

Wealth,  the  love  of,  compatible  with 
royal  g'ovemment,  I.  Pt  II.  v. — dis- 
graceful means  which  men  take  to 
seek,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxxiii. — and  power, 
the  ministers  of  Mencius'  time  pan- 
dered to  their  sovereigns'  thirst  for, 
VI.  Pt  II.  ix. 

Well-being  of  the  people,  the  first  care 
of  a  government,  in  order  to  their 


virtue,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxiii. 
Well,  digging  a,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxix. 
Will,  the,  is  the  leader  of  the  pas.sion- 

nature,  II.  Pt  I.  ii. 
Willow,  man's  nature  compared  to  the 

/.c,  VI.  Pt  I.  i. 
Wi.sdom  the  richest  fruit  of,  IV.  Pt  I. 

xxvii. 
Words,  Mencius  understood,  II.  Pt  I. 

ii, — what  are    most    truly  inauspi- 
cious, IV.  Pt  II.  xvii. 
World,  one  cannot  avoid  all  connection 

with  those  whom  he  disapproves,  in 

the,  III   Pt  II.  X. 
Wrongs  should  be  put  right  at  once, 

III.  Pt  II.  viii 


INDEX  II. 


OF  PROPER  NAMES  IN  THE  WORKS  OF  MENCIUS. 

Names  in  Italics  will  be  found  in  their  otvn  places  in  this  Index  with  additional 

references. 


Chang  E,  a  celebrated  scholar  of  Wei, 

III.  PtII.  ii. 
Chang,  K'lcurig  Chang,  a  minister  of 

Ts'e,  IV.  Pt  II.  XXX. 
Ch'ang  Seih,  a  disciple  of  Kung-ming 

Kaou,  V.  Pt  I.  i.  ;  Pt  II.  iii. 
Chaou  Keen,  a  noble  of  Tsin,  III.  Pt 

II.  i. 

Chaou  the  Great,  a  title  borne  by  dif- 
ferent ministers  of  Tsin,  VI.  Pt  I. 
xvii. 

Ch'aou-woo,  a  hill  on  the  north  of  Ts'e, 
I.  Pt  II.  iv. 

Che-shaou,  the  name  of  a  piece  of 
music,  I.  Pt  II.  iv. 

Ch'e  Wa,  appointed  chief  criminal 
judge  of  Ts'e,  II.  Pt  II.  v. 

Chih,  a  famous  robber  of  Confucius' 
time.  III.  Pt  II.  X.  :  VII.  Pt  I.  xxv, 

Ch'in  Chung,  an  asceti«  of  Ts'e,  III. 
Pt  II.  X.  :  VII.  Pt  I.  xxxiv. 

Ch'in  Kea,  an  otlicer  of  Ts'e,  II.  Pt  II. 
ix. 

Ch'in  Leang,  a  philosopher,  III.  Pt  I. 
iv. 

Cb-jii  Seang,  a  disciple  of  Ch'in  LSang, 

III.  Pt  I.  iv. 


Ch'in  Tao,  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  III. 

Pt  IT.  i. 
Ch'in  Tsin,  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  II. 

Pt  II.   iii.  ;  X.  :    VI.   Pt   II.  xiv.  : 

VII.  Pt  II.  xxiii. 
Ch'in,    the   State  of,  V.  Pt   I.  viii.  : 

VII.  Pt  II.  xviii.  ;  xxxvii. 
Ch'ing  the   State   of,  IV.  Pt  II.  ii. ; 

xxiv. :  V.   Pt  I.   ii. :  VII.   Pt  II. 

xxxvii. 
Chine,    a   minister    of    the    State  of 

Ch"'in,  V.  Pt  I.  viii. 
Ch'oo,  a  minister  of  Ts'e,  IV.  Pt  II. 

xxxii.  :  VI.  Pt  II.  v. 
Choo-fung,   the  birth-place  of  Shun, 

IV.  PtII.  i. 
Chow,  the  State  and  dvnasty,  I.  Pt  II. 

iii.  :  II.  Pt  I.  i. ;  Pt  II.  xiii. :  HI. 

Pt  I.  iii. ;  Pt  II.  v. :  IV.  Pt  I.  vii. ; 

Pt  II.  i. :  V.  Pt  I.  iv. ;  vi. ;  Pt  II. 

ii.  ;  iv.  ;  vii. 
Chow,  a  citv  on  the  southern  border  of 

Ts'e,  II.  Pt  II.  xi.  ;  xii. 
Chow,    the   last  emperor  of   the   Yin 

dynasty,  I.   Pt  II.  viii.:  IT.    Pt  I. 

i.  :  111.   Pt  II.  ix. :    IV."  Pt  I.   i.  ; 

ix. ;  xiii. :  V.  Pt  1.  vi. ;  Pt  11.  i.  : 


INDEX    II.]      rROPER   NAMES    IN    THE   WORKS    OF   MENCIDS.    o07 


VI.  PtI.  vi.  :  VII.  Pt  I.  xxii. 

Chow-kung,  or  the  duke  of  Chow,  II. 
Pt.  I.  i.  ;  Pt  II.  ix.  :  III.  Pt  I.  i. ; 
iv. ;  Pt  II.  ix.  :  IV.  Pt  II.  xx.  :  V. 
PtI.  vi.  :  VI.  Pt  II.  viii. 

Chow,  the  priucc  of  Ch'in  in  Confuci- 
us' time,  V.  Pt  I.  viii. 

Chow  Seaou,  a  scholar  of  Wei,  III.  Pt 

II.  iii. 

Chuen-foo,  a  hill  on  the  north  of  Ts'e, 

I.  Pt  II.  iv. 
Chung-jin,  a  son  of  the  emperor  T'ang, 

V.  Pt  I.  vi. 

Chung-ne,    Confucius,   I.    Pt  I.    iv. ; 

vii.  :    III.    Pt    I.    iv.  :    IV.  Pt  II. 

xviii. 
Ch'ung  Yu,  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  II. 

