Gongsun Chou, Part Two公孫丑下

Mencius said, "The season of Heaven is not equal to the advantage of the earth, and the advantage of the earth is not equal to the harmony of men.

There is a wall of three li and an outer wall of seven li. Men surround it and attack it, and still they cannot take it. Now if they surround it and attack it, they must have gained some season of Heaven; and yet they do not take it. This is because the season of Heaven is not equal to the advantage of the earth.

It is not that the walls are not high. It is not that the moat is not deep. It is not that the weapons and armor are not strong and sharp. It is not that the rice and grain are not plentiful. And yet men cast the city aside and leave it. This is because the advantage of the earth is not equal to the harmony of men.

Therefore it is said: the people are not held by the lines of a frontier, the country is not made firm by the steepness of mountains and valleys, and all under heaven is not awed by the sharpness of weapons and armor.

He who has gained the Way has many helpers. He who has lost the Way has few. When his helpers are fewest, his own kin turn against him. When his helpers are most, all under heaven follows him. He attacks, with all under heaven on his side, the man whose own kin have turned against him. Therefore the gentleman may not fight at all, but if he fights he is certain to win."

Mencius was about to go to the king's court. The king sent a man to say, "I ought to come and see you myself, but I have caught a chill and cannot be in the wind. In the morning I shall hold court. I do not know whether you will let me see you there."

He answered, "Unhappily I am ill and cannot go to court."

The next day he went out to offer condolences at the house of Dongguo. Gongsun Chou said, "Yesterday you excused yourself as ill, and today you go to a mourning. Is this perhaps not right?"

He said, "Yesterday I was ill. Today I am well. Why should I not go?"

The king sent a man to ask after his illness, and a physician came. Meng Zhongzi answered them, "Yesterday there was a command from the king, but he was unwell and could not go to court. Today he is a little better and has hurried to the court. I do not know whether he has arrived." Then he sent several men to meet Mencius on the road and say, "Please do not go home. Go to the court."

Having no choice, Mencius went to the house of Jing Chou and lodged there.

Jingzi said, "Within the house, father and son. Outside it, ruler and minister. These are the great bonds of men. Between father and son, kindness comes first. Between ruler and minister, respect comes first. I have seen how the king respects you, sir. I have not seen how you respect the king."

He said, "Oh! What talk is this! Among the men of Qi there is none who speaks to the king of benevolence and righteousness (仁義). Is it that they think benevolence and righteousness not fine? In their hearts they say, 'What is this man, that one should speak with him of benevolence and righteousness?' Then there is no disrespect greater than that. I do not dare to set anything before the king but the Way of Yao and Shun. So among the men of Qi there is none who respects the king as I do."

Jingzi said, "No. That is not what I mean. The Book of Rites says, 'When a father calls, the son does not answer and wait, but goes at once. When a ruler commands and calls, the minister does not wait for the horses to be yoked.' You were about to go to court, and when you heard the king's command you did not go after all. This seems not to agree with that rite."

He said, "How can that be what is meant here? Zengzi said, 'The wealth of Jin and Chu cannot be matched. They have their wealth, I have my benevolence. They have their rank, I have my righteousness. In what am I the lesser?' Would Zengzi have said a thing that was not righteous? This too is one Way.

In all under heaven there are three things honored everywhere: rank is one, age is one, virtue is one. At court nothing comes before rank. In the village nothing comes before age. For helping the age and rearing the people nothing comes before virtue. How can a man hold one of these and slight the other two?

Therefore a ruler who is to do great things must have ministers he cannot summon. When he would take counsel, he goes to them. If his honoring of virtue and his delight in the Way are not like this, he is not fit to do great things.

So Tang learned from Yi Yin and only then made him his minister, and thus became king without toil. Duke Huan learned from Guan Zhong and only then made him his minister, and thus became lord of the princes without toil.

Today the states of all under heaven are alike in land and even in virtue, and none can rise above another. There is no other reason than this: they like to have as ministers those they teach, and do not like to have as ministers those from whom they receive teaching. Tang toward Yi Yin, and Duke Huan toward Guan Zhong, did not dare to summon them. If even Guan Zhong could not be summoned, how much less one who does not care to be a Guan Zhong?"

Chen Zhen asked, "The other day in Qi the king gave you a hundred yi (鎰) of fine gold and you did not take it. In Song they gave you seventy yi and you took it. In Xue they gave you fifty yi and you took it. If refusing the other day was right, then taking today is wrong. If taking today is right, then refusing the other day was wrong. Master, you must stand in one of the two."

Mencius said, "Both were right. When I was in Song I had a long journey before me. A traveler is always given money for the road, and they said, 'We offer you money for the road.' Why should I not take it?

