Mencius

2. Wan Chang pursued, "When his parents love him, [a son] rejoices and forgets them not ; and when they hate him, though they punish him, he does not allow himself to be dissatisfied. Was Shun then dissatisfied [with his parents]?" [Mencius said], " Ch'ang Seih asked Kung-ming Kaou, saying, 'As to Shun's going into the fields, I have received your instructions ; but I do not understand about his weeping and crying out to the pitying heavens, and to his parents/ Kung-ming Kaou answered TITLE OF THE BOOK. The Book is named from Wan Chang, who is al most the only interlocutor with Mencius in it. He has been mentioned before in III. ii. V. The tradition is that it was in company with Wan's dis ciples that Mencius, baffled in all his hopes of doing public service, and having retired into privacy, composed the seven Books which constitute his Works. The first Part of this Book is all occupied with discussions in vin dication of Shun and other ancient worthies. CH. I. SHUN'S GREAT FILIAL PIETY ;— HOW IT CARRIED HIM INTO THE FIELDS TO WEEP AND DEPLORE HIS INABILITY TO SECURE THE AFFECTION AND SYMPATHY OF HIS PARENTS, AND THAT HE NEVER CHERISHED ANY GRUDGE AGAINST THEM FOR THKIR TREATMENT OF HIM.

Par. I. The incident about Shun here mentioned is found in the Shoo, IT. ii. 21 . It is given there, howerer, as having occurred in the early part of his life ; and this, as will be seen, makes it difficult, even impossible, to reconcile what we read in the Shoo about Shun with Mencius' statements in this chapter. Par. 2. Shuri's dissatisfaction was with himself, but this is at first kept in the background, and Wan Chang either misunderstood it, and thought that his dissatisfaction was with his parents, or chose to appear to do so. On what he says about the relations of a son with his parents, see Ana. IV. xviii. Kung-ming Kaou is believed to have been a disciple of Tsang-tsze ; and Ch'ang Seih again was Kaou's disciple. The latter probably means to say that he understood Shun's going into the fields to have been that he him, ' You do not understand that' matter.' Now Kungming Kaou thought that the heart of a filial son [like Shun] could not be so free from sorrow [as Seih seemed to imagine he might have been]. [Shun would be saying,,] ' I exert my strength to cultivate the fields, but I am thereby only discharging my duty as a son. What is there [wrong] in me that my parents do not love me ? '

3. " The ernperor caused his own [children] , — nine sons and two daughters, the various officers, oxen and sheep, storehouses and granaries, [all] to be prepared for the service of Shun amid the channeled fields. Most of the officers in the empire repaired to him. The emperor de signed that he should superintend the empire along with himself, and then to transfer it to him. But because his parents were not in accord with him, he felt like a poor man who has nowhere to turn to. 4. "To be an object of complacency to the officers of the empire is what men desire ; but it was not sufficient to remove the sorrow of [Shun] . The possession of beauty is what men desire, — but though [Shun] had for his wives the two daughters of the emperor, it was not sufficient to remove his sorrow. Riches are what men desire, but though the empire was the rich property [of Shun], it was not enough to remove his sorrow. Honours are what men desire, but though [Shun] had the dignity of being the son of Heaven, it was not sufficient to remove his sorrow. The reason why his being the object of men's complacency, the possession of beauty, riches, and honours, could not

might cultivate them in order to nourish his parents. He then quotes the words of the Shoo more fully than they are quoted in the preceding para graph, and says he could not understand the grief which they described, his idea being the same which Wan Chang had that they must indicate that Shun was dissatisfied with his parents. " A filial son could not be so free from sorrow [as Seih seemed to imagine that Shun might have been] ;" that is, Seih understood that Shun did his duty in cultivating the fields for his parents, and imagined that he should then have dismissed all care from his mind as to any differences between them and him. Par. 3. " The emperor " is, of course, Yaou. See the Shoo, I. 12, where Yaou gives his two daughters in marriage to Shun. It is stated there, how ever, that Shun had by that time transformed his parents and his halfbrother Seang, and brought them to be in harmony with him. This is the chronological difficulty in the account of Shun's history in the Shoo and that given by Mencius in this chapter. VOL. II. 18 remove his sorrow was because it could be removed only by his being in [entire] accord with his parents.

5. " The desire of a child is towards his father and mother. When he becomes conscious of [the attractions of] beauty, his desire is towards young and beautiful women. When he [comes to] have a wife and children, his desire is towards them. When he obtains office, his desire is towards his ruler; and if he cannot get the re gard of his ruler, he burns within. [But] the man of great filial piety, all his life, has $his desire towards his parents. In the great Shun I see the case of one whose desire was towards them when he was fifty years old." II. 1. Wan Chang asked [Mencius], saying, " It is said in the Book of Poetry, ' How do we proceed in taking a wife 1 Announcement must [first] be made to our parents.' If [the rule] be indeed as thus expressed, no one ought to have illustrated it so well as Shun ; — how was it that Shunts marriage took place without his informing [his parents] ? " Mencius replied, " If he had informed them, he would not have been able to marry. That male and female dwell together is the greatest of human relations. If [Shun] had informed his parents, be must have made void this greatest of human relations, and incurred thereby their resentment. Ifowas on this account that he did not inform them."

2. Wan Chang said, "As to Shun's marrying without making announcement [to his parents], I have heard your CH. II. DEFENCE OF SHUN AGAINST THE CHARGE OF MARRYING WITH OUT INFORMING HIS PARENTS, AND OF HYPOCRISY IN HIS FRIENDLY BEARING AND CONDUCT TOWARDS HIS BROTHER. DEFENCE ALSO OF YAOU FOR GIVING HIS DAUGHTERS TO SHUN, WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF SHUN'S PARENTS. Par. 1. The lines from the Book of Poetry are in the She, I. viii. VI. 2. But the rule expressed in them was overruled by the higher duty to raise up posterity for one's parents ; — see IV. i. XXVI. Par. 2. As all negotiations for the marriage of children should be between the parents on both sides, Yaou should have communicated with Shun's father ; but here again the same consideration absolved Yaou from blame. Par. 3. Seang, it is understood, was only the half-brother of Shun. On the death of Shun's mother, Koo-sow had married again, or raised a former concubine, whose son was Seang, to the rank of his wil'e. The various iu- instructions. [But] how was it that the emperor gave him his daughters as wives without informing [his pa rents] ? " [Mencius] said, " The emperor also knew that, if he informed his parents, he could not have given him his daughters as wives."

3. Wan Chang said, " His parents set Shun to repair a granary, and then removed the ladder [by which he had ascended], [after which] Koo-sow set fire to it. They sent him to dig a well, [from which he managed to] get out; but they, [not knowing this,] proceeded to cover it up. [His brother] Seang said, ' Of this scheme to cover up the city-forming gentleman the merit is all mine. Let my parents have his oxen and sheep ; let them have his granaries and storehouses. His shield and spear shall be mine ; his lute shall be mine ; his carved bow shall be mine ; and I will make his two wives attend for me to my bed.' Seang then went away and entered Shun's house, and there was Shun upon a couch with his lute. Seang said, ' [I am come] simply because I was thinking anxiously about you/ [and at the same time] he looked ashamed. Shun said to him, ' There are all my officers ; do you take the management of them for me/ I do not know whether Shun was ignorant of Seang' s wish ing to kill him." [Mencius] replied, " How could he be ignorant of it ? But when Seang was sorrowful,' he was also sorrowful, and when Seang was joyful, he was also joyful."

4. [Wan Chang] continued, "Then was Shun one who re joiced hypocritically ? " " No," was the reply. " For merly some one sent a present of a live fish to Tsze-ch/an of Ch'ing. Tsze-ch/an ordered his pond-keeper to feed it cidents here mentioned are taken from tradition, or perhaps the Shoo was more complete in Mencius' days than it has come down to us. S/e-ma Ts'e'en tells us that Shun got through the flames by screening himself with two bamboo hats, and that he escaped from the well by a concealed passage which led from it. Seang calls him " the city-forming gentleman." This is the most natural rendering of the terms, though it is not that of Chaou Kce. They say that wherever Shun lived three years, the people flocked to him, so as to form a too, — a city only inferior to the capital city of a State. Par. 4. If Tsze-ch'an had known that his pond-keeper had eaten the fish, would he not have punished him ? The case is not in point to vindicate Shun's treatment of Seang, of whose vile designs he was well aware. His in tlie pond; but the man cooked it, and reported the execution of his commission, saying, ' When I first let it go, it looked embarrassed. In a little it seemed to be somewhat at ease, and then it swarn away as %if delighted/ ' It had got into its element ! ' said Tsze-ch/aii. ' It had got into its element ! ' The pond-keeper went out and said, ' Who calls Tsze-ch/an wise ? When I had cooked and eaten the fish, he said, " It has got into its element ! It has got into its element ! " Thus a superior man may be imposed on by what seems to be as it ought to be, but it is difficult to entrap him by what is contrary to right principle. Seang came in the way in which the love of his elder brother would have made him come, and there fore Shun truly believed him, and rejoiced at it. What hypocrisy was there ? 3>

III. 1. Wan Chang said, " Seaiig made it his daily busi ness to kill Shun ; — why was it that, when [the latter] was raised to be the son of Heaven, he [only] banished him ? " Mencius replied, " He invested him with a State, and some have said that it was banishing him." 2. Wan Chang said, " Shun banished the superintend ent of Works to Yew-chow, sent away Hwan-tow to mount Tsfung, slew the [prince of] San-meaou in San-wei, and imprisoned K'wan on mount Yu. When those four crimi nals [were thus dealt with], all under heaven submitted to him ; — it was a cutting off of men who were destitute of benevolence. But Se'ang was [of all men] the most des titute of benevolence, and [Shun] invested him with the State of Pe ; — of what crime had the people of Pe been defence of his hero against the charge of hypocrisy is ingenious, and amusing. Its fault is, as in other arguments of Mencius, that he will make his point too plain. CH. III. VINDICATION OF SHUN'S CONDUCT IN THE CASE OF HIS WICKED BROTHER SE'ANG ; — HOW HE BOTH DISTINGUISHED HIM AND KEPT HIM UNDER RESTRAINT.

Par. 1. We must introduce only, I think, to bring out Wan's idea in what he says about Shun's treatment of Se'ang. Par. 2. Wan here changes his ground, and proceeds to argue against Shun from what Mencius had said. See Hwan-tow and the other criminals, and Shun's dealing with them, in the Shoo, II. i. 12. The old State of Pe is commonly referred to the present district of Ling-ling, department Yung- guilty ? Does a benevolent man really act thus ? In the case of other men, he cut them off; in the case of his "brother, he invested him with a State/' [Mencius] replied, " A benevolent man does not lay up anger, nor cherish resentment, against his brother, but only regards him with affection and love. Regarding him with affec tion, he wishes him to enjoy honour; loving him, he wishes him to be rich. The investing him with Pe was to enrich and ennoble him. If while [Shun] himself was emperor, his brother had been a common man, could he have been said to regard him with affection and love ? " 3. [Wan Chang said,] " I venture to ask what is meant by some saying that it was a banishing [of Seang] ." [Mencius] replied, " Seang could do nothing [of himself] in his State. The emperor appointed an officer to manage its government, and to pay over its revenues to him ; and therefore it was said that it was a banishing of him ? How [indeed] could he be allowed the means of oppress ing the people there ? Nevertheless, [Shun] wished to be continually seeing him, and therefore he came unceas ingly to court, as is signified in that expression, ' He did not wait for the rendering of tribute, or affairs of govern ment, to receive [the prince of] Pe/ y

IV. 1. Heen-kfew Mung asked Mencius, saying', " There is the old saying, — ' An officer of complete virtue cannot be employed as a minister by his ruler, nor treated as a son by his father/ Shun stood with his face to the chow, Ho-nan. But if Seang had heen placed there, he would have been too far away to meet the conditions of his intercourse with Shun in the next paragraph. Par. 3. We have in the conclusion a quotation by Mencius from some book that is now lost. CH. IV. VINDICATION OF A CHARGE AGAINST SHUN IN HIS RELATIONS WITH THE EMPEROR YAOU, AND WITH HIS OWN FATHER KOO-SOW. Par. 1. Heen-k'evv Mung was a disciple of Mencius, a man of Ts'e, but deriving his double surname from Heen-k'ew in Loo, where, probably, his ancestors had resided. Of the first part of the saying which Mung adduces two different views are taken. That which I have followed is given by f'haou K'e. Modern commentators generally take it as meaning — " The scholar of complete virtue cannot treat his ruler as a minister nor his father as a son ; " and Julien in his translation of Mencius emphatically prefers this.

south, and Yaou, at the head of all the feudal princes, appeared in his court with his face to the north. Koosow also appeared at Shun's court with his face to the north ; and when Shun saw him, his countenance assumed a look of distress. Confucius said, ' At this time the empire was in a perilous condition indeed ! How unsettled was its state ! ' I do not know whether what is thus said really took place. " Mencius said, " No. These are not the words of a superior man, but the sayings of an un cultivated person of the east of Ts'e. When Yaou was old, Shun took the management of affairs for him. It is said in the Canon of Yaou, ' After twenty-eight years, Fang-heun demised, and the people mourned for him as for a parent three years. All within the four seas, the eight instruments of music were stopped and hushed/ Confucius said, ' There are not two suns in the sky, nor two sovereigns over the people. [If] Shun had already been [in the position of] the son of Heaven, and had moreover led on all the feudal princes of the empire to observe the three years' mourning for Yaou, there must in that case have been two sons of Heaven.' '

