The Book of Mencius

Translation by Charles Muller at www.human.toyogakuen-u.ac.jp/~acmuller/contao/mencius.htm. Edited slightly with Pin Yin transliteration for basic terms and names. Yi is rendered "right" or "appropriate" action.

2A:6 Mencius said: "All people have a heart which cannot stand to see the suffering of others. The ancient kings had this heart which could not stand to see the suffering of others, and, with this, operated a government which could not stand to see the suffering of the people. If, in this state of mind, you ran a government which could not endure people's suffering, you could govern the realm as if you were turning it in the palm of your hand."

"Why do I say all human beings have a heart which cannot stand to see the suffering of others? Even nowadays, if an infant were about to fall into a well, anyone would be upset and concerned. This concern would not be due to the fact that the person wanted to get in good with the baby's parents, or because s/he wanted to improve his/her reputation among the community or among his/her circle of friends. Nor would it be because he/she was afraid of the criticism that might result from a show of non-concern."

"From this point of view, we can say that if you did lack concern for the infant, you would not be human. Also, to lack a sense of shame and disgust would not be human; to lack a feeling of humility and deference is to be "in-human" and to lack a sense of right and wrong is to be inhuman."
"The sense of concern for others is the starting point of ren. The feeling of shame and disgust is the starting point of right action [yi]. The sense of humility and deference is the starting point of propriety [li] and the sense of right and wrong is the starting point of wisdom [zhi]."

"People's having these four basic senses is like their having four limbs. Having these four basic senses and yet claiming inability to act on them is to cheat yourself. To say that the ruler doesn't have them is to cheat the ruler. Since all people have these four basic senses within themselves, they should all understand how to enhance and develop them. It is like when a fire just starts, or a spring first bubbles out of the ground. If you are able to develop these four basic senses, you will be able to take care of everybody within the four seas. If you do not develop them, you won't even be able to take care of your own parents."

6A:1 Gaozi said: "Human nature [xing] is like a willow tree (the wood of which is good for making vessels) and right action [yi] is like the cups and bowls that are carved out of the wood. To make human nature to be ren and yi is like making the willow wood into cups and bowls."

Mencius said: "Can you make cups and bowls while keeping the nature of the willow? It is by destroying the willow that you make cups and bowls. If we destroy the willow to make cups and bowls, should we also destroy the human being to make ren and yi? This kind of talk from you will certainly lead the people to see jen and yi as anathema."

6A:2 Gaozi: "Human nature is like whirling water. If you let it out on the east side, it will go east. If you let it out on the west side, it will go west. Similarly, human nature has no predisposition for good or evil, just as water has no predisposition for east or west."

Mencius said: "It is true that water has no predisposition for east or west. But doesn't it have a predisposition for up and down? The goodness of the human nature is just like the downward tendency of water. Just as all water has a down-going tendency, all people have a tendency toward goodness."

Mencius concluded: "Now you can splash water and make it fly over your head, or you can dam it and force it uphill, but these are after all, forcing it. You can push people into doing evil, but that is not their basic nature."

6A:3 Gaozi said: "What we mean by life is nature."

Mencius said: "If life is nature, then this the same as saying white is whiteness ?"

Gaozi answered "Yes."

"Then is the whiteness of a feather the same as the whiteness of snow? And is the whiteness of snow the same as the whiteness of a pearl?"

Gaozi answered "Yes."

Mencius countered: "Then is the nature of a dog the same as the nature of a cow? And is the nature of a cow the same as the nature of a person?"

6A:4 Gaozi said: "By nature we desire food and sex. Ren is internal and not external, Yi is external and not internal.

Mencius said: "How can you say ren is internal and yi is external?"

Gaozi replied: "If there is an old man and I regard him as old, it is not because the age is in me. It is like seeing something white. I regard it as white because the whiteness is outside of me. Therefore, I say yi is external.

Mencius said, "Maybe there is no difference in acknowledging the whiteness of a white horse and the whiteness of a white man, but is there no difference between the acknowledgement of the age of an old horse, and the age of an old man? And does yi consist in perceiving the age or acknowledging it?"

