Mencius

injure the [principles of the] government, and, displayed in the government, are hurtful to the conduct of affairs. When a sa,ge shall again arise, he will certainly agree with [these] my words." 18. On this Ch/ow observed, " Tsae Wo and Tsze-kung were clever in making speeches ; Jen New, the disciple Min, and Yen Yuen, while their words were good, were distin guished for their virtuous conduct. Confucius united both the qualities, [but still he] said, ' In the matter of speeches I am not competent/ — Then, Master, have you attained to be a sage ? " 19. [Mencius] replied, " Oh ! what words are these ? For merly Tsze-kung asked Confucius, saying, ( Master, are you a sage ? ' and was answered, ' To be a sage is what I cannot [claim] ; but I learn without satiety, and teach without being tired/ Tsze-kung rejoined, ' You learn without sa tiety ; — that shows your wisdom. You teach without being tired ; — that shows your benevolence. Benevolent and wise : — Master, you are a sage/ Now, since Confucius would not accept the position of a sage, what words were those [you spake about me] ? "

20. [Ch'ow said], " Formerly, it seems to me, I have heard that Tsze-hea, Tsze-yew, and Tsze-chang had each one member of a sage, and that Jen New, the disciple Min, and Yen Yuen had all the members, but in small proportions. I venture to ask with which of these you are pleased to rank yourself." 21. [Mencius] replied, " Let us drop [speaking about] these if you please." 22. [Ch'ow then] asked, "What do you say ofPih-e and The concluding remark gives rise to the rest of the chapter, it seeming to Ch'ow th'at Mencius placed himself by it on the platform of sages. Par. 18. Compare Ana. XI. ii. 2, to the enumeration in which of the excellencies of several of Confucius' disciples there seems to be here a refer ence. But the point of Ch'ow's question lies in the remark of the sage about himself, found nowhere else, and obscure enough. He thinks that Mencius is taking more upon himself than Confucius did. Parr. 19 — 21. Meucius disclaims being regarded as a sage ; but does he indicate that he thought himself superior to all the disciples of Cont'uciua mentioned by Ch'ow, — even to Yen Yuen ? Hardly so much as that ; but that he would not be content with them as his model.

Parr. 22 — 24. Pih-e, — see on Ana. V. xxii. E Yin, — see my note on the title of Book IV. Part IV. of the Shoo. Mencius discourses fully on both E Yin? " " Their ways," said [Mencius], "were different [from mine]. Not to serve a prince nor employ a people whom he did not approve ; in a time of good government to take office, and in a time of disorder to retire ; — this was [the way of] Pih-e. [To say], ' Whom may I not serve as my ruler ? Whom may I not employ as my people ? ' In a time of good government to take office, and in a time of dis order to do the same : — this was [the way of] E Yin. When it was proper to go into office, then to go into office, and when it was proper to keep aloof from office, then to keep aloof; when it was proper to continue in it long, then to do so, and when it was proper to withdraw from it quickly, then so to withdraw : — that was [the way of] Confucius. These were all sages of antiquity, and I have not attained to do what they did ; but what I wish to do is to learn to be like Confucius. "

23. [Ch/ow] said, " Comparing Pih-e and E Yin with Confucius, are they to be placed in the same rank with him ? " The reply was, " No. Since there were living men until now, there never was [another] Confucius. " 24. " Then," said [Cli'ow], "did they have any points of agreement [with him] ? " " Yes/' said [Mencius] ; '' if they had been rulers over a hundred le of territory, they would all of them have brought all the feudal princes to attend at their court, and would have possessed all under the sky. And none of them, to obtain that, would have committed one act of unrighteousness, or put to death one innocent person. In these points they agreed with him." 25. [Ch/ow] said, " I venture to ask wherein he differed from them/' [Mencius] replied, '• Tsae Wo, Tsze-kung, and Yew Joh had wisdom, sufficient to know the sao-e. these ancient worthies in V. ii. I., et al. The different ways of them and of Confucius have been thus expressed : — " The principle of Pih-e was to keep himself pure ; that of E Yin, to take office ; and that of Confucius, to do what the time required." But while thus differing, they would equally keep aloof from whatever was unrighteous, however they might be tempted.

Par. 25. Yew Joh,— see on Ana. I. ii. With parr. 2G — 28 compare the eulogium of Confucius in the Doctrine of the Mean, chh. xxx. — xxxii., and also Ana. XIX. chh. xxiii. — xxv. It is in vain the western reader tries to quicken himself to any corresponding appreciation of the sage. We look for the being whom his disciples describe as vainly as we do for the fabulous k'e-lin and phoenix, to which they compare him. The kle is prop°rly the male, and the I'm the female of the animal referred to, — a monster with a deer's body, PT I. CH. Ill ] KUNG-SUN CHfOW. 169 [Even if \ve rank them] low, they would not have demeaned themselves to flatter their favourite. 26. " Tsae Wo said, ' According to my view of the Master, he is far superior to Yaou and Shun/ 27. "Tsze-kung said, ' By viewing the ceremonial ordi nances [of a ruler] we know [the character of] his govern ment ; and by hearing his music we know [that of] his vir tue. Along the distance of a hundred ages, I can arrange, [according to their merits], the line of their kings, so that not one can escape me ; and from the birth of mankind downwards there has not been [another like our] Master/

28. " Yew Joh said, ' Is it only among men that it is so ? There is the li'e-lin among quadrupeds, the phoenix among birds, the Tfae mountain among ant-hills, the Ho and the sea among rain-pools. [Though different in degree], they are the same in kind. And so the sages among mankind are the same in kind. But they stand out from their fellows, and rise up above the crowd ; and from the birth of man kind till now there never has been one so complete as Con fucius/ '• III. 1. Mencius said, "He who, using force, makes a pretence to benevolence becomes the leader of the princes, and he must be possessed of a large State. He who, using virtue, practises benevolence becomes the king, and he need not wait till he has a large State. T'ang did it with [only] seventy le, and king Wan with [only] a hundred le. 2. " When one by force subdues men they do not submit to him in heart, but because their strength is not adequate an ox's tail, and a horse's feet, &c., which appears to greet the birth of a sage, or the reign of a sage sovereign. So in funfl-hivanrj, which I have rendered jiJiaenix, the names of the male and female are put together to denole one individual of either sex. In the words "rise up above the crowd," the image is that of stalks of grass or grain, shooting high above the level of the waving field.

CH. Til. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LEADER OF THE PRINCES AND A. TRUE SOVEREIGN ARISES FROM SUBMISSION CONSTRAINRD BY FORCE AND THAT ACCORDED TO VIRTUE AND BENEVOLENCE. Par. 1. T'ang was the founder of the Shang dynasty, as king Wan was of that of Chow. The size of their States is that of their hereditary pos sessions ; though we know that those of the House of Chow had increased very largely before the final struggle between it and that of Shang, con ducted by king Woo, the son of Wan. [to resist]. When one subdues men by virtue, in their hearts' core they are pleased, and sincerely submit, as was the case with the seventy disciples in their submission to Confucius. "What is said in the Book of Poetry, ' From the west to the east, From the south to the north, There was not a thought but did him homage,' is an illustration of this." IV. 1. Mencius said, "Benevolence brings glory, and the opposite of it brings disgrace. For [the rulers of] the present day to hate disgrace, and yet live complacently doing what is not benevolent, is like hating moisture and yet living in a low situation.

2. "If [a ruler] hates disgrace, his best course is to esteem virtue and honour [virtuous] scholars, giving the worthiest of them places [of dignity] and the able offices [of trust]. When throughout the State there is leisure and rest [from external troubles], taking advantage of such a season, let him clearly digest the measures of his government with their penal sanctions, and even great States will stand in awe of him Par. 2. "The seventy disciples " is a round number. See on the disciples of Confucius in the Prolegomena to vol. i. of my larger Work. The ode from which the quotation is made is the last of the lirst Book of the third Part of the She, celebrating the kings Wan and Woo. The lines quoted refer specially to Woo. Tsow Haou, a statesman and scholar of the llth century, says on this chapter : — '' He who subdues men by force has the intention of subduing them, and they dare not but submit. He who subdues them by virtue has no intention to subdue them, and they cannot but submit. From antiquity downwards there have been many dissertations on the leader of the princes and the true sovereign, but none so deep, incisive, and perspicuous as this chapter."

CH. IV. THE INCONSISTENCY OF A RULER'S SEEKING TO BE GREAT AND GLORIOUS BY ANY OTHER COURSE BUT THAT OF BENEVOLENCE. CALA MITY AND HAPPINESS ARE MEN'S OWN SEEKING. Par. 1. " Glory " here is not only the glory of reputation, but specially that of success and high position. Par. 2. Compare with this the 20th chapter of the " Doctrine of the Mean." PT I. CH. V.] KUNG-SUN CHfOW. 171 3. " It is said in the Book of Poetry, ' Before the sky was dark with rain, I gathered the roots of the mulberry tree, And bound round and round my window and door. Now, ye people below, Dare any of you despise my house ? ' " Confucius said, ' Did not he who made this ode understand the way [of governing] ? ' Who will dare to insult him who is able rightly to govern his State ? 4. " [But] now [the rulers] take advantage of the time when throughout their States there is leisure and rest [from external troubles] to abandon themselves to pleasure and indolent indifference, — thus seeking calamities for them selves. 5. " Calamity and happiness are in all cases men's own seeking.

6. " This is illustrated by what is said in the Book of Poetry, ' Always strive to accord with the will [of heaven], So shall you be seeking for much happiness ; ' and by the passage of the T'ae-keah, ' Calamities sent by Heaven may be avoided, but when we bring on the calamities ourselves, it is not possible to live.' ' V. 1 . Mencius said, " If [a ruler] give honour to men of talents and virtue and employ the able, so that offices shall all be filled by individuals of the highest distinc- Par. 3. See the She, Pt I. xv. Ode II., where the duke of Chow personat ing a small bird addressing an owl, vindicates the vigour of his measures in suppressing rebellion. Mencius adduces the stanza, with the moral of it as expounded by Confucius, to show how a ruler should strengthen himself by vigorous and precautionary measures. Parr. 4 — 6. Par. 4 shows how the rulers of his time took no such measures, but pursued a thoughtless, reckless course of an opposite tendency. For the poetry quoted in par. G, see the She, III. i. Ode I. ; and for the passage from the T'ae-keah, see the Shoo, IV. v., Pt ii. 3.

CH. V. FIVE POINTS OF TRUE EOYAL GOVERNMENT, THE PRACTICE OF WHICH WOtTLD HAVE CARRIED ANY OF THE PRINCES OF MENCIUS' TIME TO THE THRONE OF THE WHOLE KINGDOM ON THE TIDE OF UNIVERSAL POPU LARITY. Par. 1. Compare the first part of par. 2 in the previous chapter. The tion, then all the scholars of the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to stand in his court. 2. "If in the market-places he levy a ground-rent on the shops but do not tax the goods, or enforce the [proper] regu lations without levying a ground-rent, then all traders of the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to store their goods in his market-places. 3. " If at the frontier-gates there be an inspection of the persons, but no charges levied, then all the travellers of the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to be found on his roads. 4. " If the husbandmen be required to give their material aid [in cultivating the public field], and no levies be made [of the produce of their own], then all the farmers in the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to plough in his fields. 5. ' ' If from the [occupiers of the] people's dwellings he do not exact the cloth required from the individual [idler] or

point described here would have brought all the scholars, or the official class, of the different States to the court of the ruler who practised it. Par. 2 describes the second point which would have attracted all the traders and men of business from the four quarters. According to Choo He, the capitals and large cities in those ancient times were laid out after the fashion of the division of the land in portions of nine equal squares as in the figure [ffij, where the central square contained the fields of the State. The central square in the cities contained the palace and buildings .connected •with it ; that in front of it, the ancestral and other temples, the government treasuries, arsenals, &c. ; that behind it was the market-place, or place of busi ness ; and the three squares on each side were occupied by the dwellings of the people. He adds that when traders became too many, a ground-pent was levied on their stances or shops ; and that when they were few, it was re mitted, and only a surveillance of the markets was exercised by the proper officers. That surveillance consisted in the inspection of weights and measures, regulation of prices, &c. This view seems to give us a satisfactory meaning for this paragraph. Chaou K'e understands the second clause in it of the tithe of the produce of the ground; but it is foreign to the object of Mencius to introduce that subject in speaking of the traders in the mar ket-place.

Par. 3. See I. Pt i. VII. 18 ; Tt ii. V. 3. The "travellers," I suppose, would mostly consist of men moving' from State to State in the prosecution of business. Par. 4. The levying of a tax, an additional tithe, on the produce of the fields which by the theory of the division of the land were the private pos session of the husbandmen, commenced in Loo in the 1 (Jth year of duke Seuen : — see in the Ch'un Ts'e'w and the Tso Chueu, on VII. xvi. 8. Other States, no doubt, had adopted the practice of Loo in the matter. Par. 5. It is difficult to determine the meaning of this paragraph. Ancient ly a fine had been levied on the idlers who neglected to plant mulberrytrees and hemp about the ground assigned to them for their huts and dwell- FT I. CH. VI.] KUNG-SUN CHfOW. 173 the quota for residences, then all the people in the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to be his people. (>. " If [a ruler] can truly practise these five things, then the people of neighbouring States will look up to him as a pa rent. From the first birth of mankind until now never has any one led children to attack their parents, and succeeded in his enterprise. Such [a ruler] will not have an enemy under the sky, and he who has no enemy under the sky is the minister of Heaven. Never has there been such a case where [the ruler] did not attain to the royal dignity ."

