Li Lou, Part Two離婁下

Mencius said, "Shun was born in Zhufeng, moved to Fuxia, and died in Mingtiao. He was a man of the eastern Yi (東夷). King Wen was born in Qizhou and died in Biying. He was a man of the western Yi (西夷).

The distance between their places was more than a thousand li, and the ages between them more than a thousand years. Yet when they gained their purpose and carried it out in the central states, it was as though two halves of a tally had been matched. The earlier sage and the later sage, their measure was one."

Zichan governed the state of Zheng, and with his own carriage he ferried people across the Zhen and the Wei.

Mencius said, "He was kind, but he did not know how to govern. When the footbridge is finished in the eleventh month and the carriage bridge in the twelfth month, the people do not suffer in crossing. If a gentleman makes his government even, he may clear the road before him as he goes. How could he ferry every man across? So if one who governs would please every man one by one, his days will never be enough."

Mencius said to King Xuan of Qi, "When a ruler looks on his ministers as his hands and feet, the ministers look on the ruler as their belly and heart. When a ruler looks on his ministers as dogs and horses, the ministers look on the ruler as any man of the road. When a ruler looks on his ministers as earth and straw, the ministers look on the ruler as a robber and an enemy."

The king said, "The rites say that mourning is worn for a former ruler. What must a ruler do to be mourned?"

"When remonstrance is acted on and words are heeded, so that the rich dew comes down upon the people. When a minister leaves for some reason, the ruler sends men to lead him beyond the border, and sends word ahead to the place he is going. And only when he has been gone three years without returning does the ruler take back his fields and his house. This is called having the three rites. When it is like this, a man wears mourning for him.

Now a man serves as a minister, and his remonstrance is not acted on and his words are not heeded, so that no rich dew comes down upon the people. When he leaves for some reason, the ruler seizes and holds him, and drives him to extremity in the place he is going, and on the very day he leaves takes back his fields and his house. This is what is called a robber and an enemy. What mourning is there for a robber and an enemy?"

Mencius said, "When scholars are killed without guilt, the high officers may leave. When the people are slain without guilt, the scholars may move away."

Mencius said, "When the ruler is benevolent, no one fails to be benevolent. When the ruler is righteous, no one fails to be righteous."

Mencius said, "The rite that is not a rite and the righteousness that is not righteous, the great man does not practice."

Mencius said, "He who has the mean nourishes him who has not the mean, and he who has talent nourishes him who has not talent. Therefore men delight in having worthy fathers and elder brothers.

If he who has the mean were to cast off him who has not the mean, and he who has talent were to cast off him who has not talent, then the distance between the worthy and the unworthy could not be measured by an inch."

Mencius said, "A man must have things he will not do, and only then can he have things he does."

Mencius said, "If a man speaks of what is not good in others, what will he do about the trouble that comes after?"

Mencius said, "Zhongni did nothing to excess."

Mencius said, "The great man does not bind his words to be kept or his deeds to be carried through. He follows only where righteousness (義) lies."

Mencius said, "The great man is one who has not lost the heart of a newborn child."

Mencius said, "To nourish the living is not enough to be called the great matter. Only the sending off of the dead can be called the great matter."

Mencius said, "When the gentleman goes deep by the Way, it is because he wishes to get it in himself. Getting it in himself, he rests in it at ease. Resting in it at ease, he draws on it deeply. Drawing on it deeply, he takes it from right and left and meets its very source. Therefore the gentleman wishes to get it in himself."

Mencius said, "To learn widely and to explain in detail is done in order to turn back and speak of the essential."

Mencius said, "Among those who would subdue men by goodness, there has never been one who could subdue men. Only when a man nourishes men by goodness can he subdue all under heaven. There has never been a man who reigned as king while all under heaven did not submit in their hearts."

Mencius said, "Words without substance are not auspicious. The substance of what is not auspicious falls upon the man who screens off the worthy."

Xuzi said, "Zhongni often praised water, saying, 'Water! Water!' What did he take from water?"

Mencius said, "The spring at its source gushes up and does not stop day or night. It fills the hollows and then goes on, and reaches the four seas. That which has a root is like this, and this is what he took.

If a thing truly has no root, then in the seventh and eighth months the rain gathers and the ditches and channels are all full, but you may stand and wait for them to dry up. Therefore the gentleman is ashamed when his fame runs beyond the fact."

Mencius said, "That by which man differs from the birds and beasts is very little. The common people cast it away, and the gentleman keeps it.

Shun was clear about the many things and looked closely into the relations of men. He walked by benevolence and righteousness (仁義). He did not practice benevolence and righteousness."

Mencius said, "Yu hated fine wine and loved good words. Tang held to the mean and raised up the worthy without regard to their kind. King Wen looked on the people as though they were wounded, and gazed toward the Way as though he had not yet seen it. King Wu did not slight those near him and did not forget those far away.

