Exhausting the Mind, Part One盡心上

Mencius said, "He who exhausts his mind knows his nature. Knowing his nature, he knows heaven. To keep his mind and nourish his nature is the way to serve heaven. Not to be of two minds about dying young or living long, but to cultivate himself and wait, is the way to establish the decree (命)."

Mencius said, "There is nothing that is not the decree, but a man must receive in obedience what is right in it. Therefore he who knows the decree does not stand beneath a wall of rock that is about to fall. To die having exhausted one's way is the right decree. To die in fetters and manacles is not the right decree."

Mencius said, "'Seek and you get it, let go and you lose it.' This is seeking that helps in the getting, and it is seeking what lies within me.

'There is a way to the seeking and a decree in the getting.' This is seeking that does not help in the getting, and it is seeking what lies outside."

Mencius said, "All things are complete in me. Turn back upon yourself and be sincere, and no joy is greater than that. Strive to measure others by yourself in what you do, and nothing comes nearer to seeking benevolence."

Mencius said, "To do a thing and not make it clear, to practice it and not look into it, to follow it all one's life and not know the Way of it — this is the multitude."

Mencius said, "A man must not be without shame. Be ashamed of being without shame, and there will be nothing to be ashamed of."

Mencius said, "Shame is a great thing in a man. Those who work the cleverness of shifting with the moment have no use for shame. If a man is not ashamed of being less than others, in what will he be like others?"

Mencius said, "The worthy kings of old loved goodness and forgot their own power. How should the worthy scholars of old alone not be so? They delighted in their way and forgot the power of others.

And so, unless a king or a duke gave them full respect and full propriety, he could not see them often. If he could not even see them often, how much less could he get them for his ministers?"

Mencius said to Song Goujian, "Do you like to travel and offer counsel? Let me tell you about such travel. When others know you, be unruffled. When others do not know you, be unruffled."

"How can a man be unruffled?"

"Honor virtue and delight in rightness, and you can be unruffled.

And so a scholar in straits does not lose his rightness, and one who rises does not leave the Way. Because he does not lose his rightness in straits, the scholar keeps himself. Because he does not leave the Way when he rises, the people do not lose their hope.

The men of old, when they gained their aim, spread their bounty over the people. When they did not gain their aim, they cultivated themselves and were seen in the world. In straits they made themselves good alone; risen high, they made all under heaven good as well."

Mencius said, "Those who rise only after waiting for a King Wen are the common people. As for the heroic scholar, he rises even though there is no King Wen."

Mencius said, "If the wealth of the houses of Han and Wei were added to a man, and he still looked on himself as wanting, then he is far beyond other men."

Mencius said, "Employ the people by the Way that gives ease, and though they toil they do not complain. Put the people to death by the Way that gives life, and though they die they do not complain of the one who kills."

Mencius said, "The people of a hegemon seem merry and pleased. The people of a true king seem broad and bright. They are put to death and do not complain. They are given benefit and do not count it a favor. Day by day the people move toward goodness, and they do not know who makes it so.

Wherever the gentleman passes there is transformation, and where he abides there is what cannot be fathomed. Above and below he flows together with heaven and earth. How can it be called a small help?"

Mencius said, "Benevolent words are not equal to the repute of benevolence going deep into men. Good government is not equal to good teaching in winning the people.

Good government the people fear; good teaching the people love. Good government gets the people's goods; good teaching gets the people's hearts."

Mencius said, "What a man can do without learning is his innate ability (良能). What he knows without pondering is his innate knowing (良知).

There is no child in arms who does not know to love his parents, and when he grows there is none who does not know to respect his elder brother. To hold parents dear as parents is benevolence. To respect elders is rightness. There is nothing else. It reaches through all under heaven."

Mencius said, "When Shun lived deep in the mountains, he lived among trees and stones and wandered with deer and boars, and there was little to set him apart from the rustics of the deep mountains. Yet when he heard one good word or saw one good deed, it was like a river bursting its banks, rushing on so that none could hold it back."

Mencius said, "Do not do what you would not do. Do not desire what you would not desire. It is only this and nothing more."

Mencius said, "That a man has virtue and wisdom and art and knowledge comes always from being in hardship. Only the lonely minister and the son of a concubine hold their minds in care and weigh their troubles deeply, and so they come through to understanding."

Mencius said, "There are men who serve a ruler: in serving this ruler they put on a pleasing face. There are ministers who steady the altars of land and grain: they take steadying the altars as their pleasure. There are men of heaven: they act only when their way can be carried out through all under heaven. There are great men: they set themselves right, and all things are set right."

Mencius said, "The gentleman has three joys, and being king over all under heaven is not among them.