Pt  II.  vii. ;  xiii. 
Chuy-keih,  a  place  in  Tsin,  famous  for 

gems,  V.  Pt  I.  ix. 
Chwang,  a  street  iu  the  capital  of  Ts'e, 

III.  Pt  II.  vi. 

Chwang  Paou,  a  minister  at  the  coui't 

of  Ts'e,  I.  Pt  II.  i. 
Confucius,  II.  Pt  I.  i.— iv.  :  III.   Pt 

I.  iv.  ;  Pt  II.  i. ;  iii. ;  vii. ;  ix. :  IV. 

Pt  I.  ii. ;    vii. ;  viii. ;  xiv.  ;    Pt  II. 

xviii. ;  xxi. ;  xxii.  ;  xxix.  :  V.  Pt  I. 

iv.  ;  vj.  ;  viii.  ;  Pt  II.  i. ;  iv.  ;  vii.: 

VI.  Pt  I.  vi.  ;  viii. ;  Pt  II.  iii. ; 
vi.  :  VII.  Pt  I.  xxiv. ;  Pt  II.  xvii. ; 
xix. ;  xxxvLi.  ;  xxxviii. 

E,  a  famous  archer  of  great  antiquitv, 

IV.  Pt  II.  x.xiv.  :  VI.  Pt  I.  XX.  : 
Vli.  Pt  I.  xli. 

E  Che,  a  follower  of  Mih,  III.  Pt  I.  v. 
E  Yin,  a  miuister  of  T'ang,  II.  Pt  I. 

ii. ;  Pt  II.  ii.  :  V.  Pr  I.   vi.  ;  vii.  ; 

Pt  II.  i.  :  VI.  Pt  II.  vi. :  VII.   Pt 

I.  xxxi.  ;  Pt  II.  xxxviii. 

Fan,  a  city  of  Ts'e,  VII.  Pt  I.  xxxvi. 
Fei-leen,    a  favourite  minister  of  the 

tyrant  Chow,  III.  Pt  II.  ix. 
Foo-hea,   a   place  where  Shua  dwelt, 

IV.  Pt  II.  i. 

Foo  Yueh,  the  minister  of  the  king 
Kaou-tsung,  VI.  Pt  II.  xv. 

Fung-foo,  a  scholar  of  Tsin,  famous 
for  seizing  tigers,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxui. 

Gan,  or  Ngan,  the  principal  minister 
of  Ts'e,  I.  Pt  II.  iv.  :  II.  Pt  I.  i. 

Goh-chuig  or  Yuh-ching,  the  double 
surname  of  K'ih,  a  disciple  of  Meu- 
cius,  I.  Pt  II.  xvi.  :  IV.  Pt  I.  xxiv. ; 
XXV.  :  VI.  Pt  II.  xiii.  :  VII.  Pt  11. 

XXV. 

Hae  T'ang,  a  famous  worthy  of  Tsin, 

V.  Pt  II.  iii. 


Han,  one  of  the  three  families  which 
governed  the  State  of  Tsin,  VII.  Pt 
I.  xi. 

Han,   the  name  of  a  stream.  III.  Pt 

I.  iv. 

Haou-.sang  Puh-hae,  a  man  of  Ts'e, 
VII.  Pt  II.  XXV. 

He,  a  favourite  of  Chaou  Keen,  III. 
Pt  II.  i. 

rita  dvnasty,  I.  Pt  II.  iv.  :  II.  Pt  I. 
i.  :  111.  PtI.  iii.  :  IV.  PtI.  ii.  :  V. 
Pt  I.  vi. ;  vii.  ;  Pt  II.  iv. 

Heaou,  the  duke  of  Wei,  V.  Pt  II.  iv. 

Heen-k'ew  Muag,  a  disciple  of  Men- 
cius, V.  Pt  I.  iv. 

Heu  Hing,  a  heresiarch.  III.  Pt  I.  iv. 

Heuu-vuh,  a  tribe  of  barbariaus,  I.  Pt 

II.  iii. 

Hew,  a  palace  in  the  district  of  T'ang, 

iu  the  department  of  Yen-chow,  II. 

Pt  II.  xiv. 
Ho,  the  name  of  a  river,  the   Yellow 

river,  III.  Pt  II.  ix. 
Hoo  Heih,  a  man,  name,  I.  Pt  I.  vii. 
Hwa  Chow,  an  otficer  of  Ts'e,  slain  in 

battle,  VI.  Pt  II.  vi. 
Hwao,  the  name  of  a  stream.  III.  Pt 

I.  iv. :  Pt  II.  ix. 
Hwau,  II  wan  T'uy,  a  high  officer  of 

Sung,  V.  Pt  I.  viii. 
Hwan,  the  duke  of  Ts'e,  B.C.  683— 

642,  I.  Pt  I.  vii.  :  IV.  Pt  II.  xxi.  : 

VI.  Pt  II.  vii. 

Hwan-taou,  Yaou's  minister  of  in- 
struction, V.  Pt  I.  iii. 

Hwuy,  the  posthumous  epithet  of 
Yung,  king  of  Leaug,  a  State  in 
Tsin,  I.  Pt  I.  i.— V.  :  VII.  PtII.  i. 

Hwuy  of  Lew-hea,  posthumous  title  of 
Chen  Plwoh,  an  otiicerof  Loo,  II.  Pt 
I.  ix.  :  V.  Pt  II.  i.  VI.  Pt  11.  \'i.  : 

VII.  Pt  I.  xxxviii.  ;  Pt  II.  xv. 
Hwuy,  the  duke  of  Pe,  V.  Pt  II.  iii. 

Jin,  a  small  State,  VI.  Pt  II.  i. ;  v. 
Juo,  the  name  of  a  stream,  111.  Pt  I. 


Kah,  or  Koh,  a  citv  in  Ts'e,  II.  Pt  II. 

vi. :   III.  Pt  II.  i. 
Kang,  younger  brother  of  the  prince 

of  T'ang,  VII.  Pt  I.  xliii. 
K'ang,  hon.  epithet  of  Fung,  brother 

of  king  Woo,  V.  Pt  11.  iv. 
Kaon,   the  philosopher,   named  Puh- 
hae,  11.  Pt  I.  ii. :  VI.  Pt  I.  i.— iv. ; 

^^. 
Kaou,  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  II.  Pt  II. 

xii.  :   VII.  Pt  11.  xxi.  ;  xxii. 
Kauu,  a  disciple  of  Tsze-hea,  VI.  Pt 

II.  iii. 
Kaou-kih,  a  distinguished  minister  of 


398       PROPER   NAMES.  IN   THE    WORKS    OP    MENCIUS.     [iNDEX    II. 


the  tyrant  Chow,  II.  Ft  I.  i.  :  VI. 