The Duke of Zhou thought to join the three kings and to carry out the four things. When there was anything that did not fit, he looked up and pondered it, joining the night to the day. And when by good fortune he found it, he sat and waited for the dawn."

Mencius said, "When the traces of the kings died out, the Shi was lost, and after the Shi was lost the Chunqiu was made.

The Sheng (乘) of Jin, the Taowu (檮杌) of Chu, and the Chunqiu of Lu are one. Their matter is Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin, and their writing is that of the scribes. Confucius said, 'Their meaning I have quietly taken for myself.'"

Mencius said, "The bounty of a gentleman is cut off in five generations, and the bounty of a small man is cut off in five generations. I could not become a disciple of Confucius, but I learned from him in private (私淑) through others."

Mencius said, "When you may take and may also not take, taking harms your integrity. When you may give and may also not give, giving harms your kindness. When you may die and may also not die, dying harms your courage."

Pang Meng learned archery from Yi (羿). He mastered the whole of Yi's way, and thinking that in all under heaven only Yi was better than himself, he then killed Yi.

Mencius said, "In this too Yi had a share of the guilt."

Gongming Yi said, "It would seem he had no guilt."

"It was slight, that is all. How could he have no guilt?

Zheng sent Zizhuo Ruzi to invade Wei, and Wei sent Yugong Zhisi to pursue him. Zizhuo Ruzi said, 'Today my illness has come on me and I cannot hold a bow. I am a dead man!' He asked his driver, 'Who is it that pursues me?' His driver said, 'It is Yugong Zhisi.' He said, 'I shall live.'

His driver said, 'Yugong Zhisi is the finest archer of Wei. When you say "I shall live," what do you mean?' He said, 'Yugong Zhisi learned archery from Yingong Zhituo, and Yingong Zhituo learned archery from me. Now Yingong Zhituo is an upright man, and the friends he chose must be upright too.'

Yugong Zhisi came up and said, 'Why do you not hold your bow, sir?' He said, 'Today my illness has come on me and I cannot hold a bow.' He said, 'Your servant learned archery from Yingong Zhituo, and Yingong Zhituo learned archery from you, sir. I cannot bear to harm you with your own way. Even so, today's business is the ruler's business, and I dare not lay it aside.' Then he drew out his arrows and knocked them against the wheel, took off the metal heads, shot four arrows, and turned back."

Mencius said, "Even Xi Shi (西施), if she were covered with filth, would make people hold their noses and pass her by. And though a man be ugly, if he fasts and purifies himself and bathes, he may sacrifice to the Lord on High."

Mencius said, "When all under heaven speak of nature, they speak of what has already been so (故), and that is all. What has already been so takes the natural course for its root.

What we hate in the wise is that they bore their way through by force. If the wise were like Yu setting the waters moving, there would be nothing to hate in wisdom. When Yu set the waters moving, he did what gave no trouble. If the wise also did what gives no trouble, their wisdom would be great indeed.

Heaven is high and the stars are far, yet if we truly seek what has already been so, the winter solstice of a thousand years hence may be reached sitting where we are."

Gongxingzi was in mourning for his son, and the Minister of the Right (右師) went to condole. When he entered the gate, some went forward and spoke with the Minister of the Right, and some went over to the Minister of the Right's place and spoke with him.

Mencius did not speak with the Minister of the Right. The Minister of the Right was displeased and said, "All the gentlemen speak with me, Huan (驩). Mencius alone does not speak with me. This is to slight me."

Mencius heard of it and said, "The rites say, 'In the court one does not step past another's place to speak with him, and one does not cross the steps to bow to him.' I wished to keep the rites, and Zi'ao takes me for one who slights him. Is that not strange?"

Mencius said, "That by which the gentleman differs from other men is what he keeps in his heart. The gentleman keeps benevolence in his heart and keeps ritual in his heart.

The benevolent man loves others, and the man of ritual respects others. He who loves others is always loved by others. He who respects others is always respected by others.

Suppose there is a man here who treats me with wanton rudeness. Then the gentleman must turn back upon himself. 'I must have failed in benevolence. I must have been without ritual. How else should such a thing have come?' He turns back upon himself and finds he was benevolent, he turns back upon himself and finds he kept ritual, and still the wanton rudeness goes on. Then the gentleman must turn back upon himself again. 'I must have been unfaithful.' He turns back upon himself and finds he was faithful, and still the wanton rudeness goes on. Then the gentleman says, 'This is only a reckless man after all. Being so, how does he differ from a bird or a beast? And with a bird or a beast, what is there to dispute?'