Gaozi said: "I love my younger brother, but I might not love the younger brother of a man from Qin. This depends on me, so I call it internal. I respect the age of a man of Qu the same way I respect the age of a man of my family. Since this depends on the age, I say it is `external'."
Mencius said, "Our enjoyment of the roast beef of Qin does not differ from that of our own roast beef. If such a thing as roast beef is like this, then is our enjoyment of roast beef also 'external?'"

6A:6 Gong Duzi said: "Gaozi says that human nature is neither good nor evil. Others say that human nature can be made good or evil. That is why when Kings Wen and Wu were in power, the people loved goodness, and when Yu and Li were in power, they enjoyed inflicting pain.
"Still others say that some people are inherently good and some are inherently evil. Therefore, under a good ruler like Yao, there was such an evil man as Xiang; and to such a bad father as Gusou, a good son Shun was born; and with a nephew of the senior branch as evil as Zhou on the throne, such good uncles as Qi, Viscount of Wei, and Prince Bi Gan lived. Now you say that human beings are inherently good. Then are all the others wrong?"

Mencius said: "When I say human beings are inherently good, I am talking about their most fundamental emotional qualities. If someone does evil, it is not the fault of their natural endowment. Everyone has the feeling of concern for the well-being of others; everyone has the sense of shame and disgust at their own evil; everyone has the sense to treat others courteously and respectfully; everyone has the sense of right and wrong.

"The feeling of concern for the well-being of others is ren. The sense of shame and disgust is appropriate action [yi]; the sense to treat others with courtesy and respect is propriety [li]. The sense of right and wrong is wisdom [zhi].

"Ren, right action, propriety and wisdom are not forced onto us from the outside. They are our original endowments--you have really not thought it through, have you?"

"Thus it is said: 'If you strive for it, you will gain it; if you ignore it, you will lose it.' Men differ in terms of actualization: some are double, some fivefold and some manifest it to an incalculable degree. This difference is because some are not able to fully develop their natural endowments. The Book of Odes says:

Heaven gives birth to all men
And each thing possesses its principle
When people maintain this norm
They come to love its splendid virtues.

"Confucius said, 'The writer of this poem certainly knew what he was talking about.' Therefore, wherever there is anything, there is a concomitant principle. When the people embrace the norms of goodness, they can enjoy its splendid virtues."

6A:7 Mencius said: "In years of good harvest the children are wholesome; in years of bad harvest, they are incorrigible. This is not because Heaven sends down different endowments of ability, but because their minds being sunk in depression.

"Now if you plant wheat and barley and cover them, and the soil is the same and the cultivation times are the same, they will all grow strongly. When it comes to their ripening time and there are differences, it is because of differences in soil fertility, the nourishment from rain or the amount of care-taking done by the farmers.

"So whenever things are of the same species, they will resemble each other. This being so, how could we doubt that it is the same with men? I and the sage are of the same species. Therefore, Longzi said: 'Even if I don't know the foot-size when making sandals, I know enough that I won't make bushel baskets.' The similarity in sandals is because of the similarity in feet.

"We also have similarities in taste. That's how Yi Ya [a legendary famous cook in ancient China] knows what I like beforehand. Imagine if his taste was inherently different than that of others like that of another species such as dog or horse. How could everybody love the taste of Yi Ya's cooking? The fact that everybody agrees that Yi Ya's cooking is the best shows the sameness in people's taste.

"It is the same with the ear. The fact that everyone takes the music of Conductor Kuang as the best, shows the sameness in the ears of everyone.

"It is the same with the eyes. Everyone knows that there is no one in the world as attractive as Zidu. And if you don't think she is beautiful, you are blind.

"Therefore I say, there is a standard for taste, there is a standard for music, and there is a standard for beauty. Shouldn't it also be so with the things of the mind? What is it that is the same with people's minds? It is that they know the same principle and the same Righteousness. The sage knows the sameness of our minds beforehand. Therefore his principles [li] and right actions [yi] fit to our minds, in the same way that the meat of grain-eating animals fits our taste."

6A:8 Mencius said, "The greenery on Ox Mountain was once beautiful, but since it was near a large city, it was attacked by lumberjacks. How could it retain its beauty? Still, by breathing in the sunlight and rain, how could new buds and sprouts not appear? But then cattle and sheep came and fed themselves, and by the time they were done, it was completely barren. If people saw this barrenness, they might have imagined that there had never been any greenery. How could the mountain be inherently like this? In the case of people, how could they lack the mind of ren and yi? But the daily damaging of the goodness of their mind is just like the lumberjacks on the mountain. Being chopped down day after day, how can it manifest its natural beauty?