Ft  II.  XV. 
Kaou-t'ang,    a   place   in   the   west  of 

Ts'e,  VI.  Ft  II.  vi. 
Kaou  Yaou,  a  minister  of  Shun,  III. 

Ft  I.  iv.  :  VII.  Ft  I.  XXXV. ;  Ft  II. 

xxxviii. 
Ke,  a  small  State  in  Shan-se,  II.  Ft 

I.  i. 
Ke,  a  mountain  in  Ho-nan,  V.  Ft  I. 

vi. 
K'e,  the  viscount  of  Wei  in  Shan-sc, 

VI.  Ft  I.  vi. 
K'e,  the  son  of  the  emperor  Yu,  V.  Ft 

I.  vi. 

K'e,  the  name  of  a  mountain,  and  also 

of  the  old  State  of  Chow,  I.  Ft  II. 

V. ;  xiv. ;  xv.  :  IV.  Ft  II.  i. 
K'e,  the  name  of  a  stream,  VI.  Ft  II. 

vi. 
Ke  familv,  the  family  of  Ke  K'ang  of 

Loo,  IV.  Ft  1.  xiv" 
Ke  Hwan,  the  head  of  the  Ke  family 

in  the  latter  days  of  Confueiu.s,  V. 

Ft  II.  iv. 
Ke  Leang-,  an  officer  of  Ts'e,  slain  in 

battle,  VI.  Ft  II.  vi. 
Keang:,  the  Yang-tsze  river,  III.  Ft  I. 

iv. ;  Ft  II.  ix. 
Keang,  the  lady  of,  I.  Ft  II.  v. 
Kea(<u,    a   brother   of    the    prince   of 

Ts'aou,  VI.  Ft  II.  ii. 
Keeh,    the  tyrant,    I.  Ft    I.    ii. ;    Ft 

II.  viii. :    IV.    Ft.  I.    ix.  :    V.    Ft 

I.  vi. ;  vii.  :  VI.  Ft  II.  ii. ;  vi.  ;  ix. ; 

X. 

Keoh-shaou,  the  name  of  a  piece  of 

musir,  I.  Ft  II.  iv. 
Keu,  the  name  of  an  ancient  State,  I. 

Ft  II.  iii. 
Keu-bin,  the  governor  of   P'ing-luh, 

II.  Ft  II.  iv. 

Keuh,   a   place   in  Tsin,   famous   for 

hor.ses,  V.  Ft  I.  ix. 
K'ew,  the  name  of  Yen  Yew,  a  disciple 

of  Confucius,  IV.  I't  I.  xiv. 
Kih,  a  small  State  adjoining  to  Tsin, 

V.  Ft  I.  ix. 
K'in  Chang,  named  Laou,  a  disciple  of 

Cdntuciiis,  VII.  I't  II.  xxxvii. 
King,  a  place   punished  bv  the  duke 

He   of   Loo,  III.  Ft  I.  IV.;  Ft   II. 

ix. 
King,  the  duke  of  Ts'e,  B.C.  546—488, 

I.  Ft  II.  iv.  :  III.  Ft  I.  i.  ;  Ft  II. 
i.  :  IV.  Ft  I.  vii.  :   V.  Ft  II.  vii. 

King  Ch'ow,  an  oflicer  of  Ts'e,  II.  Ft 

II.  ii. 

King  Ch'un.  a  man  who  plumed  him- 
self on  hi.s  versatility,  III.  Ft  II.  ii. 

Koh,  the  name  of  a  Slate  in  Ho-nan, 
1.  Ft  II.  iii. ;  xi.  :  III.  Ft  II.  v. 


Koh,  or  Kah,  a  city  in  Ts'e,  II.  Ft  II. 

vi.  :  III.  Ft  II.  X. 
Koo-sow,    Shun's   father,   IV.    Ft   I. 

xxviii. :  V.  Ft  I.  ii.  ;  iv.  :  VI.  Ft  I. 

vi.  :  VII.  Ft  I.  XXXV. 
Kow-tseen,   the  name  of  a  prince  in 

the  Leeh  Kwoh,  I.  Ft  II.  iii. 
K'ung,  Kot-siii,  II.  Ft  II.  iv. 
Kung  Che-ke,  an  officer  of  the  State  of 

Yu,  V.  Ft  I.  ix. 
Kung-e,  prime  minister  of  Loo,  VI. 

Ft  II.  vi. 
Kung-hang,  an  oflBcer  of  Ts'e,  IV.  Ft 

II.  xxvii. 
Kujig-lew,  the  duke  Lew,  an  ancestor 

of  the  Chow  family,  I.  Ft  II.  v. 
Kung-uiing  E,  a  disciple,  first  of  Tsze- 

chang,  and  then  of  Tsang,  Sin,  III. 

Ft  I.  i. ;  Ptll.  iii.;  ix. :  IV.  Ft  II. 

xxiv. 
Kuiig-ming  Kaou,  a  di.sciple  of  Ts&ng 

Sin,  V.  Ft  I.  i. 
Kung-shoo,  a  celebrated  mechanist  of 

Loo,  named   Pan,  now   the  god   of 

carpenters,  IV.  Ft  I.  i. 
Kung-sun  Ch'ow,  a  disciple  of  Menci- 

us,  II.  Ft  I.  i.  ;  ii.  ;  Ft  II.  ii.  ;  vi.  ; 

xiv.  :    III.   Ft  II.   vii.  :    IV.  Ft  I. 

xviii. :  VI.  Ft  II.  iii.  ;  xiii.  :  VII.  Ft 

I.  xxxi.  ;  xxxii.  ;  xxxix, ;    xli.  ;  Ft 

II.  i.  ;  xxxvi. 

Kung-sun   Yen,   a  celebrated  scholar 

of  Wei,  III.  Ft  II.  ii. 
Kung-too,  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  II. 