VI. 1. Mencius said, "All men have a n :;id which cannot bear [to see the sufferings of] others. 2. " The ancient kings had this commiserating mind, and they had likewise, as a matter of course, a commiserating ings besides the fields which were devoted to the cultivation of grain ; — being at first so much cloth, and subsequently the equivalent of that in money. Then some ground-rent was levied perhaps from all the husband men for the ground so assigned for their dwellings. These two taxes appear in Mencius' time to have been levied from all occupying the three sidespaces of the cities to which I have referred in par. 2 ; and it is this exac tion which Meucius here condemns. — Many of the residents in those spaces would be the mechanics of the States; and thus the five points recommended in this chapter would secure the good-will of the four classes into which the population was anciently divided : — scholars or the official class, husband men, mechanics, and traders. Par. G. " The minister of Heaven " appears again in Pt ii. VIII. 2. On this designation one commentator observes : "An officer is one commissioned by his ruler ; the officer of Heaven is he who is commissioned by Heaven. He who bears his ruler's commission can punish men and put them to death ; — he may deal so with all criminals. He who bears the commission of Heaven can execute judgment on men and smite them ; — he can deal so even with all who are oppressing and misgoverning their States."

CH. VI. THAT THE PRINCIPLES OP BENEVOLENCE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, PRO PRIETY, AND KNOWLEDGE BELONG TO MAN AS NATURALLY AS HIS POUE LIMBS, AND MAY As EASILY BE EXERCISED. This chapter is important in its connexion with the doctrine of Mencius respecting the goodness of human nature ; but while the assertions of it are universally true, they are to be understood as introduced here with special reference to the oppressive ways and government of the princes of his time. Par. I. Compare parr. 4, 5, 6 in I. Pt i. VII. Chaou K'e and many others understand the language about " the mind that cannot bear other men," as if it meant " the mind that cannot bear [to injure] others." But it is not so much — cannot bear to inflict suffering, as — cannot bear to see suffering. Those paragraphs make this plain, as well as the illustration which immediately follows here in par. 3. government. When with a commiserating' rm'nd tliere was practised a commiserating government, to bring all under heaven to order was [as easy] as to make [a small thing] go round in the palm. 3. " The ground on which I say that all men have a mind which cannot bear [to see the suffering of] others is this : — Even now-a-days, when men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they will all experience a feeling of alarm and distress. They will feel so not that they may thereon gain the favour of the child's parents ; nor that they may seek the praise of their neighbours and friends ; nor from a dislike to the reputation of [being unmoved by] such a thing.

4. " Looking at the matter from this case, [we may see that] to be without this feeling of distress is not human, and that it is not human to be without the feeling of shame and dislike, or to be without the feeling of modesty and com plaisance, or to be without the feeling of approving and dis approving. 5. "That feeling of distress is the principle of benevo lence ; the feeling of shame and dislike is the principle of righteousness ; the feeling of modesty and complaisance is the principle of propriety ; and the feeling of approving and disapproving is the principle of knowledge. G. "Men have these four principles just as they have their four limbs. When, men, having these four principles, yet say of themselves that they cannot [manifest them], they play the thief with themselves ; and he who says of Pa?1. 3. The object here is to prove that the feeling of commiseration is instinctive, and does not spring up from any considerations of interest or advantage to be got by it. Parr. 4, o. In par. 4 we have Mencius' account of the moral constitution of human nature. " The feeling of distress, of shame," &c., is in the original "the mind that feels distress, shame," &c. The mind is one, but all these feelings are natural to it, and make it what it is. '• Principle " in par. 5, is the right translation of the original term, meaning "the beginning," as the end of a clue, &c. The feeling of distress is in itself benevolent, and from the primary feeling all benevolent feelings and actions may be developed. " Knowledge " is the only term with which I am not satisfied. Would " wisdom " be a better word, with the meaning it has in such passages of the Bible as " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom 1 "

Parr. G, 7. " To play the thief with one's self, or with one's ruler," is to his ruler that ho cannot [manifest them], plays the thief with his ruler. . 7. "Since we all have the four principles in ourselves, let us know to give them all their development and completion, and the issue will be like that of a fire which has begun to burn, or of a spring which has begun to find vent. Let them have their full development, and they will suffice to love and protect all [within] the four seas ; let them be denied that development, and they will not suffice for a man to serve his parents with." VII. 1. Mencius said, "Is the arrow-maker [naturally] more wanting in benevolence than the maker of mail ? [And yet], the arrow-maker's only fear is lest [his arrows] should not wound men, and the fear of the maker of mail is lest men should be wounded. So it is as between the priest and the coffin-maker. [The choice of] a, profes sion therefore is a thing in which it is very necessary to be careful. 2. "Confucius said, ' The excellence of a neighbourhood consists in its virtuous manners. If a man, in selecting a re sidence, do not fix on one where such prevail, how can he be wise ? ' Now benevolence belongs to the most honourable nobility of Heaven, and is the quiet home where man should dwell. Since no one can hinder us from being so, if we are not benevolent, this shows our want of wisdom.

injure and rob one's self or one's ruler, taking away from him that which, properly belongs to him. In par. 7 Mencius must begin the application of his principles with an "if." His analysis of human nature is admirable, but something is the matter with it of which he is not aware. CH. VII. THE PRINCIPLE OF BENEVOLENCE SHOULD DOMINATE IN ALL THE PROFESSIONS OF LIFE, — IN THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT AND IN THE ARTS OF LOWER WALKS. THE BENEVOLENf RULER WILL NEVER BE A SERVANT OF OTHERS, AND HE WHO IS SO HAS ONLY HIMSELF TO BLAME. The argument of Mencius in this chapter is more loosely put forth than in his general practice, and it is more difficult to set it forth concisely. Par. 1. The term which I have translated "priest" here occurs in the Analects, XIII. xxii., where it is translated by " wizard." See the passage. As opposed to a " coffin-maker," who makes provision for the death of men, it indicates one by whose prayers and other methods it is sought to procure life and prosperity for men. Par. 2. See Ana. IV. i. 176 THE WORKS OP MENCIUS. [fiK II. 3. c< He who is [thus] neither benevolent nor wise will be without propriety and righteousness, and must be the servant of [other] men. To be the servant of men and yet ashamed of such servitude is like a bow-maker's being ashamed to make bows, or an arrow-maker's being ashamed to make arrows.

4. " If [a man] be ashamed of being in such a case, his best course is to practise benevolence. 5. "He who [would be] benevolent is like the archer. The archer adjusts himself, and then shoots. If he shoot and do not hit, he does not murmur against those who surpass himself: — he simply turns round, and seeks the [cause of failure] in himself." YITI. 1. Mencius said, " When any one told Tsze-loo that he had a fault, he was glad. 2. " When Yu heard good words, he bowed [to the speaker] . 3. " The great Shun had a [still] greater [quality] : — ho regarded goodness as the common property of himself and others, giving up his own way to follow others, and delight ing to copy [the example of] others, — in order to practise what was good. 4. " From the time that he ploughed and sowed, exer cised the potter's art and was a tisherman, to that when he was emperor, he was always learning from others. Par. 3. The first clause here flows from the previous par., and the next seems to show what will be the consequence of being devoid of benevolence and wisdom ; and the whole will result in servitude to others. That result is natural, and he who grieves under it has only himself to blame.

Par. 5. Compare Ana. III. vii. and xvi. CH. VIII. HOW SAGES AND WORTHIES DELIGHTED IN WHAT WAS GOOD. TO HELP OTHERS TO PRACTISE GOODNESS IS A GREAT INSTANCE OF VIRTUE. Par. 1. Tsze-loo's ardour in pursuing his self-improvement appears in Ana. V. xiii., and other places ; but the particular point mentioned here is not mentioned anywhere else. Par. 2. See the Shoo, II. iii. 1. Par. 3. Shun's distinction was that he did not think of himself as Tszeloo did, nor of others as Yu did, but only of what was good, and was un consciously carried to it wherever he saw it. Par. 4. It is related of Shun that in his early days he ploughed at the foot of the Leih mountain, did potter's work on the banks of the Ho, fished in the Luy lake, made various implements on the Show mountain, and often FT I. CH. IX.] KUNG-SQN CHfOW. 177 5. " To take example from others to practise what is good is to help men in the same practice. Therefore there is no attribute of the superior man greater than his helping men to practise what is good." IX. 1. Mencius said, " Pih-e would not serve a ruler whom he did not approve, nor be friendly with any one whom he did not esteem. He would not stand in the court of a bad man, nor speak with a bad man. To stand in a bad man's court, or to speak with a bad man, would havebeenin his estimation the same as to stand with his court robes and court cap amid mire and charcoal. Pursuing our examination of his dislike to what was evil, [we find] that he thought it necessary, if he were standing with a villager whose cap was not rightly adjusted, to leave him with a high air as if he were going to be defiled. Hence it was, that, though some of the princes made application to him with very proper mes sages, he would not accept [their invitations]. That refusal to accept [their invitations] was because he counted it in consistent with his purity to go to them.

2. " Hwuy of Lew-hea was not ashamed [to serve] an im pure ruler, nor did he think it low to be in a small office. When called to employment, he did not keep his talents and virtue concealed, but made it a point to carry out his prin ciples. When neglected and left out of office, he did not mur mur ; and when straitened by poverty, he did not grieve. Accordingly, he would say, ' You are you, and I am I. Al though you stand by my side with bare arms and breast, how can you defile me ? ' In this way, self-possessed, he associated with men indifferently, and did not feel that he lost himself. If pressed to remain in office, he would re main. He would remain in office when so pressed, because he did not feel that his purity required him to go away." 3. Mencius said, " Pih-e was narrow-minded, and Hwuy of resided at Foo-hea. There will be occasion to consider where these places were in connexion with some of Mencius' future references to him. On his elevation to be emperor see the first Book of the Shoo. CH. IX. PICTURES OF PIH-E AND HWUY OF LEW-HEA ; AND MENCIUS'

JUDGMENT CONCERNING THEM. Par. 1. Pih-e, — see on ch. ii. 22. Par. 2. Hwuy of Lew-hea, — see on Ana. XV. xiii. ; XVIII. ii. ; viii. Par. 3. By " the superior man," Mencius, perhaps, tacitly refers to himself VOL. II. 12 Lew-hea was wanting in self-respect. The superior man will not follow either narrow-mindedness or the want of self-respect." KUNG-SUN CHfOW. PART II. CHAPTER I. 1. Mencius said., (e Opportunities of time [vouchsafed by] Heaven are not equal to advantages of situ ation [afforded by] the earth, and advantages of situation [afforded by] the earth are not equal to the strength [arising from the] accord of men. 2. " [There is a city], with an inner wall of three le in circumference and an outer wall of seven. [The enemy] surround and attack it, but are not able to take it. Now, to surround and attack it, there must have been vouchsafed to them by Heaven the opportunity of time, and in such case their not taking it is because opportunities of time [vouch safed by] Heaven are not equal to advantages of situation [afforded by] the earth. 3. " [There is a city] whose walls are as high and moats

as having taken Confucius for his model. One commentator says on this paragraph ; — ''Elsewhere Mencius advises men to imitate E and Hwuy, hut he is there speaking to the weak ; when here he advises not to follow them, he is speaking for those who wish to do the right thing at the right time." CH. I. NO ADVANTAGES WHICH A RULER CAN OBTAIN FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEFENCE, OR TO EXALT HIM OVER OTHERS, ARE EQUAL TO HIS POSSESS ING THE HEARTS OP MEN. Because of this chapter Mencius has got a place in China among the writers on the art of war, which surely he would not have wished to claim for himself, his design heing to supersede the recourse to arms altogether. Par. 1. Chinese commentators have much to say about ascertaining the " time of Heaven " by divination and astrology : but all this is to be set aside as foreign to the mind of Mencius in the text, though many examples of the resort to those arts can be adduced from ancient records. " The accord of men " is the loyal union of the people with their ruler. Par. 2. The city here supposed, with its double circle of fortification, is a small one, the better to illustrate the superiority of advantage of situation, just us that in the next par. is a large one, to bring out the still greater supe riority of the union of men. A city of the dimensions specified here was the capital of a baronial State.

rr ir. CH. ii.] KUNG-STJN cnrow. 179 as deep as could be desired, and where the arms and mail [of its defenders] are distinguished for their sharpness and strength, and the [stores of] rice and grain are abundant ; yet it has to be given up and abandoned. This is because advantages of situation [afforded by] the earth are not equal to the [strength arising from the] accord of men. 4. " In accordance with these principles it is said, ( A people is bounded in not by the limits of dykes and borders ; a State is secui'ed not by the strengths of mountains and streams ; the kingdom is overawed not by the sharpness of arms [and strength] of mail/ He who finds the proper course has many to assist him, and he who loses it has few. When this — the being assisted by few — reaches the extreme point, [a ruler's] own relatives and connexions revolt from him. When the being assisted by many reaches its extreme point, all under heaven become obedient [to the ruler] . 5. " When one to whom all under heaven are prepared to be come obedient attacks one from whom his own relatives and connexions are ready to revolt, [what must the result be ?] Therefore the true ruler will [prefer] not [to] fight, but if he do fight, he is sure to overcome."

