Gongsun Chou, Part One公孫丑上

Gongsun Chou asked, "If you, master, were given a high post in Qi, could the achievements of Guan Zhong and Yanzi be brought about again?"

Mencius said, "You are a man of Qi indeed. You know only Guan Zhong and Yanzi.

Someone asked Zeng Xi, 'Between you and Zilu, which is the worthier?' Zeng Xi drew back and said, 'He was one whom even my late father held in awe.' The man said, 'Then between you and Guan Zhong, which is the worthier?' Zeng Xi flushed and was displeased, and said, 'How can you compare me with Guan Zhong? Guan Zhong held his ruler's trust so wholly and directed the government of the state so long, and yet his achievement was so low. How can you compare me with him!'"

Then he said, "Guan Zhong is a man that even Zeng Xi would not be. Do you think that I long for it?"

"Guan Zhong made his ruler a hegemon, and Yanzi made his ruler illustrious. Are even Guan Zhong and Yanzi not worth being?"

"To rule as a true king with Qi is like turning over one's palm."

"If that is so, my doubt only grows deeper. Even King Wen, with his virtue, lived a hundred years and died, and it still had not spread through all under heaven. Only after King Wu and the Duke of Zhou carried it on did it go far. Now you speak of kingship as though it were so easy. Then is King Wen not enough to take as a model?"

"How can anyone match King Wen? From Tang down to Wu Ding, six or seven worthy and sage rulers arose. All under heaven had turned to Yin for a long time, and what is long is hard to change. When Wu Ding received the homage of the feudal lords and held all under heaven, it was like moving something on his palm.

Zhou Xin (紂) was not far from Wu Ding, and the old families and the remaining customs, the flowing airs and the good government, were still there. There were also worthy men, Weizi, Weizhong, Prince Bigan, Jizi and Jiao Ge, who helped him together, and so he lost it only after a long time. Not a foot of land was not his, and not one of the people was not his subject. Yet King Wen rose from a hundred li square, and that is why it was hard.

The men of Qi have a saying, 'Though you have wisdom, it is not like riding the moment. Though you have a farm tool, it is not like waiting for the season.' Now is the easy time.

Even when the Xia and the Yin and the Zhou were at their height, their land never passed a thousand li, and Qi has that much land. The crowing of cocks and the barking of dogs are heard one from another and reach the four borders, and Qi has that many people. Without opening more land and without gathering more people, if it carries out benevolent government and rules as a true king, no one can stop it.

Moreover, there was never a time when kings arose more rarely than now, and never a time when the people were worn down by harsh government more than now. The hungry are easily fed and the thirsty are easily given drink. Confucius said, 'Virtue flows and spreads faster than an order carried by post horses.'

At a time such as this, if a state of ten thousand chariots carries out benevolent government, the people will rejoice as though they were loosed from hanging upside down. So the work is half that of the men of old and the merit is sure to be double. Only at this time is it so."

Gongsun Chou asked, "If you, master, were made chief minister (卿相) of Qi and could carry out the Way there, it would be no wonder if by this the ruler became a hegemon or a true king. Would your heart be stirred then?"

Mencius said, "No. At forty my heart was no longer stirred."

"Then you, master, are far ahead of Meng Ben."

"That is not hard. Gaozi (告子) came to an unstirred heart before me."

"Is there a way to keep the heart from being stirred?"

"There is. This is how Beigong You nurtured his courage. When his skin was pierced he did not flinch, and when his eye was pierced he did not turn away. If he was bent by another so much as a hair, he took it as a flogging in the marketplace. He would take nothing from a man in loose coarse cloth, and nothing from the ruler of ten thousand chariots either. He looked on stabbing the ruler of ten thousand chariots as on stabbing a man in loose cloth. He held no feudal lord in awe, and when an ill word reached him he always paid it back.

This is how Meng Shishe nurtured his courage. He said, 'I look on what I cannot beat as on what I can. To weigh the enemy and then advance, to reckon the victory and then close with him, is to fear the three armies. How could I be sure of winning? I can only be without fear.'