Ft  II.  V.  :  III.  Ft  II.  ix.  :  IV.  Ft 

II.  XXX.:  VI.   Ft  I.   v.;  vi.;  xv.  : 
VII.  Ft  I.  xliii. 

Kwiiii  barbarians,  I.  Ft  II.  iii. 

K'van,  the  father  of  the  emperor  Yu, 
V.  Ft  I.  iii. 

Kwan  Chung,  by  name  E-woo,  min- 
ister of  Hwan,  duke  of  Ts'e,  II.  Ft 
I.  i. ;  Ft  II.  ii.  :   VI.  Ft  II.  xv. 

Kwan-shuh,  an  elder  brother  of  the 
duke  of  Chow,  II.  Ft  II.  ix. 

K"'wang,  music-master  and  wise  coun- 
seUor  of  Tsin,  IV.  Ft  I.  i. :  VI.  Ft 
I.  vii. 

K'wang    Chang,  a  minister  of   Ts'e, 

III.  Ft  II.  x. :  IV.  Ft  II.  XXX. 
K'wei-k'few,  the  place  where  the  duko 

Hwan   a.s.sembled   the   princes,  VI. 
Ft  II.  vii. 

Lae  Choc,  the  minister  of  T'ang,  VII. 
Ft  II.  xxxviii. 

Lang-yay,  a  mountain  and  city  in 
Ts'e,  I.  Ft  II.  iv. 

Le,  a  cruel  emperor  of  the  Chow  dyn- 
asty, VI.  Ft  I.  vi. 

Le  Low,  a  man  of  Hwang-te's  time,  of 
very  acute  vision,  IV.  Ft  I.  i. 


INDEX    II.]      PROPER    NAMES    IN    THE   WORKS    OF    MENCIUS. 


309 


Leanp:,  the  state  of  "Wei  in  Tsin,  so 
called  I'nini  its  capital,  I.  Pt  I.  i. — 
vi.  :  VII.  Pt  II.  i. 

Ling,  the  duke  of  Wei,  V.  Pt  II.  iv. 

Ling-k'e  w,  a  city  on  the  border  of  Ts'e, 

II.  Pt  II.  V. 

Loo,  the  native  State  of  Confucius,  I. 
Pt  II.  xii. ;  xvi.  :  II.   Pt  II.   vii.  : 

III.  Pt  I.  ii.  :  IV.  Pt  II.  xxi.  :  V. 
Pt  I.  viii.  ;  Pt  II.  i.  ;  iv.  :  VI.  Pt 
II.  vi. ;  viii. ;  xiii. :  VII.  Pt  I.  xxiv. ; 
xxxvi. ;  Pt  II.  xvii.  ;  xxxvii. 

Lung,  an  ancient  worthy,  III.  Pt  I. 
iii.  :  VI.  Pt  I.  vii. 

Mang,  Mang  K'o,  Mencius,  I.  Pt  II. 

xvi. 
Mang  Chung,  a  nephew,  or  perhaps  a 

sou,  of  Mencius,  II.  Pt  II.  ii. 
Mang  Heen,  a  worthy  minister  of  Loo, 

V.  Pt  II.  iii. 

Mang  Ke,  a  younger  brother  of  Mang 

Chung,  VI.  Pt  I.  V. 
Mang  Pun,  a  celebrated  bravo  of  Ts'e, 

II.  Pt  I.  ii. 
Miang  She-shay,  a  man  of  valour,  II. 

Pt  I.  ii. 
Me,  an  unworthy  favourite  of  the  duke 

Ling,  V.  Pt  I.  viii. 
Meeu  K'eu,  a  man  of  Ts'e,  who  taught 

a  slow  style  of  singing,  VI.  Pt  II. 

vi. 
Mill  Teih,  a  heresiarch,  III.  Pt  I.  v. ; 

Pt  II.  ix.  :  VII.  Pt  I.  xxvi. 
Mih,  barbarous  tribes  of   the   North, 

VI.  Pt  II.  X. 

Mih   K'e,  a  person  whose  words  are 

quoted,  VII.  Pt  II.  xix. 
Min  Tsze-k'een,  a  disciple  of  Confuci- 
us, II.  Pt  I.  ii. 
Ming-teaou,   the    place    where    Shim 

died,  IV.  Pt  II.  i. 
Miih,  the  residence  of  the  tyrant  Keeh, 

V.  Pt  I.  vii. 
Muh,  the  posthumous   epithet  of  the 

duke  of  Loo,  I.  Pt  II.  xii.  :  II.  Pt 

II.  xi. :  V.  PtII.  vi. ;  vii.:  VI.  Pt 

II.  vi. 
Muh,  the  duke  of  Ts'in,  B.C.  659—620, 

V.  Pt  I.  ix.:  VI.  PtII.  vi. 
Miih  Chung,  a  friend  of  Mang  Heen, 

V.  Pt  II.  iii. 
Muh  P'ei,  an  ambitious  man,  VII.  Pt 

II.  xxxvii. 

Nan-yang,  the  name  of  a  place,  VI. 

Pt  II.  viii. 
New  mountain,  the,  VI.  Pt  I.  viii. 
Ngan,  or  Gan,  the  principal  minister 

of  Ts'e,  I.  Pt  II.  iv.  :  II.  Pt  I.  i. 
North  Sea,  the,  V.  Pt  II.  i. 


P'ang   Kang,  a  di.sciple   of   Mencius, 

III.  Pt  11.  iv. 
P'ang  Munfj,  the  pupil  and  murderer 

of  the  archer  E,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxiv. 
Pe,  a  place  in  the  State  of  Loo,  V.  Pt 

II.  iii. 
Pe-kan,  an  uncle  of  the  tvrant  Chow, 

II.  Pt  I.  i.  :  VI.  PtI.  "vi. 

Peih  Chen,  a  minister  of  the  State  of 

T'ang,  III.  Pt  I.  iii. 
Peih-ying,  the  place  where  king  "Wan 

died,  IV.  Pt  II.  i. 
Pih-e,  lion,  epithet  of  a  worthy  of  the 

Shang  d\Tiasty,  II.  Pt  I.  ii.  ;  ix.  : 