"One may breathe in fresh air day and night, but if you allow the enjoyment of evil doings with people to close in on you, the air gets thin, and your daytime activities stifle you. Because of this stifling, the fresh air is insufficient. Being insufficient, your goodness of mind is not nourished, and there will be little difference between you and the animals. People see our animalistic nature and assume that we have never had great endowments. How could this be our real nature?

"Therefore, if it is properly nourished, there is nothing that will not grow. If it is not nourished, there is nothing that will not die. Confucius said: 'Use it and you will keep it; ignore it and you will lose it. No one knows the times of its coming or going, nor its location.' What else could he be talking about but the heart- mind [xin] ?"

6A:9 Mencius said, "No wonder the king is not wise. With even the hardiest plants in the world, if you expose them to a day of heat and ten days of cold, they will not be able to grow. I rarely have a chance to see the king, and after I leave he is approached by the cold ones. How can I make his wisdom grow?"

"Now chess is actually a minor art, but if you don't concentrate well while learning it, you'll never be any good. Chessman Qiu is the best player in the country, and let's say two men are learning from him. One man concentrates completely on everything Qiu says, while the other one, while listening, is thinking about that goose over there and how he would string up a retrievable arrow and shoot it. Even though he is learning together with the other man, he will never be equal to him. Is this because of a difference in intelligence? Of course not."

6A:10 Mencius said, "I like fish and I like bear's paw, but if I have to choose between them, I will let go of the fish and take the bear's paw. I like life and I like right action. But if I have to choose between them I will let go of life and take right action.

"I want life, but there are things more important to me than life. Therefore there are things that I won't do just to live. I hate death, but there are things that I hate more than death, and thus there are certain kinds of suffering that I won't avoid.

"If you teach a man to value nothing more than life, then what means will he not use in order to save his life? If you teach people to hate nothing more than death, then what will they not do, in order to avoid death?

"But there are some things that people will not do to save their lives and some things that people will not do to avoid death. This means that there are things more important to them than life, and more hateful to them than death. It is not only the worthy who have this capacity. All people have it, but the worthy are able to be consistent in it.

"When a bowl of rice or a cup of soup lies between life and death, and you offer it in a nasty way, even a bum off the street will not accept it. If you kick it at him with your feet, even a beggar will not take it.

"Yet a man will accept a huge sum of money without any consideration of propriety. What can the money add to his person? I can beautify my house, gain the favors of wives and concubines, or gain the attention of greedy acquaintances. Yet before, I would not receive a bowl of rice to save my life, but now I will accept lots of money for the beautification of my home, for the favors of wives and concubines or to give to greedy acquaintances. Was it also not possible to decline this?"
"This is called 'losing one's original heart-mind [xin].'"

6A:11 Mencius said, "Ren is the mind of human beings. Appropriate action [yi] is their path. To abandon the path and not follow it, or to lose the mind and not know enough to seek it: this is a pity indeed!"

"When people lose their chickens and dogs, they know enough to look for them, but when they lose their heart-mind, they do not know enough to seek it. The way of study and inquiry is none other than the search for the lost heart-mind."

6A:12 Mencius said, "Let's say there is a man whose fourth finger is crooked and will not straighten. It does not cause him pain or hinder his work, yet if he heard of someone who could fix it, he would easily travel as far as Qu to get it fixed, so that he might be like other men."
"We know enough to be bothered when our finger is not right, but don't know enough to be bothered when our mind is not right. This is called 'not knowing the relative importance of things.'

6A:15 Gong Duzi said, "If all men are equal, how is it that there are greater and lesser men?"
Mencius said, "Some follow their greater part and some follow their lesser part. Why do some follow their greater part and some follow their lesser part?"

Mencius said, "The organs such as the eye and ear cannot discriminate and are thus confused by things. Things are interconnected with other things, which lead one further away. The function of the heart- mind is to discriminate--if you discriminate you will attain it. If you don't discriminate, you won't attain it. These are what Heaven has bestowed upon us. If you first establish yourself in the greater part, then the small part cannot be snatched away from you. This is the essential of being a great man."