2. Heen-k'ew Mung said, " On the point of Shim's not employing Yaou as a minister, I have received your instructions. But it is said in the Book of Poetry, ' Under the wide heaven, All is the king's land ; Within the sea-boundaries of the land, All are the king's servants.' When Shun became emperor, I venture to ask how it I am satisfied that the older interpretation is the correct one. According to the sequel of the saying, Shun appears with his face to the south, i. e., in the place of the emperor, and Yaou, " a scholar of complete virtue," appears before him with his face to the north, i. e., in the place of homage or of a subject. So also does Shun's father. These are intended as instances con trary to the principles in the old saying ; and then Confucius' words are brought in to explain how such instances came to occur, and show that they were abnormal. Mencius denies entirely the truth of the statement in the saying about Yaou, and proves it from the Shoo, II. i. 13, and an inference from words that Confucius had once used. Parr. 2, 3, 4. The instance of Koo-sow's appearing at the court of Shun could not be so easily disposed of. Mencius, however, was not without a good answer to his disciple, and turns the instance against him satisfactorily

was that Koo-sow was not one of his servants. " [Mencius] replied, " That ode is not to be understood in that way ; — [it speaks of] being laboriously engaged in the king's business, and not being able to nourish one's parents, [as if the subject of it] said, ' This is all the king's busi ness, but I alone am supposed to have ability, and made to toil in it/ Therefore those who explain the odes must not insist on one term so as to do violence to a sentence, nor on a sentence so as to do violence to the general scope. They must try with their thoughts to meet that scope, and then they will apprehend it. If we simply take single sentences, there is that in the ode called the ' Yun Han,' 1 Of the remnant of Chow, among the black-haired people, There will not be half a man left.' If it had really been as thus expressed, then not an individual of the people of Chow would have been left. 3. " Of all that a filial son can attain to, there is nothing greater than his honouring his parents. Of what can be attained to in honouring one's parents, there is nothing greater than the nourishing them with the empire. To be the father of the son of Heaven is the height of honour. To be nourished with the empire is the height of nourishment. In this was verified the sentiment in the Book of Poetry,

' Ever thinking how to be filial, His filial mind was the model [which he supplied].' 4. " In the Book of History it is said, ' With respect ful service he appeared before Koo-sow, looking grave and awe-struck, till Koo-sow also was transformed by his example/ This is the true case of [the scholar of com plete virtue] not being treated as a son by his father/' V. 1. Wan Chang said, " [It is said that] Yaou gave tnough. For the first quotation in par. 2, see the She, II. ri. I. 2, and for tie other, III. iii. IV. 3. For that in par. 3, see the She, III. i. IX. 3 • and fcr the quotation in par. 4, see the Shoo, II. ii. 21. The appearance of Skun before Koo-sow, however, which is there described, would seem to hsve been before the former became emperor. CH. V. How SHUN GOT THE EIIPIKE BY THE GIFT OF HEAVEN, AND NOT 280 THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. [l?K V. the empire to Shun ; was it so ? " Mencius replied, " No ; the emperor cannot give the empire to another.''' 2. " Yes ; but Shun possessed the empire. Who gave it to him ? " " Heaven gave it to him," was the reply.

3. " ' Heaven gave it to him ; ' did [Heaven] confer the appointment on him with specific injunctions ? " 4. [Mencius] said, " No ; Heaven does not speak. It simply showed its will by his [personal] conduct, and by [his conduct of] affairs/' 5. " ' It showed its will by his [personal] conduct, and by [his conduct of] affairs/" returned the other; — "how was this ? " [Mencius] said, " The emperor can present a man to Heaven, but he cannot make Heaven give that man the empire. A feudal prince can present a man to the emperor [to take his place], but he cannot make the emperor give the princedom to that man. A great officer can present a man to his prince, but he cannot cause the prince to make that man a great officer [in his own room]. Anciently Yaou presented Shun to Heaven, and Heaven accepted him; he displayed him to the people, and the people accepted him. Therefore I say, ' Heaven does not speak. It simply indicated its will by his [per sonal] conduct, and by [his conduct of] affairs.' '' . 6. [Chang] said, " I presume to ask how it was that [Yaou] presented Shun to Heaven, and Heaven accepted him, and displayed him to the people, and the people accepted him." The reply was, " He caused him to pre side over the sacrifices, and all the Spirits were well pleased with them ; thus it was that Heaven accepted

OP YAOU ; AND HOW THE ACTION OP HEAVEN IN SUCH A MATTER IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD. VOX POPULI VOX DEI. Par. 2. Is it not plain that here, and throughout the chapter, by Heaven we must understand God 1 Many commentators, however, understand by it le, " reason," or " the truth and fitness of things," excepting in the expres sion in par. 7, " Therefore I said that it was Heaven," where they think the term = soo, " the determination of fate." On this, Le P'ei-lin of the pre sent dynasty says : — " Ts'ae Heu-chae (of the Sung dynasty) observes that by Heaven in this one place we are to understand fate, and in all the othe* places reason or the fitness of things. But this is a great error. Through out this chapter ' Heaven ' means the government of God, within whico are included both reason and fate.", Par. 6. "All the Spirits" is here explained as "the Spirits of heaven, earth, the mountains, and the rivers ; " i. c., all spiritual Beings, real or supposed. The emperor was " the host of all the Spirits," and Shun entered, him. He caused him to preside over the conduct of affairs, and affairs were well administered, so that all the people reposed under him ; — thus it was that the people accepted him. Heaven gave [the empire] to him, and the people gave it to him. Therefore I said, ' The em peror cannot give the empire to another/

7. " Shun assisted Yaou [in the government] for twenty and eight years ; — this was more than man could have done, and was from Heaven. When the three years' mourning consequent on the death of Yaou were accom plished, Shun withdrew from the son of Yaou to the south of the southern Ho. The princes of the empire, however, repairing to court, went not to the son of Yaou, but to Shun. Litigants went not to the son of Yaou, but to Shun. Singers sang not the son of Yaou, but Shun. Therefore I said that it was Heaven [that gave him the empire] . It was after this that he went to the Middle State, and occupied the seat of the son of Heaven. If he had [before these things] taken up his residence in the palace of Yaou, and applied pressure to his son, it would have been an act of usurpation, and not the gift of Heaven. 8. "This view [of Shun's obtaining the empire] is in accordance with what is said in The Great Declaration, — ' Heaven sees as my people see, Heaven hears as my people hear/ '' VI. 1. Wan Chang said, "People say, 'When [the disposal of the empire] came to Yu, his virtue was inferior

as conducting the government for Yaou, into all his duties. But how the Spirits enjoyed the sacrifices thus presided over by Shun we are not told. Par. 7. " The south of the southern Ho " was, I apprehend, the ancient Yu-chow, lying south from K'e-chow, and separated from it by the Ho. All the Ho might be called southern, from where the river after flowing from the north to the south turns to the east. " Litigants " must indicate parties whose contentions the ordinary authorities had not been able to settle, and who therefore appealed to the decision of the supreme authority. Par. 8. See the Shoo, V. i. Pt I. 7. ClI. VI. HOW THE THRONE DESCENDED FROM Yu TO HIS SON, AND NOT TO HIS MINISTER YlH ; AND THAT YU WAS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED ON THAT ACCOUNT AS INFERIOR IN VIRTUE TO YAOU AND SHUN. ALSO, THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A CHANGE OF THE RULING FAMILY WILL TAKE PLACE, WHEN THE PRINCIPLE OF HEREDITARY SUCCESSION HAS BEEN [to that of Yaou and Shun], and he did not transmit it to the worthiest, but to his son;' — was it so ? " Mencius re plied, " No ; it was not so. When Heaven gave [the empire] to the worthiest, it was given to the worthiest ; when Heaven gave it to the son [of the preceding em peror], it was given to that son. Formerly Shun pre sented Yu to Heaven for [a period of] seventeen years ; and when the three years' mourning, consequent on the death of Shun, were accomplished, Yu withdrew from the son of Yu to Yang-shing. The people of the empire followed him as, after the death of Yaou, they had not followed his son, but followed Shun. Yu presented Yih to Heaven for [a period of] seven years; and when the three years' mourning consequent on the death of Yu were accomplished, Yih withdrew from the son of Yu to the north of Mount Ke. [The princes] repairing to court, and litigants, went not to Yih, but to Kfe, saying, ' He is the son of our ruler/ Singers did not sing Yih, but they sang K'e, saying, ' He is the son of our ruler/

2. "That Tan-choo was not equal [to his father], and Shmrs son also not equal [to his] ; that Shun assisted Yaou, and Yu assisted Shun, for a period of many years, conferring benefits on the people for a long time; that K'e was virtuous and able, and could reverently enter into and continue the ways of Yu ; that Yih assisted Yu for a period of few years, conferring benefits on the people not fora long time; that the length of time that Shun, Yu, and Yih [assisted in the government] was so differ- ESTABLISHED, WITH REFERENCE TO THE CASES OP E YlN, THE DUKE OF CHOW, AND CONFUCIUS. Par. 1. Neither Wan Chang nor our philosopher seems to have clearly seen the thing which was to be explained in connexion with Yu, — the estab lishment of China as a hereditary monarchy in his family. The passing of the throne from him to his son may have taken place as Mencius says ; but how did it pass again from K'e to hi-x son ? I have spoken on this peint in the Prolegomena to the Shoo. It might have been asked of Mencius why Yu presented Yih to Heaven as his successor, if his son were worthier than Yih. Yih appears in the Shoo, II. i. 22, as Shun's forester. He as sisted Yu in his labours on the waters (the Shoo, II. iv. I.), and is said to have become Yu's principal minister alter the death of Kaou Yaou. Yangshing, we should judge, was the name of a city, or settlement in those early days. Many affirm, however, that it was the name of a mountain, and that it and mount Ke were near each other in the present department of Ho-nan, Ho-nan province.

ent ; and that the sons [of the emperors] were [one] a man of talents and virtue, and [the other two] inferior [to their fathers] : — all these things were from Heaven, and what could not be produced by man. That which is done without any one's [seeming] to do it is from Heaven. That which conies to pass without any one's [seeming] to bring it about is from Heaven. 3. " In the case of a private man's obtaining the em pire, there must be in him virtue equal to that of Shun and Yu, and moreover there must be the presenting him to Heaven by the [preceding] emperor. It was on this [latter] account that Chung-ne did not obtain the king dom. 4. "When the throne descends by natural succession, he who is displaced by Heaven must be like Keeh or Chow. It was on this account that Yih, E Yin, and the duke of Chow did not obtain the kingdom. 5. " E Yin assisted T'ang so that he became sovereign of the kingdom. After the demise of T'ang, T'ae-ting having died without being appointed [in his place], Waeping [reigned] two years, and Chung-jin four. T'aeKeah [then] was turning upside down the canons and example of Tfang, and E Yin placed him in T'ung for three years. [There] he repented of his errors, was con trite, and reformed himself. In T'ung he came to dwell in benevolence and moved towards righteousness, during those three years listening to the lessons given to him by E Yin, [after which] that minister again returned [with him] to Poh.

6. " The duke of Chow's not getting the kingdom was like that of Yih's not getting [the throne of] Hea, or E Yin's [that of] Yin. Par. 3. Confucius had the virtue, and more, according to Mencius, than the virtue of Shun and Yu, but no king of his time ever thought of pre senting him to Heaven to succeed him on the throne. We do not know that any king knew of his existence. Par. 4. We have met with E Yin in Mencius before, — in II. i. II. 22, et al. ; and he is spoken of more at length in the next chapter. The duke of Chow is the well-known brother of king Woo. He might have got the throne without any change of the dynasty of Chow. Par. 5. See the Shoo, IV., Books iv. and v. Par. 6. The duke of Chow's case was hardly analogous either to that of Yih or of E Yin. 7. " Confucius said, ' T'ang and Yu resigned [the throne to the worthiest] ; the founders of the He'a, Yin, and Chow [dynasties] transmitted it to their sons. The principle of righteousness was the same in [all the cases] ."

VII. 1. Wan Chang asked [Mencius], saying, "Peo ple say that E Yin sought [an introduction to] Tfang by his [knowledge of] cookery ; — was it so ? " 2. Mencius replied, " No, it wras not so. E Yin was farming in the lands of the State of Sin, delighting in the principles of Yaou and Shun. In any matter contrary to the righteousness which they prescribed, or to the course which they enjoined, though he had been salaried with the empire, he would not have regarded it ; though there had been yoked for him a thousand teams, he would not have looked at them. In any matter contrary to the righteousness which they prescribed, or to the course which they enjoined, he would not have given nor taken [even] a single straw. 3. " T'ang sent persons with presents of silk to ask him to enter his service. With an air of indifference and self- satisfaction, he said, ' What can I do with these silks with wrhich T'ang invites me ? Is it not best for me to abide in these channeled fields, and therein delight myself with the principles of Yaou and Shun ? '

Par. 7. Where and when Confucius thus spoke, we do not know. T:ang and Yu are the dynastic designations of Yaou and Shun ; — see on the titles of the first and second Parts of the Shoo. CH. VII. VINDICATION OF E YIN FROM THE CHARGE OF INTRODUCING HIMSELF TO THE SERVICE OF T'AXG BY MEANS OF HIS SKILL IX COOKING. Pa)\ 1. E Yin Las been mentioned already in II. i. II. and ii. II. 10. The popular account of him (found also in Sze-ina Ts'e'en) in the time of Mencius was, that he came to Poll in the train of a princess of Sin whom T'ang was marrying, carrying with him his cooking utensils, that by his skill in "cutting and boiling," he might recommend himself to that prince. Par. 2. Sin was probably the same territory with what was called Kwoh during the Chow dynasty, — the present Shen Chow in Ho-nan, and not far from T'ang's seat in Poh. I have not been able to discover what were the antecedents to his farming life in Sin, nor how it was that his merits and ability became known to T'ang. He was evidently living the life of a recluse, at the time that Mencius brings him on the stage.

4. " T'ang thrice sent persons thus to invite him. After this, with the change of purpose displayed in his countenance, he spoke in a different style, saying, ' In stead of abiding in the channeled fields, and therein de lighting myself with the principles of Yaou and Shun, had I not better make this rulei? one after the style of Yaou and Shun? had I not better make this people like the people of Yaou and Shun ? had I not better in my own person see these things for myself ? 5. " ' Heaven's plan in the production of this people is this : — that they who are first informed, should instruct . those who are later in being informed, and those who first apprehend [principles] should instruct those who are slower to do so. I am the one of Heaven's people who have first apprehended ; I will take these principles and instruct this people in them. If I do not instruct them, who will do so ? ' 6. " He thought that among all the people of the kingdom, even the private men and women, if there were any that did not enjoy such benefits as Yaou and Shun conferred, it was as if he himself pushed them into a ditch. He took upon himself the heavy charge of all under Heaven in this way, and therefore he went to T'ang, and pressed upon him the duty of attacking He'a, and saving the people.