Meng Shishe was like Zengzi, and Beigong You was like Zixia. Of the courage of these two it is not known which was the better; yet Meng Shishe held to the essential.

Long ago Zengzi said to Zixiang, 'Do you love courage? I once heard of great courage from the master. If I look into myself and am not straight, then even before a man in loose coarse cloth I cannot but be afraid. If I look into myself and am straight, I will go forward though against a thousand or ten thousand men.'

Meng Shishe's holding to the qi (氣) is still not like Zengzi's holding to the essential."

"May I ask? Can I hear of your unstirred heart, master, and of Gaozi's unstirred heart?"

"Gaozi said, 'What you do not get from words, do not seek in the heart. What you do not get in the heart, do not seek in the qi.' Not to seek in the qi what you do not get in the heart is right; but not to seek in the heart what you do not get from words is not right.

The will (志) is the commander of the qi, and the qi is what fills the body. The will arrives first, and the qi comes next. So it is said, hold fast the will and do not do violence to the qi."

"You have said, 'The will arrives first, the qi comes next,' and you have also said, 'Hold fast the will and do not do violence to the qi.' Why is that?"

"When the will is single, it moves the qi; when the qi is single, it moves the will. Now the man who stumbles and the man who runs are qi, and yet they move his heart in turn."

"May I ask? In what are you strong, master?"

"I know words, and I am good at nurturing my vast flowing qi (浩然之氣)."

"May I ask? What is called the vast flowing qi?"

"It is hard to say. As qi it is utterly great and utterly firm. If it is nurtured with straightness and not harmed, it fills the space between heaven and earth. As qi it is the mate of righteousness (義) and the Way (道), and without these it starves.

It is born from the gathering of righteousness; it is not got by righteousness coming upon a man from outside. If you act and there is anything in your heart not content with it, it starves. That is why I say that Gaozi never knew righteousness, for he put it outside.

You must work at it, but do not fix a time for it. Do not forget it in your heart, and do not force it to grow. Do not be like the man of Song. There was a man of Song who was troubled that his sprouts were not growing and pulled them up. He came home worn out and said to his household, 'I am tired today. I have helped the sprouts to grow.' His son ran to look, and the sprouts had withered.

Few in the world do not help their sprouts to grow. Those who think it of no use and leave it alone are the ones who do not weed their sprouts. Those who help them grow are the ones who pull up the sprouts. It is not only of no use, it does harm as well."

"What is it to know words?"

"From one-sided words I know what they hide; from extravagant words I know where they have fallen; from crooked words I know what they have departed from; from evasive words I know where they are blocked. Born in the heart, they harm the government; issuing from the government, they harm affairs. If a sage should rise again, he would surely follow my words."

"Zai Wo and Zigong were good at speech; Ran Niu, Minzi and Yan Yuan were good at speaking of virtuous conduct. Confucius joined both, and yet he said, 'In the crafting of words (辭命) I am not able.' Then are you, master, already a sage?"

"Ah! What a thing to say! Long ago Zigong asked Confucius, 'Master, are you a sage?' Confucius said, 'A sage I am not able to be. I only do not weary of learning and do not tire of teaching.' Zigong said, 'Not to weary of learning is wisdom; not to tire of teaching is benevolence. Benevolent and wise, you, master, are already a sage.' Confucius himself did not take the name of sage. What a thing to say!"

"Long ago I quietly heard that Zixia, Ziyou and Zizhang all had one part of the sage, and that Ran Niu, Minzi and Yan Yuan had the whole but in small measure. May I ask where you place yourself?"

"Let that be for now."

"What of Bo Yi and Yi Yin?"

"Their ways were not the same. To serve no ruler but his own and to employ no people but his own, to come forward when there was order and to withdraw when there was disorder, that was Bo Yi. To say, 'What ruler may I not serve? What people may I not employ?' and to come forward in order and to come forward in disorder as well, that was Yi Yin. To take office when it was fit to take office and to stop when it was fit to stop, to stay long when it was fit to stay long and to leave quickly when it was fit to leave quickly, that was Confucius. All were sages of old. I have not been able to act so, but what I wish is to learn from Confucius."

