Li Lou, Part One離婁上

Mencius said, "With the clear eyes of Li Lou and the fine skill of Gongshu Zi, without compass and square one cannot make a square or a circle. With the keen ears of Shi Kuang, without the six pitch pipes one cannot set right the five notes. With the Way of Yao and Shun, without benevolent government one cannot bring even order to all under heaven.

Today a ruler may have a benevolent heart and a name for benevolence, and yet the people receive no benefit from him and he leaves no model for later ages. This is because he does not walk the Way of the former kings. Therefore it is said, 'Goodness alone is not enough to make government, and law alone cannot carry itself out.'

The Shi says, 'Not erring and not forgetting, they follow the old statutes.' There has never yet been a man who followed the laws of the former kings and went wrong.

The sages used their eyes to the utmost and went on to the compass and the square, the level and the marking line, to make the square and the circle, the flat and the straight, and these can never be used up. They used their ears to the utmost and went on to the six pitch pipes to set right the five notes, and these can never be used up. They used the thought of their hearts to the utmost and went on to a government that cannot bear the suffering of others, and benevolence covered all under heaven.

Therefore it is said, 'To build high, you must follow the hills. To dig low, you must follow the streams and marshes.' To govern and not follow the Way of the former kings, can that be called wise?

Therefore only the benevolent man is fit to be in a high place. When a man who is not benevolent is in a high place, he scatters his evil among the multitude.

When those above have no measure by the Way and those below have no law to keep, when the court does not trust the Way and the craftsmen do not trust the rules, when the gentleman offends against what is right and the small man offends against the punishments, then that the state still stands is mere luck.

Therefore it is said, 'That the walls are not whole and that weapons and armor are not many is not the disaster of a state. That the fields are not opened and that goods and wealth are not gathered is not the harm of a state. But when those above have no ritual and those below have no learning, and men who prey on the people rise up, the day of ruin is only a few days off.'

The Shi says, 'Heaven is about to overturn all things. Do not be so easy.' To be easy (泄泄) is the same as to be slack (沓沓). To serve one's ruler without right, to advance and withdraw without ritual, and to deny the Way of the former kings whenever one speaks, that is being slack.

Therefore it is said, 'To ask hard things of one's ruler is called respect (恭). To set out what is good and shut out what is crooked is called reverence (敬). To say that my ruler cannot do it is called ruining him (賊).'"

Mencius said, "The compass and the square are the utmost of the square and the circle, and the sage is the utmost of human relations.

He who would be a ruler must fulfill the Way of a ruler, and he who would be a minister must fulfill the Way of a minister. Both are simply a matter of taking Yao and Shun for the model. Not to serve one's ruler as Shun served Yao is not to revere one's ruler. Not to govern the people as Yao governed the people is to prey on one's people.

Confucius said, 'There are two ways, benevolence and the want of it, and that is all.'

When a ruler oppresses his people harshly, he is killed and his state perishes. When it is not harsh, he is endangered and his state is cut away. He is named You (幽) or Li (厲), and though he have filial sons and loving grandsons, they cannot change it in a hundred generations.

The Shi says, 'The mirror for Yin is not far off. It lies in the age of the house of Xia.' This is what was meant."

Mencius said, "The Three Dynasties won all under heaven through benevolence, and they lost all under heaven through the want of it. The reason a state falls or rises, survives or perishes, is the same.

If the Son of Heaven is not benevolent, he cannot keep the four seas. If a feudal lord is not benevolent, he cannot keep the altars of land and grain. If a high officer is not benevolent, he cannot keep his ancestral temple. If a scholar or a common man is not benevolent, he cannot keep his own four limbs.

Now to hate death and ruin and yet delight in what is not benevolent is like hating to be drunk and forcing down the wine."

Mencius said, "If you love others and they do not grow close to you, turn back and look at your own benevolence. If you govern others and they are not governed, turn back and look at your own wisdom. If you treat others with ritual and they do not answer, turn back and look at your own reverence.

Whenever you act and do not get what you sought, turn back and seek it in yourself. When your own person is upright, all under heaven turns to you.

The Shi says, 'Long may he think of matching the decree of heaven, and seek much good fortune for himself.'"

Mencius said, "People have a saying they use all the time. They all say 'all under heaven, the state, the family.' The root of all under heaven lies in the state. The root of the state lies in the family. The root of the family lies in one's own person."

Mencius said, "Governing is not hard. Give no offense to the great houses. What the great houses look up to, the whole state looks up to. What the whole state looks up to, all under heaven looks up to. So the teaching of virtue runs out in full flood and overflows the four seas."

Mencius said, "When the Way prevails in all under heaven, those of small virtue are put to work by those of great virtue, and those of small worth by those of great worth. When the Way does not prevail in all under heaven, the small are put to work by the great and the weak by the strong. These two are heaven. He who follows heaven lives, and he who goes against heaven perishes.

Duke Jing of Qi said, 'Unable to command and unwilling to take commands, a man cuts himself off from others.' And he wept as he sent his daughter to marry in Wu.