7. " I have not heard of one who bent himself and at the same time made others straight ; — how much less could one disgrace himself, and thereby rectify the whole king dom ? The actions of the sages have been different. Some have kept far away [from office], and others have drawn near to it ; some have left [their offices] , and others have not done so ; that in which these different courses all meet, is simply the keeping of their persons pure. 8. " I have heard that E Yin sought [an introduction to] T'ang by the principles of Yaou and Shun ; I have not heard that he did so by his [knowledge of] cookery. Par?: 4, 5, 6. Compare II. i. II. 22, and below in Part ii. I. 2, 5. " In my own person," in par. 5, must mean, I think, " by my own efforts." Par. 1. The concluding sentiment about the common object of all sages is worded so as to show the grossness of the story about E Yin's commending himself to T'ang by his skill in cooking. 286 THE WORKS OP MENCIUS. [j3K V. 9. "In the f Instructions of E/ it is said, 'Heaven, destroying [Keeh], commenced attacking him in the palace of Muh ; we commenced in Poh.' ''

VIII. 1. Wan Chang asked [Mencius], saying, "Some say that Confucius in Wei lived with an ulcer- [doctor], and in Ts'e with Tseih Hvvan, the chief of the eunuchs; was it so ? " Mencius said, " No, it was not so. Those are the inventions of men fond of [strange] things. 2. " In Wei he lived in the house of Yen Ch'ow-yew. The wife of the officer Mei and the wife of Tsze-loo were sisters. Mei-tsze spoke to Tsze-loo, saying, ' If Confucius will lodge with me, he may get to be a high noble of Wei/ Tsze-loo reported this to Confucius, who said, ' That is as ordered [by Heaven].' Confucius advanced accoiding to propriety, and retired according to righteousness. In regard to his obtaining [office and honour] or not obtain ing them, he said ' That is as ordered.' But if he had lodged with an ulcer- [doctor] and with Tseih Hwan, the chief of the eunuchs, that would neither have been according to righteousness, nor any ordering [of Heaven] . Par. 9. See the Shoo, IV. iv. 2 ; but the text there differs considerably from that which Mencius gives. The meaning is that Keeh's atrocities in his palace at Muh led Heaven to destroy him, while E Yin, in accordance with the will of Heaven, advised T'aug in Poh to take action against him.

CH. VIII. VINDICATION OF CONFUCIUS FROM THE CHARGE OF LODGING Par. 1. Sze-ma IVe'en, in his history of Confucius, says that on the occa sion when the sage made the observation in Ana. IX. xvii. that he " had never met with one who loved virtue as he loved beauty," there was a Yung K'eu in the same carriage with the marquis of Wei, and his notorious wife. That Yung K'eu was, no doubt, the ulcer-doctor of the text, and I am inclined to think that there may be some error in the formation of the characters as we read them. If there be not, we must suppose that the marquis of Wei had a parasite so named, who had been raised to his favour from the mean position of a curer of sores and ulcers. Of the same charac ter was Tseih Hwan a favourite of one of the marquises of Ts'e, and his master of the eunuchs, in the time of the sage. Par. 2. Sze-ma Ts'c'en gives Yen Chuh-tsow for Yen Ch'ow-yew, and says he was the elder brother (or brother-in-law) of Tsze-loo. This is contrary to what Mencius says. There were two traditions, probably, on the point. On a later occasion Confucius lodged in Wei with a worthy officer called Keu Pih-yuh. Mei He'a is mentioned in the Tso Chuen under the 6th year of duke Ting, and the 25th of duke Gae. He was a favourite with theniarquis; and wished by his proposal to ingratiate himself with Confucius.

3. "When Confucius, being dissatisfied in Loo and Wei, [had left those States], he met with the attempt of Hwan, the master of the Horse, in Sung, to intercept and kill him, so that he had to pass through Sung in the dress of a private man. At that time, [though] he was in circumstances of distress, he lodged in the house of Ching-tsze, the minister of works, who was [then] a minister of Chow, the marquis of Ch'in. 4. " I have heard that ministers in the service of a court may be known from those to whom they are hosts, and that ministers coming from a distance may be known from those with whom they lodge. If Confucius had lodged with an ulcer- [doctor] and with Tseih Hwan, the chief of the eunuchs, how could he have been Confucius ? " IX. 1. Wan Chang asked [Mencius], saying, "Some say that Pih-le He sold himself to a cattle-keeper of Tsfin for five sheep-skins, and fed his cattle for him, to Par. 3. " Hwan of Sung ; " — see on Ana. VII. xxii. Hwan is the Hwan T'uy of that chapter. After Confucius had left Wei, he was proceeding to Ch'in, and on the way Hwan T'uy made the attempt on his life which is here alluded to. I do not know that the sage was in circumstances of distress after his arrival at the chief city of Ch'in. Mencius must refer to what he did immediately on reaching it. Ching-tsze, or " the officer Pure," was the honorary or posthumous epithet of the officer who was Confucius' host, and Chow was the name of the last marquis of Ch'in, known as duke Min. Ching-tsze, it is said, after the extinction of Ch'in, went to Sung, and there became minister of Works, and was afterwards known as such ; hence he is 80 styled here by Mencius, when referring to an earlier period of his life.

CH. IX. VINDICATION OP PIH-LE HE FROM THE CHARGE OP SELLING HIMSELF AS A STEP TOWARDS HIS ADVANCEMENT TO THE SERVICE OP DUKE MUH OF TS'IN. Par, 1. Pih-le He was chief minister to duke Muh of Ts'in, whose rule extended from B.C. 658 to 618. The incidents of his life will be found interestingly detailed in the 25th and some subsequent chapters of the " History of the various States," though some of them are different from the statements of Mencius about him. According to Sze-ma Ts'een, He, who had been a minister of Yu, after the subversion of that State by Tsin, fol lowed its captive duke, and was sent by the marquis of Tsin, in the train of the eldest daughter of his house, to Tsin, where she was to become the wife of duke Muh. Disgusted at being reduced to such a position, he absconded on the road, and, fleeing to Ts'oo, became noted there for his skill in rearing cattle. Duke Muh heard somehow of his great capacity, and sent to Ts'oo to reclaim him as a runaway servant, offering also to pay for him five rams' skins. He was afraid to offer anything more valuable, lest he should awaken

seek an introduction to duke Muh of Tsln ; is this true ?" Mencius said, "'No, it was not so. This is the invention of some one fond of [strange] things. 2. " Pih-le He was a man of Yu. The people of Tsfin by the inducement of a peih of Ch'uy-keih and a team of Kouh-chfan horses were asking liberty to march through Yu to attack Kwoh. Kung Che-k'e remonstrated [with the duke of Yu, asking him not to grant their request], but Pih-le He did not remonstrate. 3. " When he knew that the duke of Yu was not to be remonstrated with, and went in consequence from thatState to IVin, he had reached the age of seventy. If by that time he did not know that it would be a disgraceful thing to seek for an introduction to duke Muh of Ts'in by feed ing cattle, could he be called wise ? But not remonstrat ing where it was of no use to remonstrate, could he be said not to be wise ? Knowing that the duke of Yu would be ruined, and leaving his State before that event, he could not be said to be not wise. As soon as he was advanced in Ts'in, he knew that duke Muh was one with whom he could have a field for action, and became chief minister to him ; — could he be said to be not wise ? Acting as chief minister in Ts'in, he made his ruler distinguished throughout the kingdom, and worthy to be handed down to future ages ; — if he had not been a man of talents and virtue, could he have done this ? As to selling himself in order to bring about the destruction of his ruler, even a villager who had a regard for himself, would not do such a thing; — and shall we say that a man of talents and virtue did it ? "

suspicions in Ts'oo that he wanted to get He on account of his ability ; and on obtaining him, he at once made him his chief minister. In the "Flans of the Warring States," we have an account of Pih-le He's introduction to duke Muh, more in accordance with what Mencius said. He is there introduced as a borderer of Ts'oo, who wished to get introduced to the service of duke Muh. With this purpose he sold himself for five rams' skins to a gentleman of Ts'in, whose cattle he took care of. By and by he attracted the notice of duke Muh, who perceived his merit, and raised him to the distinction where he so abundantly repaid the duke's kindness. Par. 2. See the history of this transaction given from Kung-yang and Kuh-leang in the Prolegomena to Vol. V., pp. 62, 63. Pih-le He, indeed, is not mentioned there, because, I suppose, he held his peace at the time. Per haps, "a team of Keuh-ch'an horses :' should be " a team of horses from Keuh." CHAPTER L 1. Mencius said, " Pili-c would not allow his eyes to look at a bad sight, nor his ears to listen to a bad sound. He would not serve a ruler, nor employ a peo ple, of whom he did not approve. In a time of good govern ment he took office, and in a time of disorder he retired. He could not bear to dwell [at a court] from which lawless government proceeded, nor among lawless people. To be in the same place with an [ordinary] villager was the same in his estimation as to stand in his court robes and court cap amid mire and charcoal. In the time of Chow, he dwelt by the shores of the northern sea, waiting for the purification of the kingdom. Therefore when men [now] hear the character of Pih-e, the corrupt become pure, and the weak acquire determination.

2. " E Yin said, ' Whom may I not serve as my ruler ? whom may I not employ as my people ? ' In a time of good government he took office, and in a time of disorder he did the same. He said, ' Heaven's plan in the production of this people is this : — that they who are first informed should instruct those who are later in being informed, and they who first apprehend [principles] should instruct those who are slower to do so. I am the one of Heaven's people who have first apprehended ; — I will take these principles and instruct this people in them/ He thought that among all the people of the kingdom, even the private men and women, if there were any that did not enjoy such benefits as Yaou and Shun conferred, it was as if he himself pushed them into a ditch ; CH. I. How CONFUCIUS DIFFERED FROM, AND WAS SUPERIOR TO, ALL OTHER SAGES, POSSESSING ALL SAGELY QUALITIES IN FULL MEASURE, WHICH THEY DID NOT DO; — ILLUSTRATED BY AN EXHIBITION OF CHARAC TERISTICS OF PlH-E, E YIN, AND HWUY OF LEW-HEA. Par. 1. Compare II. i. II. 22 ; IX. 1, 3 : III. ii. X. 3 : IV. i. XIII. 1 : VI. ii. VI. 2 ; and VII. i. XXII. 1 ; ii. XV. 1.

Par. 2. Compare II. i. II. 22 ; ii. II. 10 : V. i. VI. 4, 5 ; VII. : VI. ii. VI. 2 : and VII. i. XXXI. 1 ; ii. XXXVIII. 2 VOL. II. 19 • — so did lie take on himself the heavy charge of all under heaven. 3. "Hwuy of Lew-hea was not ashamed to serve an im pure ruler, nor did ho decline a small office. When ad vanced to employment, he did not keep his talents and virtue concealed, but made it a point to carry out his principles. "When neglected and left out of office, he did not murmur, and when straitened by poverty, he did not grieve. "When in the company of village people, he was quite at ease and could not bear to leave them. [He would say], ' You are you, and I am I. Though you stand by my side with bare arms and breast, how can you defile me ? ' Therefore when men [now] hear the character of Hwuy of Lew-hea, the mean become generous, and the niggardly become liberal. 4. " When Confucius was leaving Tsfe he took with his hands the water from the rice which was being washed in it, and went away [with the uncooked rice]. When he was about to leave Loo, he said, ' I will go by and by ; ' — it was right he should leave the country of his parents in this way. When it was proper to go away quickly he did so ; when it was proper to delay, he did so ; when it was proper to keep in retirement, he did so ; when it was proper to go into of fice, he did so ; — this was Confucius."

5. Mencius said, " Pih-e among the sages was the pure one ; E Yin was the one most inclined to take office ; Hwuy of Lew-hea was the accommodating one ; and Confucius was the timeous one. 6. " In Confucius we have what is called a complete con cert. A complete concert is when the bell proclaims [the commencement of the music], and the [ringing] stone closes it. The metal sound commences the blended harmony [of all the instruments], and the winding up with the stone Par. ?,. Compare IT. i. IX. 2, 3 : VI. ii. VI. 2 : VII. i. XXVIII. ; ii. XV. 1. Par. -t. Compare II. i. II. 22. I do not know that we have in any other ancient record an account of the incident mentioned here in connexion with. the departure of Confucius from Ts'e. P,ir. 5. [ have invented the adjective " timeous," which would be a literal translation of the original term, it' it were current in our language. Its meaning is that Confucius did at every time what the circumstances of it required to be done. Par. G. The illustration of Confucius here is from a grand performance of music, in which all the eight kinds of musical instruments were employed.

terminates that blended harmony. The commencing that harmony is the work of wisdom, and the terminating it is the work of sageness. 7. " As a comparison for wisdom, we may liken it to skill, and as a comparison for sageness, we may liken it to strength, — as in the case of shooting at a mark a hundred paces dis: tant. That you reach the mark is owing to your strength ; but that you hit it is not owing to your strength." II. 1. Pih-kung E asked [Mencius] , " What was the ar rangement of dignities and emoluments made by the House of Chow ? " 2. Mencius said, " The particulars of that arrangement cannot be learned, for the feudal princes, disliking them as injurious to themselves, have all made away with the re cords of them. Nevertheless I have learned the general outline of them. 3. " The SON OF HEAVEN was one dignity ; the DUKE one ; the MARQUIS one ; the EARL one ; and the VISCOUNT and BARON formed one, being of equal rank : — altogether making five One instrument would make " a small performance ; " all joined, they made " a collected great performance," = " a complete concert."