When I was in Xue I had cause to be on my guard. They said, 'We heard you are on your guard, and we offer this so that you may arm yourself.' Why should I not take it?

In Qi there was no use for it. To give where there is no use for it is to buy a man with goods. How can a gentleman be bought with goods?"

Mencius went to Pinglu and said to the great officer there, "If your spearman leaves his place in the ranks three times in one day, will you dismiss him or not?"

He said, "I would not wait for the third time."

"Then you too have left your place in the ranks many times. In the bad years and the hungry years, your people who were old and thin rolled into the ditches and the gullies, and the strong ones scattered to the four quarters. They were some thousands."

He said, "This is not something that Juxin can do anything about."

"Suppose a man takes another's oxen and sheep and keeps them for him. Then he must seek pasture and hay for them. If he seeks pasture and hay and cannot get them, does he give the beasts back to their owner? Or does he stand and watch them die?"

He said, "This then is Juxin's fault."

Another day Mencius saw the king and said, "Of those who govern the king's towns I know five. The only one who knows his own fault is Kong Juxin." And he recited the matter for the king.

The king said, "This then is my own fault."

Mencius said to Chi Wa, "Your giving up Lingqiu and asking for the post of judge (士師) seemed right, because in it you could speak. Now some months have passed. Can you still not speak?"

Chi Wa remonstrated with the king, and when he was not heeded he gave up his office and left.

A man of Qi said, "What he did for Chi Wa was good. What he does for himself, we do not know."

Gongduzi told this to Mencius.

He said, "I have heard that a man who holds an office leaves it when he cannot fulfill its duty, and a man charged with speaking leaves when his words are not taken. I hold no office and I am charged with no speaking. Then are my going forward and my drawing back not wide and free?"

Mencius became a minister (卿) of Qi and went to offer condolences in Teng. The king sent Wang Huan, the great officer of Ge (蓋), with him as deputy envoy (副使). Wang Huan saw him morning and evening, but on the whole road between Qi and Teng Mencius never spoke with him of the business of the mission.

Gongsun Chou said, "The place of a minister of Qi is not small, and the road between Qi and Teng is not short. You went and returned and never spoke with him of the business. Why was that?"

He said, "Others were already handling it. What was there for me to say?"

Mencius went from Qi to Lu for a burial. On the way back to Qi he stopped at Ying. Chong Yu said, "The other day you did not know how unworthy I was, and you put me in charge of the coffin. The work was pressing, and I did not dare to ask. Now I would ask quietly. The wood seemed too fine."

He said, "In ancient times there was no fixed measure for the inner and outer coffin. In middle antiquity the inner coffin was seven inches thick and the outer coffin matched it, and so it was from the Son of Heaven down to the common man. This is not only to make it fair to the eye. It is that only so is the heart of a man fully served.

If it is not allowed him, he cannot be glad. If he has not the means, he cannot be glad. When it is allowed him and he has the means, the men of old all did this. Why should I alone not do so?

And for the one who is passing away, to keep the earth from touching his skin — is there no comfort in that for the heart? I have heard this of the gentleman: he is not sparing toward his parents for the sake of all under heaven."

Shen Tong asked in private, "May Yan be attacked?"

Mencius said, "It may. Zi Kuai could not give Yan to another man, and Zhi could not receive Yan from Zi Kuai. Suppose there is an officer here, and you are pleased with him, and without telling the king you privately give him your own salary and rank; and suppose that officer likewise receives it from you privately, with no command from the king. Would that be right? How is this different from that?"

The men of Qi attacked Yan. Someone asked, "Is it true that you urged Qi to attack Yan?"

He said, "No. Shen Tong asked, 'May Yan be attacked?' and I answered him, 'It may.' They took this for agreement and attacked. Had he asked, 'Who may attack it?' I would have answered, 'One who is an officer of Heaven may attack it.'

Suppose there is a man who has killed another. If someone asks, 'May this man be put to death?' I would answer, 'He may.' If he asks, 'Who may put him to death?' I would answer, 'A judge may put him to death.'

Here it is Yan attacking Yan. Why would I have urged it?"

When the men of Yan revolted, the king said, "I am deeply ashamed before Mencius."

Chen Jia said, "Let the king not trouble himself. Which does the king think is more benevolent and wise, himself or the Duke of Zhou?"

The king said, "Oh! What talk is this!"

"The Duke of Zhou set Guanshu to watch over Yin, and Guanshu revolted with Yin. If he knew and still sent him, that was not benevolent. If he did not know and sent him, that was not wise. Benevolence and wisdom the Duke of Zhou did not have in full, and how much less the king? Let me go and see Mencius and clear this away."

He saw Mencius and asked, "What kind of man was the Duke of Zhou?"

"A sage of old."

"He set Guanshu to watch over Yin, and Guanshu revolted with Yin. Is that so?"