That his father and mother are both alive and his brothers are without mishap is the first joy. That looking up he is not ashamed before heaven, and looking down he is not ashamed before men, is the second joy. That he gets the finest talents of all under heaven and teaches and rears them is the third joy.

The gentleman has three joys, and being king over all under heaven is not among them."

Mencius said, "To widen his land and multiply his people is what the gentleman desires, but his joy does not lie there. To stand in the middle of all under heaven and settle the people of the four seas is what the gentleman rejoices in, but what he takes as his nature does not lie there.

What the gentleman takes as his nature is not added to though he acts on a great scale, and is not lessened though he lives in straits, for his portion is fixed.

What the gentleman takes as his nature is benevolence and rightness and propriety and wisdom rooted in the mind. Their showing in his color is clear in his face and full in his back, and it reaches his four limbs, so that his four limbs make it understood without a word."

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.'

When there is one under heaven who cares well for the old, benevolent men take him for the place to go back to.

Plant mulberries below the wall of a homestead of five mu, and if the wife tends the silkworms, the old have enough to wear silk. Keep five hens and two sows and do not miss their season, and the old have enough not to go without meat. Let one man till a field of a hundred mu, and a household of eight mouths has enough not to go hungry.

What is meant by saying that the Earl of the West cared well for the old is this. He set in order their fields and homesteads, taught them to plant and to raise stock, and led their wives and children to care for their old.

At fifty a man is not warm without silk. At seventy he is not filled without meat. Not warm and not filled is called freezing and starving. That among the people of King Wen there were no old men freezing and starving — this is what it means."

Mencius said, "Put their fields and ridges in order and make their taxes light, and the people can be made rich. Let them eat in season and spend by propriety, and their goods cannot be used up.

The people cannot live without water and fire, yet if at dusk a man knocks at another's door and asks for water and fire, there is none who will not give them, for there is more than enough.

When the sage governed all under heaven, he made beans and grain to be like water and fire. When beans and grain are like water and fire, how should there be any among the people who are not benevolent?"

Mencius said, "Confucius climbed Mount Dong and thought Lu small. He climbed Mount Tai and thought all under heaven small. And so he who has seen the sea finds it hard to speak of water, and he who has wandered at the gate of the sage finds it hard to speak.

There is a method in looking at water: one must look at its waves. The sun and the moon have brightness, and wherever light is let in they surely shine.

Flowing water does not go forward until it has filled the hollow, and the gentleman who sets his will on the Way does not get through until he has formed his pattern."

Mencius said, "He who rises at cockcrow and works hard at goodness is of Shun's kind. He who rises at cockcrow and works hard at gain is of Robber Zhi's kind.

Would you know what parts Shun from Robber Zhi? There is nothing else. It is the space between gain and goodness."

Mencius said, "Yangzi took 'for myself.' He would not pull out a single hair even to benefit all under heaven. Mozi said 'love all alike.' He would wear himself away from the crown of his head to his heels if it benefited all under heaven.

Zimo said 'hold the middle.' Holding the middle comes near to it. But to hold the middle without weighing is still like holding to one thing. What makes holding to one thing hateful is that it harms the Way. It takes up one thing and throws away a hundred."

Mencius said, "The hungry find any food sweet and the thirsty find any drink sweet. This is not to get what is right in drinking and eating; hunger and thirst have harmed it.

Is it only the mouth and the belly that suffer the harm of hunger and thirst? The minds of men all suffer such harm too. If a man can keep the harm of hunger and thirst from becoming the harm of his mind, he will not grieve at falling short of others."

Mencius said, "Liuxia Hui would not change his integrity for the three highest offices (三公)."

Mencius said, "To undertake a thing is like digging a well. Dig the well nine fathoms and not reach the spring, and it is still an abandoned well."

Mencius said, "Yao and Shun had it by nature. Tang and Wu made it their own in their persons. The Five Hegemons borrowed it. Having borrowed it long and never given it back, how should they know it is not their own?"

Gongsun Chou said, "Yi Yin said, 'I will not be familiar with one who is not compliant,' and he sent Taijia away to Tong, and the people were greatly pleased. When Taijia became worthy he brought him back again, and the people were greatly pleased. When a worthy man is minister to another, may he indeed send his ruler away if the ruler is not worthy?"

Mencius said, "If he has Yi Yin's purpose, he may. If he has not Yi Yin's purpose, it is usurpation."

Gongsun Chou said, "The Shi says, 'He does not eat for nothing.' How is it that the gentleman eats without tilling?"

Mencius said, "When a gentleman lives in a state and its ruler uses him, the ruler becomes at ease and rich and honored and glorious. When its young men follow him, they become filial and respectful and loyal and true. For 'he does not eat for nothing,' what is greater than this?"

Prince Dian asked, "What does a scholar make his business?"

Mencius said, "He exalts his will."

"What is meant by exalting the will?"