Par. 7. The other sages had, as well as Confucius, what might be compared to " strength," but they were deficient, as compared with him, in wisdom or skill. We may compare each of them, it has been said, "to one of the seasons ; but Confucius was the grand, harmonious air of heaven flowing through all the seasons." CH. II. THE ARRANGEMENT OF DIGNITIES AND EMOLUMENTS ACCORDING TO THE DYNASTY OF CHOW. Some of the statements of Mencius in this chapter are at variance with what we find on the same subjects in the "Official Book of Chow," and parts of the Le Ke. I will not, however, take any notice here of those differences, but reserve the discussion of them till I come to the examination of those other Works. Par. 1. Pih-kung B was a high officer of Wei, one of a family descended from duke Ch'ing of that State from B.C. 633 to 597. Various members of it appear in the Tso Chuen. Its clan-name of Pih-kung or " Northernpalace " would be taken from the residence of its founder. Par. 2. It is an important fact which Mencius here mentions, that before his time the feudal princes had destroyed many of the records affecting the constitution and territories of their States. The founder of the Ts'in dynasty had had predecessors and fathers in what he did in this way. . Par. 3. The five degrees of dignity here are degrees of rank, and the six are degrees of position or official employment. The title " son of Heaven " is equally applicable to the Head of the nation, whether emperor or

degrees of dignity. The RULER was one dignity ; the MINISTER one ; the GREAT OFFICER one ; the OFFICER OF THE FIRST CLASS one ; the OFFICER OF THE SECOND CLASS one ; and the OFFICER OF THE LOWEST CLASS one : — altogether making six grades. 4. " To the son of Heaven there was allotted a territory of a thousand le square ; a duke and a marquis had each a hundred le square ; an earl, seventy le ; a viscount and a king, and is an emphatic designation of him as appointed by God. "Son of Heaven " is equivalent to " Heaven-sonned ; " i. e., dealt with by Heaven as its son, and placed in the highest station. See the She, IV. i. [i]. VIII. After the study of the Shoo, the She, and the Ch'im Ts'ew, I think it is much better to adopt the titles of the five orders of nobility in the feudal kingdoms of Europe for those which were employed for the five corresponding orders in China, when it was in the feudal State. " Duke," in Chinese kung, was the highest title of nobility. Kuny gives the idea of ''just, correct, without selfishness." " Marquis," in Chinese hnic, was the second. How gives the idea of " taking care of," and was given to the nobles digni fied with it, as "guardians of the borders " of the kingdom. "Ear!." in Chinese pih, was the third. Pih conveys the ideas of "elder and intelli gent," "one by his intelligence and virtue capable of presiding over others." "Viscount or count," in Chinese txze, was the fourth. " Tsze " means " a son," but as a title means" to treat as a son," giving the idea of "generally nourishing the people." " Baron,'' in Chinese nan, was the fifth. JV«« is the common designation for "a malechild." Composed of the characters for "field" !i nd "strength," it conveys the idea of " one adequate to office and labour." According to Mencius the viscount and the baron were considered equal in rank. All from the " son of Heaven " downwards might be styled Jteun or '' ruler." Of the six grades of official position, the highest after the ruler was the minister, — in Chinese Wing. K'ing is explained as meaning" luminous," "one who can illustrate what is good and right." At the court of Chow there were properly six Jt'itiff, though sometimes nine are spoken of. The Heads of the " Six Boards " may now be considered as their successors. For a feudal State the number of k'ing was three, but some of them claimed to have a greater number. Their appointment required the confirmation of the king. The second official grade consisted of the "great officers," in Chinese ta foo. Tit foo may be translated by " great sustainer." The number of these was indefinite. As ta foo, they had no specific office, but might be employed by their rulers, as occasion required, being men of ex perience, recognized ability, and trustworthiness. The other grades were made up of the three orders of officers. In Chinese s:e is explained as " one fit to be intrusted with the conduct of affairs." Its meaning is often given as = " scholar ; " and it is difficult always to discriminate between the two significations. In fact a fundamental principle in the Chinese nation has ever been that for office a certain amount of literary cultivation was required.

Par. 4. "A thousand le square," ?'. e., according to some, "a thousand le in breadth and a thousand le in length, making an area of a million le." baron, fifty le. The assignments altogether were of four amounts. Where the territory did not amount to fifty le, . the holder could not himself have access to the son of Heaven. His land was attached to some one of the feudal princes, and was called a FOO-YUNG. 5. " A high minister of the son of Heaven received an amount of territory equal to that of a marquis ; a great of ficer, as much as an earl; and an officer of the first class, as much as a viscount or baron. 6. " In a great State, where the territory was a hundred le square, the ruler had ten times as much income as one of his high ministers ; a high minister had four times as much as a great officer; a great officer twice as much as an officer of the first class ; an officer of the first class, twice as much as one of the middle ; and an officer of the middle class twice as much as one of the lowest. Officers of the lowest class, and such of the common people as were employed in the public offices, had the same emolument, — as much, namely, as what they would have made by tilling the fields.

7. " In a State of the next order, where the territory was seventy le square, the ruler had ten times as much income as one of his high ministers ; a high minister, thrice as much as a great officer; a great officer, twice as much as an officer of the first class ; an officer of the first class, twice as much as one of the second ; and one of the second twice as much On this, however, the editors of the imperial edition of the king under the present dynasty, say : — "Where we find the term square, we are not to think of an exact square, but only that, on calculation, the territory would be found equal to so many square le. So, in regard to the States of the various princes, we are to understand that, however their form might be varied by the hills and rivers, their area in round numbers amounted to so much." On an "attached territory," see Ana. XVI. i. 1. These States were too small to bear the expenses of appearing at the royal court, and so the names and surnames of their chiefs were presented by the greater feudal lords to whom they were attached, and in whose train they also sometimes appeared.

Par. 6. " A great State " was that of a duke or a marquis. One com mentator says : — " The ruler had 32,000 mow, the income of which would suf fice to feed 2,880 men. A minister had 3.200 mow, sufficient to feed 288 men. A great officer had 800 mow, sufficient to feed 72 men. An officer of the first class had 400 mow, sufficient to feed 36 men ; one of the second class had 200 mow, sufficient to feed 18 men ; and one of the lowest class had 100 mow, sufficient to feed from nine men to five men (see par. 9)." " The com mon people employed in the public offices " would be the runners or police- , men, and other subordinates. Parr. 1, 8. "A State of the sec nd order" was that of an earl, and " a small State " was that of a viscount or a baron. 294 THE WORKS OF 31ENCIUS. [fiK V. as one of the lowest. Officers of the lowest class and such of the common people as were employed in the public offices, had the same emolument, — as much, namely, as they would have made by tilling the h'elds.

8. ' ' In a small State, where the territory was fifty le square, the ruler had ten times as much income as oue of his high ministers ; a high minister twice as much as a great officer ; a great officer twice as much as an officer of the first class ; an officer of the first class twice as much as one of the second ; one of the second class twice as much as one of the lowest. Officers of the lowest class, and such of the common people as were employed in the public offices, had the same emolument, — as much, namely, as they would have made by tilling the fields. 9. " As to those who tilled the fields, each head of a family received a hundred mow. When these were manured, the [best] husbandmen of the first class supported nine individu als, and those ranking next to them supported eight. The [best] husbandmen of the second class supported seven men, and those ranking next to them supported six ; while the lowest class [only] supported five. The salaries of the common people who were employed in the public offices, were regulated according to these differences/'

III. 1. Wan Chang asked [Mencius], saying1, "I venture to ask about [the principles of] friendship." Mencius replied, " Friendship does not permit of any presuming on the ground of one's age, or station, or [the circumstances of ] one's relations. Friendship [with a man] is friendship with his virtue, and there cannot be any presuming [on such things] . 2. " The minister Jiang II e'en was [chief of] a family of a hundred chariots, and he had five friends, — Yon-ching K'ew, CH. III. THE PRINCIPLES OF FRIENDSHIP. FRIENDSHIP SHOULD HAVE REFERENCE TO THE VIRTUE OF THE .FRIEND, AND THERE SHOULD BE NO ASSUMPTION IN IT ON THE GROUND OF ONE'S SUPERIORITY IN YEARS, SOCIAL POSITION, OR RELATIONAL ADVANTAGES. Par. 1. It is a fine idea, of the Chinese that only virtue should be the Loud of friendship, and the object of friendship should be the support and increase of one's virtue. Par. 2. Mang Ileen was the same who is mentioned in "the Great Learn ing," Comni. X. '22, q. c. Yoh-ching K'ew would be an ancestor of Yoh-chiug, Muh Ching,and three [others whose names] I have forgotten. With these five men Heen-tsze maintained a friendship, be cause they thought nothing about his family. If they had thought about his family, he would not have maintained his friendship with them.

3. " Not only has [the chief of] a family of a hundred chariots acted thus. The same has been exemplified even in the ruler of a small State. Duke Hwuy of Pe said, " I treat Tsze-sze as my master, and Yen Pan as my friend. As to Wang Shun and Ch'ang Seih, they serve me. 4. " Not only has the ruler of a small State acted thus. The same thing has been exemplified by the ruler of a large State. There was -duke P'ing of Tsin with Hae T/ang : — when [T'ang] told him to come into his house, he came ; when he told him to be seated, he sat ; when he told him to eat, he ate. There might be only coarse rice, and soup of vegetables, but he always ate his fill, not daring to do other wise. Here, however, [the duke] stopped, and went no farther. He did not call [T'ang] to share with him his Heavenly place, nor to administer with him his Heavenly office, nor to partake with him his Heavenly emolument. His conduct was a scholar's honouring of virtue and talent ; not a king or a duke's honouring of them.

5. " Shun went up and had an interview with the emperor, and the emperor lodged him as his son-in-law in the second palace. He also partook of Shun's hospitality. He was host and guest alternately. This was the emperor maintaining friendship with a common man. one of our philosopher's disciples, mentioned in I. ii. XVI., et al. It appears from a passage in the "Narratives of the States," IV. ix. 5, that the fact of Mang Heen's having five friends was well known. Par. 3. Pe, — see on Ana. VI. vii. Pe was the city of the Ke-sun family in Loo. Mencius is probably speaking of it when it had fallen under the power of Ts'oo, and had been erected by it into the chief city of a small State dependent on itself. Tsze-sze was the grandson of Confucius. Yen Pan is understood to have been the sou of Yen Hwuy, Confucius' favourite dis ciple. Of Wang Shun nothing is known. Ch'ang Seih, — see Pt i. I. 2. Par. 4. Duke P'ing (hon. title, = "the Pacificator") was Pew, marquis of Tsin from B.C. 554 to 529. Hae T'ang was a worthy of his State. Par. 5. Here we have the highest style of friendship, where the object of the friendship was called to share in the heavenly place, &c. But was not this introducing an element which does not belong to the idea of friendship ?

Par. 6. The meaning of " righteousness " here is what is " right in the propriety of things." 6. "Respect shown by inferiors to superiors is called giving to the noble the observance due to rank. Eespect shown by superiors' to inferiors is called giving honour to virtue and talents. The principle of righteousness is the same in both cases. " IV. 1. Wan Chang asked [Mencius], saying, "I venture to ask what [sentiment of the] mind is expressed in the gifts of courteous intercourse." Mencius replied, " [The senti ment of] respect." 2. " Why is it," pursued the other, " that to decline a gift decidedly is accounted disrespectful ? " The answer was, " When one of honourable rank presents a gift, to say [in the mind], ' Was the way in which he got this righteous or not ? I must know this before I receive it/ — this is counted disrespectful, and therefore gifts are not declined." o. [Wan Chang] went on, "Let me ask this: — If one do not in so many express words decline the gift, but having declined it in his heart, saying, ' He took it from the people, and it is not righteous/ if he then assign some other reason for not receiving it, is not this a proper course ? " Mencius said, " When the donor offers it on the ground of reason, and his manner of doing so is according to propriety, in such a case Confucius would have received it." 4. Wan Chang said, " Here now is one who stops [and robs]

CH. IV. How MENCTUS DEPENDED THE ACCEPTING PRESENTS FROM THE PRINCES WHO WERE THE OPPRESSORS OP THE PEOPLE, AND MIGHT BE REPRESENTED As ROBBERS OF THEM. Wan Chang does not speak expressly of Mencius' own practice, but no doubt he had it in mind ; and never was our philosopher more closely pressed by any of his disciples ou what was a stumbling-block to them. — his living so freely on the presents of the kings and princes of his day. while yet he refused to take office under any of them. Par. 1. The subject about which the disciple asks here is not presents of friendship, but the gifts offered by superiors to scholars not in office, and the acceptance of them by these. I\ir. 3. Mencius does not seem to meet fairly the question proposed by Wan Chang. We might have expected him to say that the scholar to whom the gift was offered should decline it, boldly stating the reason why he did so. This, I think, would have been more in accordance with the boldness of his own character. His diverting the conversation to the subject of Confucius was merely an ingenious ruse. Par. 4. On the case proposed by Wan Chang Mencius could only give the reply which he does. For the quotation from the Shoo, see that Work, V. ix. 15.

people outside the city gates ; — he offers his gift on a ground of reason, and presents it in accordance with propriety ; — would the reception of the gift so acquired by robbery be proper ? " [Mencius] said, " It would not be proper. In the ' Announce ment to the Prince of K'ang' it is said/ Where men kill others, or violently assault them, to take their property, being reck less and fearless of death, they are abhorred by all the people ; ' — these are to be put to death without waiting to give them , any lesson [or warning]. Yin received [this rule] from Hea, and Chow received it from Yin ; it cannot be questioned, and to the present day is clearly acknowledged. How can [the gift of a robber] be received ? " 5. [Wan Chang] continued, " The princes of the present day take from their people, as if they were [so many] robbers. But if they put a good face of propriety on their gifts, then the superior man receives them;— I venture to ask how you explain this ? " [Mencius] replied, " Do you think that if a true king were to arise, he would collect all the princes of the present day, and put them to death ? Or would he admonish them, and then, when they did not change [their ways], put them to death ? To say that [every one] who takes what does not properly belong to him is a robber is pushing a point of resemblance to the utmost, and insisting on the most refined idea of righteousness. When Confucius took office in Loo, the people struggled together for the game taken in hunting, and he also did the same. If that struggling for the captured game was allowable, how much more may the gifts [of the princes] be received ! "

6. [Chang] urged, " Then, when Confucius took office, was it not with the object that his principles should be carried into practice?" " It was with that object," was the reply. [The other said,] " If the practice of his prin- Par. 5. The answer given here by Mencius to the application made by Wan Chang of the above case has in it a great deal of ingenuity. We may admit it on the ground of expediency ; but a man of his character and pre tensions should have been more chary of receiving gifts from the princes of his time than he was. The practice in hunting which Confucius sanctioned is not well understood. The view which I have followed in the translation is that given by Chaou K'e. Par. 6. The practice in hunting which is alluded to had something to do with the offering of sacrifices, and Confucius, by the measures which he took, wished to obviate the necessity for using any flesh so obtained in sacrifice, so that the practice might thus die of itself, and fall into disuse. 298 THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. [ux V ciples was Ms business, wliat had lie to do with, that strug gling for the captured game ? " [Mencius] answered, " Confucius first rectified the vessels of sacrifice according to the registers, and [enacted] that being so rectified they should not be supplied with food gathered from every quarter." " But why did he not leave [the State] ? " said [Chang]. [Mencius] replied, "He would first' make a trial [of carrying his principles into practice]. When this trial was sufficient [to show] they could be practised, and they were still not practised [on a larger scale], he would then go away. Thus it was that he never com pleted a residence [in any State] of three years.