II. 1. As Mencius was about to go to court to the king, the king sent a person to him with this message : — "I was wishing to come and see you. But I have got a cold, and may not expose myself to the wind. In the morning I will hold my court. I do not know whether you will give me the opportunity of seeing you ? " . [Mencius] replied, Par. 4. " The proper course " intended is that style of government on the principles of benevolence and righteousness which is sure to unite the hearts of the people to their ruler. " Relatives" are relatives by blood ; " connex ions,'' merely relatives by affinity. On. II. How MENCIUS CONSIDERED THAT IT WAS SLIGHTING HIM FOB THE KING OF Ts'E TO CALL HIM BY MESSENGERS TO GO T "> COURT TO SEE HIM ; AND THE SHIFTS HE WAS PUT TO TO GET THIS UNDERSTOOD. It must be understood that Mencius was in Ts'e simply as an honoured guest, in his capacity of teacher or philosopher, and had not accepted any official position with the salary attached to it. It was for him to pay his respects at court, if he wished to do so ; but if the king wished to show him respect and to ask his counsel, it was tor him to go to him, and beg his instructions. Par. \. The morning, as soon as it was light, was the regular time for the king and feudal princes to give audience to their ministers and officers, and arrange about the administration of affairs ; and this is also the modern practice iu China. The king's saying that he had a cold was merely a pre-

" Unfortunate]}* I am unwell, and not able to go to court." 2. Next day he went out to pay a visit of condolence to the Tung-kwoh family, when Kung-sun Ch'ow said to him, " Yesterday you declined [going to the court] on the ground of being unwell, and to-day you are paying a visit of condo lence : — may not this be regarded as improper ? " " Yes terday," said [Mencius], " I was unwell ; to-day I am bet ter : — why should I not pay this visit ? " 3. [In the mean time] the king sent a messenger to inquire about his illness, and a physician [also] came [from the court] . Mang Chung replied to them, " Yesterday, when the king's order came, he was feeling a little unwell, and could not go to the court. To-day he was a little better and hastened to go to court. I do not know whether he can have reached it [by this time] or not." [Having said this,] he sent several men to intercept [Mencius] on the way, and say to him that he begged him, before he returned, to be sure and go to the court.

4. [On this, Mencius] felt himself compelled to go to King Ch'ow's, and there stop the night. The officer King said to him, "In the family there is [the relation of] father and son ; beyond it there is [that of] ruler and minister. These are the greatest relations among men. Between father and tence ; — he wanted to get Mencius to come to him. Mencius' saying that he was unwell was equally a pretence. Compare Confucius' conduct ia Ana. XVII. xx. Par. 2. Tung-kwoh. was a clan name in Ts'e, taking its rise from the quarter where the founder of it had lived. Some member of the family had died, and Mencius now went to it to pay a visit of condolence, that the' king might hear of his doing so, and understand the lesson he had meant to give him the day before by saying that he was unwell. The disciple did not un derstand the reason of his proceeding, and our philosopher, we think, had bettor have told it to him plainly than go on to further prevarication. Par. 3. Mang Chung must have been a near relative of Mencius : — some ?Hy that he was a son; others, a nephew. "He was a little unwell" is iii Chinese "he had anxiety about gathering firewood." To do this was the business of the children of the common people, from which sickness alone could give them a dispensation. Used of Mencius if was an expres sion of humility. Neither did Mting Chung understand the conduct of his father or uncle ; and having committed himself to a falsehood about it, he took the step which is related to get Mencius to go to court to make his own words good.

Par. 4. Mencius was resolved that the king should know the reason of his not going to court ; and as the words of Mang Chung interfered with his first plan for that purpose, he now went to another officer of Ts'e whose ao- IT II. CH. II.] KUNG-SUN CHfOW. 181 son the ruling principle is kindness ; between ruler and minister the ruling principle is respect. I have seen the respect of the king to you, Sir, but I have not seen in what way you show respect to him/' The reply was, " Oh ! what words are these ? Among the people of IVe there is no one who speaks to the king about benevolence and righteousness. Is it because they think that benevolence and righteousness are not admirable ? No ; but in their hearts they say, ' This man is not fit to be spoken with about benevolence and right eousness/ Thus they manifest a disrespect than which there can be none greater. I do not dare to set forth before the king any but the ways of Yaou and Shun. There is there fore no man of 'IVe who respects the king so much as I do."

5. King-tsze said, " Not so ; that was not what I meant. In the Book of Rites it is said, ' When a father calls, the son must go to him without a moment's hesitation ; when the prince's order calls, the carriage must not be waited for/ You were certainly going to court, but when you heard the king's message, you did not carry the purpose out. This does seem as if your conduct were not in accordance with that rule of propriety." 6. [MenciusJ answered him, " How can you give that meaning to my conduct ? The philosopher Tsang said, ' The wealth of Tsin and Ts'oo cannot be equalled. Their [rulers] have their wealth, and I have my benevolence. They have their rank ; and I have my righteousness. Wherein should I be dissatisfied [as inferior to them] ?' Now were these sentiments not right ? Seeing that the philosopher Tsang gave expression to them, there is in them, I apprehend, a [real] principle. Under heaven there are three things universally acknowledged to be honourable : — rank ; years ; and virtue. In courts, rank holds the first place of the three ; in villages, years, ; and for helping one's generation and presiding over the people, virtue. How can the possession of only one of them be presumed on to despise one who possesses the other two ?

quaintance he enjoyed, and talked the matter over with him fully, that through him the whole thing might reach the king's ears. Par. 5. The passages quoted by the officer King from the Book of Rites (I. Ft I. iii. 14 ; XIII. iii. 2) were not fully applicable to Mencius, who did not consider himself a minister of Ts'e. He was there as an honoured visitor, and would only take office if he saw reason to believe that the king would follow his counsels. 182 THE WOKKS OF MEXCIUS. [iJK II. 7. " Therefore, a prince who is to accomplish, great deeds will certainly have ministers whom he does not call to go to him. When he wishes to consult with them,, he goes to them. [The ruler] who does not honour the virtuous and delight in their ways of doing to this extent is not worth having to do with. 8. "Accordingly, so did T'ang behave to E Yin: — lie learned of him, and then employed him as his minister, and so \vithout difficulty he became king. And so did duke Hwan behave to Kwan Chung : — he learned of him, and then employed him as his minister, and so without difficulty he became leader of the princes.

9. "Now throughout the kingdom [the territories of] the princes are of equal extent and in their achievements they are on a level. Not one of them is able to exceed the others. This is from no other reason but that they love to make ministers of those Avhom they teach, and do not love to make ministers of those by whom they might be taught. 10. " So did T'ang behave to Jil Yin, and duke Hwan to Kwan Chung, that they would not venture to call them [to them]. If even Kwan Chung could not be called to him [by his ruler], how much less may he be called who Avould not play the part of Kwan Chung !" III. 1. Cli'in Tsin asked [Mencius], saying, " Former- P<ii'. 8. We are told that it was only after T'ang had five times solicited the presence of E Yin by special messengers that that worthy was induced to go to him. See the confidence reposed by duke Hwan in Kwan Cluing in Pt I. i. ;>. Kwan was taken to Ts'e originally as A prisoner to be put to death, but the duke, knowing his ability and worth, had determined to make him his chief minister, and therefore, having first caused him to be relieved of his fetters, he drove himself out of his capital and met him with all distinction, listening to a long discourse from him on government.

Par. !>. All things were ready for one prince to exceed all the others, and to be made king ; but no one would follow the counsels of Mencius which would have resulted in such an issue. Pur. 10. Compare Ft I. i. 4. CH. III. BY WHAT PRINCIPLES MENCIUS WAS GUIDED IN KKCEIVI^'G OR DECLINING THE GIFTS TENDERED TO HIM BY THE PRINCES. The practice of receiving gifts from the princes whom he condemned was one of the weak points in Mencius' life, and his disciples were evidently stumbled by it. He had always something to say, however, in reply t:> their doubts and ques tions ; — ingenious, if not altogether satisfactory. Par. 1. Ch'iu Tsin was one of Mencius' disciples, but this is all that ia PT II. CH. IV.] KUNG-SUN CHfOW. 183 ly, when you were in Tsfe, the king sent you a present of 2,000 taels of fine silver, and you refused to accept it. When you were in Sung, 1,400 taels were sent to you, which you accepted; and when you were in Seeh, 1,000 taels were sent, which you [likewise] accepted. If your declining the gift in the first case was right, your accepting it in the latter cases was wrong. If your accepting it in the latter cases was right, your declining it in the first case was wrong. You must accept, Master, one of these alterna tives/'

2. Mencius said, " I did right in all the cases. 3. " When I was in Sung, I was about to take a long journey. Travellers must be provided with what is neces sary for their expenses. The [prince's] message was — ' A present against travelling expenses/ Why should I not have received it ? 4. ' ' When I was in Seeh, I was apprehensive for my safety, and wished to take measures for my protection. The mes sage [with the gift] was — ' I have heard that you are ap prehensive for your safety, and therefore I send you this to help you in procuring weapons/ Why should I not have received it ? 5. " But as to the case in Tsfe, I had then no occasion for money. To send a man a gift, when he has no occasion for it, is to bribe him. How can one claim to be a superior man, and allow himself to be taken with a bribe ? " IV. 1. Mencius, having gone to P'ing-luh, said to the known of him. Nor can we tell to what period of our philosopher's life this conversation should be referred. Fine silver, is, literally, " double metal ; " i. e., silver (not gold) worth twice as much as that in ordinary circulation. Sung was the dukedom over which the representatives of the kings of the Shang dynasty ruled, having as its capital Shang-kew, which name remains in the district so called of th« department Kwei-tih in Ho-nan. Seeh, — see on I. Pt II. xiv. 1 . I suppose that though Seeh in Mencius' time be longed to Ts'e the descendants of its former princes were permitted to administer it, and that it was one of them who sent to him the present here mentioned.

Parr. 8 — 5. These contain the explanation which Mencius gives of his con duct. He took gifts when he had occasion for them ; — it would have been better if he had not taken them at all. CH. IV. How MENCIUS BROUGHT CONVICTION OF THEIR FAULTS TO AN OFFICES OF Ts'E AND TO THE KING. This brief chapter is a good instance governor of it, "If [one of] your spearmen should lose his place in the ranks three times in one day, would you, Sir, put him to death or not ? " "I would not wait till he had done so three times," was the reply. 2. [Mencius] continued, " Well then, you, Sir, have lost your place in the ranks many times. In calamitous years and years of famine, the old and feeble of your people who have been found lying in ditches and water- channels, and the able-bodied who have been scattered about to the four quarters, have amounted to thousands.-" " This is not a case in which I, Keu-sin, can take it upon me to act." 3. "Here," said [Mencius], "is a man who receives charge of the sheep and cattle of another, and undertakes to feed them for him ; — of course he must seek for pastureground and grass for them. If, after seeking for these, he cannot find them, will he return his charge to the owner ? or will he stand [by] and see them die ? " " Herein," said [the governor], "1 am guilty/''

4. Another day Mencius had an audience of the king, and said to him, "Of the governors of your Majesty's cities I am acquainted with five; but the only one who knows his fault is K'ung Keu-sin." He then related to the king the conversation which he had had [with that officer], and the king said, " In this matter I am the guilty one." V. 1. Mencius said to Ch'e Wa, "There seemed to be reason in your declining [the governorship] of L;ng-kfew, of Mencius' manner, and of the ingenuity which he displayed in bringing his counsels before those whom he wished most to influence. Par. 1. P'ing-luh was a city — one of those called capitals, as having in them an ancestral temple of the princes of the State — in the south of Ts'e, somewhere, probably, in the present department of Yen-chow. Its govern or or commandant, presiding also over the country around it, was K'ung Keu-sin. Par. 2. The governor's saying that the case which Mencius described was not one in which he could act meant that the measures to provide for it, such as opening the public granaries, could only emanate from the king. Pur. 3. Mencius wished the governor to understand that he ought not in such circumstances to retain his office.

CH. V. THE FREEDOM WHICH MENCII'S CLAIMED FOR HIMSELF IN RETAINING HIS POSITION IN Ts'E, NOTWITHSTANDING OBJECTIONABLE MEASURES OF THE KING, WAS BECAUSE HE WAS UNSALARIED. Pur. 1. Of Ch'e Wa we only know what is related here. Ling-k'ew was a city in the borders of Ts'e, remote from the court. Ch'e Wa had betiu rr IT. CH.VI.] KTJNG-SUN cn'ow. 185 and requesting to be appointed chief criminal judge, because the [latter office] would afford you the opportunity of speaking your mind. But now several months have elapsed ; and have you found nothing about which you might speak ? " 2. [On this] Ch/e Wa remonstrated [on some matter] with th ^ king ; and, his counsel not being taken, he resigned his office, and went away. 3. Tne people of Ts'e said, " In the course which he marked out for Ch/e Wa he did well ; but as to the course which he pursues for himself, we do not know." 4. His disciple Kung Too told him these remarks. 5. [Meneius] said, " I have heard that when he, who is in charge of an office, is prevented from performing its duties, he should take his departure, and that he on whom is the responsibility of giving his opinions, when his words are disregarded, should do the same. [But] I am in charge of no office, and on me is no responsibility to speak out my views ; — may not I act freely and without restraint either in going forward or in retiring ? "

VI. 1. Meneius, occupying the position of a high dig nitary in Ts'e, went from it on a mission of condolence to T'ang, and the king sent Wang Hwan, governor of Kah, [with him] as assistant-commissioner. Wang Hwan, morning and evening, waited upon him, but, during all the way to T'ang and back to Ts'e, [Meneius] never spoke to him about the affairs of the mission. governor of it, but got himself appointed chief criminal judge, wishing to be near the king, with whom this office would give him the opportunity to remonstrate on measures of which he did not approve. Perhaps he found it easier to resolve to discharge that disagreeable duty, than to carry the resolution into practice. Parr. 2 — 4. Ch'e Wa, stimulated by Meneius, did remonstrate and then felt it necessary to retire from office. We cannot wonder at the remarks of the people on Meneius' conduct. Kung-too was one of his disciples with whom we shall meet again. Meneius thought highly of him, but this is nearly all we know about him. He ap pears to have been descended from a prince of Ts'oo, who held the city of Too ; and hence the surname.

Par. 1. Meneius' situation as a " noble " or "high dignitary " of Ts'e ap pears to have been honorary only, without emolument, and the king employed him on this occasion to give weight by his character to the mission. But 2. Kung-sun Ch'ow said [to Mencius], "The position of a high dignitary of Ts'e is not a small one, and the way from Ts'e to T'ang is not short; — how was it that during all the way from Tsfe to T'ang and back, you never spoke [to Hwan] about the affairs of the mission ? " " There were the proper parties to attend to them • why should I speak [to him about them] ? " VII. 1. Mencius [went] from Ts'e to bury [his mother] in Loo. When he returned to Ts'e, he stopped at Ying, and Ch/ung Yu begged [to put a question to] him, saying, " Formerly, in ignorance of my incompetency, you employed me to superintend the business of making the coffin. As [you were then pressed by] the urgency [of the business], I did not venture to put any question to you; but now I wish to take the liberty to submit the matter. The wood, it appeared to me, was too good."

