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1. There came from
Ch'û to T'ang one Hsü Hsing, who gave out that he acted
according to the words of Shan-nang. Coming right to his gate,
he addressed the duke Wan, saying, 'A man of a distant region, I
have heard that you, Prince, are practising a benevolent
government, and I wish to receive a site for a house, and to
become one of your people.' The duke Wan gave him a
dwelling-place. His disciples, amounting to several tens, all
wore clothes of haircloth, and made sandals of hemp and wove
mats for a living.
2. At the same
time, Ch'an Hsiang, a disciple of Ch'an Liang, and his younger
brother, Hsin, with their plough-handles and shares on their
backs, came from Sung to T'ang, saying, 'We have heard that you,
Prince, are putting into practice the government of the ancient
sages, showing that you are likewise a sage. We wish to become
the subjects of a sage.'
3. When Ch'an
Hsiang saw Hsü Hsing, he was greatly pleased with him, and,
abandoning entirely whatever he had learned, became his
disciple. Having an interview with Mencius, he related to him
with approbation the words of Hsü Hsing to the following
effect:-- 'The prince of T'ang is indeed a worthy prince. He has
not yet heard, however, the real doctrines of antiquity. Now,
wise and able princes should cultivate the ground equally and
along with their people, and eat the fruit of their labour. They
should prepare their own meals, morning and evening, while at
the same time they carry on their government. But now, the
prince of T'ang has his granaries, treasuries, and arsenals,
which is an oppressing of the people to nourish himself. How can
he be deemed a real worthy prince?'
4. Mencius said,'I
suppose that Hsü Hsing sows grain and eats the produce. Is it
not so?' 'It is so,' was the answer. 'I suppose also he weaves
cloth, and wears his own manufacture. Is it not so?' 'No. Hsü
wears clothes of haircloth.' 'Does he wear a cap?' 'He wears a
cap.' 'What kind of cap?' 'A plain cap.' 'Is it woven by
himself?' 'No. He gets it in exchange for grain.' 'Why does Hsü
not weave it himself?' 'That would injure his husbandry.' 'Does
Hsü cook his food in boilers and earthenware pans, and does he
plough with an iron share?' 'Yes.' 'Does he make those articles
himself?' 'No. He gets them in exchange for grain.'
5. Mencius then
said, 'The getting those various articles in exchange for grain,
is not oppressive to the potter and the founder, and the potter
and the founder in their turn, in exchanging their various
articles for grain, are not oppressive to the husbandman. How
should such a thing be supposed? And moreover, why does not Hsü
act the potter and founder, supplying himself with the articles
which he uses solely from his own establishment? Why does he go
confusedly dealing and exchanging with the handicraftsmen? Why
does he not spare himself so much trouble?' Ch'an Hsiang
replied, 'The business of the handicraftsman can by no means be
carried on along with the business of husbandry.'
6. Mencius
resumed, 'Then, is it the government of the kingdom which alone
can be carried on along with the practice of husbandry? Great
men have their proper business, and little men have their proper
business. Moreover, in the case of any single individual,
whatever articles he can require are ready to his hand, being
produced by the various handicraftsmen:-- if he must first make
them for his own use, this way of doing would keep all the
people running about upon the roads. Hence, there is the saying,
"Some labour with their minds, and some labour with their
strength. Those who labour with their minds govern others; those
who labour with their strength are governed by others. Those who
are governed by others support them; those who govern others are
supported by them." This is a principle universally recognised.
7. 'In the time of
Yâo, when the world had not yet been perfectly reduced to order,
the vast waters, flowing out of their channels, made a universal
inundation. Vegetation was luxuriant, and birds and beasts
swarmed. The various kinds of grain could not be grown. The
birds and beasts pressed upon men. The paths marked by the feet
of beasts and prints of birds crossed one another throughout the
Middle Kingdom. To Yâo alone this caused anxious sorrow. He
raised Shun to office, and measures to regulate the disorder
were set forth. Shun committed to Yî the direction of the fire
to be employed, and Yî set fire to, and consumed, the forests
and vegetation on the mountains and in the marshes, so that the
birds and beasts fled away to hide themselves. Yü separated the
nine streams, cleared the courses of the Tsî and T'â, and led
them all to the sea. He opened a vent also for the Zû and Han,
and regulated the course of the Hwâ'i and Sze, so that they all
flowed into the Chiang. When this was done, it became possible
for the people of the Middle Kingdom to cultivate the ground and
get food for themselves. During that time, Yü was eight years
away from his home, and though he thrice passed the door of it,
he did not enter. Although he had wished to cultivate the
ground, could he have done so?'
8. 'The Minister
of Agriculture taught the people to sow and reap, cultivating
the five kinds of grain. When the five kinds of grain were
brought to maturity, the people all obtained a subsistence. But
men possess a moral nature; and if they are well fed, warmly
clad, and comfortably lodged, without being taught at the same
time, they become almost like the beasts. This was a subject of
anxious solicitude to the sage Shun, and he appointed Hsieh to
be the Minister of Instruction, to teach the relations of
humanity:-- how, between father and son, there should be
affection; between sovereign and minister, righteousness;
between husband and wife, attention to their separate functions;
between old and young, a proper order; and between friends,
fidelity. The high meritorious sovereign said to him, "Encourage
them; lead them on; rectify them; straighten them; help them;
give them wings:-- thus causing them to become possessors of
themselves. Then follow this up by stimulating them, and
conferring benefits on them." When the sages were exercising
their solicitude for the people in this way, had they leisure to
cultivate the ground?
9. 'What Yâo felt
giving him anxiety was the not getting Shun. What Shun felt
giving him anxiety was the not getting Yü and Kâo Yâo. But he
whose anxiety is about his hundred mâu not being properly
cultivated, is a mere husbandman.