7. " Confucius took office when he saw that the prac tice [of his principles] was possible ; when the reception accorded to him was proper ; and when he was supported by the State. In his relations with the minister Ke Hwan, he took office because he saw that the practice [of his principles] was possible. With the duke Ling of Wei he took office, because the reception accorded to him was proper. With duke He'aou of Wei he took office, because N he was maintained by the State." V. 1. Mencius said, " Office should not be [sought] on account of poverty, but there are times [when it may be sought] on that account A wife should not be taken for the sake of being attended to by her, but there are Par. 7. The text says that Confucius took service with Ke Hwan, and not with duke Ting, because the duke and his government were under the con trol of that nobleman. I do not know that the sage ever held office in Wei, though Mencius here says so. When he first went to that State, its marquis was he who is here called " duke Ling," and whose incumbency ex tended from B.C. 533 to 492. Ling allotted to Confucius the salary which he had had in Loo. When he went to it the second time, the State was probably held by duke Ling's son Cheh, whom his father had expelled. He was, we may suppose, called He'aou (•' The Filial ") by his partisans after his death, but we have no "duke He'aou " in the Annals of Wei. He would oiler liberal support to Confucius in order to get on his side the influence of his character and name.

Cn. V. THAT OFFICE MAY SOMETIMES BE TAKEN QN ACCOUNT OF POVER TY, BUT ONLY UNDER CERTAIN SPECIFIED CONDITIONS. Par. 1. The proper reason for taking office is suid to be the carrying out of principles,— the truth and the right, and the proper reason for marrying times [when marriage may be entered on] with that view. 2. " He who takes office because of his poverty must decline an honourable situation, and occupy '"a poor one ; he must decline riches and prefer a poor [sufficiency]. 3. " What [office] will be in harmony with this de clining an honourable situation and occupying a low one, with this declining riches and preferring a poor suffi ciency ? [Such an one] as that of being a gate-warder, or beating the watchman's stick. 4. " Confucius was once keeper of stores, and he [then] said, ' My accounts must all be correct ; that is all I have to think about ' He was once in charge of the [ducal] lands, and he [then] said, ' The oxen and sheep must be large, and fat, and superior. That is all I have to think about/ 5. " When one is in a low station, to speak of high matters is a crime. To stand in the court of his prince, and his principles not be carried into practice, is a dis grace."

VI. 1. Wan Chang said, "What is the reason that an officer [unemployed] does not look to a prince for his is the begetting of children, or rather of a son, to continue one's line, and not allow the sacrifices to one's ancestors to be discontinued. Par. 3. Chaou K:e thinks that only one office is here specified, — that of a gate-warder. It seems better to understand two offices ; that of a warder, one who " embraces the gate," i. e., does not leave it, and that of a watchman, one "who beats his stick or rattle." Par. 4. What Mencius calls here " keeper of stores " appears in Sze-ma Ts'een as " an officer of the Ke family." Mencius' authority in such a case is to be followed. This was the first office which Confucius held, when he was young and poor. Ts'een also gives a different name for the second office, but apparently having the same meaning. Par. 5. This is to the elfect that he who takes office because of his poverty, should not be as in a higher position where he would have to speak of high matters, and that he who is in a high office and a frequenter of the court should make it his business to be carrying out his principles.

CH. VI. HOW A SCHOLAR UNEMPLOYED SHOULD NOT BECOME A DEPEND ENT BY ACCEPTING PAY WITHOUT OFFICE, WHILE YET A PRINCE MAY SEND HIM REPEATED GIFTS, PROVIDED HE DO SO IN THE PROPER MANNER. There is. no doubt, here, as in chapter iv., a reference to Mencius' habit of receiving gifts, and yet keeping himself aloof, from the princes. Par. 1. In the Le Ke, IX. i. 13, it is said that a prince should not employ 300 THE WORKS OF MEXCIU3. [fiK V. maintenance ? " Mencius answered, " He does not pre sume [to do SD]. When one prince loses his State, and then throws himself on another for his maintenance, this is in accordance with propriety. But for [such an] officer to look to any of the princes for his maintenance is contrary to propriety." 2. Wan Chang said, " If the prince sends him a pre sent of grain, will he receive it ? " " He will receive it," was the answer. " What is the principle of right in his receiving it ? " [Mencius] said, " Such is the relation between a ruler and his people that as a matter of course he should help them in their necessities."

3. " What is the reason that [an officer unemployed] will [thus] accept relief, but will not accept a [stated] bounty?" asked [Chang], and [Mencius] said, "He does not presume [to do the latter]/' "Allow me to ask," urged the other, " why ho docs not presume to do so." The reply was, " [Even] the warder of a gate and the beater of a watchman's rattle have their regular duties for which they can take their support from their superiors ; but he who without any regular office receives his superior's bounty must be deemed wanting in humility." 4. [Chang again] said, "When a ruler sends a present [to an officer unemployed], he accepts it; — I do not know whether this present may be constantly repeated." [Mencius] answered, " There was the way of duke Muh towards Tsze-sze : — He sent frequent inquiries after his health, and made frequent presents of cooked meat. Tsze-sze was displeased, and at last, having motioned another prince, a refugee with him, as a minister, but it is only from Men cius here, so far as I am aware, that we know that a prince, driven from his own territory, would find maintenance in another State, according to a sort of law.

Par. 2. This is making the case very simple. Par. 3. " Must he deemed wanting in humility " is given hy Julien as " censettir exjters reverentite." The idea is that such a scholar puts him self in the position of one who has a regular office, and does not recognize his own unofficial position. Par. 4. On the duke Muh and Tsze-sze, see II. ii. XI. 3. See also ch. iii. o. The modes of salutation in ancient times are thus described : — " The ancients sat on their mats on the ground. When one raised up his body erect, resting on the knees, that was a long kneeling. When the head was bowed down to the hands, that was a pae or bow with the hands ; when the hands were put to the ground, that was a pae or bow ; when the head was to the messenger to go outside the great door, he bowed his head to the ground with his face to the north, then put his hands twice to the ground, and declined the present, saying, 'From this time forth I shall know that the ruler supports me as a dog or a horse/ And from this time an inferior officer was not sent with the present. When [a ruler] professes to be pleased with a man of talents and virtue, and can neither raise him to office nor support him [in the proper way] , can he be said to be [really] pleased with his talents and virtue ? "

5. [Chang] said, " I venture to ask how the ruler of a State, when he wishes to support a superior man, must proceed that he may be said to do so [in the proper way]." [Mencius] answered, " The present Avill [at first] be offered as by the ruler's commission, and [-the superior man] will receive it, twice putting his hands to the ground, and then his head to the ground. After this, the store-keeper will continue to send grain, and the master of the kitchen to send meat, presenting it without any mention of the ruler's commission. Tsze-sze con sidered that the meat from the [ruler's] caldron, giving him the trouble of constantly doing obeisance, was not the way to support a superior man. 6. " There was the way of Yaou with Shun : — He caused his nine sons to serve him, and gave him his two daughters as wives ; he caused the various officers, oxen and sheep, store houses and granaries, [all] to be prepai'ed to support Shun amid the channeled fields ; and then he raised him to the most exalted station. Hence we have the expression — ' The honouring of virtue and talents proper to a king or a duke/ "

VII. 1. Wan Chang said, " I venture to ask what is put to the earth, that was a bowing with the head to the ground. Tszesze is here described as making first the third or profoundest obeisance, and then twice bowing with his hands to the ground. " An inferior officer " here denotes one of a mean order employed to convey messages. Par. o. The method of obeisance or acknowledgment described here is, it will be seen, the reverse of that employed by Tsze-sze in the preceding paragraph. This method indicated, it is said, the acceptance of the gift, while the other indicated its refusal. Par. 6. See Ft i. I. 3, et al. CH. VII. WHY A SCHOLAR NOT IN OFFICE SHOULD DECLINE TO GO TO 302 THE WORKS OP MEXCIUS. [fiK V. the principle of right in not going to see the princes." Mencius replied, " [A scholar unemployed] , residing in the city, is called ' a minister of the market-place and well ; ' one residing in the country is called ' a minister of the grass and plants/ In both cases he is a common man, and it is a rule of propriety that common men who have not pre sented the introductory present, and so become ministers [of the court], should not presume to have interviews with any of the princes."

2. Wan Chang said, " If a common man be called to perform any service, he goes and performs it. When a ruler wishes to see a scholar-, and calls him, how is it that he does not go ? " " To go and perform the service is right ; to go and see the ruler would not be right. 3. "And" [added Mencius] "on what account is it that the prince wishes to see [the scholar] ? " " Because of his extensive information," was the reply, " or because of his talents -and virtue." " If because of" his extensive information," said [Mencius], "even the son of Heaven does not call [one thus fit to be] a teacher, and how much less may one of the princes do so ! If because of his talents and virtue, I have not heard of any one's wishing to see a person with these qualities, and calling him to his presence. 4. " During the frequent interviews of duke Muh with Tsze-sze, he [once] said, ' Anciently in States of a thou sand chariots, their rulers, with all their resources, have been on terms of friendship with scholars ; — what do you think of such cases ? ' Tsze-sze was displeased and said, 1 The ancients had a saying that, " [The scholar] should be served ; " how should they have said merely that " He should be made a friend of?" Did not the displeasure of

SEE ANY OP THE PRINCES, WHEN CALLED BY THEM. Wan Chang evidently had liis master, and the way in which he kept himself aloof from the princes, in his mind here, though lie does not say so. Our philosopher's practice in this respect was matter of surprise and of frequent inquiry to his disci ples. iSee III. ii. I., et al. Par. 1. Every one may he called a minister (s/mt), as heing a subject, and hound to serve the ruler. This is the meaning of the term in the first two instances of its occurrence in this paragraph. In the other instance it denotes those who are ministers holding office. On the " introductory present," see III. ii. III. Par. 3. Here and throughout this chapter we see in a striking manner how Meiicius magnified his position as a scholar and teacher. Tsze-sze say [in effect], ' So far as station is concerned, you are ruler, and I am a subject ; how should I presume to be on terms of friendship with my ruler ? But in respect of virtue, you ought to make me your master ; how can you be on terms of friendship with me ? ' [Thus], when a ruler of a thousand chariots sought to be on terms of friendship with a scholar, he could not obtain his wish, and how much less might he [presume to] call him [to his presence] !

5. " Duke King of Ts'e [once] when he was hunting, called the forester to him with a flag. [The forester] refused to come, and the duke was going to kill him. [With reference to this incident, Confucius said,] 'The resolute officer does not forget [that his end may be] in a ditch or in a stream ; the bold officer does not forget that he may lose his head.' What was it [in the forester] that Confucius [thus] approved ? He approved his not going when summoned by an article which was not appro priate to him." 6. [Chang] said, " I venture to ask with what a forester should be called." " With a fur cap," was the reply. "A common man should be called with a plain banner; a scholar [who has taken office], with a flag having dragons embroidered on it; and a great officer, with one having feathers suspended from the top of the staff. 7. " When a forester is called with the article appropri ate to the calling of a great officer, he would die rather than presume to go. When a common man is called with the article for the calling of a scholar [in office], how should he presume to go ? How much more may we expect a man of talents and virtue to refuse to go, when he is called in a way unbecoming his character !

8. " To wish to see .a man of talents and virtue, and not take the way to bring it about, is like calling him to enter and shutting the door against him. Now righteous ness is the way, and propriety is the door, but it is only Par. 5. See III. ii. I. 2. Par. 8. See the She, II. v. IX. 1. Righteousness is the way which all men ought to be found in, and propriety the door by which they should enter it. Many, however, forsake the way, and try to enter by other doors. But not so with the superior man ; and therefore rulers in dealing with him should be specially observant of righteousness and propriety. This seems to be the under current of thought in this paragraph. And so it seems, as in- the superior man who can follow this way, and go out and in by this door, It is said in the Book of Poetry : — ' The way to Chow was like a whetstone And straight as an arrow. [So] the officers trod it, And the common people looked on it.' " 9. Wan Chang said, " When Confucius received his ruler's message calling him [to his presence], he went without waiting for his carriage to be yoked ; did Con fucius then do wrong ? " [Meucius] replied, " Confucius was in office, and had its appropriate duties devolving on him ; and moreover he was called on the ground of his office/'

VIII. 1. Mencius said to Wan Chang, " The scholar whose excellence is most distinguished in a village will thereon make friends of the [other] excellent scholars of the village. The scholar whose excellence is most dis tinguished in a State will thereon make friends of the [other] excellent scholars of the State. The scholar whose excellence is most distinguished in the kingdom will thereon make friends of the [other] excellent scholars of the kingdom. 2. "When [a scholar] finds " that his friendship with the excellent scholars of the kingdom is not sufficient [to satisfy him], he will ascend to consider the men of anti quity. He will repeat their poems, and read their books ; dicated in the words of the ode quoted, it once was in the best days of the Chow. The way to Chow was as it is here described, because the ways of the kings of Chow had been fashioned according to righteousness and propriety. Par. 9. See Ana. X. xiii. 4. ClI. VIII. HOW FRIENDSHIP WILL FIND ITS CONGENIAL ASSOCIATIONS ACCORDING TO THE CONDITIONS OF PLACE AND TIME, AND WE MAY MAKE OUR FRIENDS OK THE GREAT AND GOOD OF ANTIQUITY BY STUDYING THEIR 1'OEMS AND OTHER HOOKS. AND HISTORY.

