2A:2 Kung Sun Ch'ou asked Mencius: "Let's say you were to become the prime minister of Ch'i and have the opportunity to set up a good government. Even though your power would really not be different from that of a king, in handling this, wouldn't you lose your mental stability?"
Mencius said, "No. I haven't lost my mental stability since I was forty."
Ch'ou said, "Then you have far surpassed Meng Pan."
Mencius said, "It is not so difficult. Kao-tzu attained mental stability at a younger age than I."
"Is there a method for attaining mental stability?" asked Ch'ou.
"There is. For example, Pi Kung Yu had a method of developing his courage. When attacked, he would neither flinch nor turn away his eyes. If someone touched a single hair on his body, he would regard it as if he had been publicly beaten in the marketplace. What he would not take from a bum, he would not take from a great prince. He regarded the stabbing of a prince just the same as the stabbing of a bum. He had no fear of the great nobles. If slanderous words reached his ears, he would never let it go by without revenge."
"Mang Shih She also had a method of developing his courage. He said: 'I regard victory and defeat as the same. To gauge the enemy and then attack; to plan the victory and then engage--this is to be afraid of the opposing army. How can I be sure of winning? I can only be fearless, and that's all."
"Mang Shih She was like Tseng Tzu. Pi Kung Yu was like Tzu Hsia. Among Pi Kung and Mang, I don't know who is better, but Mang Shih She focused on the essentials. For example, in former times, Tseng Tzu said to Tzu Hsiang: 'So, you like bravery, do you? I have heard from our Master about Great Bravery. If I reflect on myself and find that I am not right, then won't I even fear facing a bum off the street? But if I reflect on myself and find myself to be right, then even if it be an army of one hundred thousand, I will go forward.'
"But Mang Shih She's attention to his ch'i is still not equal to Tseng Tzu's attention to the essentials.
 