III.  Pt  il.  X.  :  IV.  Pt  I.  xiii.  :  V. 
Pt  II.  i.  :  VI.  Pt  II.  vi.  :  VII.  Pt 

I.  xxii.  ;  Pt  II.  XV. 

Pih  Kwei,  styled  Tan,  an  ascetic    of 

Chow,  VI.  Pt  II.  X.  ;  xi. 
Pih-kung  E,  an  officer  of  Wei,  V.  Pt 

II.  ii. 

Pih-kung  Yew,  a  bravo  of  Wei,  II.  Pt 

I.  ii. 

Pih-le  He,  a  chief  minister  of  the  duke 
Miih  of  Ts'in,  V.  Pt  I.  ix. :  VI.  Pt 

II.  vi. ;  XV. 

Pin,  a  settlement  founded  by  Kung- 

lew,  I.  Pt  II.  xiv. 
P'ins:,  the  duke  of  Loo,  I.  Pt  II.  xvi. 
P'iug.  the  duke  of  Tsin,  B.C.  556—631, 

V.  Pt  II.  iii. 
P'ing-luh,    a    city    on    the    southern 

border  of  Ts'e,"ll.  Pt  II.  iv.  :  VI. 

PtII.  V. 
Poh,  a  city  in  Ho-nan,  T'ang's  capital, 

III.  Pt"ll.  V.  :  V.  Pt  I.  vi. ;  vii. 
P'waii-.sbiug  Kwoh,  an  officer  of  Ts'e, 

A'll.  Pt  II.  xxix. 

San  E-sang,  an  able  minister  of  King 

Wan,  Vll.  Pt  II.  xxxviii. 
San  Meaou,  the  State  of,  V.  Pt  I.  iii. 
San-wei,  a  region  in  the  West,  V.  Pt 

I.  iii. 
Se,   the  lady,  a  celebrated  beauty  of 

Confucius'  time,  IV.  Pt  I.  xxv. 
Seang,  the  half-brother  of    Shun,  V. 

Pt  I.  ii. ;  iii.  :  VI.  Pt  I.  vi. 
Seang,  hon.   epithet  of  Hih,  king  of 

Leang,  I.  Pt  I.  vi. 
Seeh,  the  name  of  an  ancient  princi- 
pality  adjoining    T'ang,   I.   Pt  II. 

xiv.  :  II.  Pt  II.  iii. 
Seth,  Shun's  minister  of   instruction, 

III.  Pt  I.  iv. 
See  Keu-chow,  a  minister  of    Sung, 

III.  Pt  II.  vi. 
Seeh  Lew,  Tsze-l'civ,  a  disciple  of  the 

Confucian   school,    II.    Pt   II.  xi.  : 

III.  Pt  II.  vii. 
Sen,  a  place  punished  by  the  duke  He 

of  Loo,  111.  Pt  1.   iv. ;  Pt  II.  ix. 


400     rnoPER  names  in  the  works  of  jiencius.   [index  ii. 


Seu  Poih,  a  disciple  of  Moncius,  III. 

Pt  I.  V. :  IV.  Ft  II.  xviii. 
Seuen,   the  kinp:  of  T.s'c,  B.C.  332,  I. 

Pt  I.   vii.  ;  Pt  II.  i.— xi.  :  l\.   Pt 

II.  iii.  :  V.  Pt  II.  ix. :    VII.  Pt  I. 

xxxix. 
Shan^,    the  dynasty,  III.   Pt  II.  v.  : 

IV.  Pt  I.  vii.. 
She,  au  officer  of  Ts'c,  II.  Pt  II.  x. 
Shili-k'ew,  a  place  in  Sung,  VI.  Pt  II. 

iv. 
Shin-nung,   the  second  of    the  Five 

emperors,  III.  Pt  I.  iv. 
Shin  Kuh-lc,  niiui.ster  oft  the  prince  of 

Loo,  VI.  Pt  II.  viii. 
Shin  Ts'cang',   a  son  of   Tsze-chang, 

Confucius'  di.sciple,  II.  Ft  II.  xi. 
Shin  T'uiig-,  a  high  minister  of  Ts'e, 

II.  Pt  II.  viii. 
Shin-yew,  a  friend  of  the  philosopher 

Tsaiig,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxxi. 
Shin-yew  Hing,  a  disciple  of  Tsang, 

IV.  Pt  II.  xxxi. 

Shing  Kan,  a  person  whose  words  are 

quoted.  III.  Ft  I.  i. 
Shun,  the  emperor,  II.  Pt  I.  ii. ;  viii.; 

Pt  II.  ii.  :  III.  Pt  I.  i.,  iv. ;  Pt  II. 

iv. ;  ix.  :  IV.   Ft  I.  i. ;  ii. ;  xxvi.  ; 

xxviii.  ;    Pt   II.   1.;    xix. ;    xxviii. ; 

xxxii. :  V.  Pt  I.  i.— vii. ;  Ft  II.  i. ; 

iii. ;  vi. :  VI.  Pt  I.  vi. ;  Pt  II.  ii.  ; 

iii. ;  viii. ;  x. ;  xv. :  VII.  Pt  I.  xvi. ; 

XXV. :    XXX. ;  xxxv. ;  xlvi.  ;    Pt  II. 

vi. ;  xxxiii. ;  xxxvii. 
Shun-vii  K'wan,  a  famous  sophist  of 

Ts'e;  IV.  Pt  I.   xvii.  :  VI.  Pt  II. 

vi 
Sin,  the  native  place  of  E  Yin,  inHo- 

nan,  V.  Pt  I.  vii. 
Sin,  younger  brother  of  Ch'in  Seang, 

Hi.  Pt  I.  iv. 

South  river,  V.  Pt  I.  v. 

Sun-shuh    Gaou,   prime    minister    of 

Ch'wang  of  Ts'oo,  VI.  Pt  II.  xv. 
Sung,  the  State  of,  II.  Ft  I.   ii.  ;  Pt 

II.   iii.  :  III.   Pt  I.  i. ;  iv.  ;  Ft  II. 

V.  :    V.   Pt  I.  viii. :    VII.    Pt   I. 
XXX  vi. 

Sung  K'ang,  a  travelling  scholar,  VI. 