Par. 1. The eminence of the most excellent scholars specified attracts others to them, and they have thus the opportunity of learning and ndding to their own excellence, which no inflation arising from their own superiority prevents them from doing. It is a pity that the Chinese mind should be so unwilling to admit that excellence may be found out of China. Pur. 2. It is certainly a discriminating study of the worthies of antiquity which Mencius here recommends. and as lie does not know whether they were as men all that was approvable, he will consider their history. This is to ascend and make friends [of the men of antiquity]." IX. 1. King Seuen of Tsfe asked about high minis ters. Mencius said, " Which high ministers is your Majesty asking about ? " " Are there differences among them ? " said the king. " Yes," was the reply ; " there are high ministers who are noble, and relatives of the ruler, and there are those who are of a different surname from him." " Allow me to ask," said the king, " about the high ministers who are noble, and relatives of the ruler." [Mencius] answered, " If the ruler have great faults, they ought to remonstrate with him ; and if he do not listen to them, when they have done so again and again, they ought to appoint another in his place."

2. The king looked moved, and changed countenance. 3. [Mencius] said, " Let not your Majesty think [what I say] strange. You asked me, and I did not dare to reply but correctly." 4. The king's countenance became composed, and he begged to ask about the high ministers who were of a different surname from the ruler. [Mencius] said, " When the ruler has faults, they ought to remonstrate with him • and if he do not listen to them when they have done so again and again, they ought to leave [tho State] ." CH. IX. THE DUTIES OF MINISTERS TO THEIR RULER, ACCORDING AS THEY ARE OP THE SAME SURNAME WITH HIM, OR A DIFFERENT, THAT IS, ACCORDING AS THEY ARE RELATED TO HIM OR NOT. Par. 1. By "great faults" is meant such as endangered the State, or at least the safety of the ruling House. It seems to be intimated that of other and lesser faults these ministers would not take any notice. In par. 4 all the ruler's faults, small or great, come under the notice arid criticism of his other ministers. Parr. 2, 3. It was not surprising that king Seuen should be annoyed and surprised at the words of Mencius. They certainly afford a striking instance of the boldness of our philosopher's thinking, and of the decided manner in which he gave expression to his sentiments. All the members of the family of which the ruler is the Head may be said to have an interest in the throne, but to suggest to them that it may become their duty to dis place the actual occupant of it, and substitute another of their number in his place, may open the way to confusion and disaster. VOL. II. 20

CHAPTER I. 1. Kaou-tsze said, " [Man's] nature is like a willow tree, and righteousness is like a cup or a bowl. The fashioning benevolence and righteousness out of man's nature is like making cups and bowls from a willow tree/' 2. Mencius replied, " Can you, in accordance with the nature of the willow tree, make cups and bowls from it ? You will do violence and injury to the tree before you can make cups and bowls from it. If you will do violence and TITLE OF THIS BOOK. Kaou-tsze, i. e., Mr Kaou, or the scholar Kaon, who appears in the first and other chapters questioning Mencius, gives his name to the Book. He is probably the same who is referred to by our philosopher in II. Part I. ii, '2. Cliaou K'e tells us that his name was Puhhae, seeming to identify him with Haou-sang Puh-hae of VII. Pt II. xxv. He adds that Kaou, while a student under Mencius, gave himself also to the examination of the doctrines of the heresiarch Mih (III. Pt I. v.. Pt II. ix. !)) ; and from a passage in Mill's writings this is not unlikely, but the name of Kaou appears there as Shiug.

Kaou appears from this Book to have been much perplexed respecting the real character of human nature iu its relations to good and evil, which is the subject mainly discussed throughout it ; and it is to the view of human nature as here developed that Mencius is chiefly indebted for his place among the sages of his country. "The Book," says the Relish and Root of the four Books, " treats first of the nature; then of the heart; and then of instruction : the whole being analogous to the lessons in the doctrine of the Mean. The second Part continues to treat of the same subject, and a resemblance will generally be found between the views of the parties there combated and those of the scholar Kaou." CH. I. THAT BENEVOLENCE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS ARE NO UNNATURAL AND FORCED PRODUCTS OF HUMAN NATURE. Choo He says that there underlies the words of Kaou here the view of human nature afterwards insisted on by the philosopher Seun (see the prolegomena), that human nature is evil. But Kaou might have disallowed such an induction from his words. Seun maintained that human nature was positively evil, and that any good in it was an artificial product. Kaou perhaps would have contended that it was like a tabula rasa, on which either good or evil might be made to appear.

Par. 2. " In accordance with the nature of the willow tree ; " i. e., leaving injury to the willow tree in order to make cups and bowls, will you also do violence and injury to a man, to fashion benevolence and righteousness [from him] ? Your words, alas] would certainly with all men occasion calamity to benevolence and righteousness." II. 1. Kaon-tsze said, " [Man's] nature is like water whirling round [in a corner]. Open a passage for it on the east, and it will flow to the east ; open a passage for it on the west, and it will flow to the west. Man's nature is indifferent to good and evil, just as water is indifferent to the east and west." 2. Mencius replied, " Water indeed will flow indiffer ently to the east or west, but will it flow indifferently up or down ? The [tendency of] man's nature to goodness is like the [tendency of] water to flow downwards. There are none but have [this tendency to] goodness, [just as] water flows downwards. 3. " Now by striking water, and causing it to leap up, you may make it go over your forehead ; and by damming and leading it, you may make it go up a hill ; but are [such movements according to] the nature of water. It is the force applied which causes them. In the case of a man's

its nature untouched, doing no violence to it. " Will you also do violence and injury to a man ? " — i. e . to a man's nature, to humanity. CH. II. THAT MAN'S NATURE is NOT INDIFFERENT TO GOOD AND EVIL. ITS PROPER TENDENCY is TO GOOD. Here, it seems to me, Kaou more clearly explains what he meant in the last chapter. Choo He says, however, that his idea here was akin to that of Yang He'ung, a writer about the begin ning of our era. Yang held that good and evil were mixed in the nature of man, and that the passion-nature was like a horse drawing the man, ac cording as it moved, either to good or to evil. Kaou, however, appears to have differed from him in thinking that there was neither good nor evil in the nature itself. Par. 1. The phrase which I have translated — " water whirling round" is explained in the dictionaries as " water flowing rapidly," "water flowing quickly over sand;" and hence Julien renders it by " rapide fluens aqua." So also Williams. Chaou K'e, followed by Choo He, gives the meaning which I have adopted. Parr. 2, 3. Choo He says : — " This chapter tells us that the nature is properly good, so that if we accord with it, we shall do nothing but what is good ; and that it is properly without evil, so that we must violate it before we do what is evil. It shows that the nature is not properly without a de cided character so that it maj- do good or evil inditfereutly."

308 THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. [l(K VI. being made to do what is not good, his nature is dealt with in this way/' III. 1 . Kaou-tsze said, " [The phaenomena of] life is what I call nature." 2. Mencius replied, "Do you say that life is nature just as you say that white is white ? " " Yes," was the reply. [Mencius asked again], "Is the whiteness of a white feather like the whiteness of white snow, and the white ness of white snow like that of white jade ? " " Yes," returned [the other]. 3. Mencius retorted, "Very well. Is the nature of a dog like the nature of an ox, and the nature of an ox like the nature of a man ? " IV. 1. Kaou-tsze said, " [To delight in] food and in sexual pleasure is nature. Benevolence is from within, and not from without ; righteousness is from without and not from within/' 2. Mencius said, " What is the ground of your saying that benevolence is from within, and righteousness from OH. III. TlIE NATURE IS NOT TO BE CONFOUNDED WITH THE PH.-KNOMEXA OF LIFE. C'hoo He says that " by life is intended that whereby men and animals perceive and move/' and he adds that Kaou's sentiment was analogous to that of the Buddhists, who made " doing and moving " to be the nature. We must understand, I think, by life here the phenomena of the life of sensation, and Kaou's idea led to the ridiculous conclusion that wher ever there were those phenomena the nature of the subjects is the same. We find it difficult to place ourselves in sympathy with him in this convers ation, and also to follow Meucius in passing from the second paragraph to the third. His questions in the former refer to the qualities of inanimate things, and then he jumps to others about the nature of animals and of man.

CH. IV. THAT THE DISCRIMINATION OF WHAT is EIGHT, AS WELL AS THE FEELING OF LOVE OR BENEVOLENCE, IS INTERNAL, AND NOT MERELY DETERMINED BY WHAT IS EXTERNAL TO US. Par. 1. The first remark of Kaou here would seem to be intended to ex plain his statement in the preceding chapter that "life was nature." Then he seems to give in to the view of Mencius that benevolence proceeds from a principle within us, just as we are moved by an internal feeling to food and sexual pleasure, but he still contends that it is not so in the exercise of righteousness ; — by which term Chinese writers mean, " the conduct proper in reference to men and things without us, and the showing it to them." This meaning of " righteousness " is put out by Mencius at the close of the third paragraph. without?" [The other] replied, " There is a man older than I, and I give honour to his age ; — it is not that there is in me a principle of reverence for age. It is just as when there is a white man, and I consider him white ; — according as he is so externally to me. It is on this account that I say [of righteousness] that it is from without."

3. [Mencius] said, " There is no difference to us between the whiteness of a white horse, and the whiteness of a white man, but I do not know that there is no differ ence between the regard with which we acknowledge the age of an old horse, and that with which we acknowledge the age of a man older [than ourselves] ? And what is it which we call righteousness ? The fact of a man's being older [than we] ? or the fact of our giving honour to his age?- 4. [Kaou] said, " There is my younger brother ; I love him. But the younger brother of a man of Ts'in I do not love ; that is, it is [the relationship to] myself which .occasions my complacency, and therefore I say that benevolence is from within. I give the honour due to age to an old man of Ts'oo, and to an old man of my own [kindred] ; .that is, it is the age which occasions the com placency, arid therefore I say that righteousness is from without." 5. [Mencius] answered him, " Our enjoyment of meat broiled by a man of Ts'in does not differ from our enjoy ment of meat broiled by [one of] our [own kindred] . Thus [what you insist on] takes place also in the case of [such] things ; but is our enjoyment of broiled meat also from without ? "

V. 1. Mr Mang Ke asked the disciple Kung-too, say- Par. 4. " A man of Ts'in," " a man of Ts'oo ; " — i. e., people indifferent to me, strangers to me, Par. 5. Mencius silences his opponent by showing that the difficulty which he alleged in regard to righteousness would attach also to the enjoy ment of food, which he had himself allowed, at the outset of the convers ation, to be internal, from the inward constitution of our nature. CH. V. THE S>ME SUBJECT : — A DIFFICULTY OBVIATED IN THE WAY OF 310 THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. [fiK VI. ing, " On what ground is it said that righteousness is from within ? " 2. [Kung-too] replied, "It is the acting out of our feel ing of respect, and therefore it is said to be from within. " 3. [The other] said, " [In the case of] a villager one year older than your elder brother, to which of them will you show the [greater] respect ? " " To my brother," was the reply. " But for which would • you pour out spirits first?" [Kung-too] said, " For the villager." [Mang Ke then argued] , " Your feeling of respect rests on the one, but your reverence for age is rendered to the other ; [righteousness] is certainly determined by what is without, and not by internal feeling."

4. The disciple Kung-too was unable to reply, and reported [the conversation] to Mencius, who said, " [You should ask him], ' Which do you respect more, your uncle, or your younger brother ? ' He will reply, ' My uncle/ [Ask him again] , ' If your younger brother be personat ing a deceased ancestor, to whom will you show respect more, — [to him or to your uncle] ? ' He will say, ( To my younger brother.' [You can go on], 'But where is the [greater] respect due, as you said, to your uncle ? ' He will say, f [I show it to my younger brother,] because he is in the position [of the deceased ancestor] / And then you must say, 'Because he is in that position; — and so ordinarily my respect is given to my elder brother, but a momentary respect is given to the villager/ ' 5. When Ke-tsze heard this, he observed, " When THE CONCLUSION THAT THE DISCRIMINATION OF WHAT IS EIGHT IS FROM WITHIN. Par. 1. Mang Ke was, probably, a younger brother of Mang Chung, who appears in II. Pt II. ii. 3 in close attendance on Meucius. He had heard the previous conversation with Kaou, or heard of it ; and feeling some doubts on the subject, he applied to the disciple Kung-too.

Par. 3. " For whom would you pour out spirits iirst ? " — i. e., at a feast. Courtesy then required that the honour should be given to a stranger ; but Mang Ke does not consider this, but maintains that the manifestation of respect varied with the individual, and was therefore not from within. Par. 4. " Personating a deceased ancestor ; " — see the Prolegomena to Vol. IV. of my larger Work, pp. 135, 136, on the strange custom under the Chow dynasty of personating a deceased ancestor at a sacrificial feast by one of the descendants of the family. Par. 5. Kung-too here beats down the cavilling of Mang Ke as Mencius did that of Kaou in the conclusion of last chapter. respect is due to my uncle, I give it to him ; and when respect is due to my younger brother, I give it to him. The thing is certainly determined by what is without us, and does not come from within/' Kung-too replied, " In winter we drink things warm, but in summer we drink things cold ; but is then our eating and drinking deter mined by what is external to us ? "

VI. 1. The disciple Kung-too said, "Kaou-tsze says, ' [Man's] nature is neither good nor bad.' 2. " Some say, ' [Man's] nature may be made to do good, and it may be made to do evil ; and accordingly, under Wan and Woo, the people loved what was good, and under Yew and Le.they loved what was cruel/ 3. " Some say, ' The nature of some is good, and the nature of others is bad. Hence it was that under such a ruler as Yaou, there yet appeared Seang ; that with such a father as Koo-sow, there yet appeared Shun ; and that, with Chow for their ruler and the son of their elder brother besides, there yet appeared K'e, the viscount of Wei, and prince Pe-kan.' 4. " And now you say, ' The nature is good/ Then are all those wrong ? " 5. Mencius replied, " From the feelings proper to it, [we see] that it is constituted for the doing of what is good. This is what I mean in saying that [the nature] is good. 6. " If [men] do what is not good, the guilt cannot be imputed to their natural powers.