10. 'The imparting
by a man to others of his wealth, is called "kindness." The
teaching others what is good, is called "the exercise of
fidelity." The finding a man who shall benefit the kingdom, is
called "benevolence." Hence to give the throne to another man
would be easy; to find a man who shall benefit the kingdom is
difficult.
11. 'Confucius
said, "Great indeed was Yâo as a sovereign. It is only Heaven
that is great, and only Yâo corresponded to it. How vast was his
virtue! The people could find no name for it. Princely indeed
was Shun! How majestic was he, having possession of the kingdom,
and yet seeming as if it were nothing to him!" In their
governing the kingdom, were there no subjects on which Yâo and
Shun employed their minds? There were subjects, only they did
not employ their minds on the cultivation of the ground.
12. 'I have heard
of men using the doctrines of our great land to change
barbarians, but I have never yet heard of any being changed by
barbarians. Ch'an Liang was a native of Ch'û. Pleased with the
doctrines of Châu-kung and Chung-nE, he came northwards to the
Middle Kingdom and studied them. Among the scholars of the
northern regions, there was perhaps no one who excelled him. He
was what you call a scholar of high and distinguished qualities.
You and your brother followed him some tens of years, and when
your master died, you forthwith turned away from him.
13. 'Formerly,
when Confucius died, after three vears had elapsed, his
disciples collected their baggage, and prepared to return to
their several homes. But on entering to take their leave of Tsze-kung,
as they looked towards one another, they wailed, till they all
lost their voices. After this they returned to their homes, but
Tsze-kung went back, and built a house for himself on the
altar-ground, where he lived alone other three years, before he
returned home. On another occasion, Tsze-hsiâ, Tsze-chang, and
Tsze-yû, thinking that Yû Zo resembled the sage, wished to
render to him the same observances which they had rendered to
Confucius. They tried to force the disciple Tsang to join with
them, but he said, "This may not be done. What has been washed
in the waters of the Chiang and Han, and bleached in the autumn
sun:-- how glistening is it! Nothing can be added to it."
14. 'Now here is
this shrike-tongued barbarian of the south, whose doctrines are
not those of the ancient kings. You turn away from your master
and become his disciple. Your conduct is different indeed from
that of the philosopher Tsang.
15. 'I have heard
of birds leaving dark valleys to remove to lofty trees, but I
have not heard of their descending from lofty trees to enter
into dark valleys.
16. 'In the
Praise-songs of Lû it is said,
"He smote the
barbarians of the west and the north,
He punished Ching and Shû."
Thus Châu-kung would be sure to smite them, and you become their
disciple again; it appears that your change is not good.'
17. Ch'an Hsiang
said, 'If Hsü's doctrines were followed, then there would not be
two prices in the market, nor any deceit in the kingdom. If a
boy of five cubits were sent to the market, no one would impose
on him; linen and silk of the same length would be of the same
price. So it would be with bundles of hemp and silk, being of
the same weight; with the different kinds of grain, being the
same in quantity; and with shoes which were of the same size.'
18. Mencius
replied, 'It is the nature of things to be of unequal quality.
Some are twice, some five times, some ten times, some a hundred
times, some a thousand times, some ten thousand times as
valuable as others. If you reduce them all to the same standard,
that must throw the kingdom into confusion. If large shoes and
small shoes were of the same price, who would make them? For
people to follow the doctrines of Hsü, would be for them to lead
one another on to practise deceit. How can they avail for the
government of a State?'
1. The Mohist, Î
Chih, sought, through Hsü Pî, to see Mencius. Mencius said, 'I
indeed wish to see him, but at present I am still unwell. When I
am better, I will myself go and see him. He need not come here
again.'
2. Next day, Î
Chih again sought to see Mencius. Mencius said, 'To-day I am
able to see him. But if I do not correct his errors, the true
principles will not be fully evident. Let me first correct him.
I have heard that this Î is a Mohist. Now Mo considers that in
the regulation of funeral matters a spare simplicity should be
the rule. Î thinks with Mo's doctrines to change the customs of
the kingdom;-- how does he regard them as if they were wrong,
and not honour them? Notwithstanding his views, Î buried his
parents in a sumptuous manner, and so he served them in the way
which his doctrines discountenance.'
3. The disciple
Hsü informed Î of these remarks. Î said, 'Even according to the
principles of the learned, we find that the ancients acted
towards the people "as if they were watching over an infant."
What does this expression mean? To me it sounds that we are to
love all without difference of degree; but the manifestation of
love must begin with our parents.' Hsü reported this reply to
Mencius, who said, 'Now, does Î really think that a man's
affection for the child of his brother is merely like his
affection for the infant of a neighbour? What is to be approved
in that expression is simply this:-- that if an infant crawling
about is likely to fall into a well, it is no crime in the
infant. Moreover, Heaven gives birth to creatures in such a way
that they have one root, and Î makes them to have two roots.
This is the cause of his error.
4. 'And, in the
most ancient times, there were some who did not inter their
parents. When their parents died, they took them up and threw
them into some water-channel. Afterwards, when passing by them,
they saw foxes and wild-cats devouring them, and flies and gnats
biting at them. The perspiration started out upon their
foreheads, and they looked away, unable to bear the sight. It
was not on account of other people that this perspiration
flowed. The emotions of their hearts affected their faces and
eyes, and instantly they went home, and came back with baskets
and spades and covered the bodies. If the covering them thus was
indeed right, you may see that the filial son and virtuous man,
in interring in a handsome manner their parents, act according
to a proper rule.'
5. The disciple
Hsü informed Î of what Mencius had said. Î was thoughtful for a
short time, and then said, 'He has instructed me.' |