Ptll.  iv. 
Sung  Kow-ts'een,  a  travelling  scholar, 

VII.  Pt  I.  ix. 
Sze,  the  name  of  a  stream,  III.  Ft  I. 


Tae.   elder  brother  of   Ch'in   Chung, 

III.  Ft  II.  X. 
T'ae,  an  ancestor  of  the  Chow  family, 

the  duke  l''a)i-foo,  who  received  from 

Woo  the  title  of  king,  I.  Ft  II.  v.  ; 

xiv. ;  XV. 
T'ae  mountain,  on  the  border  between 


Loo  and  Ts'e.  I.  Pt  I.  vii.  :  II.  Pt  I. 

ii. :  VII.  Ft  I.  xxiv. 
T'ae-keah,  grandson  and  successor  of 

T'ang,    II.    Pt   I.    iv.  :    IV.    Pt  I. 

viii.  :  V.  Pt  I.  \-i.  :  VII.  Pt  I.  xxxi. 
T'ae-kuna:,  a  great  counsellor  of  "Wan 

and  Woo,  IV.  Pt  -I.  xiii.  :  VII.  Pt 

I.  xxii.  ;  Pt  II.  xxxviii. 
Tac  Puh-.«lung,  a  minister  of   Sung, 

III.  Ft  II.  vi. 
T'iie-ting,  eldest  son  of   the  emperor 

T'ang,  V.  Pt  I.  vi. 
Tao  Ying-«che,  a  great  officer  of  Sung, 

III.  Pt  II.  viii. 

T'ah,  the  name  of  a  stream.  III.  Pt  I. 

iv. 
T'an-foo,   Tae,  the  duke  of  Chow,  I. 

Pt  II.  v. 
Tan  Choo,  the  son  of  Yaou,  V.  Pt  I. 

vi. 
T'ang,  the  founder  of  the  Shang  dyn- 
asty, I.  Pt  I.  ii. ;  Pt   II.  iii.  ;  viii.  ; 

xi.  :  II.   Ft  I.  i.  ;  iii.  ;  Ft  II.  ii.  ; 

xii.  :  III.  PtII.  V.  :  IV.  Ft  I.  ix.  ; 

Pt  II.  XX.  :  V.  Pt  I.  vi.  ;  vii.  :  VI. 

Pt  II.   ii.  ;  -vi.  :  VII.   Ft  I.  xxx. ; 

Pt  II.  iv.  ;  xxxiii.  ;  xxx%-iii. 
T'&ng,   the   State  of,  I.   Ft  II.  xiii.  ; 

xiv.;  XV.  :  IL  Ft  II.  vi. :  III.  PtI. 

i.— iv.  :  VII.    Pt  I.   xliii. ;    Pt  II. 

XXX. 

T'ang,  a  pkice  where  grain  was  stored 

in  Ts'e,  VII.  Pt  II.  xxiii. 
T'itou   Ying,   a   disciple  of  Mencius, 

VII.  Ft  I.  xxxv. 
Teen,  the  .son  of  the  king  of  Ts'e,  VII. 

Pt  I.  xxxiii. 
Ting,  the  duke  of  T'Sng,  III.  Pt  I.  ii. 
Ts'ae,  the  State  of,  VII.  Pt  II.  xviii. 
Tsae  Go,  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  II. 

Ft  1.  ii. 
Ts'ang-leang,  a  stream  in  Shan-timg, 

IV.  Pt  I.  viii. 

Tsang  Stih,  Tsfing  Sin's  father,  IV. 
Ft  I.  xix. :  VII.  Pt  II.  xxxvi. ; 
xxxvii. 

Tsang  Se,  the  grandson  of  Tsang  Sin, 
the  disciple  of  Confucius,  and  philo- 
sopher, II.  Pt  I.  i. 

Tsiing  Sin,  the  philosopher,  I.  Pt  II. 
xii.:  II.  PtI.  ii.  ;  Ft  II.  ii.  :  III. 
Ft  I.  ii. ;  iv.  ;  Ft  II.  vii.  :  IV.  Pt 
I.  xix.  ;  Pt  II.;  xxxi. :  VII.  Pt  II. 
xxxvi. 

Tsang  Ts'ang,  a  favourite  of  the  duke 
P'iug  of  Loo,  I.  Pt  II.  xvi. 

Tsang  Yuin,  the  son  of  the  philoso- 
pher T.sing,  IV.  Pt  I.  xix. 

Ts'aou,  the  ijrincipality  of,  VI.  Pt  II. 
ii. 

Tse,  the  name  of  a  stream.  III.  Pt  I. 


INDEX    II.]      PROPER    NAMES    IN    THE    WORKS    OP   MENCIUS.    401 


Ts'e,  the  State  of,  I.  Pt  I.  v.  ;  vii. ; 
Pt  II.  i.— .\i.  ;  xiii. ;  xiv. :  II.  Pt 
I.  i.  ;  ii. ;  Pt  II.  ii.— xiv.  :  III.  Pt 

I.  i. ;  Pt  II.  i.  ;  v.  ;  vi. ;  x.  :  IV. 
Pt  I.  vii.  ;  xxiv.  ;  Pt  II.  iii.  ;  xxi.  ; 
xxxi.  ;  xxxiii.  :  V.    Pt  I.  viii.  ;  Pt 

II.  i.  ;  vii.  ;  ix. :  VI.  Pt  II.  v.  ; 
vi. ;  viii.:  VII.  Pt  I.  xxxiv. ;  xxs^-vi. ; 
xxxix.  ;  Pt  II.  xvii.  ;  xxiii.  ;  xxix. 

Tseih,  How-t.seih,  the  minister  of  agri- 
culture (jf  Yaou  and  Shun,  IV.  Pt 

II.  xxix. 

Tseih  Hwan,  a  favourite  of  the  prince 
of  Ts'e,  V.  Pt  I.  viii. 

Ts'ew,  Chess  Ts'ew,  a  famous  Chess- 
player, VI.  Pt  I.  ix. 

Tsin,  a  river  in  the  State  of  Ch'ing, 

IV.  PtII.  ii. 

T.sin,  the  State  of,  I.  Pt  I.  i.  note  ;  v.  ; 

vii.  :  III.   Pt  II.   iii.  :  IV.    Pt  II. 

xxi.  :  V.  Pt  I.  ix.  ;  Pt  II.  iii.  :  VII. 