"It is benevolence and rightness (仁義), nothing more. To kill one innocent man is not benevolence. To take what is not one's own is not rightness.

Where does his dwelling lie? Benevolence is it. Where does his road lie? Rightness is it. Dwell in benevolence and go by rightness, and the business of a great man is complete."

Mencius said, "Everyone believes that Chen Zhongzi would not take the state of Qi if it were given to him against rightness. But this is the rightness of throwing away a basket of rice and a bowl of soup.

For a man there is nothing greater than to do away with kinsmen, ruler and minister, high and low. How can one take his small points and believe in his great ones?"

Tao Ying asked, "If Shun were Son of Heaven and Gao Yao were the officer of justice, and Gusou killed a man, what then?"

Mencius said, "He would seize him, and that is all."

"Then would Shun not forbid it?"

"How could Shun forbid it? There is that which the officer has received."

"Then what would Shun do?"

"Shun would have looked on casting away all under heaven as on casting away a worn straw sandal. He would have stolen away with his father on his back and dwelt along the shore of the sea, glad all his life, joyful and forgetting all under heaven."

Mencius was going from Fan to Qi, and seeing the son of the King of Qi from afar he sighed deeply and said, "Where a man dwells changes his air, and what feeds him changes his body. Great indeed is the dwelling! Are they not all alike the sons of men?"

Mencius said, "The prince's palace and carriages and horses and clothes are much the same as other men's, and yet the prince is as he is because his dwelling has made him so. How much more for one who dwells in the broad dwelling of all under heaven.

The ruler of Lu went to Song and called out at the Dieze gate. The keeper said, 'This is not our ruler. How is it that his voice is like our ruler's?' This is for no other reason than that their dwellings are alike."

Mencius said, "To feed a man and not love him is to keep company with him as with a pig. To love him and not respect him is to rear him as a beast.

Respect is what is there before the gifts of silk are sent. If there is respect without substance, the gentleman cannot be held by it in vain."

Mencius said, "Form and color are the nature given by heaven. Only the sage can live up to his form."

King Xuan of Qi wished to shorten the mourning. Gongsun Chou said, "Is keeping one year of mourning not still better than stopping altogether?"

Mencius said, "This is like someone wringing his elder brother's arm while you say to him, 'Go slowly for now.' You should only teach him filial duty and respect for elders."

There was a prince whose mother died, and his tutor asked for a few months of mourning for him. Gongsun Chou said, "What of a case like this?"

"This is a case of wishing to finish the mourning and not being able to. Even adding a single day is better than stopping. What I spoke of before was the case where no one forbids it and a man does not do it."

Mencius said, "There are five ways in which the gentleman teaches. There is transforming men like timely rain. There is completing their virtue. There is bringing their talents through. There is answering their questions. There is letting them learn on their own and govern themselves. These five are the ways in which the gentleman teaches."

Gongsun Chou said, "The Way is lofty and beautiful, but it is like climbing to heaven, as though it could not be reached. Why not make them think it nearly within reach, so that they work hard at it day by day?"

Mencius said, "A great carpenter does not alter or throw away the marking line for a clumsy workman, and Yi (羿) did not change the pull of his bow for a clumsy archer.

The gentleman draws the bow and does not loose it, yet it is as though the arrow would spring. He stands in the middle of the Way, and those who are able follow him."

Mencius said, "When there is the Way in all under heaven, the Way follows his person. When there is not the Way in all under heaven, his person follows the Way to the death. I have never heard of the Way following another man."

Gongduzi said, "When Teng Geng was among your followers, he seemed one to be treated with propriety, and yet you did not answer him. Why was that?"

Mencius said, "To ask holding up one's rank, to ask holding up one's worth, to ask holding up one's years, to ask holding up one's merit and service, to ask holding up an old tie — all these I do not answer. Teng Geng had two of them."

Mencius said, "He who stops where he must not stop will stop at anything. He who is thin where he ought to be thick will be thin in everything. He whose advance is sharp is quick in his retreat."

Mencius said, "Toward things the gentleman loves them but is not benevolent to them. Toward the people he is benevolent to them but does not hold them dear as kin. He holds his parents dear and then is benevolent to the people. He is benevolent to the people and then loves all things."

Mencius said, "There is nothing the wise man does not know, but he takes what must be attended to as urgent. There is nothing the benevolent man does not love, but he makes it his urgent business to hold worthy men dear.

Yao and Shun had wisdom, yet they did not go over all things, because they made first things urgent. Yao and Shun had benevolence, yet they did not love all men alike, because they made holding worthy men dear urgent.

To be unable to keep the three years' mourning and yet to weigh the three months' and the five months' mourning, to shovel in rice and gulp down soup and yet to ask about not tearing dried meat with the teeth — this is what is called not knowing what to attend to."