"Are Bo Yi and Yi Yin on a level with Confucius like that?"

"No. Since men were first born there has been no one like Confucius."

"Then is there anything in which they are the same?"

"There is. Had they got a hundred li of land and ruled it, all of them could have received the homage of the feudal lords and held all under heaven. To do one unrighteous deed or to kill one innocent man in order to gain all under heaven, none of them would have done it. In this they are the same."

"May I ask in what they differ?"

"Zai Wo, Zigong and You Ruo had wisdom enough to know a sage, and even had they lowered themselves they would not have gone so far as to flatter the one they loved.

Zai Wo said, 'As I look at the master, he is far worthier than Yao and Shun.'

Zigong said, 'One sees a man's rites and knows his government; one hears his music and knows his virtue. Standing a hundred ages after, one may rank the kings of a hundred ages, and none can depart from this. Since men were first born there has been no one like the master.'

You Ruo said, 'Is it only among men? The qilin among running beasts, the phoenix among flying birds, Mount Tai among the mounds, the rivers and the sea among the running waters, these are of one kind. The sage among the people is of one kind too. He comes out of his kind and stands above the crowd of them. Since men were first born there has been none greater than Confucius.'"

Mencius said, "One who borrows benevolence by force is a hegemon (霸), and a hegemon must have a large state. One who carries out benevolence by virtue is a true king (王), and a true king does not wait for a large state. Tang did it with seventy li, and King Wen with a hundred li.

To make men submit by force is not to make them submit in their hearts; it is only that their strength is not enough. To make men submit by virtue is to make them glad in their inmost heart and truly submit, as the seventy disciples submitted to Confucius.

The Shi says, 'From the west and from the east, from the south and from the north, there was no heart that did not submit.' This is what was meant."

Mencius said, "Benevolence brings honor, and want of benevolence brings disgrace. To hate disgrace now and yet dwell in want of benevolence is like hating damp and dwelling in a low place.

If you hate it, nothing is like honoring virtue and holding scholars high. When the worthy are in place and the able are in office, and the state uses its quiet time to make its government and its punishments clear, then even a great state will surely fear it.

The Shi says, 'Before the sky is dark with rain, I will strip the roots of that mulberry and bind fast the window and the door. Now who among the people below would dare to slight me?' Confucius said, 'The man who made this poem knew the Way! If a man can govern his own state, who would dare to slight him?'

If the state is quiet now and this is the time taken for pleasure and play, for idleness and pride, this is to call down calamity on oneself. There is no calamity and no blessing that a man does not call down himself.

The Shi says, 'Long think to be the mate of the decree, and seek much blessing for yourself.' The Tai jia says, 'When heaven makes a calamity, it may still be escaped; when a man makes his own calamity, he cannot live through it.' This is what was meant."

Mencius said, "If the worthy are honored and the able are employed, so that outstanding men are in place, then the scholars of all under heaven will all be glad and will wish to stand in that court.

If in the market only stall rent is taken and no tax is laid on goods, or if the law alone is kept and not even stall rent is taken, then the merchants of all under heaven will all be glad and will wish to store their goods in that market.

If at the passes there is inspection only and no tax, then the travelers of all under heaven will all be glad and will wish to set out on those roads.

If those who plow are only made to help with the public field (公田) and no separate tax is laid on them, then the farmers of all under heaven will all be glad and will wish to plow in those fields.

If no cloth levy on men (夫布) and no cloth levy on villages (里布) is laid on house plots, then the people of all under heaven will all be glad and will wish to become his people.

If these five can truly be carried out, the people of the neighboring states will look up to him as to a father and mother. To lead sons and younger brothers against their own father and mother is a thing that no one has brought off since men were first born. In this way he has no enemy under heaven. One who has no enemy under heaven is an officer of heaven. There has never yet been such a one who did not rule as a true king."