Pt  II.  xxiii. 
Ts'in,  the  State  of,  I.  Pt  I.  v.  ;  vii. : 

V.  pt  I.  ix.  :  VI.  Pt  I.  iv. ;  xii.  ; 
PtII.  iv. ;  vi. 

Ts'oo,  the  State  of,  I.  Pt  I.  v.  ;  vii. ; 
Pt  II.    vi.  ;  xiii.  :    II.    Pt   II.  ii.  : 

III.  Pt  I.  i.  ;  iv.  ;  Pt  II.  v.  ;  vi.  : 

IV.  Pt  II.  xxi.  :  VI.  Pt  I.  iv. ;  xii. ; 
Pt  II.  iv. 

Tsow,  the  native  State  of  Mencius,  I. 

Pt  I.  vii.  ;  Pt  II.  xii.  :  II.    Pt  II. 

xii.:  Ill.Ptl.ii.  :  Vl.Ptll.  i.  ;  v. 
T.s'ung,  a  phice  in  Ts'e,  II.  Pt  II  xiv. 
Ts'ung-,  the  mountain,  V.  Pt  I.  iii. 
Tsze-ch'un,  niimed  Kung-sun  Keaou, 

the  chjef  minister  of  the   State  of 

Ch'ing,  IV.  Pt  II.  ii.  :  V.  Pt  I.  ii. 
Tsze-chang,  a  disciple  of   Confucius, 

II.  Pt  I.  ii.  ;  iv. 
Tsze-che.  prime  mini.sterof  Tsze-k'wae 

of  Yen,  II.  Pt  II.  viii. 
Tsze-chuh,  Yu,  an  archer  of  Ch'ing, 

IV.  Pt  II.  xxiv. 
Tsze-gaou,  Wane}  Hwan,  the  governor 

of  K'oh  in   Ts'e,  IV.  Pt  I.  xxiv.; 

XXV. ;  Pt  II.  xxWi. 
Tsze-hea,  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  II. 

Pt  I.  ii.  ;  iv.  :  III.  Pt  I.  iv. 
Tsze-kuug,  a  di.sciple  of  Confucius,  II. 

Pt  I.  ii.  :  III.  Pt  I.  iv. 
Tsze-k'wae,  a  king  of  Yen,  II.  Pt  II. 

viii. 
Tsze-lew,  S'ieh  Lew,  VI.  Pt  II.  vi. 
Tszo-loo,   the  designation  of    Chung 

Yew,  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  II.  Pt 

I.  i.  ;  viii.  :  III.  Pt  II.  vii.  :  V.  Pt 

I.  viii. 
Tsze-moh,  a  philosopher  of  Loo,  VII. 

Pt  I.  xxvi. 
Tsze-seang,  a  disciple  of   Tsang,  II. 

Pt  I.  ii. 


TOL.  II. 


26 


Tsze-shuh  E,  a  person  who  pushed 
himself  into  the  service  of  govern-  ' 
ment,  II.  Pt  II.  x. 

Tsze-.sze,  the  grandson  of  Confucius, 
II.  Pt   II.  xi.  :  IV.   Pt   II.   xxxi.  : 

V.  Pt  II.  iii.  ;  vi. ;  vii.  :  VI.  Pt  II. 
vi. 

T.sze-too,  an  oflicer  of  Ch'ing,  B.C.  700, 

distinguished   for  his    beauty,   VI. 

Pt  I.  vii. 
Tsze-yew,  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  II. 

Pt  I.  ii.  ;  III.  Pt  I.  iv. 
T'ung,  the   place  where  the  empei'or 

T'ang  was   buried,    V.    Pt  I.    vi.  : 

\ll.  Pt  I.  xx.xi. 
Tung-kwoh  family,   a  branch  of  the 

family  of  Hwan,  duke  of  Ts'e,  II. 

Pt  II.  ii. 
Twiui  Kau-muh,  a  scholar  of  Wei,  III. 

Pt  II.  vii. 

Uh-loo,  a  disciple  of  Mencius,  VI.  Pt 
II.  i. ;  V. 

"Wiie-ping,  a  son  of  KingT'ang,  V.  Pt 

I.  vi. 

Wan,  the  king,  I.   Pt  I.  ii.  ;  vii. ;  Pt 

II.  ii. ;  iii.  ;  v.;  x. :  II.  Pt  I.  i.  ; 
iii.  :  III.  PtI.  i.  ;  iii.  ;  Pt  II.  ix.  : 

IV.  Pt  I.  vii.  ;  xiii. ;  Pt  II.  i.  ;  xx. : 

VI.  Pt  I.  vi.;  Pt  II.  ii.  :  VII.  Pt 
I.  X. ;  xxii.  ;  Pt  II.  xix. ;  xxii. ; 
XXX  viii. 

Wan,  the  duke  of  T'ang,  I.  PtII.  xiii.: 

-xiv.  :  III.  Pt  I.  i.  ;  iii.  ;  iv. 
Wan,  the  duke  of  Tsin,  B.C.  635—627, 

I.  Pt  I.  vii.  :  IV.  Pt  II.  xxi. 
Wan   Chans,  a   disciple  of   Mencius, 

III.  Pt  II.  V.  :  V.  Pt  I.  i.  ;  ii.  ; 
iii.  ;  V. — ix.  ;  Pt  II.  iii.  ;  iv.  ;  vi.  ; 
viii.  :  VII.  Pt  II.  xxxvii. 

W'ang  Hwan,  Txze-qaou,  the  governor 
of  K'oh,  in  Ts'e,  tl.  Pt  II.  vi. 

Wang  Leaug,  charioteer  to  Chaou 
Keen,  HI.  PtII.  i. 

Wang  P'aou,  a  man  of  Wei,  teacher  of 
an  abrupt  style  of  singing,  VI.  Pt 

II.  vi. 

Wang  Shun,  an  oificer  of  the  duke  of 

Pe,  V.  Pt  II.  iii. 
W^ei,  the  State  of,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxiv.  : 

V.  Pt  I.  viii.  ;  Pt  II.  iv. 

Wei,  one  of  the  three  families  which 
governed  the  state  of  Ts'in,  VII.  Pt 
I.  xi. 

W«i,  a  small  State  in  Shan-se,  II.  Pt 
I.  i.  :  VI.  PtI.  x\. 