2. [Mencius] replied, "Anciently, there was no rule for [the thickness of] either the inner or the outer coffin. In he associated with him Wang Hwan, an unworthy favourite. I think Men cius had better have declined the mission, and escaped from the association altogether, than behave as he did. Par. 2. Chaou K'e understands the first part of Mencius' reply to Ch'ow as relating to Wang Hwan. and = " The fellow attended to them — managed them — himself ; " but the interpretation followed in the version is more natural, and in harmony with the ordinary usage of the terms. CH. VII. THAT ONE OUGHT TO no HIS UTMOST IN THE BURIAL OP HIS PARENTS ; — ILLUSTRATED BY THE STYLE IN WHICH MENCIUS BURIED HIS MOTHER. Compare I. Pt II. xvi. Par. 1. The tradition is that Mencius had had h« mother with him in Ts'e, and that on her death he carried the coffin to the family sepulchre in Tsow, which now was part of Loo. How long he remained in Loo is un certain ; perhaps the whole three years proper to the mourning for a parent. Ying was a city in the south of Ts'e, and it is also disputed whether his stopping at it was for a night merely, or for a longer period. Clrung Yu was one of Mencius' disciples, and it has been deemed strange, if the philo sopher completed the period of mourning in Loo, that Yu she jl^ have sub mitted his doubts to him after the lapse of so long a time. But it has been replied that this only illustrates how fond Mencius' disciples were of apply ing to him for a solution of their doubts ; and the instance of Cirin Tsin in chapter iii. is another case in point of the length of time they would keep things in mind. The different speculations on the points thus indicated are endless.

Par. 2. "Middle antiquity" commences with the Chow dynasty, and Mencius has reference especially to the statutes settled by the duke of Chow middle antiquity, the inner coffin was made seven inches thick, and the outer the same. This was done by all from the son of Heaven down to the common people, and not simply for the beauty of the appearance, but because they thus satisfied [the natural feelings of J the human heart. 3. " If prevented [by statutory regulations] from making their coffins thus, men cannot have the feeling of pleasure ; and if they have not the money [to make them thus], they cannot have that feeling. When they were not prevented, and had the money, the ancients all used this style ; — why should I alone not do so ? 4. " And moreover, is this alone no satisfaction to a man's heart — to prevent the earth from getting near to the bodies of bis dead ? 5. "I have heard that the superior man will not for all the world be niggardly to his parents." VIII. 1. Shin T'ung, on his private authority, asked [Mencius], saying, " May Yen be attacked ? " Mencius said, " It may. Tsze-k'wae had no right to give Yen to another man ; and Tsze-che had no right to receive Yen from Tsze-k'wae. [Suppose] there were an officer here, with whom you, Sir, were pleased, and that, without announcing the matter to the king, you were privately to give to him your salary and rank, and [suppose that] this officer, also without the king's orders, were privately to receive them from you ; — would [such a transaction] be

for the regulation of funeral and other rites; though what he says about the equal thickness of the inner and outer coffins does not agree with what we find in the Le Ke, XXII. ii. 81. It must be borne in mind also that seven inches of the Chow dynasty were only equal to rather more than four inches of the present day. CH. VIII. EVEN DESERVED PUNISHMENT OUGHT NOT TO BE INFLICTED BY ANY BUT THE PROPER AUTHORITY. AN OFFENDING STATE CAN ONLY BE ATTACKED BY THE MINISTER OF HEAVEN ; ILLUSTRATED FROM THE CASE OF Ts'E AND YEN. See on Book I. Pt II. x. and xi. This chapter should come in perhaps, in point of time, before ch. x. there. Tsze-k'wae was the name of the weak king of Yen who had resigned his portion to his favour ite minister Tsze-che. Par. 1. Shin T'ung must have been a minister of T*'e ; and though he consulted Mencius, as is here related, ahout attacking Yen, on his own pri vate impulse, he must have informed the king and others of the answer of allowable ? And where is the difference between [the case of Yen and] this ? "

2. The people of Ts'e attacked Yen, and some one asked [Mencius] saying, " Is it true that you advised Ts'e to attack Yen ?" He replied, "No. Shin T'ung asked me whether Yen might be attacked, and I replied that it might, on which they proceeded to attack it. If he had asked me who might attack it, I would have answered him that the minister of Heaven might do so. Suppose the case of a murderer, and that one asked me, ' May this man be put to death ? ' I would answer him, ' He may.' If he [further] asked me, 1 Who may put him to death?' I would answer him, ' The chief criminal judge/ But now with [one] Yen to attack [another] Yen : — how should I have advised this ? " IX. 1. The people of Yen having rebelled, the king said, " I am very much ashamed [when I think] of Mencius." 2. Ch/in Ke'a said [to him], "Let not your Majesty be troubled. Whether does your Majesty consider yourself or the duke of Chow the more benevolent and wise ? " The king replied, " Oh ! what words are these ? " [Ch'in Ke'a] rejoined, " The duke of Chow employed Kwan-shuh to over see [the heir of] Yin, but Kwan-shuh rebelled with [the people of] Yin. If, knowing [that this would happen], he yet employed him, he was not benevolent. If he

the philosopher which was supposed to justify the movement of Ts'e against the neighbouring State. Par. 2. Compare what Mencius did really say to the king of Ts'e on the subject of his appropriating the vanquished Yen in I. Pt II. x. and xi. CH. IX. How MENCIUS EXPOSED THE ATTEMPT TO ARGUE IN EXCUSE OP ERRORS AND MISCONDUCT : — REFERRING ALSO TO THE CASE OF Ts'E AND YEN. This chapter should come in after ch. xi. of I. Ft II. Par. 1. The king was naturally ashamed of himself for having misinter preted what Mencius had said to Shin T'ung, and neglected the advice which he had given to himself. Pm1. 2. Ch'in Ke'a was, like Shin T'ung, an officer of Ts'e. The case of the duke of Chow to which Ke'a referred was this : — On king Woo's ex tinction of the dynasty of Shang, having spared the life of the son of the last sovereign, he farther conferred on him the small State of Yin from which the dynasty had taken one of its names, but placed him under the surveillance of two of his own brothers, Seen and Too, one of them older aud the other younger than another brother, Tan the duke of Chow, by

PT II. CH. X.] KUNG-SUN CHfOW. 189 employed him without knowing it, lie was not wise. The duke of Chow was [thus] not perfectly benevolent and wise, and how much less can your Majesty be expected to be so ! I beg to [go and] see Mencius, and relieve [your Ma jesty] of that [feeling] ." 3. [Accordingly] he saw Mencius, and asked him, saying, " What kind of man was the duke of Chow ? " " An ancient sage," was the reply. " Is it true/' pursued [the other], " that he employed Kwan-shuh to oversee [the heir of] Yin, and that Kwan-shuh rebelled with [the people of] Yin ? " " It is," said [Mencius]. [Ch'in Kea] asked, '< Did the duke of Chow know that he would rebel, and [thereupon] employ him ? " " He did not know it," was the reply. " Then though a sage, he still fell into error." " The duke of Chow," said [Mencius], "was the younger brother, and Kwan-shuh the elder. Was not the error of the duke of Chow reasonable ? 4. " Moreover, when the superior men of old had errors, they reformed them ; but when the superior men of the pre sent day have errors, they persist in them. The errors of the superior men of old were like the eclipses of the sun and moon. All the people witness them ; and when they have resumed their usual appearance, all the people look up to them [with their former admiration] . But do superior men of the present day merely persist [in their errors] ? — • they go on to make excuses for them as well."

X. 1. Mencius gave up his office [in Tsfe], and [was pre paring to] return [to his native State] . whose advice, we must understand, the step was taken. Seen has come down to us with the title of Kwan-shuh, Kwan being the name of the prin cipality which he had received for himself. After Woo's death, Seen and Too joined the heir of Yin in rebelling against the new dynasty, when the duke of Chow took action against them, put the former to death and ban ished the other. Par. 3. What Mencius means in the conclusion of this paragraph is, that brother ought not to be suspicious of brother, and that it is better, between brothers, to be deceived than to impute evil. Par. 4. In the phrase — "the superior men of the present day," "the superior men" has to be taken vaguely, and merely means— those who wish to be regarded as superior men. CH X. MENCIUS, IN LEAVING A STATE OR REMAINING IN IT, WAS NOT 190 THE WORKS OF HENCIUS. [fiK II. 2. The king went to see him, and said, "Formerly I wished to see you, but found no opportunity to do so. When I got that opportunity, and stood by you in the same court, I was exceedingly glad. [But] now again you are aban doning me and returning home ; — I do not know if here after I may have another opportunity of seeing you." " I do not venture to make any request," was the reply, "but indeed it is what I desire."

3. Another day, the king said to the officer She, " I wish to give Mencius a house in the centre of the kingdom, and to support his disciples with [an allowance of] 10,000 clmmj, so that all the great officers and people may have [such an example] to reverence and imitate. Had you not better tell him this for me ? " 4. The officer She conveyed this message by means of the disciple Ch/in, who reported his words to Mencius. 5. Mencius said, " Yes ; but how should the officer She know that the thing may not be ? Supposing that I want ed to be rich, having declined 100,000 chung, would my accepting 10,000 be the conduct of one desiring riches ? DENIED OR ACCORDED TO HIM OF CARRYING HIS LESSONS INTO PRACTICE : ILLUSTRATED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING HIS LEAVING Ts'E. Par. 1. Mencius had given the king of Ts'e a long trial, and it was clear that nothing really great was to be accomplished with him. He therefore resigned his honorary office, and prepared to withdraw from the State or kingdom. I think I have given the true meaning of the paragraph. Ohaou K'e indeed makes the "returning" to be only to Mencius' own house in the capital of Ts'e ; but according to that view, the •' I do not venture to make any request," in the next par. = " I do not venture to ask you to come again in person to see me ; " which is surely flat and absurd.

Pur. 2. Mencius sees that the king, with all his complimentary expres sions, is really bidding him adieu, and answers accordingly, in as compli mentary a way, intimating his purpose to be gone. Par. 3. The king after all does not like the idea of Mencius' going away, and thinks of this plan to retain him, which was in reality what Mencius calls in ch. iii. trying to take him with a bribe. She was an officer at the court of Ts'e. The chu» y was the name of a large measure of grain, equal to G4 tow or pecks, amounting to about seven hundred-weight. "The centre of the kingdom " is to be understood of the capital, as in the She, III. ii. IX. PHI: 4. " The disciple Ch'in " here is the Clrin Tsin of ch. iii. Pur. 5. Mencius does not care to state plainly here his real reason for going,— that he was not permitted to see his principles carried into practice ; and therefore contents himself with repelling the idea that he was accessi ble to pecuniary considerations. 100,000 cluing was the regular allowance for a high minister, which Mencius had declined to receive.

6. " Ke-sun said, ' A strange man was Tsze-shuh E ! Suppose that he himself was a high minister, if [his prince would] no longer employ him, he had to retire ; but he would again [try to] get one of his younger relatives to be high minister. Who indeed is there of men that does not wish to be rich and noble, but he only, among the rich and noble, sought to monopolize the conspicuous mound.' 7. " In old time the market-dealers exchanged the articles which they had for others which they had not, and simply had certain officers to keep them in order. There was a mean fellow, who made it a point to look out for a conspi cuous mound, and get up upon it. Thence he looked right and left to catch in his net the whole gain of the mar ket. People all thought his conduct mean, and therefore they proceeded to lay a tax upon his wares. The taxing of traders took its rise from this mean fellow." XI. 1. Mencius, having left [the capital of ] Tfse, was pass ing the night in Chow. 2. A person who wished for the king to detain him [came

Par. C. Ke-sun was the clan name of the greatest of the families of Loo, but which of the Heads of that clan was here intended we do not know. Tsze-shuh was also a clan name in Loo, hut of E, the member of it who is mentioned, we know nothing beyond what is here told. Mencius quotes the remarks of Ke-sun about Tsze-shuh E, to show that they would be applicable to himself, if he were to take the course suggested to him from the king of Ts'e. Chaou K'e makes out Ke-sun and Tsze-shuh to have been disciples of Mencius, and according to his view we should have to translate. " Ke-sun said, ' How strange [is this course] !' " Tsze-shuh [also] doubted [about it]. "Suppose," [they thought,] "he himself is no longer employed as a high minister, let him go away, but let him get his disciples into the situa tion," &c. But all this is plainly inadmissible. Par. 1 . Mencius here explains the expression in the end of Ke-sun's speech about "monopolizing the conspicuous mound," — explains it in a way to show still more pointedly his sense of the proposal of the king of Ts'e.

CH. XI. How MENCIUS REPELLED A MAN, WHO, OFFICIOUSLY AND ON HIS OWN IMPULSE, WISHED TO DETAIN HIM IN 1'S'E. Par. 1. Uhow was a city on the south-western border of Ts'e, at which Mencius had arrived in his progress to Loo. He had conducted his de parture leisurely, hoping that the king would recall him ere he hud left the State, and pledge himself to follow his counsels. Par. 2. Who the person that thus intruded himself into Mencius' com pany was we do not know. All that is meant by " for the king " is that he knew that it would please the king if he could induce Mencius to remain. 192 THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. [l3K II. and] sat down [to speak with him]. [Mencius] gave him no answer, but leant upon his stool and slept. 3. The stranger was displeased, and said, " I have fasted for two days before I would venture to speak with you, and [now], Master, you sleep and do not listen to me. Allow me to request that I may not again presume to see you." [Men cius] said, " Sit down, and I will explain the matter clearly to yon. Formerly, if duke Muh of Loo had not had persons [continually] by the side of Tsze-sze, he could not have kept Tsze-sze [in his State] ; and if Se'eh Lew and Shin Ts'eang had not had persons by the side of duke Muh, they would not have been able to feel at rest [in remaining in Loo] .