CH. VI. VARIOUS VIEWS OF HUMAN NATURE, AND MENCIUS' VINDICATION Par. I. Choo He says that this view had been revived near his own times by the famous Soo Tung-po, and by Hoo Woo-fung, a son of the more cele brated Hoo Wan-ting. Par. 2. Kaou had also given this view, — in the second chapter. Wan and Woo are the famous founders of the Chow dynasty ; Yew and Le were two of their successors whose character and course damaged the dynasty not a little. Par. 3. This view was afterwards advocated, with an addition to it, by Han Yu of the T'ang dynasty ; — see his essay in the prolegomena. Seang was the wicked brother of Shun ;— for him and Koo-sow see V. Pt I. ii., et al. For Chow (or Show) of the Shang dynasty and his relatives, see on the Analects XVIII. L, and on the Book of History, Pt IV. xi. Parr. 5, 6. These paragraphs are important for the correct understanding of our philosopher's views. 7. "The feeling of compassionate distress belongs to all men ; so does that of shame and dislike ; and that of modesty and respect ; and that of approving and disap proving. The feeling of compassion and distress is the principle of benevolence ; the feeling of shame and dis like is the principle of righteousness ; the feeling of modesty and respect is the principle of propriety ; and the feeling of approving and disapproving is the principle of knowledge. Benevolence, righteousness,, propriety, and knowledge are not fused into us from without ; they naturally belong to us, and [a different view] is simply from want of reflection. Hence it is said, ' Seek, and you will find them ; neglect, and you will lose them.-' [Men differ from one another in regard to them] ; some as much again as others, some five times as much, and some to an incalculable amount ; it is because they cannot fully carry out their [natural] endowments.

8. " It is said in the Book of Poetry, 'Heaven in giving birth to the multitudes of the people, To every faculty and relationship annexed its law : The people possess this normal nature, And they [consequently] love its normal virtue.' Confucius said, ' The maker of this ode knew indeed the constitution [of our nature]/ We may thus see that to every faculty and relationship there must belong its law, and that since the people possess this normal nature, they therefore love its normal virtue." VII. 1. Mencius said, "In good years the children of the people are most of them good, and in bad years they are most of them evil. It is not owing to their natural Par. 7. See II. Pt I. vi. 4, 5. Par. 8. See the Book of Poetry, Bk III. Pt III. vi. 1, and my comment ary there. CH. VII. THE PHENOMENA OF GOOD AND EVIL IN MEN'S CHARACTER AND CONDUCT ARE TO BE EXPLAINED FROM THE DIFFERENT CIRCUM STANCES ACTING ON THEM. ALL MEN, SAGES AND OTHERS, ARE THE SAME IN MIND, AND IT FOLLOWS THAT THE NATURE OF OTHEK MEN IS GOOD, LIKE THAT OF THE SAGES. Par. 1. The idea seems to be that in good years, the supply of food and clothes being sufficient, the young escape temptations to robbery and other

endowments conferred by Heaven, that they are thus different. It is owing to tho circumstances in which they allow their minds to be ensnared and devoured that they appear so [as in the latter case] . 2. " There now is barley — Let the seed be sown and covered up ; the ground b';ing the same, and the time of sowing also the same, it grows luxuriantly, and when the full time is come, it is all found to be ripe. Although there may be inequalities [of produce] , that is owing to [the difference of] the soil as rich or poor, to the [unequal] nourishment afforded by rain and dew, and to the different ways in which man has performed his business. 3. " Thus all things which are the same in kind are / like to one another ; — why should we doubt in regard to man, as if he were a solitary exception to this ? The sage and we are the same in kind. 4. " In accordance with this, Lung-tsze said, ( If a man make hempen sandals, without knowing [the size of people's] feet, yet I know that he will not make them like baskets/ Sandals are like one another, because all men's feet are like one other.

5. " So with the mouth and flavours ; — all mouths have the same relishes. Yih Ya [simply] appreciated before me what my mouth relishes. Suppose that his mouth, in its relish for flavours, were of a different nature from [the mouths of] other men, in the same way as dogs and horses are not of the same kind with us, how should all men be found following Yih Ya in their relishes ? In the matter of tastes, the whole kingdom models itself after Yih Ya ; that is, the mouths of all men are like one another. 6. "So it is with the ear also. In the matter of wickedness. Mencius elsewhere puts forth powerfully the truth that ad versity is often a school of superior virtue. The general sentiment enun ciated here, that a competence is favourable to virtue, must be admitted, and it has the warrant of Confucius in Ana. XIII. ix. Par. 4. Of Mr Lung, who is here quoted, nothing is known. Mencius pur posely quotes his saying on an ordinary matter as being well known, and serving to illustrate the point in hand. Par. 5. Yih Ya was the cook of the famous duke Hwan of Ts'e (B.C. 684 — 6-12), otherwise a worthless man, but great in his art.

Par. 6. Of the music-master Kwang see on IV. Pt I. i. 1. 31 t THE WORKS OP MENCIUS. [fiK VI. sounds, the whole kingdom models itself after the musicmaster Kwang; that is, the rars of all men are like one another. 7. "And so it is also wth the eye. In the case of Tsze-too, there is no one under heaven but would recognize that he was beautii '1. Any one who did not recognize the beauty of Tsze-too would [be said to] have no eyes. 8. " Therefore [I] say, — [Men's] mouths agree in having the same relishes ; their ears agree in enjoying the same sounds; their eyes agree in recognizing the same beauty: — shall their minds alone be without that which they similarly approve ? What is it then of which their minds similarly approve ? It is the principles [of things] , and the [conse quent determinations of] righteousness. The sages only apprehended before me that which I and other men agree in approving. Therefore the principles [of things] and [the de terminations of] righteousness are agreeable to my mind just as [the flesh] of grass and grain-fed [animals] is agreeable to my mouth."

VIII. 1. Mencius said, " The trees of New hill were once beautiful. Being situated, however, in the suburbs of [the capital of] a large State, they were hewn down with axes and bills ; and could they retain their beauty ? Still through the growth from the vegetative life day and nighfc, and the nourishing influence of the rain and dew, they were not without buds and sprouts springing out. But then came the cattle and goats, and browsed upon them. To these things is owing the bare and stript appearance [of the hill] ; and when people see this, they think it was never finely wooded. But is this the nature of the hill ? Par. 1 . Tsze-too was the designation of Kung-sun Oh, a scion of the house of Ch'ing about B.C. 700, distinguished for his beauty. See an account of his villainy and death in the 7th chapter of the " History of the several States." See also in the Tso Chuen under the llth year of duke Yin, and the 16th year of duke Chwang. OH. VIII. HOW IT IS THAT THE NATURE, PROPERLY GOOD, COMES TO APPEAR AS IP IT WERE NOT SO ; — FROM NOT RECEIVING ITS PROPER NOURISHMENT.

Par. 1. New hill, i. e. Ox hill, was a mountain not far from the capital of Ts'e. It is 10 le south of the present district city of Lin-tsze, depart ment of Ts'ing-chow. 2. " And so even of what properly belongs to man ; shall it be said that the mind [of any man] was without benevo lence and righteousness. The way in which a man loses the proper goodness of his mind is like the way in which [those] trees were denuded by axes and bills. Hewn down day after day, can it retain its excellence ? But there is some growth of its life day and night, and in the [calm] air of the morning, just between night and day, the mind feels in a degree those desii-es,and aversions which are proper to humanity ; but the feeling is not strong ; and then it is fettered and destroyed by what the man does during the day. This fettering takes place again and again ; the restorative influence of the night is not sufficient to preserve [the proper goodness] ; and when this proves insufficient for that purpose, the [nature] becomes not much different from [that of] the irrational animals ; and when people see this, they think that it never had those endowments [which I assert] . But does this condition represent the feelings proper to humanity ?

3. " Therefore if it receive its proper nourishment, there is nothing which will not grow ; if it lose its proper nourish ment, there is nothing which will not decay away. 4. " Confucius said, ' Hold it fast, and it remains with you ; let it go, and you lose it. Its out-going and in-coming cannot be denned as to time and place/ It was the mental nature of which this was said." IX. 1. Mencius said, "It is not to be wondered at that the king is not wise ! Par. 4. This is a saying of Confucius for which we are indebted to Men cius. Choo He thus expands the paragraph : — " Confucius said of the mind, 'If you hold it fast, it is here ; if you let it go, it is lost and gone ; so indeterminate in regard to time in its outgoing and incoming, and also in regard to place.' Mencius quoted his words to illustrate the unfathomablenes-s of the mind as spiritual and intelligent, how easy it is to have it or to lose it, and how difficult to preserve and keep it so that it should not be left unnourished for a moment. Learners ought constantly to be using their strength to insure the pureaess of its spirit and the settledness of its passionnature, as in the calm of the morning between day and night ; then will the proper mind always be preserved, and everywhere and in all circumstances its manifestations will be those of benevolence and righteousness."

CH. IX. ILLUSTRATING THE PRECEDING CHAPTER. — How THE KING OF 316 THE WORKS OF MEXCirS. [l3K VI. 2. " Suppose the case of the most easily growing thing in the world ; — if you let it have one day's genial heat, and then expose it for ten days to cold, it will not be able to grow. It is but seldom that I have an audience [of the king], and when I retire, there come [all] those who act upon him like the cold. Though I succeed in bringing out some buds of goodness, of what avail is it ? 3. "Now chess-playing is an art, though a small one; but without his whole mind being given, and his will bent to it, a man cannot succeed in it. Chess Ts'ew is the best chess-player in all the kingdom. Suppose that he is teach ing two men to play ; — the one gives all his mind to the game, and bends to it all his will, doing nothing but listen to Chess Ts'e'w ; the other, though he [seems to] be listen ing to him, has his whole mind running on a swan which he thinks is approaching, and wishes to bend his bow, adjust the arrow to the string, and shoot it. Though the latter is learning along with the former, his progress is not equal to his. Is it because his intelligence is not equal ? Not so."

X. 1. Mencius said, " I like fish, and I also like bears' paws. If I cannot get both together, I will let the fish go, and take the bears' paws. So I like life, and I also like righteousness. If I cannot keep the two together, I will let life go, and choose righteousness. 2. " I like life indeed, but there is that which I like more than life ; and therefore I will not seek to hold it by any TS'E'S WANT OP WISDOM WAS OWING TO HIS NEGLECT OF MENCIUS' IN STRUCTIONS AND TO BAD ASSOCIATIONS. Par. 1. The king is understood to have been Seuen of Ts'e ; — see I. Ft I. vii., et al. Par. 2. The last sentence may also be taken, with Choo He, as meaning — " Though there may be [some] sprouts of goodness in him, what can I do ? " Par. 3. " Chess Ts'ew; " — Ts'e'w was the man's name, and he was called Chess Ts'e'w from his skill at the game. CH. X. THAT IT is PROPER TO MAN'S NATURE TO LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS MORE THAN LIFE ; AND HOW IT IS THAT MANY ACT AS IF IT WERE NOT SO. Par. 1. " Bears' paws," lit., palms, have been a delicacy in China from the earliest times. They require a long time to cook them thoroughly. In B.C. 425, the king Ch'ing of Ts'oo, being besieged in his palace, requested that he might have a dish of bears' palms before he was put to death, — hoping that help would come while they were being cooked.

improper ways. I dislike death indeed, but there is that which I dislike more than death, and therefore there are occasions when I will not avoid calamity [that may occasion death]. 3. " If among the things which man likes there were no thing which he liked more than life, why should he not use all means by which he could preserve it ? If among the things which man dislikes there were nothing which he dis liked more than death, why should he not do everything by which he could avoid calamity [that might occasion it]. 4. " [But as man is] , there are cases when by a certain course men might preserve life, and yet they do not employ it ; and when by certain things they might avoid calamity [that will occasion death], and yet they will not do them. 5. " Therefore men have that which they like more than life, and that which they dislike more than death. They are not men of talents and virtue only who have this mental nature. All men have it • — what belongs to such men is simply that they are able not to lose it. 6. " Here are a small basket of rice and a basin of soup ; — and the case is one where the getting them will preserve life, and the want of them will be death. If they are offered to him in an insulting tone, [even] a tramper on the road will not receive them, or if you first tread upon them, [even] a beggar will not stoop to take them.

7. " [And yet] a man will accept of ten thousand cJiung, without any question as to the propriety and righteousness of his doing so. What can the ten thousand chung really add to him ? [When he takes them], is it not that he may get beautiful mansions ? or that he may secure the services of wives and concubines ? or that the poor and needy of his acquaintance may be helped by him ? 8. " In the former case, the [offered bounty] was not re- Par. 5. Up to this point our philosopher has been bringing out his great point, — that all men have the good heart, which he clinches by the cases in the two paragraphs that follow, which are very well conceived and ex- Parr. 6 — 8. The reader will remember that it was with 10,000 chung that the king of Ts'e tried to bribe Mencius to remain in his country ; — see II. Ft II. x. " What can the 10,000 cltung really add to him ? " is literally, in Chinese — " What do the 10,000 cluing add to me ? " The meaning is better brought out in English by changing the person from the first to the third ; but there is in the Chinese idiom also the lofty, aud true, idea — that a man's

318 THE WORKS OF MExcics. [BK vr. ceived, though it would have saved from death, and now the man takes [the emolument] for the sake of beautiful man sions. [The bounty] that would have saved from death was not received, and [the emolument] is taken to get the services of wives and concubines. [The bounty] that would have saved from death was not received, and [the emolu ment] is taken that one's poor and needy acquaintances may be helped by him. Was it not possible then to decline [the emolument] in these instances ? This is a case of what is called — losing the proper nature of one's mind." XI. 1. Mencius said, " Benevolence is [the proper quality of] man's mind, and righteousness is man's [proper] path. 2. "How lamentable is it to neglect this path and not pursue it, to lose this mind and not know to seek it [again]. 3. " When men's fowls and dogs are lost, they know to seek them [again] ; but they lose their mind, and do not know to seek it [again] . 4. " The object of learaing is nothing else but to seek for the lost mind." personality is something independent of, and higher than, all external ad vantages. The same peculiarity of Chinese idiom appears iu the conclusion of the paragraph. " Is it not that the poor and needy of his acquaintance may be helped by him ? '' is. literally, " Is it not that the poor and needy may get me? i. e., may get my help ?" On this a Chinese writer says, "The thinking of the poor would seem to show a kindly feeling, but the true nature of it appears in the — 'may get me.' The idea is not one of benevo lence, but of selfishness."