Mencius said, "All men have a heart that cannot bear to see others suffer. The former kings had this heart, and so they had a government that could not bear to see others suffer. If a government that cannot bear to see others suffer is carried out with a heart that cannot bear to see others suffer, then the ruling of all under heaven can be moved on the palm of the hand.

Here is why it is said that all men have a heart that cannot bear to see others suffer. If a man suddenly sees a child about to fall into a well, he always feels alarm and pain. It is not that he wishes to make friends with the child's parents; it is not that he seeks praise from his neighbors and his friends; nor is it that he dislikes the sound of the crying.

Seen in this way, one who has no heart of pain is not a man; one who has no heart of shame and hatred is not a man; one who has no heart of yielding is not a man; one who has no heart that tells right from wrong is not a man.

The heart of pain is the beginning of benevolence (仁); the heart of shame and hatred is the beginning of righteousness (義); the heart of yielding is the beginning of ritual (禮); the heart that tells right from wrong is the beginning of wisdom (智).

That a man has these four beginnings is like his having four limbs. One who has these four beginnings and yet says of himself that he is not able is one who harms himself; one who says his ruler is not able is one who harms his ruler.

If a man knows how to widen and fill all four beginnings that are in him, it is like a fire first catching, like a spring first breaking out. If he can truly fill them, they are enough to guard the four seas; if he truly cannot fill them, they are not enough even to serve his father and mother."

Mencius said, "Is the arrow maker less benevolent than the armor maker? The arrow maker fears only that he will fail to wound men, and the armor maker fears only that men will be wounded. It is so with the shaman and the coffin maker as well. So a man cannot but be careful in his trade.

Confucius said, 'It is beautiful to dwell where there is benevolence. If a man chooses and does not settle in benevolence, how can he be called wise?'

Benevolence is heaven's high rank and man's peaceful house. If no one bars the way and a man is still not benevolent, he is not wise. Not benevolent and not wise, without ritual and without righteousness, he is a man employed by others. To be employed by others and to be ashamed of being employed is like the bow maker being ashamed of making bows and the arrow maker being ashamed of making arrows.

If you are ashamed of it, nothing is like being benevolent. The benevolent man is like an archer. The archer sets himself straight and then shoots, and when he shoots and does not hit, he does not resent the one who beat him but turns and seeks it in himself."

Mencius said, "When others told Zilu of his faults he was glad. When Yu heard a good word he bowed. The great Shun went further still. He made goodness common with others, set aside what was his own and followed others, and took joy in taking from others to make goodness.

From the time he plowed and made pottery and fished, up to the time he became emperor, there was nothing he did not take from others. To take from others to make goodness is to make goodness together with others. So for a gentleman there is nothing greater than making goodness together with others."

Mencius said, "Bo Yi would serve no ruler but his own and befriend no friend but his own. He would not stand in the court of an evil man, and he would not speak with an evil man. To stand in the court of an evil man and to speak with an evil man he took to be like sitting in mud and charcoal in court robe and court cap.

Carrying out this heart that hates evil, when he stood with the men of his village and one of them wore his cap askew, he went away without looking back, as though he would be soiled. So even when a feudal lord came to him with well-crafted words, he did not accept him. Not to accept was also not to think it worth going forward.

Liuxia Hui was not ashamed of a foul ruler and did not think a small office beneath him. When he came forward he did not hide his worth, and he always kept to his own Way. Cast aside, he did not resent it; in hardship and want, he did not grieve. So he said, 'You are you and I am I. Though you should bare yourself and stand naked at my side, how could you soil me?' So he stayed at ease among them and did not lose himself, and when they took hold of him and made him stop, he stopped. That he stopped when they took hold of him and made him stop was also not to think it worth leaving."

Mencius said, "Bo Yi was narrow, and Liuxia Hui was not respectful. Narrowness and want of respect the gentleman does not follow."