[Comment] The Chinese ideograph ch'i originally means "air," especially breath. Through Mencius' usage, and the usage of later Taoists, martial artists and the Neo-Confucian school, its meaning becomes quite enhanced.
Here ch'i, as breath, is understood as the vital connection between body and mind. It is the life-force which animates the body to greater or lesser degrees, depending upon its cultivation toward the vigor and vitality of the individual. In the terms with which Mencius describes it, ch'i can be compared to the prana of some Indian yogic systems, which can be cultivated through breath control and various other yogic practices.
One of the most relevant points that Mencius makes in regard to the cultivation of ch'i, is that this cultivation is dependent, more than anything else, on the uninterrupted practice of Righteousness.
Ch'ou asked, "Will you please tell me about your 'mental stability' in relation to Kao Tzu's 'mental stability'?"
Mencius replied, "Kao Tzu says that what cannot be attained through words should not be sought for in the mind, and that what cannot be attained in the mind should not be sought for through the ch'i. This latter proposition is correct, but the first one is not. The will is the director of the ch'i, and the ch'i is something that permeates the body. So the will is primary and the ch'i is secondary. Therefore, it is said: 'Hold on to your will; do not scatter your ch'i.'
Ch'ou said, "You just said that the will is primary; and the ch'i is secondary. Now you say, 'hold on to your will; don't scatter your ch'i.' Why do you say this?"
Mencius said, "The will influences the ch'i and the ch'i influences the will. For instance, jumping and running, though most directly concerned with the ch'i, also have an effect on the mind."
"May I ask in what it is that you are superior?"
"I understand language, and I am good at nourishing my vast ch'i."
"What do you mean by 'vast ch'i'?"
"That is difficult to explain. Ch'i can be developed to great levels of quantity and stability by correctly nourishing it and not damaging it, to the extent that it fills the space between Heaven and Earth. In developing ch'i, if you are connected with Righteousness and the Tao, you will never be in want of it. It is something that is produced by accumulating Righteousness, and is not something that you can grab from superficial attempts at Righteousness. If you act without mental composure, you will become ch'i-starved."
"Therefore I would say that Kao Tzu has not yet understood Righteousness, since he regards it as something external. You must be willing to work at it, understanding that you cannot have precise control over it. You can't forget about it, but you can't force it to grow, either."
"You don't want to be like the man from Sung. There was a man from Sung who was worried about the slow growth of his crops and so he went and yanked on them to accelerate their growth. Empty-headed, he returned home and announced to his people: 'I am so tired today. I have been out stretching the crops.' His son ran out to look, but the crops had already withered. Those in the world who don't 'help their crops by pulling' are few indeed. There are also those who regard all effort as wasteful and don't even weed their crops. But those who think they can hurry their growth along by forcing it, are not only not helping their ch'i, but actually harming it!"
Ch'ou asked, "What do you mean when you say 'I understand language'?"
Mencius said, "When I hear deceptive speech, I know what it is covering up. When I hear licentious speech, I know its pitfalls. When I hear crooked speech, I know where it departs from the truth. When I hear evasive speech, I know its emptiness. Once born in a person's mind, these words harm the government. Spreading through the government, they damage all sorts of affairs. When a future sage appears, he will attest to my words."
Ch'ou said: "Tsai Wo and Tzu Kung were eloquent. Zan Niu, Min-tzu and Yen Yüan also spoke well but were known for their virtuous conduct. Confucius embodied both, but when questioned about it, said, 'When it comes to speeking, I am not so good.' In this case are you (Mencius) a sage?"
Mencius said: "How can you ask me this? When Tzu Kung asked Confucius if he was a sage, Confucius said, 'Sagehood is beyond me. I study without getting bored and teach without getting tired.' Tzu Kung said: 'Studying without boredom is wisdom, teaching without weariness is jen. Having jen and wisdom, you are a sage indeed, Master!'"
Now if Confucius could not accept the name of 'sage,' how can I?"
Ch'ou said, "I once heard this: Tzu Hsia, Tzu Lu and Tzu Chang all had one piece of sagehood, and Zan Niu, Min Tzu and Yen Yüan embodied it fully, though in an unmanifest way. May I ask where you stand among these men?"
"Let's leave this aside for now." said Mencius.
Ch'ou then asked, "What about Po Yi and I Yin?"
Mencius said, "They had different ways. The way of not serving a ruler he didn't respect, not taking charge of a people whom he didn't approve; coming forward when there was good government and retiring when there was disorder--this was the way of Po Yi."
"Serving any ruler, taking charge of any people; coming forward when there was good government, coming forward when there was disorder--this was the way of I Yin."
"Serving when it was proper to serve, retiring when it was proper to retire; continuing long when it was proper and finishing quickly where it was proper--this was the way of Confucius. I have not yet been able to conduct myself in the way of the ancient sages. But if I could study with one of them, I would choose Confucius."
"Were Po Yi and I Yin comparable to Confucius?"
"No way" Mencius replied. "Since the beginning of human existence, there has never been anyone like Confucius."
"But weren't there at least some ways in which these men were equal to him?"
"Sure. If any of them were to be the ruler of a territory of one hundred li, they would be able to get all the nobles to come to their court, and soon they would have control of the whole realm. And if the acquisition of the realm required a single unjust act, or the murder of one innocent man, they would not do it. In this, they would be the same."
"Then may I ask how they would differ?"
Mencius said: "Tsai Wo, Tzu Kung and Yu Jo all had enough wisdom to recognize a sage. If any one of them were in a low position, they would never have resorted to flattery to get something more desirable.
"Tsai Wo said, 'From what I have seen of our Master, he was far superior to Yao and Shun.'
Tzu Kung said, 'I have seen his propriety and have understood his ways of government. I have heard his music and recognize his virtue. From a hundred generations after, through a hundred generations of kings, none will be able to improve on him. From the beginning of human existence, there has never been anyone like the Master."
Yu Jo said, 'How it be so only among men? Among mammals there is the Ch'i-lin; among birds there is the phoenix; among hills, Mt. T'ai; among puddles and rivulets, the rivers and oceans. Now, each of these are of the same species, and the sage is of the same species as man, but he emerges from the group and stands out from the crowd. From the beginning of human existence, there has never been one as outstanding as Confucius.'"
 

The Child in the Well (2a6): "All men have the mind which cannot bear to see the suffering of others." Lau: "No man is devoid of a heart sensitive to the sufferings of others."

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 jen. The feeling of shame and disgust is the starting point of Righteousness. The sense of humility and deference is the starting point of Propriety and the sense of right and wrong is the starting point of Wisdom."

"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."

THE PARABLE OF OX MOUNTAIN

6A:8 Mencius said, "The greenery on Niu 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 jen and Righteousness? 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 mind?"