"It is so."

"Did the Duke of Zhou know that he would revolt, and send him even so?"

"He did not know."

"Then a sage too has his faults?"

"The Duke of Zhou was the younger brother. Guanshu was the elder brother. Was the Duke of Zhou's fault not a fitting one?

And the gentlemen of old, when they had a fault, corrected it. The gentlemen of today, when they have a fault, go on with it. The faults of the gentlemen of old were like an eclipse of the sun and moon, and all the people saw them; and when they changed, all the people looked up to them. Do the gentlemen of today merely go on with their faults? They follow them up with excuses as well."

Mencius gave up his office and was going home.

The king came to see him and said, "In days past I wished to see you and could not. Then I was able to serve beside you in the same court, and I was very glad. Now you cast me off and go home. I do not know whether I may see you again after this."

He answered, "I could not dare to ask it, but it is what I have long wished."

Another day the king said to Shizi, "I wish to give Mencius a house in the middle of the state and to keep his disciples with ten thousand zhong (萬鍾), so that all the great officers and the people of the state may have a model before them. Will you not speak of this for me?"

Shizi had Chenzi tell Mencius, and Chenzi passed Shizi's words on to him.

Mencius said, "Is that so. How would Shizi know that it cannot be? Suppose I wished to be rich. Would refusing a hundred thousand and taking ten thousand be the act of a man who wishes to be rich?

Jisun said, 'A strange man, Zi Shuyi! He took part in the government, and when he was not used he might have let it rest. Instead he had his own sons and brothers made ministers. Who among men does not wish for wealth and honor? Yet he alone, in the midst of wealth and honor, privately seized the mound.'

In the markets of old, men traded what they had for what they had not, and the officers only kept order. Then there was a low fellow who would look for a mound and climb it, and gaze left and right, and net the profit of the market. Everyone thought him low, and so they laid a tax on him. The taxing of traders began with this low fellow."

Mencius left Qi and lodged at the town of Zhou (晝). A man who wished to keep him for the king sat down and spoke to him. Mencius did not answer, but leaned on his armrest and lay down.

The guest was displeased and said, "Your disciple fasted a night before he dared to speak. You lie down and do not listen. I shall not dare to see you again."

He said, "Sit down. I will speak plainly to you. In old days Duke Mu of Lu could not set Zisi's mind at ease unless he had a man at Zisi's side. Xie Liu and Shen Xiang could not set their own minds at ease unless they had a man at Duke Mu's side. You take thought for an elder, and yet you do not reach as far as Zisi. Did you break with the elder, or did the elder break with you?"

When Mencius left Qi, Yin Shi said to people, "If he did not know that the king could not become a Tang or a Wu, then he was not clear-sighted. If he knew it and came all the same, then he was seeking favor. He came a thousand li to see the king, and he left because they did not meet in mind; and he lodged three nights before he went out from the town of Zhou. How slow and lingering that was! This is what displeases me."

Gaozi (高子) told him of it.

He said, "How would Yin Shi know me? To come a thousand li to see the king was what I wished. To leave because we did not meet in mind — how was that what I wished? I had no choice.

Even lodging three nights before I went out from the town of Zhou, in my own heart I thought it quick. I hoped the king would change! If the king had changed, he would surely have called me back. When I had gone out from the town of Zhou and the king did not come after me, only then did I freely set my mind on going home.

Yet even so, how could I cast the king off? The king is still fit to do good. If the king were to use me, would the people of Qi alone be at peace? The people of all under heaven would be at peace. I hoped the king would change! Day by day I hoped for it.

How should I be like one of those small men? They remonstrate with their ruler, and when they are not heeded they grow angry, and the anger shows in their faces; and when they leave, they travel the whole strength of a day before they will lodge."

Yin Shi heard this and said, "I am truly a small man."

When Mencius left Qi, Chong Yu asked him on the road, "Master, you seem to have a look that is not glad. In days past I heard you say, 'The gentleman does not resent Heaven and does not blame men.'"

He said, "That was one time, and this is another. In five hundred years a true king must arise, and in that span there must be one whose name fills the age. Since the Zhou it has been more than seven hundred years. By the count of years the time is past. By the signs of the age the time has come.

It is that Heaven does not yet wish to bring peace and order to all under heaven. If it wished to bring peace and order to all under heaven, then in the present age who else is there but me? Why should I not be glad?"

Mencius left Qi and stayed at Xiu (休). Gongsun Chou asked, "Is it the Way of the ancients to hold office and take no salary?"

He said, "No. At Chong (崇) I saw the king, and when I withdrew I had set my mind on leaving. I did not wish to change that mind, and so I did not take it. Then came an order to raise troops, and I could not ask to go. To stay long in Qi was not my wish."