Now a small state takes a large state for its model and is ashamed to take its commands. This is like a disciple being ashamed to take commands from his teacher. If you are ashamed of it, there is nothing better than taking King Wen for your teacher. Take King Wen for your teacher, and a large state in five years and a small state in seven will surely govern all under heaven.

The Shi says, 'The sons and grandsons of Shang were past all counting, yet the Lord on High gave his decree and they submitted to Zhou. They submitted to Zhou, for the decree of heaven is not constant. The officers of Yin, stately and quick, pour the libation in the capital.'

Confucius said, 'Against benevolence numbers are of no use. When the ruler of a state loves benevolence, he has no enemy in all under heaven.'

Now to wish for no enemy in all under heaven and yet not to use benevolence is like taking hold of something hot and not dipping the hand in water. The Shi says, 'Who can take hold of what is hot and not dip his hand in water?'"

Mencius said, "Can one speak with a man who is not benevolent? He takes his peril for safety and his disaster for gain, and he delights in what will ruin him. If one could speak with a man who is not benevolent, how would there be ruined states and broken families?

A boy once sang, 'When the water of the Canglang is clear, I can wash my hat strings in it. When the water of the Canglang is muddy, I can wash my feet in it.' Confucius said, 'Listen, my children. Clear, and the hat strings are washed. Muddy, and the feet are washed. It is brought on by itself.'

A man must first despise himself, and then others despise him. A family must first destroy itself, and then others destroy it. A state must first strike itself, and then others strike it.

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, "Jie and Zhou Xin lost all under heaven because they lost their people, and they lost their people because they lost their hearts.

There is a way to win all under heaven. Win the people, and you win all under heaven. There is a way to win the people. Win their hearts, and you win the people. There is a way to win their hearts. Gather for them what they want, and do not lay on them what they hate. That is all.

The people turn to benevolence as water runs downward and as beasts run to the open country. So it is the otter that drives the fish into the deep pools, the sparrowhawk that drives the small birds into the thickets, and it was Jie and Zhou Xin who drove the people to Tang and Wu.

Now if among the rulers of all under heaven there is one who loves benevolence, the other lords will all drive the people to him, and though he wished not to be king, he could not help it.

One who wishes to be king today is like a man with a seven years' illness looking for mugwort dried three years. If he has not stored it up beforehand, he will never get it as long as he lives. If he truly does not set his heart on benevolence, he will be troubled and disgraced all his life and will sink into death and ruin.

The Shi says, 'How can it turn out well? They only lead one another and drown.' This is what was meant."

Mencius said, "With a man who does violence to himself one cannot speak, and with a man who throws himself away one cannot work. To speak in denial of ritual and right is called doing violence to oneself (自暴). To say that my own person cannot dwell in benevolence and follow what is right is called throwing oneself away (自棄)."

"Benevolence is a man's peaceful house, and rightness is a man's straight road. To leave the peaceful house empty and not live in it, to cast aside the straight road and not walk it, how sad!"

Mencius said, "The Way lies near, and men seek it far off. The work lies in what is easy, and men seek it in what is hard. If every man treats his parents as parents and his elders as elders, all under heaven will be at peace."

Mencius said, "A man in a low place who does not win the trust of those above him cannot govern the people.

There is a way to win the trust of those above. If one is not trusted by one's friends, one will not win the trust of those above. There is a way to be trusted by one's friends. If one serves one's parents and does not please them, one will not be trusted by one's friends. There is a way to please one's parents. If one turns within and is not sincere, one will not please one's parents. There is a way to make one's person sincere. If one is not clear about what is good, one will not make one's person sincere.

Therefore sincerity (誠) is the Way of heaven, and thinking on sincerity is the Way of man. There has never been a man of utmost sincerity who failed to move others, and there has never been a man without sincerity who was able to move others."

Mencius said, "Bo Yi fled from Zhou Xin and lived on the shore of the northern sea. When he heard that King Wen had arisen, he said, 'Why not go back to him? I have heard that the Earl of the West is good at caring for the old.'

Tai Gong fled from Zhou Xin and lived on the shore of the eastern sea. When he heard that King Wen had arisen, he said, 'Why not go back to him? I have heard that the Earl of the West is good at caring for the old.'

These two old men were the great elders of all under heaven, and they went back to him. This was the fathers of all under heaven going back to him. When the fathers of all under heaven went back to him, where would their sons go?

If among the feudal lords there is one who carries out the government of King Wen, within seven years he will surely govern all under heaven."

Mencius said, "Ran Qiu was steward to the Ji family. He could not change their virtue, and he took grain at twice the rate of former days. Confucius said, 'Qiu is no follower of mine. My children, sound the drum and attack him. That is allowed.'

Seen from this, those who make a ruler rich while he does not carry out benevolent government are all men whom Confucius cast off. How much more those who fight hard wars for him.

Men fight over land, and the slain fill the fields. Men fight over cities, and the slain fill the cities. This is what is called leading on the land to eat human flesh. Their crime is more than death can pay for.