4. " You, Sir, are concerned and plan about an old man like me, but I have not been treated as Tsze-sze was. Is it you, Sir, who cut me ? Or is it I who cut you ? " XII. 1 . Mencius having left Ts'e, Yin Sze spake about him to others, saying, " If he did not know that the king could not be made a T'ang or a Woo, that showed his want of intelligence. If he knew that he could not be made such, and yet came [to Ts'e] notwithstanding, that he was " Leant upon his stool ; " — the stool was small, and could be carried in the hand. Parties leant forward, or back, on it, as they sat upon the mat, which was spread for them on the floor. Pur. 3. "I fasted for two days " is literally"! fasted and passed the night ; " that is, " I fasted over the night."—" I have fasted two days." Tsze-sze was the well-known grandson of Confucius. Shin Ts'eang was the son of Tsze-chang, one of Confucius' disciples. Se'eh Lew was also a native of Loo. and belonged to the Confucian school. Tsze-sze required great respect to be shown to him, and he had an attendant appointed by duke Muh always in waiting on him, to assure him of the respect with which he was cherished. The two others had not such attendants, but they knew that there were always officers by the duke's side to admonish him not to forget them.

Par. 4. The stranger's thinking that he could retain Mencius, without any such demonstrations from the king, show how little store he set by the philosopher, — was really cutting him. CH. XII. How MESCIUS EXPLAINED HIS SEEMING TO LINGER IN TS'E AFTER HE HAD RESIGNED HIS OFFICE AND QUITTED THE COURT. Par. 1. Nothing more can be said of Yin Sze than that he was a man. a scholar, of Ts'e. What he chiefly charged against Mencius was the lingering nature of his departure. Par. 2. The disciple Kaou appears again in VII. Ft II. xxi., from which it would appear that there was something not satisfactory about him. PT II. CH. XIII.] KUNG-SUN CHfOW. 193 seeking for favours. He came a thousand le to wait upon the king. Because he did not find in him the ruler he wish ed, he took his leave. Three nights he stayed, and then passed from Chow ; — how dilatory and lingering [was his departure] ! I am dissatisfied on account of this." 3. The disciple Kaou informed [Mencius] of these remarks. 4. [Mencius] said, " How should Yin Sze know me ? When I came a thousand le to see the king, it was what I desired to do. When I went away, not finding in him the ruler that I wished, was that what I desired to do? I felt myself constrained to do it.

5. "When I stayed three nights before I passed from Chow, in my own mind I still considered my departure speedy. I was hoping that the king might change. If the king had changed, he would certainly have recalled me. 6. " When I passed from Chow, and the king had not sent after me, then, and only then, was my mind resolutely bent on returning [to Tsow] . But notwithstanding that, was I giving the king up ? He is after all one who may be made to do what is good. If the king were to use me, would it be for the happiness of the people of Ts'e only ? It would be for the happiness of all under heaven. Would the king but change ! I am daily hoping for this. 7. " Am I like one of your little-minded people ? They will remonstrate with their ruler, and when their remon strance is not accepted, they get angry, and with their pas sion displayed in their countenance, they take their leave, and travel with all their strength for a whole day before they will stop for the night." 8. When Yin Sze heard this [explanation], he said, "lam indeed a small man."

XIII. 1. When Mencius left Ts'e, Ch'ung Yu ques- Par. 3. Mencius was constrained to leave Ts'e by the conviction forced at last upon him that he would not get the king to carry his counsels into practice. Par. 7. Compare with this paragraph Confucius' defence of Kwan Chung in Ana. XIV. xviii. CH. XIIT. MENCIUS1 GRIEF AT NOT FINDING THE OPPORTUNITY TO AC COMPLISH FOR THE KINGDOM THE GOOD WHICH HE WAS CONSCIOUS HE HAD IN HIM THE POWER TO DO. Par. 1. Cli'ung Yu has appeared before in ch. vii. We find the saying tioned him on the way, saying-, ' ' Master, you look like one who carries an air of dissatisfaction in his countenance. [But] formerly I heard you say that the superior man does not murmur against Heaven, nor cherish a grudge against men." 2. [Mencius] said, " That was one time, and this is an other. o. "It is a rule that a true sovereign should arise in the course of five hundred years, and that during that time there should be men illustrious in their generation. 4. "From the commencement of the Chow dynasty till now, more than seven hundred years have elapsed. Judg ing numerically, the date is passed. Considering the matter from the [character of the present] time, we might expect [a true king to arise].

5. "But Heaven does not yet wish that tranquillity and good order should prevail all under the sky. If it wished this, who is there besides me to bring it about ? How should I be otherwise than dissatisfied ? " XIV. 1. When Mencius left Ts'e, he dwelt in Hew. which he here attributes to his master used by Confucius of himself in Ana. XIV. xxxvii. 2. Pur. 3. " Five hundred years ; " — this is speaking in round and loose numbers, even if we judge of the sentiment from the history of China prior to Mencius. "During that time" would seem to mean that, in addition to the true king, all along the centuries there would be men of distinguished ability and virtue ; but Mencius is generally understood as referring to the men who should arise at the same time with the true sovereign, and assist him by their counsels. Pur. 4. Nearly 800 years must have elapsed from the rise of the Chow dynasty, when Mencius thus spoke. He seems for the time to have been ob livious of Confucius ; but he was merely a sage, and had not the power to carry out his principles on a grand scale. What had been wanting in Lis time, and was wanting still, was a true king.

Par. 5. It cannot be said that Mencius had not a sufficiently high opinion of himself. Compare with this paragraph the sentiments of Confucius in Ana. IX. v. CH. XIV. THE REASON OF MENCIUS' HOLDING MERELY AN HONORARY OFFICE IN TS'E, WITHOUT RECEIVING SALARY, WAS BECAUSE FROM THE FIRST HE HAD LITTLE CONFIDENCE IN THE KING, AND WISHED TO BE FREE IN HIS MOVEMENTS. Par. 1. Hew was in the present district of T'ang, in the department of Yen-chow. Kung-sun Ch'ow's inquiry, as appears from the style in the Chinese of Mencius' reply, was simply for information. PT II. CH. XIV.] RUNG-SUN CHrOW. 195 [There] Kung-sun Ch'ow asked him, "Was it the way of the ancients to hold office without receiving salary ?" 2. [Mencius] said, "No. When I first saw the king in Ts'ung, it was my intention, on retiring from the interview, to go away. Because I did not wish to change this intention, I would not receive [any salary]. 3. " Immediately after, orders were issued for [the collec tion of] troops, when it would have been improper for me to beg [permission to leave] . [But] to remain long in Tsfe was not my purpose." Par. 2. Ts'ung was the name of a city in Ts'e, the situation of which cannot now be more exactly determined. There Mencius first met with king Seuen, and received an unfavourable impression of him.

Par. 3. Perhaps '' the collection of troops'' was connected with Tse's re lations with Yen. See the conversation of king Seuen with Mencius in I. Ft II. xi. ; at such a time Mencius could not well ask leave to quit the State. Another interpretation of the phrase has been proposed, making it refer to the proposal to retain him in Ts'e, which is mentioned in ch. x. ; but this is quite unreasonable. BOOK III. T'ANG WAN KUNG. PART i. CHAPTER I. 1. When duke "Wan of T'ang was heir-son, being on a journey to Ts'oo he passed by [the capital of] Sung, and had an interview with Mencius. 2. Mencius discoursed to him how the nature of man is good, and, in speaking, made laudatory appeal to Yaou and Shun. 3. When the heir- son was returning from Ts'oo, he again saw Mencius, when the latter said to him, " Prince, do you doubt my words ? The path is one, and only one. The TITLE OF THE BOOK is taken from duke Wan of T'ang, who is pro minent in the first three chapters of it. Wan of course is the honorary or sacrificial title which he received after his death. We have already met with him in confidential intercourse with Mencius, in chapters xiii. to xv. of Book I. Part II., the date of which must be subsequent to that of the chapters in this Book. Chaou K'e compares the title of this Book with that of the loth Book of the Analects.

CH. I. THAT ALL MEN BY DEVELOPING THEIR NATURAL GOODNESS MAY BECOME EQUAL TO THE ANCIENT SAGES. ADDRESSED BY M.KNCIUS TO THE HEIR-SON OF T'ANG. Par. 1. "Heir-son," and "eldest son'' were applied indifferently to the eldest sons, or the declared successors, of the kings and feudal princes during the Chow dynasty. Since the Han dynasty, " heir-son " has been discon tinued as a denomination of the eldest son of the emperor, the crown prince. Mencius at this time was in the State of Sung, and some have tried to fix the date of the chapter to B.C. .117. Ts'oo had so far extended its terri tories to the north, that it was there conterminous with T'iing ; but as the p'ince would be going to its capital it would not take him much out of his >ray to go through Sung. Possibly that route was the most convenient for him to take, though the language of the text would seem to be intended to give us the idea that he took it in order that he might see Meneius. Par. 2. For the full exposition of Mencius' doctrine of the goodness of human nature, see Book VI. Par. \\. We must suppose that Mencius had been told that the prince doubted the correctness of what he had said at their former interview ; or it may be, the remark here preserved occurred in the course of a conversation, of the previous part of which we have no record. " The way is one and only one " probably means the way of human duty, the course to which Mencius felt that he ought to call all who wished to learn of him.

FT i. CH. IT.] T'ANG WAN KUNO. 197 4. " Ch'ing Kan said to duke King of Ts'e, ' They were men, [and] I am a man ; — why should I stand in awe of them ? ' Yeu Yuen said, ' What kind of man was Shun ? What kind of man am I ? He who exerts himself will also become such as he was/ Kung-ming E said, ' King Wan is my teacher and model ; — how should the duke of Chow deceive me [by these words] ? ' 5. " Now T*ang, taking its length with its breadth, will amount to about fifty square le. [Though small,] it may still be made a good kingdom. It is said in the Book of History, ' If medicine do not distress the patient, it will not cure his sickness.' ' II. 1. When duke Ting of T'ang died, the heir-son said to Jen Yew, " Formerly, Mencius spoke with me in Sung, and I have never forgotten his words. Now, alas ! this great affair [of the death of my father] has happened, and I wish to send you, Sir, to ask Mencius, and then to pro ceed to the services [connected with it] ."

2. Jen Yew [accordingly] proceeded to Tsow, and con sulted Mencius. Mencius said, " Is not this good ? The mourning rites for parents are what men feel constrained to do their utmost in. The philosopher Tsang said, ' When parents are alive, they should be served according to [the Par. 4. Mencius here fortifies himself with the opinions of other worthies. Of Ch'ing Kan we know nothing but what we read here. Whom he in tended by " they " we cannot well say. Yen Yuen was the favourite dis ciple of Confucius. Kung-ming E was a great officer of Loo, a disciple, first, of Tsze-chang, and afterwards of Tsang-tsze. The remark about king Wan's being his model and teacher would seem to have been made by the duke of Chow. Par. 5. " A good kingdom " is such an one as is described in ch. iii. For the quotation from the Book of History, see the Shoo, IV. viii. Pt I. 8. Mencius would seem to say that his lesson was all the more likely to be beneficial, because it had perplexed and disturbed the prince. . CH. II. How MENCIUS ADVISED THE PRINCE OP T'ANG TO CONDUCT THE

MOURNING FOR HIS FATHER WITH EVERY DEMONSTRATION OF GRIEF. Par. 1. Duke Ting was the father of duke Wan, the heir-son of last chapter. 'Ting was his honorary epithet. Jen Yew had been the prince's tutor. Par. 2. On children's feeling constrained to do their utmost in the mourn ing rites for their parents, — see Ana. XIX. xvii. The remarks here attributed to Tsang-tsze were at first addressed by Confucius to another disciple. Tsang may have appropriated them, so that rules of] propriety ; when dead, they should be buried, and they should be sacrificed to, according to the same : — this may be called filial piety/ I have not learned [for myself] the ceremonies to be observed by the feudal princes, but nevertheless I have heard these points : — Three years' mourn ing, with the wearing the garment of coarse cloth with its lower edge even, and the eating of thin congee, have been, equally prescribed by the three dynasties, and are binding on all, from the son of Heaven to the common people/' 3. Jen Yew reported the execution of his commission, and [the prince] determined that the three years' mourning should be observed. His uncles and elder cousins, and the body of the officers, did not wish it, and said, " The former rulers of Loo, the State which we honour, have, none of them, observed this mourning, nor have any of our own former rulers observed it. For you to change their practice is improper; and moreover, the History says, ' In mourning and sacrifice ancestors are to bo followed/ meaning that we have received those things from a [proper] source.'''