Therefore the gentleman has a sorrow that lasts all his life, but he has no trouble of a single morning. As for what he sorrows over, there is this. Shun was a man, and I am also a man. Shun became a model for all under heaven and could be handed down to later ages, while I am still not free from being a mere village man. That is worth sorrowing over. And what does he do about that sorrow? He does as Shun did, and that is all.

As for what the gentleman would call trouble, he has none. If it is not benevolent he does not undertake it, and if it is not ritual he does not do it. Even should some trouble of a single morning come, the gentleman does not count it trouble."

Yu and Houji lived in a time of peace, and three times they passed their own gate without going in, and Confucius called them worthy. Yanzi lived in a time of disorder. He dwelt in a mean lane with one basket of rice and one gourd of drink. Others could not have borne such hardship, but Yanzi did not change his joy, and Confucius called him worthy.

Mencius said, "Yu, Ji, and Yan Hui followed the same Way. When Yu thought that anyone under heaven was drowning, it was as though he had drowned him himself. When Houji thought that anyone under heaven was starving, it was as though he had starved him himself. That is why they were so urgent. Had Yu, Ji, and Yanzi changed places, each would have done as the others did.

Now if men of one's own house are fighting, one goes to part them, and to go with one's hair loose and one's cap merely tied on is allowed. But if neighbors in the village are fighting and one goes with hair loose and cap merely tied on to part them, that is folly. Even to shut one's door is allowed."

Gongduzi said, "The whole state calls Kuang Zhang unfilial. Yet you keep company with him, master, and moreover treat him with courtesy. May I ask why?"

Mencius said, "There are five things the world calls unfilial. To be lazy with one's four limbs and take no thought for the care of one's father and mother is the first. To gamble and play at chess and love drinking wine and take no thought for the care of one's father and mother is the second. To love goods and wealth and favor one's wife and children and take no thought for the care of one's father and mother is the third. To follow the desires of the ear and the eye and bring disgrace on one's father and mother is the fourth. To love daring and fight fiercely and bring danger on one's father and mother is the fifth.

Has Zhangzi any one of these? Zhangzi is a case of a son and a father demanding goodness of each other and so failing to meet. To demand goodness is the Way of friends. For father and son to demand goodness of each other is the great destroyer of affection.

And did Zhangzi not wish to have the ties of husband and wife, of mother and child? Because he had offended his father and could not come near him, he sent his wife away and put his son aside, and to the end of his life he took no care from them. He set his heart on this, thinking that if he did not do so his guilt would be the greater. Such, and no more, is Zhangzi."

Zengzi was living in Wucheng when raiders came from Yue. Someone said, "The raiders are coming. Why not leave?" He said, "Lodge no one in my house. They would spoil the firewood and the trees." When the raiders withdrew he said, "Repair my walls and my house. I am going back." The raiders withdrew, and Zengzi returned.

Those about him said, "They served the master with such faithfulness and such respect. Yet when the raiders came he left first, so that the people had that to look at, and when the raiders withdrew he returned. Surely this will not do."

Shen Youxing said, "This is not what you know. Long ago, when the house of Shen You had the trouble of Fu Chu, there were seventy men following the master, and not one of them took part in it."

Zisi was living in Wei when raiders came from Qi. Someone said, "The raiders are coming. Why not leave?" Zisi said, "If I leave, with whom will the ruler hold the city?"

Mencius said, "Zengzi and Zisi followed the same Way. Zengzi was a teacher, and as a father or an elder brother. Zisi was a minister, and in a lowly place. Had Zengzi and Zisi changed places, each would have done as the other did."

Chuzi (儲子) said, "The king sends men to spy on you, master. Is there really anything in you different from other men?"

Mencius said, "What should be different from other men? Yao and Shun were the same as other men, and that is all."

There was a man of Qi who lived in his house with one wife and one concubine. Whenever her husband went out, he always came back full of wine and meat. When his wife asked who it was that he ate and drank with, they were always the rich and the honored.

The wife said to the concubine, "When our husband goes out, he always comes back full of wine and meat. When I ask who it is he eats and drinks with, they are always the rich and the honored. Yet no man of note has ever come here. I am going to spy out where our husband goes."

She rose early and followed her husband secretly wherever he went. He went all through the city, and no one stood and talked with him. At last he went out to the graves beyond the east wall and begged the leavings from those who were sacrificing. When that was not enough, he looked about and went off to another. This was his way of eating his fill.

The wife came home and said to the concubine, "A husband is the one we look up to and spend our whole life with. And now he is like this!" With the concubine she reviled her husband, and they wept together in the middle of the courtyard.

And the husband knew nothing of it. He came in from outside with a swagger and put on airs before his wife and his concubine.

Seen by a gentleman, of the ways men seek wealth and honor and gain and advancement, how few there are that would not shame their wives and concubines and set them weeping together!