So those who are good at war should take the heaviest punishment. Those who join the feudal lords together come next. Those who open the wastelands and parcel out the land come next."

Mencius said, "Of what is in a man, nothing is better than the pupil of his eye. The pupil cannot hide his evil. When the breast is upright, the pupil is clear. When the breast is not upright, the pupil is clouded.

Listen to his words and look at his pupils. Where can a man hide?"

Mencius said, "The respectful man does not despise others, and the thrifty man does not take from others. A ruler who despises others and takes from them fears only that the people will not submit. How can he be called respectful and thrifty?

How can respect and thrift be made out of the sound of the voice and the smile on the face?"

Chunyu Kun said, "Is it ritual that men and women do not give and take with their own hands?"

Mencius said, "It is ritual."

"If a brother's wife is drowning, does one pull her out with the hand?"

"Not to pull out a brother's wife who is drowning is to be a jackal or a wolf. That men and women do not give and take with their own hands is ritual. To pull out a drowning brother's wife with the hand is weighing the case (權)."

"All under heaven is drowning now. Why do you not pull it out, master?"

"When all under heaven is drowning, one pulls it out with the Way. When a brother's wife is drowning, one pulls her out with the hand. Would you pull all under heaven out with your hand?"

Gongsun Chou said, "Why is it that a gentleman does not teach his own son?"

Mencius said, "Because things do not allow it. One who teaches must use what is correct, and when what is correct does not take, anger follows. When anger follows, there is hurt instead.

'My father teaches me what is correct, and yet my father has not come out of what is correct himself.' Then father and son hurt each other, and for father and son to hurt each other is bad.

The men of old exchanged sons and taught them. Between father and son there is no demanding of goodness. Demanding goodness drives them apart, and nothing is more ill-omened than being driven apart."

Mencius said, "Of things to serve, which is the greatest? Serving one's parents is the greatest. Of things to keep, which is the greatest? Keeping one's own person is the greatest.

I have heard of a man who did not lose his own person and was able to serve his parents. I have not yet heard of a man who lost his own person and was able to serve his parents.

What is not a matter of serving? Yet serving one's parents is the root of serving. What is not a matter of keeping? Yet keeping one's own person is the root of keeping.

When Zengzi cared for Zeng Xi, there was always wine and meat. When the food was taken away, he always asked whom it should be given to. When he was asked whether anything was left, he always said, 'There is.'

After Zeng Xi died and Zeng Yuan cared for Zengzi, there was always wine and meat, but when the food was taken away he did not ask whom it should be given to, and when he was asked whether anything was left, he said, 'There is none,' meaning to serve it again. This is what is called caring for the mouth and the body.

One like Zengzi may be said to have cared for the will. In serving one's parents, to do as Zengzi did is enough."

Mencius said, "The men are not worth blaming one by one, and the government is not worth faulting one by one. Only a great man can set right what is wrong in the ruler's heart.

When the ruler is benevolent, no one is not benevolent. When the ruler is right, no one is not right. When the ruler is upright, no one is not upright. Set the ruler right once, and the state is settled."

Mencius said, "There is praise that comes unlooked for, and there is blame that comes from seeking to be whole."

Mencius said, "A man takes his own words lightly because he does not have to answer for them."

Mencius said, "The trouble with men is that they love to be teachers of others."

Yuezhengzi followed Zi'ao to Qi.

Yuezhengzi came to see Mencius, and Mencius said, "So you too have come to see me?"

"Master, why do you say such a thing?"

"How many days have you been here?"

"Since yesterday."

"Since yesterday. Then is it not fitting that I say this?"

"My lodging was not yet settled."

"Have you heard that one asks to see one's elders only after the lodging is settled?"

"I have done wrong."

Mencius said to Yuezhengzi, "In following Zi'ao here you came only to eat and drink. I did not think that you had learned the Way of the ancients in order to eat and drink."

Mencius said, "There are three things that are unfilial, and having no heir is the greatest. Shun married without telling his parents because he might have had no heir, and the gentleman holds that it was as good as telling them."

Mencius said, "The substance of benevolence is serving one's parents. The substance of rightness is following one's elder brother. The substance of wisdom is knowing these two and not leaving them. The substance of ritual is ordering and adorning these two. The substance of music is delighting in these two.

Delight in them, and they are born. Once born, how can they be stopped? And when they cannot be stopped, then without knowing it the feet begin to tread and the hands begin to dance."

Mencius said, "All under heaven rejoiced greatly and was about to turn to him, and he looked on all under heaven rejoicing and turning to him as if it were straw. Only Shun was like this.

He who does not win his parents' heart cannot be a man. He who is not obedient to his parents cannot be a son. Shun fulfilled the Way of serving his parents, and Gusou (瞽瞍) came at last to be pleased. Gusou was pleased, and all under heaven was transformed. Gusou was pleased, and those who were fathers and sons in all under heaven were settled. This is called great filial piety (大孝)."