4. [The prince again] said to Jen Yew, " Hitherto I have not given myself to the pursuit of learning, but have found my pleasure in driving ray horses and in sword-exercise. Now my uncles and elder cousins and the body of officers they came to be regarded as his own ; or Mencius here makes a slip of memory. I suppose that Mencius means to say that he could not speak of the mourning rites of the princes from personal observation ; but he could speak of the observances which were common to prince and peasant. " The three years' mourning," — see Ana. XVII. xxi. '• The garment of coarse cloth with the lower edge even " was that appropriate to the mourning lor a mother, and less intense than that used in mourning for a father, when the lower edge was all frayed, as if chopped with a hatchet. It would appear, however, that either of the phrases might be used to denote mourning of the deepest kind ; — see Ana. IX. ix. Par. 3. The lords of T'ang were descended from Shuh-sew, one of the sons of king Wan. but by an inferior wii'e, while the duke of Chow, the ancestor of Loo, was in the true royal line ; and hence all the other States ruled by descendants of king Wan were supposed to look up to Loo. But we are not to suppose that the early princes of Loo and of T'ung had not observed the 'mourning for three years. The remonstrants were wrong in attributing to them the neglect of later rulers. What "History" or " Record" they refer to we cannot tell. The last clause of the paragraph is not by any means clear. C'haou K'e mentions a view of it, which I have felt strongly inclined to adopt :— '* [The prince] said, 'I have received my v*ew from a [proper] source.' "

Par. 4. In the quotations from Confucius, Mencius has blended different FT i. CH. ii.] T'ANG WAN KONG. 199 are not satisfied with. me. I am afraid I may not be able to carry out [this] great business ; do you, Sir, [again go and] ask Mencius for me/' Jen Yew went again to Tsow, and consulted Mencius, who said, " Yes, but this is not a matter in which he has to look to any one but himself. Confucius said, ' When a ruler died, his successor entrusted the administration to the prime minister. He sipped the congee, and his face looked very dark. He went to the [proper] place, and wept. Of all the officers and inferior employes there was not one who did not dare not to be sad, when [the prince thus] set them the example. What the superior loves, his inferiors will be found to love still more. The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend when the wind blows upon it/ The [whole thing] depends on the heir-son." 5. Jen Yew returned with this answer to his commission, and the prince said, " Yes ; it does indeed depend on me." For five months he dwelt in the shed, and did not issue an order or a caution. The body of officers and his relatives

places in the Analects together, or enlarged them to suit his own purpose ; — see Ana. XIV. xliii. ; XII. xix. Par. 5. ''The shed" was built of boards and straw, outside the centre door of the palace, against the surrounding wall, and this the mourning prince tenanted till the interment,— see the Le Ke, XXII. ii. 16. Choo He, at the close of his notes on this chapter, introduces the following remarks from the commentator Lin Che-k'e : — -"In the time of Mencius, although the rites to the dead had fallen into neglect, yet tho three years' mourning, with the sorrowing heart and afflictive grief, being the expression of what really belongs to man's mind, had not quite perished. Only, sunk in the slough of manners becoming more and more corrupt, men were losing all their moral nature without being conscious of it. When duke Wan saw Meucius, and heard him speak of the goodness of man's nature, and of Yaou and Shun, that was the occasion of moving and bringing forth his better heart ; and, on this occasion of the death of his father, he felt sin cerely all the stirrings of sorrow and grief. Then, moreover, when his older relatives and his officers wished not to act as he desired, he turned inwards to reprove himself, and lamented his former conduct which made him not be believed in his present course, not presuming to blame his officers and relatives : — although we must concede an extraordinary natural excellence and ability to him, yet his energy in learning must not be impeached. Filially, when we consider with what decision lie acted at last, and how all, near a:id far, who saw and heard him. were delighted to acknowledge and admire his conduct, we have an instance of how, when that which belongs to all men's minds is in the first place exhibited by one, others are brought, without any previous purpose, to the pleased acknowledgment and approval

[said] , " He may be pronounced acquainted [with all the ceremonies] ." When the time of interment arrived, they came from all quarters to see it, with the deep dejection of his countenance, and the mournfulness of his wailing and weeping. Those who [had come from other States to] con dole with him were greatly pleased. III. 1. Duke Wan of T'ang asked [Mencius] about [tho proper way of] governing a State. 2. Mencius said,, "The business of the people must not be remissly attended to. It is said in the Book of Poetry, ' In the daytime collect the grass, And at night twist it into ropes. Then get up quickly on our roofs : — We shall have to recommence our sowing.' 3. " The way of the people is this : — Those who have a cer tain livelihood have a fixed heart, and those who have not a certain livelihood have not a fixed heart. If they have not a fixed heart, there is nothing which they will not do in the way of self-abandonment, of moral deflection, of depravity, and of wild license. When they have thus been involved in crime, to follow them up and punish them is to entrap the people. How can such a thing as entrapping the people be done under the rule of a benevolent man ?

of it : — is not this a proof that it is indeed true that [the nature of man] is good ? " ClI. III. MENCIUS' LESSORS TO DUKE WAX OF T'ANG FOE THE GOVERN MENT OF HIS STATE. AGRICULTURE AND EDUCATION ARE THE CHIEF POINTS TO BE ATTENDED TO. THE FORMER INDEED IS FUNDAMENTAL TO PROSPERITY, AND A STATE PROSPEROUS BY ITS AGRICULTURE IS THE PROPKR FIELD FOR THE APPLIANCES OF EDUCATION. Par. 1. We must suppose that the three years of mourning have passed, and that the heir-son has fully taken his position as marquis of T'ang, one of his first measures having been to get Mencius to come to his State. Par. 2. By "the business of the people " we must understand agriculture. The promotion of this required the attention of the government before all other things. That promotion would involve the establishment of the agri cultural system of the State or. the best principles. For the lines of poetry, sec the She, 1. xv. I. 7. They are not much to the point ; but the whole ode to which they belong is understood as showing how attention to agriculture was the chief thing required in the kings of Chow.

Par. 3. See I. Pt I. vii. 20. This paragraph shows how essential it was PT i. CH. in.] T'ANG WAN KUNQ. 201 4. " Therefore a ruler endowed with talents and virtue will be gravely complaisant and economical, showing a respectful politeness to his ministers, and taking from the people only according to definite regulations. 5. " Yang Hoo said, ' He who seeks to be rich will not be benevolent; .and he who seeks to be benevolent will not bo rich.' 6. " [Under] the sovereigns of Hea, [each farmer received] fifty acres, and contributed [a certain tax] . [Under] those of Yin, [each farmer received] seventy acres, and [eight families] helped [to cultivate the public acres]. Under those of Chow, [each farmer received] .a hundred acres, and [the produce] was allotted in shares. In reality what was paid in all these was a tithe. The share system means division ; the aid system means mutual dependence. 7. " Lung-tsze said, ' For regulating the land there is no better system than that of mutual aid, and none worse than there should be a sure provision for the support of the people, and that there fore their business should not be remissly attended to.

Par. 4 interjects two attributes of the good ruler, which are necessary to his carrying out the government which Mencius had at heart. Par. o. This Yang Hoo is the Yang Ho of the Analects, XVII. i. A worthless man, he made the observation given with a bad object ; but there was a truth in it, and Mencius adduces it for a good purpose. Par. 6. By the Hea statutes, every husbandman — head of a family — received 50 acres, and paid the produce of rive of them, or one-tenth of the whole, to the government. This was called Uung or tribute. Under the Shang dynasty, 630 acres were divided into nine portions of 70 acres each, the central portion belonging to the government, and being cultivated by the united labours of the holders of the other portions. Under the Chow dynasty, in the portions of the State distant from the capital eight husband men received each a hundred acres, and the same space in the centre was cultivated by them all together for the government. Yet they all united also in the cultivation of the other portions, and each one family received an equal share of the produce, the whole being divided into eight portions. Deducting twenty acres from the government portion which was given to the farmers for building huts on, &c., there remained eighty acres, or ten acres for the cultivation of each of the eight families ; that is, in the country parts of the States of Chow the amount of the produce paid to the government was one-tenth. In the more central parts, however, the system of the Hea dynasty was in force. According to the above accounts, the contribution under the Shang dynasty amounted to one-ninth, but there was, no doubt, some assignment of a portion of the public fields to the cultivators, which reduced it to one-tenth.

Par. 7. Nothing certain is known of the Lung who is here introduced, but he was " an ancient worthy." He gives us an important point of in- that of contributing1 a certain tax. According to the tax system it was fixed by taking the average of several years. In good years,, when the grain lies about in abundance, much might be taken without its being felt to be oppressive,, and the actual exaction is small. In bad years, when [the pro duce] is not sufficient to [repay] the manuring of the fields, this system still requires the taking of the full amount. When he who should be the parent of the people causes the people to wear looks of distress, and, after the whole year's toil, yet not to be able to nourish their parents, and more over to set about borrowing to increase [their means of pay ing the tax], till their old people and children are found lying in the ditches and water-channels : — where [in such a case] is his parental relation to the people ? ' 8. " As to the system of hereditary salaries, that is already observed in T'ang. 9. " It is said in the Book of Poetry,

' May it rain first on our public fields, And then come to our private ! ' It is only in the system of mutual aid, that there are the public fields, and from this passage we perceive that even in the Chow dynasty this system has been recognized. 10. " Establish ts'ear«j, sc.it,, J/colt, and kfiduu, — [all these educational institutions] — for the instruction [of the people]. The name ts'eamj indicates nourishing ; liiiauu indicates teaching : and sen indicates archerv. By the Hea dynasty the name lieaou was used; by the Yin dynasty that of scu; and by the Chow dynasty that of ts'iJainj. As to the heuh, formation about the way in which the amount of contribution according to the Hea system was determined, and shows how objectionable the whole system was. Pur. <S. See on I. Ft II. v. 3. Par. 9. See the She, II. vi. VIII. H. The quotation is intended to show that the system of cultivation according to the system of mutual aid, which Mencius recommended, though it was fallen in his time into di.-use, had at one time obtained under the Chow dynasty. Pur. 10. The pith of ilencius' advice here is that education should be provided for all. and that it might be provided with advantage, when measures had been taken for the support of all by husbandry. As to the names and characters of the different institutions which he mentions, the discussions are endless. "When he speaks of the human relations being illustrated by superiors, it is foreign to the object of the paragraph to suppose

PT I. CH. III.] TfANG WAN KUNG. 203 they belonged equally to the three dynasties, [and by that name] . The object of them all is to illustrate the [duties of the] human relations. When these are [thus] illustrated by superiors, mutual affection will prevail among the smaller people below. 11. " Should a [true] king arise, he will certainly come and take an example [from you], and thus you will be the teacher of the [true] king. 12. " It is said in the Book of Poetry, 'Although Chow was an old State, The [favouring] appointment lighted on it recently.' That is said with reference to king Wan. Do you practise those things with vigour, and you will also give a new his tory to your State." 13. [The duke afterwards] sent Peih Chen to ask about the nine- squares system of dividing the land. Mencius said to him, " Since your ruler, wishing to put in practice a bene volent government, has made choice of you, and put you into this employment, you must use all your efforts. Benevolent government must commence with the definition of the bound aries. If the boundaries be not defined correctly, the division of the land into squares will not be equal, and the produce [available for] salaries will not be evenly distributed. On this account, oppressive rulers and impure ministers are sure to

that he means the illustration of them in their personal conduct ; — he means, I think, the inculcation of them by the institution of those educa tional establishments. Purr. 11, 12 show what duke Wan would be sure to accomplish by follow ing the advice which he had received. See the She, III. i. I. 1. Par. 13. Peih Chen must have been the minister employed by duke Wan to organize the agricultural system of the State according to the views of Mencius. He is here sent to the philosopher to get more particular instruc tions for his guidance. On the nine-squares system of dividing the land, see the note on II. i. V. 2. By denning the boundaries must be meant, I think, the boundaries of each space of nine squares, and not, as Cliaou K'e supposes, the boundaries of the State. How the unequal division of the fields would affect the salaries of officers we have not sufficient informa tion on the subject to enable us to speak exactly. But it is difficult to con ceive of tlie division of the fields of a State on this plan, especially when it had become pretty thickly peopled. The natural irregularities of tho surface would be one great obstacle. And we find, below, " the holy field," and other assignments, which must continually have been requiring new arrangements of the boundaries.

neglect tlie defining of the boundaries. When the boundaries have been denned correctly, the division of the fields and the regulation of the salaries may be determined [by you] sitting [at your ease]. 14. "Although the territory of T'ang be narrow and small, there must be in it, I apprehend, men of a superior grade, and there must be in it country-men. If there were not men of a superior grade, there would be none to rule the country men; if there were not country-men, there would be none to support the men of superior grade. 15. "I would ask you, in the [purely] country districts, to observe the nine-squares division, having one square cul tivated on the system of mutual aid ; and in the central parts of the State, to levy a tenth, to be paid by the cultivators themselves. 16. "From the highest officers downwards, each one must have [his] holy field, consisting of fifty acres. 17. "Let the supernumerary males have [their] twentyfive acres. 18. tc On occasions of death, or of removing from one dwelling to another, there will be no quitting the district. In the fields of a district, those who belong to the same nine-squares render all friendly offices to one another in their going out and coming in, aid one another in keeping watch and ward, and sustain one another in sickness. Thus the people will be led to live in affection and harmony.

Par. 14. " Men of a superior grade " are men in office, who did not have to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. All other classes may be supposed to be comprehended under the denomination of country-men. Par. 15. See the note on par. 6. Par. 16. These 50 acres were in addition to the hereditary salary alluded to in par. 8. I call them " the holy field/' because Chaou K'e and Choo He explain the term by which they are called by " pure," and the produce was intended to supply the means of sacrifice. Other explanations of the term have been proposed. Par. 17. A family was supposed to consist of the grandfather and grandmother, the husband, wife, and children, the husband being the grand parents' eldest, son. The extra fields were for other sons of the grandparents, and were given to them when they reached the age of sixteen. When they married and became the heads of families themselves, they received the regular allotment of a family. In the mean time they were called " super numerary males." Other explanations of this phrase have been proposed. Par. 18 sets forth various social and moral advantages flowing from the nine-squares division of the land.