Wei,  a  river  iu  the  State  of  Ch'ing, 

IV.  Pt  II.  ii. 

Woo,  the  State  of,  I.  Pt  II.  iii.  :  IV. 

Pt  I.  vii. 
Woo,  the  first  king  of  the  Chow  dynasty, 


•102       PROPER    NAMES    IN    THE    WORKS"  OP    MlSCTlTS".     [INDKX    1/ 


I.  Pt  II.  iii.  ;  viii.  ;  s.  :  II.  Pt  I. 
i.  :  Pt  II.  xii.  :  III.  Pt  II.  ix.  : 
IV.  Pt  I.  ix.  ;  Pt  II.  XX.  :  VI.  Pt 

I.  vi.  :  VII.  Pt  I.  XXX. ;  Pt  II.  iv. ; 
xxxiii. 

Woo  Hwoh,  a  man  noted  for  his 
strenfith,  VI.  Pt  II.  ii. 

Woo-liu<>,  a  wild  place  in  the  depart- 
ment of  Tsc-Uiin,  III.  Pt  II.  X. 

Woo-shing,  a  city  in  Loo,  IV.  Pt  II. 
xxxi. 

"Woo-ting,  an  emperor  of  the  Shang 
djnastj^,  B.C.  1323,  II.  Pt  I.  i. 

Yang  Choo,  a  heresiarch  of  the  time 

of  Confucius,  III.  Pt  II.  ix.  :  VII. 

Pt  I.  xxvi.  ;  Pt  II.  xxvi. 
Yang  Huo,  the  principal  minister  of 

the   Ke  family,  of   Loo,  111.   Pt  I. 

iii.  ;  Pt  II.  vi"i. 
Yang-shing,  a  city  in  Ho-nan,  V.  Pt 

I.Vi. 
Yaou,   the  emperor,  II.  Pt  I.  ii.  ;  Pt 

IL   ii. :  111.   Pt  I.  i.;  iv. ;  Pt  II. 

iv. ;  ix.  :  IV.  Pt  I.  i.  ;  ii.  ;  Pt  II. 

xxxii. :  V.   Pt  I.   iii.— vii.  ;  Pt  II. 

i.;  vi.  :  VI.  Pt  I.  vi.  ;  PtII.  viii.; 

X.  :  VII.  Pt  I.  XXX. ;  xlvi.  ;  Pt  II. 

vi.  ;  xxxiii.  ;  xxxvii.  ;  xxxviii. 
.  Yellow  River,  VI.  PtII.  vi. 
Yen,  the  kiugdom  of,  III.  Pt  II.  ix. 
Yen,  the  State  of,  I.  Pt  II.   x. ;  xi.  : 

II.  Pt  II.  viii.  ;  ix. 

Yen,  Yen  Hwuv,  a  disciple  of  Conf., 

IV.  Pt  II.  XXIX. 
Yen  Ch'ow-yew,  a  worthy  officer  of 

Wei,  V.  Pt  Uviii. 
Yen  New,  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  II. 

Pt  I.  ii. 
Yen  Pan,  a  son  of  Yen  Ilwuy,  V.  Pt 

II.  iii. 
Yen    Yi-'W,  llio    Grand-tutor    of    the 


prince  ofT'hng,  IlT.  Pt  I.  ii. 
Yen  Yuen,  a  discii)le  uf  Confucius,  IT 

Pt  I.  ii.  :  III.  Pt  I.  i. 
Yew,  a  cruel  king  of   the  Chow  dy- 
nasty, VI.  Pt  I.  vi. 
Yew-pc,  the  name  of  a  place  in  Yunj. 

chow,  Hoo-nan,  V.  Pt  I.  iii. 
Yew  Joh,  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  II 

Pt  I.  ii.  ;  III.  Pt  I.  iv. 
Yih,  a  minister  of  Shun,  and  of  Yu. 

III.  Pt  I.  iv.  :  V.  Pt  I.  vi. 
Yih-va,  the  cook  of  the  duke  Hwan  of 

Ts'e,  VI.  Pt  I.  vii. 
Yin,  State  and  dynasty,  II.  Pt  I.  i.  : 

Pt  II.  ix.  :  III.   Pt'l.iii.  :  IV.   Pt 

I.  ii.  ;  vii.  :  V.  Pt  II.  iv.  :  VII.  I't 

II.  iv. 

Yin-kung  T'o,  a  famous  archer,  IV. 

Pt  II.  xxiv.  ■ 
Yin  Sze,  a  man  of  Ts'e,  II.  Pt  II.  xii. 
Ying,  the   name   of   a   place   between 

Ts'eund  Loo,  II.  Pt  II.  vii. 
Yoh-ching,  a  disciple  of  Meuciu.s  I. 

Pt  II.  xvi.  :  IV.  Pt  I.  xxiv. ;  xxv.: 

VI.  Pt  11.  xiii.  :  VII.  Pt  II.  xxv. 
Yoh-ching    K'ew,  a  friend   of   Mang 

Heen,  V.  Pt  II.  ii. 
Yoh,  a  quarter  in  the  capital  of  Ts'e, 

III.  PtII.  vi. 

Yu,  the  .sovereign,  II.  Pt  I.  viii.  :  III. 

Pt  I.  iv.;  PtII.ix.:  IV.  Pt  II.  xx.  ; 

xxvi. ;    xxix.  :  V.    Pt   I.   vi. :    V'l. 

Pt    II.    xi.  :     VIL    Pt    II.    xxii.  ; 

xx.xviii. 
Yu,  a  small  State  adjoining  Tsin,  V. 

Pt  I.  ix.  :  VI.  Pt  II.  vi. 
Yu,  the  mountain,  V.  Pt  I.  iii. 
Yu-kung  Sze,  an  archer  of  AVeJ,  IV.  Pt 

II.  xxiv. 
Yueh,  the  State  of,  IV.  Pt  II.  xxxi.  : 

VI.  Pt  II.  iii. 


END    OF    VOL.    II. 


JOHN  cini.ns  and  son,  PUiyrERs. 


A     000  163  618     2 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


*WR  1  5  '90  14  DAY 


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JOHN  ClIILDS  AND  SOIf,  PUfNTERS. 


A     000  163  618     2