ClI. XI. HOW MEN, HAVI.VG LOST THE PROPER QUALITIES OF THEIR NA TURE, SHOULD SEEK TO RECOVER THEM. Par. 1. " Benevolence is man's mind (or heart)," i. e., it is the proper and universal characteristic of man's nature, what, as the commentators often say, " all men have." " Benevolence " would seem here to include all the moral qualities of humanity ; but it is followed by the Mencian specifica tion of '• righteousness." Compare our philosopher's yet more remarkable saying in VII. Pt II. xvi., that " Benevolence is man." Par. 4. " The object of learning " is, literally, " The way of learning and asking," " the way " meaning the proper coarse, that which is to be pursued. Mencius would seem to be guarding himself against being supposed to teach that man need not go beyond himself to secure his renovation. To illus trate his " learning and asking " we are referred to Confucius' words in the Doctrine of the Mean, XX. 19, and those of Tsze-hea in Ana. XIX. vi. — It will be noted that the Chinese sages always end with the recovery of the XII. 1 . Mencius said, " Here is a man whose fourth finger is bent, and cannot be stretched out straight. It is not painful, nor does it incommode his business ; but if there were any one who could make it straight, he would not think it far to go all the way from Ts'in to Ts'oo [to find him] ; — because his finger is not like those of other people.

2. " When a man's finger is not like other people's, he knows to feel dissatisfied; but when his mind is not like other people's, he does not know to feel dissatisfied. This is what is called — ignorance of the relative [importance of things]." XIII. Mencius said, " Anybody who wishes to cultivate a t'ung tree, or a tsze, which may be grasped with the two hands, [perhaps] with one, knows by what means to nourish it ; but in the case of their own persons men do not know by what means to nourish them. Is it to be supposed that their regard for their own persons is inferior to their regard for a t'ung or a tsze ? Their want of reflection is extreme." XIY. 1. Mencius said, " Men love every part of their persons ; and as they love every part, so they [should] old heart, and that the Christian idea of " a new heart " is unknown to them. CH. XII. HOW MEN ARE SENSIBLE OF BODILY DEFECTS, HOWEVER SLIGHT, BUT ARE NOT SENSIBLE OF MENTAL OR MORAL DEFECTS. Par. 1 . The thumb is called by the Chinese " the great finger ; " next to it is " the eating finger ; " then " the leading finger ; " then " the fourth or nameless finger;" and last, "the little finger." The fourth is called "nameless." as being of less use than the others. The capital of Ts'in was in the present department of Fung-ts'eang, Shen-se, and that of Ts'oo in King-chow, Hoo-pih.

CH. XIII. MEN'S EXTREME WANT OF THOUGHT IN REGARD TO THE CUL TIVATION OF THEMSELVES. The fiing here is probably the bignonia. The wood of it was good for making lutes. The tsze also yields a valuable wood, and is spoken of as " the king of all trees." CH. XIV. THE ATTENTION GIVEN BY MEN TO THE NOURISHMENT OF THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THEIR NATURE MUST BE REGULATED BY THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THOSE PARTS, WHICH EVERY MAN CAN DETER MINE FOR HIMSELF BY REFLECTION. Par. 1. The concluding part of this par. is rather difficult to translate, but 320 THE WORKS Or MENCIUS. [BK VI. nourish every part. There is not an inch of skin which they do not love,, and so there is not an inch of skin which they will not nourish. For examining whether his [way of nour ishing] be good or not, what other rule is there but simply this, that a man determine, [by reflecting] on himself, where it should be applied ? 2. " Some parts of the body are noble, and some ignoble ; some great, and some small. The great must not be injured for the small, nor the noble for the ignoble. He who nour ishes the little belonging to him is a small man ; he who nourishes the great is a great man.

3. " Here is a plantation-keeper, who neglects his woo and kea, and nourishes his small jujube trees; — he is a poor plantation -keeper. 4. " He who nourishes one of his fingers, neglecting his shoulders and back, without knowing that he is doing so, is a man [who resembles] a hurried wolf. 5. lf A man who [only] eats and drinks is counted mean by others ; because he nourishes what is little to the neglect of what is great. 6. ".If a man, [fond of] eating and drinking, do [yet] not fail [in nourishing what in him is great], how should his mouth and belly be accounted as no more than an inch of skin ? " the meaning is plain : — A man is to determine, by reflection on his constitu tion, what parts are more important, and should have the greater attention paid to them. It will be seen that there underlies the argument of Mencius in this chapter the important point that the human constitution is a system, certain parts of which should be kept subordinate to others. Par. 2. "The great must not be injured for the small " ;— it is implied that to neglect the greater and nobler parts of the constitution, is really to injure them. They are badly treated, not receiving the attention they deserve ; and the language implies that positive injury is done to them.

Par. 3. The " plantation-keeper" was an officer under the Chow dynasty, who had the superintendence of the sovereign's plantations and orchards. The woo was the woo-fung, the dryandra condifolia of Thunberg. The kea was also a valuable tree ; some identify it with the tsze of last chapter. Par. 4. The illustrations here are not so happy. Chaou K'e, indeed, intro duces the idea of the parts mentioned being diseased so that the " nourish ing " is equivalent to trying to heal ; but this does not appear in the text. The wolf, it is said, is very wary, and has a quick sight to discern danger ; but when chased, he is unable to exercise this faculty, hence "a hurried wolf" is the image of a man pursuing his course heedlessly. Pur. G. The meaning here is — that the parts considered small and ignoble may have, and should have, their share of attention, if the more important XV. 1. The disciple Kung-too asked, saying, " All are equally men, but some are great men, and others are little men; how is this ? " Mencius replied, " Those who followthat part of themselves which is great are great men; those who follow that part which is little are little men."

2. Kung-too pursued, " All are equally men ; but some follow that part of themselves which is great, and some that which is little ; how is this ? " Mencius said, " The ears and the, eyes have it not in their office to think, and are [liable to be] obscured by things [affecting them] ; and when one thing comes into contact with another, it simply leads it away. But it is in the office of the mind to think. By thinking, it gets [the right view of things] ; when neglecting to think, it fails to do this. These — [the senses and the mind] — are what Heaven has given to us. Let a man first stand in [the supremacy of] the greater [and nobler] part of his constitution, and the smaller part will not be able to take it from him. It is simply this which makes the great man." XVI. 1. Mencius said, "There is a nobility of Heaven, and there is a nobility of man. Benevolence, righteousness, self-consecration, and fidelity, with unwearied joy in the parts are first cared for as they ought to be. While Mencius argued that the appetites and passions should be kept in subjection, he would give no coun tenance to the practice of asceticism.-

CH. XV. THAT SOME ARK GKEAT MEN, LORDS OF REASON ; AND SOME Kung-too might have gone on to inquire : — " All are equally men ; but some stand fast in the nobler part of their constitution, and others allow its supremacy to be snatched away by the inferior part :— how is this ? " Mencius would have tried to carry the difficulty a step farther back, and after all have left it where it originally was. His saying that the nature of man is good can be reconciled with the teaching of Christianity ; but his views of human nature as a whole are open to the three objections which I have stated in the note to the 21st chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean. CH. XVI. THERE is A NOBILITY THAT is OF HEAVEN, AND A NOBILITY THAT IS OF MAN ; AND THE NEGLECT OF THE FORMER LEADS TO THE LOSS OF THE LATTER. Pm: 1. On the "nobility of man," and its classes, see V. Pt IT. ii. What I have translated •' self-consecration " and " fidelity " are taken as devotion in mind and act to " benevolence and righteousness," and the " joy in goodness " is also the goodness of those virtues.

322 THE WORKS OF MENC1US. fBK V goodness [of these virtues] , — these constitute the nobility of Heaven. To be a duke, a minister, or a great officer, — this constitutes the nobility of man. 2. " The men of antiquity cultivated their nobility of Heaven, and the nobility of man came in its train. 3. " The men of the present day cultivate their nobility of Heaven in order to seek for the nobility of man, and when they have obtained this, they throw away the other ; their delusion is extreme. The issue is simply this, that they must lose [that nobility of man] as well." XVII. 1. Mencius said, " To desire to be what is con sidered honourable is the common mind of men. And all men have what is [truly] honourable in themselves; only they do not think of it. 2. " The honour which man confers is not the truly good honour. Those to whom Chaou-mang gave honourable rank he could make mean again. o. " It is said in the Book of Poetry Par. '2. We have here merely the laudation temporis acti. Par. 3. On " their delusion is extreme" it is said : — '' When the nobility of Heaven is cultivated in order to seek for the nobility of man, at the very time it is cultivated, there is a previous mind to throw it away ; — showing the existence of delusion. Then when the nobility of man has been got, to throw away the nobility of Heaven exhibits conduct alter the attainment not equal even to that in the time of search, so that the delusion is extreme." Several commentators observe that facts may be referred to, apparently inconsistent with what is said in the last sentence of this paragraph, and then go on to say that the preservation of the nobility of man, in the case supposed, is only a lucky accident, and that the issue ought always to be as Mencius affirms. Yes; but all moral teachings must be imperfect where the thoughts are bounded by what is seen and temporal.

Cn. XVII. THE TRUE HONOUR WHICH MEN SHOULD PEPIRE. A sequel to the preceding chapter. " Nobility " is the material dignity, and " honour" is the estimation which springs from it. Par. 2. The " really good honour '' is that which springs from the nobility of Heaven, and of which human power cannot deprive its possessor. The Chaou family was one of the principal houses of the State of Tsin, and four of its chiefs had had the title of Jiang, or " the chief," combined with their surname. They were a sort of " king-making Warwicks," and figure largely in the narratives of Tso K'evv-ming. Pur. o. See the Book of Poetry, Tart III. ii. Ode III. st. 1. The Ode is one responsive from the uncles and cousins of the reigning king of Chow lor the kindness he had shown and the honour he had done to them at a ' You have made us to drink to the full of your spirits ; You have satiated us with your kindness ; meaning that [the guests] were filled with benevolence and righteousness, and therefore did not wish for the fat meat and fine millet of men. When a good reputation and farreaching; praise fall to [a man's] person, he does not desire the elegant embroidered garments of men."

XVIII. 1. Mencius said, "Benevolence subdues its opposite just as water subdues fire. Those, however, who now-a-days practise benevolence [do it] as if with a cup of water they could save a whole waggon-load of faggots which was on fire, and when the flames were not extin guished were to say that water cannot subdue fire. Such a course, moreover, is the greatest aid to what is not benevolent. 2. " The final issue will simply be this, the loss [of that small amount of benevolence]/' XIX. Mencius said, " Of all seeds the best are the five kinds of grain, but if they are not ripe, they are not equal to the t'e or the pae. So the value of benevolence lies simply in its being brought to maturity." sacrificial feast. Mencius' use of the lines is a mere accommodation of them. CH. XVIII. IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT IT IS ADAPTED TO DO, BEXEVOLENCE MUST BE PRACTISED VIGOROXJSLY AND FULLY. SO ONLY, INDEED, CAN IT BE PRESERVED. Compare with this chapter Mencius' con versation with king Hwuy of Leang in I. Pt I. iii., and also his saying in VI. Pt II. i. G. Pai". 1. Chaou K'e takes the conclusion of this paragraph as meaning — " This moreover is equivalent to the course of those who are the greatest practisers of what is not benevolent." But both the sentiment and con struction are in this way made more difficult.

CH. XIX. BENEVOLENCE MUST BE MATURED. The sentiment here is akin to tliat of the former chapter, and is perhaps rather unguardedly ex pressed. For " the five kinds of grain " see on III. Pt I. iv. 8. The t'e and pae are two plants closely resembling each other. " They are a kind of spu rious grain, yielding a small seed like rice or millet. They are to be found at .all times, in wet situations and dry, and, when crushed and roasted, may satisfy the hunger in a time of famme." XX. 1. Mencius said, " E, in teacliing men to shoot, made it a rule to draw the bow to the full, and his pupils were required to do the same. 2. " A master-workman, in teaching others, must use the compass and square, and his pupils must do the same." CHAPTER I. 1. A man of Jin asked the disciple Uh-loo, saying, " Is [an observance of] the rules of propriety [in regard to eating] or the eating the more important ? " The answer was, " [The observance of] the rules of propriety is the more important." 2. " Is [the gratifying] the appetite of sex or [the doingso only] according to the rules of propriety the more important ? "

CH. XX. LEARNING MUST NOT BE BY HALVES, BUT BY THE FULL USE OF THE RULES APPROPRIATE TO WHAT IS LEARNED. Compare with this chapter what Mencius says in IV. Pt I. i. and ii. Pur. 1. For E see on IV. Pt IL xxiv. 1. On this chapter Choo He says : — '• This chapter shows that affairs must be proceeded with according to their laws, and then they can he accomplished. But if a master neglect these, he cannot teach ; and if a pupil neglect them, he cannot learn. In small arts it is so ; — how much more with the principles of the sages ! " C'H. I. TO OBSERVE THE RULES OF PROPRIETY IN OUR CONDUCT IS A MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE, AND WHERE THEY MAY BE DISREGARDED, THE EXCEPTION WILL BE FOUND TO PROVE THE RTI.E. EXTREME CASES MUST NOT BE PRESSED SO AS TO INVALIDATE THE PKIXCIPLE. Par. 1. Jin was a small earldom, referred to the present Tse-ning Chow, in Yen chow department, Shan-tung. The distance between the city of Jin and Mencius' native city of Tsow was only between J!0 and 40 miles. Uhloo, by name Leen, a native of Tsin, was a disciple of Mencius, and is said by some to have written on the doctrines of " the old P'ang " and Laoutsze. The man of Jin's questions are not to be understood of propriety in the abstract, but of the rules of propriety understood to regulate the other things which he mentioned.