PT i. CH. iv.] T/ANG WAN KCJNG. 205 10. " A. square le covers nine squares of land, which nine squares contain nine hundred acres. The central square contains the public fields ; and eight families, each having its own hundred acres, cultivate them together. And it is not till the public work is finished that they presume to attend to their private fields. [This is] the way by which the country-men are distinguished [from those of a superior grade]. 20. " These are the great outlines [of the system"). Happily to modify and adapt them depends on your ruler and you." IY. 1. There came from Ts'oo to Tiling one Hcu Hing, who gave out that he acted according to the words of Shinnung. Coming right to his gate, he addressed duke Wan, Par. 19. Under the Chow dynasty, 100 poo, or paces, made the length or side of a mo IP', or acre : but the exact length of the pace is not exactly determined. Some will have it that the 50 acres of Hea, the 70 of Sluing, and the 100 of Chow were actually of the same dimensions. CH. IV. MBNCIUS' REFCTATION OF THE DOCTRINE THAT THE ETJLER

OUGHT TO LABOUR AT HUSBANDRY WITH HIS OWN HANDS. HE SHOWS THE NECESSITY OF A DIVISION OF LABOUR, AND OF A LETTERED CLASS. CONDUCTING GOVERNMENT. The first three paragraphs, it is said, relate how Heu Hing, the heresiarch, and Ch'in Seang, his follower, sought to undermine the arrangements advised by Mencius for the division of the land. The next eight paragraphs expose the fundamental error of Heu Hing that the ruler roust labour at the toils of husbandry equally with the people. From the 12th paragraph to the 16th, Seang is rebuked for forsak ing his master, and taking up with the heresy of Heu Hing. In the last two paragraphs Mencius proceeds, from the evasive replies of Seang, to give the coup de grace to the new pernicious teachings. Par. 1. All that we know of Heu Hing is from this chapter. He was a native of Ts'oo, and had evidently got in his seething brain the idea of a new moral world where there would be no longer the marked distinctions of ranks in which society had arranged itself. Sbin-nung, " Wonderful hus bandman," is the designation of the second of the five famous emperors of Chinese pnc-historic times. He is also called Yen-te, "the Blazing emperor." He is placed between Fuh-he, and Hwang-te, though separated from the latter by the intervention of seven reigns, making with his own over 500 years. If any faith could be placed in this chronology, it would place him 15. C. 3272. In the appendix to the Yih King be is celebrated as the Father of husbandry. Other traditions make him the Father of medicine also. Those who, like Heu Hing, in the time of Mencius, gave out that they were his followers, hud no record of his words or principles, but merely used his name to recommend their own wild notions. " The benevolent government " was the division of the laud on the principles described in last chapter.

saying, " A man of a distant region, I have heard that you, 0 ruler, are practising a benevolent government, and I wish to receive a site for a house, and to become one of your people." Duke Wan gave him a dwelling-place. His disciples, amounting to several tens, all wore clothes of hair-'cloth, and made sandals of hemp and wove mats for a living. 2. Chcm Se'ang, a disciple of Ch/in Leang, with his younger brother Sin, with their plough-handles and shares on their backs, came [at the same time] from Sung to T'ang, saying, " We have heard that you, 0 ruler, are put ting into practice the government of the [ancient] sages, [showing that] you are likewise a sage : we wish to be the subjects of a sage." 3. When Ch/in Seang saw Heu Hing, he was very much pleased with him, and, abandoning a.ll which he had leai-ned, he set about learning from him. Having an interview with Mencius, he repeated to him the words of Heu Hing to this effect : — •" The ruler of T;ang is indeed a worthy prince, but nevertheless he has not yet heard the [real] ways [of anti quity]. Wise and able rulers should cultivate the ground equally and along with their people, and eat [the fruit of their own labour]. They should prepare their morning and evening meals [themselves], and [at the same time] carry on the business of government. But now [the ruler of] T'ting has his granaries, treasuries, and arsenals, which is a distressing of the people to support himself; — how can he be deemed a [real] ruler of talents and virtue ? "

According to par. 4, the " hair-cloth " seems to have been quite an inarti ficial affair. The sandals, which I have said King's followers " made," appear to have heen manufactured by beating and tying the materials to gether, and not by any process of weaving. It has been supposed that their manufacture of sandals and mats was only a temporary employment, till lands should be assigned them. Par. 2. Ch'in Lining appears in par. 12 to have been a native of Ts'oo, but to have come to the northern States, and distinguished himself as a scholar. \Ve know nothing more of him, nor do we know anything of Ch'in Seang and his brother Sin but what we are told in this chapter. The "share." the invention of which is ascribed to Shin-nung, was of wood; — in Mencius time, as appears in par. 4, it was made of iron. Par. 3. The object of Heu Hing, in the remarks given here, would be to invalidate Mencius' doctrine, put forth especially in par. 14 of last chapter, that there must be the ruler and the ruled, and that the former must be supported by the latter. PT i. CH. iv.] T'ANG WAN KUNQ. 207

4. Mencius said, "Mr lieu, I suppose, sows grain and eats [the produce] ." " Yes," was the reply. " I suppose he [also] weaves cloth, and wears his own manufacture." " No, he wears clothes of hair-cloth." " 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 he not weave it him self ? " " That would be injurious to his husbandry." " Does he cook his food with boilers and earthenware pans, and plough with an iron share ? " " Yes." " Does he make them himself?" "No; he gets them in exchange for grain.'" 5. [Mencius then said], " The getting such articles in exchange for grain is not oppressive to the potter and founder ; and are the potter and founder oppressive to the husbandman, when they give him their various articles in exchange for grain ? Moreover, why does Heu not act the potter and founder, and supply himself with the articles which he uses solely from his own establishment ? Why does he go confusedly dealing and exchanging with the handicraftsmen ? Why is he so indifferent to the trouble that he takes ? " [Ch'in Seang replied], " The business of the handicraftsmen can by no means be carried on along with that of husbandry."

b'. [Mencius resumed], " Then is it the government of all under heaven which alone can be carried on along with the business of husbandry ? Great men have their proper busi ness, and little men have theirs. Moreover, in the case of any single individual, [whatever articles he can require are] ready to his hand, being produced by the various handi craftsmen : — if he must first make them himself for his own use, this would keep all under heaven running about on 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, and those who labour with their strength are governed by others. Those who are governed by others support them, and those who govern Parr. 4, 5. Mencius skilfully leads Seang on here to an admission which is* fatal to the doctrine of his new master, that every man ought to do everything for himself. Par. 6. Mencius reiterates here his doctrine, which indeed had been 208 THE WORKS OF MBNCIUS. [fiK III. others are supported by them/ This is a thing of right universally recognized. 7. ' ' In the time of Yaou, when the world had not yet been perfectly reduced to order, the vast waters, flowing out of their channels, made a universal inundation. Vege tation was luxuriant, and birds and beasts swarmed. The five kinds of grain could not be grown, and 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 States. To Yaou especially this caused anxious sorrow. He called Shun to office, and measures to regulate the disorder were set forth. Shun committed to Yih the direction of the fire to be employed, and he set fire to, and consumed, [the forests and vegetation on] the mountains and [in] the marshes, so that the birds and beasts fled away and hid themselves. Yu separated the nine [streams of the] Ho, cleared the courses of the Tse and the T'ah, and led them to the sea. He ope.ned a vent for the Joo and the Han, removed the obstructions in the channels of the Hwae and the Sze, and led them to the Keang. When this was done, it became possible for [the people of] the Middle States to [cultivate the ground, and] get food [for themselves]. During that time, Yu was eight years away from his house, thrice passing by his door without entering it. Although he had wished to cultivate the ground, could he have done it?

proved by the admissions of Cli'in Seang, that there are two classes, the ruling and the ruled, the former supported by the latter. Par. 7 seems to carry our thoughts hack to a time antecedent even to Yaou. We have presented to us the world — all '' under heaven " — in a wild, confused, chaotic state, the attempts to bring which into order had not been attended with nuy great success, and which was waiting for t'ne labours of Yu, whom Yaou brought into the field. Mencius did not go, i or ought we to go, beyond Yaou for the founding of the Chinese empire. Then in par. 8 we have How-tseih doing ov^r again the work of Shin-nung, and teaching men husbandry. In regard to the calamity spoken of in this paragraph, it is to be observed that it is not presented to us as a deluge or sudden accumulation of water, but as arising from the natural river-channels being all choked up, and dis ordered. For the labours of Shun, Yih, and Yu, see the Shoo, Parts II. and III. By the "Middle States" is to be understood the portion of the country which was first occupied by the Chinese settlers. The " nine, streams" all belonged to the Ho or Yellow river, and by them Yu led off a large portion of the inundating waters. Tbe Keang is what we now call the Yang-tsze. Choo He observes that of the rivers mentioned as being led

FT i. CH. iv.] T'ANG WAN KUNQ. 209 8. " How-tseih taught tlie people to sow and reap, culti vating the five kinds of grain ; and when these were brought to maturity, the people all enjoyed a comfortable subsistence. [But] to men there belongs the way [in which they should go] ; and if they are well fed, warmly clad, and comfortably lodged, without being taught [at the same time], they be come almost like the beasts. This also was a subject of anxi ous solicitude to the sage [Shun] ; and he appointed Seeh to be minister of Instruction, and to teach the relations of humanity ! — how, between father and son, there should be affection; between ruler and subject, righteousness; between husband and wife, attention to their separate functions; between old and young, a proper distinction ; and between friends, fidelity. Fang-heun said, ' Encourage them ; lead them on ; rectify them ; straighten them ; help them ; give them wings ; causing them to become masters of their own [na,ture] for themselves.1' When the sages were exercising their solicitude for the people iu this way, had they leisure to cultivate the ground ?

into the Keang only the Han flows into that stream, while the Hwae re ceives the Joo and the Sze, and makes a direct course to the sea. He sup^ poses that there is some error in the text. Par. 8. How-tseih, which is now received as a kind of proper name, was properly the official designation of K'e, Shun's minister of Agriculture. Seeh was the name of Shun's minister of Instruction. For these two men and their works, see the Shoo, Part II. The " five kinds of grain " are paddy, millet, sacrificial millet, wheat, and pulse ; but each of these terms must be taken as comprehending several varieties under it. " To men there belongs the way [in which they should go] " carries our thoughts to the duties of the five relations of society, which are immediately specified. In my larger volume I have translated the clause by " Men possess a moral nature," but in the note have* suggested whether the original characters may not be translated as the clause at the commencement of ch. iii. 2, — " The way of men is this." Dr Plath, in his work which I have re ferred to in the Preface, insists that this is the only correct meaning, and says that I have made a mistake in rendering by — " Men possess a moral nature." That rendering, however, or the more literal one which I have now'given, is the only one which has the sanction of Chinese critics and commentators. The other which I suggested, and which Dr Plath vaunts as entirely his, has never occurred to any one of them ; and a deeper study of the text has satisfied me that it is inadmissible. This cannot be shown, however, without appealing to the Chinese characters, and the Chinese structure of the whole paragraph. Fang-heun appears in the very first paragraph of the Shoo as the name of the emperor Yaou. The address here given, however, is not found in the Shoo, and it was Shun who appointed Seeh and gave to him. his iustructions. Perhaps it was ad-

210 THE WOEKS OF MENCIUS. [fiK III. 9. " What Yaou felt as peculiarly giving him anxiety was the not getting Shun; and what Shun felt as peculiarly giving him anxiety was the not getting Yu and Kaou Yaou. But he whose anxiety is about his hundred acres' not being properly cultivated is a [mere] husbandman. 10. "The imparting by a man to others of his wealth is called ' a kindness.' The teaching others what is good is called ' an exercise of fidelity.' The finding a man who shall benefit all under heaven is called ' benevolence.' Hence to give the kingdom to another man would be easy ; to find a man who shall benefit it is difficult. 11. " Confucius said, ' Great was Yaou as a ruler ! Only Heaven is great, and only Yaou corresponded to it. How vast [was his virtue] ! The people could find no name for it. Princely indeed was Shun ! How majestic was he, pos sessing all under heaven, and yet seeming as if it were no thing to him ! ' In their governing all under heaven, had Yaou and Shun no subjects with which they occupied their minds ? But they did not occupy them with their own cul tivation of the ground.

12. "I have heard of men using [the ways of our] great land to change barbarians, but I have not yet heard of any being changed by barbarians. Ch'in Leang was a native of Ts'oo. Pleased with the doctrines of the dukes of Chow and Chung-ne, he came north to the Middle States and learned them. Among the learners of the northern regions, there were perhaps none who excelled him ; — he was what you call a scholar of high and distinguished qualities. You and your younger brother followed him for several tens of years, but on his death you forthwith turned the back on him. 13. " Formerly, when Confucius died, after three years had elapsed the disciples put their baggage in order, intending dressed to Shun himself ; — only on this supposition can I account for its intro duction here. Par. 9 is an illustration of what is said in par. 6, that "great men have their proper business, and little men theirs." Pur. 10. Compare Ana. VI. xxviii. Pur. 11. See Ana. VIII. xviii. and xix., which two chapters Mencius blends together, with the omission of some parts and alterations of others. Par. 12. Observe how here Ts'oo is excluded from the Middle States, the China proper of the time of Mencius.

Par. 13. On the death of Confucius, his disciples generally remained by his grave for three years, mourning for him as for a father, but without wear- FT i. CH. iv.] T'ANG WAN ZUNG. 211 to return to their homes. Having entered to take leave of Tsze-kung, they looked towards one another and wailed, till they all lost their voices. After this they returned to their homes, but Tsze-kung built another house for himself on the altar-ground, where he lived alone for [other] three years, after which he returned home. Subsequently, Tszehea, Tsze-chang, and Tsze-yew, thinking that Yew Joh resembled the sage, wished to pay to him the same observ ances which they had paid to Confucius, and [tried to] force Tsang-tsze [to join with them]. He said, [however], 'The thing must not be done. What has been washed in the waters of the Keang and Han, and bleached in the autumn sun : — how glistening it is ! Nothing can be added to it/ 1 4. " Now here is this shrike-tongued barbarian of the youth, whose doctrines are not those of the ancient kings. You turn your back on your [former] master, and learn of him • — different you are indeed from Tsang-tsze.

15. "I have heard of [birds] leaving the dark valleys, and removing to lofty trees, but I have not heard of their descending from lofty trees, and entering the dark valleys. 16. " In the Praise-odes of Loo it is said, ' He smote the tribes of the west and the north ; He punished King and Shoo.' Thus the duke of Chow then smote those [tribes], and you are become a disciple of [one of] them ; — the change which you have made is indeed not good." 17. [Ch'in Seang said], "If Heu's doctrines were fol lowed, there would not be two prices in the market, nor any deceit in the State. Though a lad of five cubits were sent to the market, nobody would impose on him. Linens and silks of the same length would be of the same price. ing the mourning dress. During all that time T.sze-kung acted as master of the ceremonies, and when the others left, he continued by the grave for another period of three years nominally, but in reality of two years and three months. On Yew Joh's resemblance to Confucius, see the Le Ke, II. i. III. 4. Par. 15. See the She, II. i. Ode V. 1.

Par. 16. See the She, IV. ii. Ode IV. 5. The lines contain an auspice of what the poet hoped would be accomplished by duke He of Loo ; but Mencius seems to apply them to the achievements of his ancestor, the duke of Chow. Parr. 17, 18. I suppose that Ch'in Seang made this final attempt to defend the doctrines which he had adopted without well knowing what to say. It 212 THE WORKS OP MENCIUS. [fiK III. So would it 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 in 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 would throw all under heaven into confusion. If large shoes and small shoes were of the same price, would people make them ? If people were to follow the doctrines of Heu, they would [only] lead on one another to practise deceit ;^-how can they avail for the government of a State ? "

V. 1. The Mihist E Che sought, through Sen Peih, to see Mencius. Mencius said, " I indeed wished 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 [to me]/' 2. Next day, [E Che] again sought to see Mencius, who said, " Yes, to-day I can see him. But if I do not correct is difficult to imngine the wildest dreamer really holding that the question of quality was not to enter at all into the price of things. "A boy of live cubits " would be a boy of about ten years old, who might easily be imposed upon. See on Ana. VIII. vi. Cn. V. How MENCIUS CONVINCED A MIHIST OF HIS ERROR THAT ALL MEN WERE TO BE LOVED EQUALLY, WITHOUT DIFFERENCE OP DEGREE. BY SETTING FORTH THE FEELING OUT OF WHICH GREW THE RITES OF BURIAL, ESPECIALLY IN THE CASE OF ONE'S PARENTS. Pur. 1. Of Mih and his doctrines I have spoken in the Prolegomena. Mencius thought it was one of the principal missions of his life to expose and beat back his principles. Of E Che we have no information beyond what we learn from this chapi*r. From the Tso Chuen we know that there were families of the surname E both in Ts'e and Choo.

Seu Puih was a disciple of Mencius, with whom E Che seems to have had some acquaintance. Our philosopher, probably, was well enough, but feigned sickne.-s that he might test, by interposing delay, the sincerity of the Mihist's wi>h to see him. The same purpose was also served by his saying that he would go to see E Che. when lie was better. He did not, indeed, mean to do so ; but having been told that he would do it, E Che, if he had not been in earnest, might have given up his desire to have an interview. Par. 2. E Che showed his sincerity in again seeking so soon after to have an interview with Mencius. Mencius knew that in one point his practice PT i. CH. v.] T'ANG WAN KUNQ. 213 [his errors], the [true] principles will not clearly appear ; let me first correct him. I have heard that Mr E is a Mihist. Now Mih thinks that in the regulation of the rites of mourning a spare simplicity should be the rule. E thinks [with Mih's doctrines] to change [the customs of] all under heaven ; but how does he [himself] regard them as if they were wrong, and not honour them ? Thus when E buried his parents in a sumptuous manner, he was doing them service in a way which [his doctrines] discounte nanced."

3. The disciple Seu informed Mr E of these remarks. E said, " [Even according to] the principles of the learned, the ancients, [though sages, dealt with the people] as if they were loving and cherishing their children. What does this ex pression mean ? To me it sounds that we are to love all with out difference of degree, the manifestation of it [simply] beginningwith our parents." Seu reported this reply to Mencius, who said, " Does Mr E really think that a man's affection for the child of his elder brother is [merely] like his affection for the child of his neighbour ? What is to bo taken hold of in that [expression] is simply this : — [that the people's offences are no more than] the guiltlessness of an infant, which, crawling, is about to fall into ,a well." Moreover, Heaven gives birth to creatures in such a way that they have [only] one root, while Mr E makes them to have two roots ; — this is the cause [of his error] . disagreed with the principles of Mih which he professed to follow, and re solved from that point to commence his communications with him. Accord ing to Chwang-tsze, Mih all his life-time did not sing, nor did he permit mourning for the dead. He would have no outer coffin, and the inner one which he allowed was to be only three inches in thickness.

Par. 3. 'Up to this time Mencius had not seen E Che, nor does it appear that he subsequently did so. The intercourse between them was conducted by Seu Peih. E Che does not try to vindicate his sumptuous interment of his parents, but proceeds to state and argue for the notable dogma of his master, that all men are to be loved equally. In support of this he refers to an expression in the Shoo, V. ix. 9, where the prince of K'ang is exhorted to deal with the people as he would do in protecting his own infant children. Mencius shows that that expression is merely metaphorical, and meant that the people were to be dealt with with a very kindly consideration of their weakness and liability to err. Nature itself, he says, teaches us to regard with peculiar feelings our parents and all related to us by blood. If we were to regard them and all others not related to us in the same way, that would be to make us sprung from two roots,— to be connected equally with our parents and with other men. 4. "Indeed, in the most ancient times there were some who did not inter their parents, but [simply] took their dead bodies up and threw them into a ditch. Afterwards, when passing by them, [they saw] foxes and wild-cats de vouring them, and flies and gnats gnawing at them. The perspiration started out upon their foreheads, and they looked away, because they could not bear the sight. It was not because of [what] other people [might say] that this perspiration flowed. The emotions of their hearts affected their faces and eyes, and so they went home, and returned with baskets and spades, and covered the [bodies]. If this covering them was indeed right, then filial sons and virtuous men must be guided by a certain principle in the burial of their parents.'''

5. Seu informed Mr E of what Mencius had said. Mr E seemed lost in thought, and after a little said, " He has in structed me." Par. 4. Mencius tries to confirm his position by showing the origin of burial rites in the most ancient times, that is, before the sages had delivered their rules on the subject. Even then the natural feelings of men made them bury their parents, and where some neglected to do so, remorse speedi-t ly supervened. What aff'-ction thus prompted in the first place was prompted similarly in its more sumptuous exhibition in the progress of civilization. If any interment were called for by nature, a handsome one must have our approbation. Par, 5. E Che was satisfied of the truth of what Mencius had said, and probably ceased to be a Mihist. FT ii. CH. i.] T'ANG WAN KDNG. 215 T'ANG WAN KUNG. PART u. CHAPTEE I. 1. Ch'in Tae said [to Mencius], "In not [going to] see any of the princes, you seem to me to be standing out on a small point. If now you were once to wait upon them, the result might be so great that you. would make one of them king, or, if smaller, you might yet make one of them leader of the [other] princes. And moreover, the History says, ' By bending only to the extent of one cubit, you make eight cubits straight.' It appears to me like a thing which might be done."

2 Mencius said, " Formerly, duke King of Ts'e, [once] when he was hunting, called the forester to him by a flag. [The forester] would not 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 CH. I. How MENCIUS DEFENDED THE DIGNITY OF RESERVE, BY WHICH HE REGULATED HIS INTERCOURSE WITH THE PRINCES OF HIS TIME. To understand this chapter, it must be borne in mind that there were many wandering scholars in the days of Mencius, — men who went from court to court, recommending themselves to the various princes, and trying to in fluence the course of events by their counsels. They would stoop for place and employment. Not so with our philosopher. He required that there should be shown to himself a portion of the respect which was due to the principles of which he was the expounder. Compare chapter vii. Par. 1. Ch' in Tae was one of Mencius' disciples ; and this is all that we know of him. "The thing that might be done" was Mencius' going to wait upon the princes, — taking the initiative in seeking employment from them.

Par. 2. The forester was an officer as old as the time of Shun, who in the Shoo, IL i. 22., appoints Yih, saying that "he could rightly superintend the birds and beasts of the fields and trees on his hills and in his forests." In the Official Book of Chow, XVII. vi., we have an account of the office and its duties. In those days the various officers had their several tokens, which the prince's or king's messenger bore when he was sent to summon any one of them. The forester's token was a fur cap, and the one in the text could not answer to a summons with a flag. We find the incident mentioned by Mencius given in the Tso Chuen under the 20th year of duke Ch'aou ; — but with variations : — "In the 12th month, the marquis of Ts'e was hunting in P'ei, and summoned the forester to him with a bow. The forester did not come forward, and the marquis caused him to be seized, when he explained his conduct, saying, ' At the huntings of our former be] in a ditch or stream ; the brave 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 [to the duke], when summoned by an article that was not appropriate to him. If one go [to see the princes] without waiting to be called, what can be thought of him ?

3. " Moreover, [that sentence,] ' By bending to the ex tent of one cubit you make eight cubits straight/ is spoken with reference to the gain [that may be got] . If gain be the rule, then we may seek it, I suppose, by bending to the extent of eight cubits to make one cubit straight. 4. " Formerly, the minister Chaou Keen made Wang Leang act as charioteer to his favourite He, and in the course of a whole day they did not get a single bird. The favourite He reported this result, saying, ' He is the poorest charioteer in the Avorld/ Some one informed Wang Leang of this, who said, ' I beg to try again.' By dint of press ing, he got this accorded to him, and in one morning they got ten birds. The favourite He [again] reported the result, saying, ' He is the best charioteer in the world.' The min ister Keen said, ' I will make him be the driver of your carriage;/ but when he informed Wang Leang of this, ho refused, saying, ' I [drove] for him, strictly observing the rules for driving, and in the whole day he did not get one bird. I [drove] for him so as deceitfully to intercept [the birds] , and in one morning he got ten. The Book of Poetry says,

"No error in driving was committed, And the arrows went forth like downright blows." I am not accustomed to drive for a mean man. I beg to decline the office.'' rulers, a flag was used to call a great officer, a bow to call an inferior one, and a fur cap to call a forester. Not seeing the fur cap, I did not venture to come forward.' On this lie was let go. Confucius said, ' To keep the rule [of answering a prince's summons] is not so good as to keep [the special rule for one's] office. Superior men will hold this man right. ' " Par. ?>. This is the decisive paragraph in the conversation. Pur. 4. Keen was the honorary or sacrificial epithet of Chaou Yang, the chief minister of Tsin, in the time of Confucius. He is constantly appear ing iu the Tso Chuen after the 24th year of duke Ch'aou ; and Wang Leang was his charioteer, who appears in the Tso Chuen and the narratives of the States also as Yew Leang, Yew Woo-seuh, Yew Woo-ching. I have not met, with any further reference to Chaou Yang's favourite He. The ode in the Book of I'ot-try 1'iotu which the <motatioii is made is II. iii. V.

PT II. CH. .11.] TfAXG WAN RUNG. 217 5. " [Thus this] charioteer even was ashamed to bend im properly to the will of [such] an archer. Though by bend ing to it they would have caught birds and animals enow to form a hill, he would not do it. If I were to bend my principles and follow those [princes], of what course would my conduct be ? Moreover you are wrong. Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight." II. 1. King Ch'un said [toMencius], "Are not Kung-sun Yen and Chang E really great men ? Let them once be angry, and all the princes are afraid ; let them live quietly, and the flames of trouble are extinguished throughout the kingdom." 2. Mencius said, " How can they be regarded as great men ? Have you not read the Ritual [usages] ; — ' At the capping of a young man, his father admonishes him. At the marrying away of a daughter, her mother admonishes her, accompanying her to the door, and cautioning her in these words, " You are going to your home. You must be respectful ; you must be cautious. Do not disobey your husband." [Thus,] to look upon compliance as their correct course is the rule for concubines and wives.

3. " To dwell in the wide house of the world; to stand in ' the correct position of the world ; and to walk in the great path of the world ; when he obtains his desire [for office], Par. 1. King Ch'un was a contemporary of Mencius, who occupied him self with the intrigues of the time, designed to unite the other States in opposition to Ts'in or to induce them to submit to it. He was an admirer of Kung-sun Yen and Chang E, two principal leaders in those intrigues, and whose influence was very great on the fortunes of the time. They were both of them natives of Wei, but were generally opposed to each other in their schemes. Yen was a grandson of one of the rulers of Wei, and hence his surname of Kung-sun. He is often mentioned by the designation of Sene'w ; — see the " Historical Records," Book C. Chang E was perhaps the abler man of the two. Par. 2. The Ritual usages, to which Mencius here refers, is the collection known by the name of E Le. Our philosopher throws various passages to gether, and, according to his wont, is not careful to quote correctly. Obe dience was the rule for women, and especially so for concubines-or secondary wives. Mencius introduces them to show his contempt for Yen and E, who, with all their bluster, only pandered to the passions of the princes.

Par. 3. " The wide house of the world" is benevolence or love, the chief and home of all the virtues ; " the correct seat " is propriety ; and " the great path " is righteousness. to practise his principles for the good of the people ; and when that desire is disappointed, to practise them alone ; to be above the power of riches and honours to make dissi pated, of poverty and mean condition to make swerve [from principle], and of power and force to make bend : — these characteristics constitute the great man." III. 1. Chow Seaou asked [Mencius], saying, " Did supe rior men of old time take office ? " Mencius said, " They did." The Record says, " When Confucius was three months without [being employed by] some ruler, he looked disap pointed and unhappy. When he passed over the boundary [of a State], he was sure to carry with him his proper gift of introduction." Kung-ming E said, " Among the ancients, when [an officer] was three months without [being employed by] some ruler, he was condoled with." 2. [Seaou said,] " Did not this condoling, on being three months unemployed by a ruler, show a too great urgency ? "