CHAPTER V
1. The king Hsüan of Ch＇î said, ＇People all tell me to pull down and remove the Hall of Distinction. Shall I pull it down, or stop the movement for that object?＇
2. Mencius replied, ＇The Hall of Distinction is a Hall appropriate to the sovereigns. If your Majesty wishes to practise the true royal government, then do not pull it down.＇
3. The king said, ＇May I hear from you what the true royal government is?＇ ＇Formerly,＇ was the reply, ＇king Wăn＇s government of Ch＇î was as follows:—
招 is used for 韶, the name given to the music of Shun.This was said to be preserved in Ch＇î, and the same name was given to all Ch＇î music. The Chî-shâo and Chio-shâo were, I suppose, two tunes or pieces of music, starting with the notes 徵 and 角 respectively.
CHAPTER 5. TRUE ROYAL GOVERNMENT WILL ASSUREDLY RAISE TO THE SUPREME DIGNITY, AND NEITHER GREED OF WEALTH,NOR LOVE OF WOMEN, NEED INTERFERE WITH ITS EXSECIRE.
However his admirers may try to defend him,here, and in other chapters, Mencius, if he does not counsel to, yet suggests, rebellion. In his days, the Châu dynasty was nearly a century distant from its extinction. And then his accepting the princes, with all their confirmed habits of vice and luxury, and telling them those need not interfere with the benevolence of their government, shows very little knowledge of man,or of men＇s affairs.
1. 明堂,—not ＇the Ming or Brilliant Hall＇. It was the name given to the palaces occupied in different parts of the country by the sovereigns in their tours of inspection mentioned in the last chapter. See the Book of Rites, Bk. XII. The name Ming was given to them,because royal government, &c., were ＇displayed＇ by means of them. The one in the text was at the foot of the T＇âi mountain in Ch＇î, and as the Son of Heaven no longer made use of it, the suggestion on which he consulted Mencius was made to king Hsüan. In 毁诸已乎 we have two questions,—＇Shall I destroy it (诸, the interrogative of hesitancy, so common in Mencius), or,Shall I stop?＇
2. The first and third王here might have the 4th tone;they quite differ from the second, which is merely the style of king Hsüan. I may give here a note from the 集证 (Pt. I. i. i) on the forces of the terms 君 and王:—＇He who is followed by the people till they form a flock (羣), is a chün. He to whom they turn and go (往之), is a wang. Thus the title wang expresses the idea of the people＇s turning and resorting to him who holds it, but the possessor of a State can barely be called a chün. It is only the possessor of the whole kingdom who can be styled wang.＇
3. Ch＇î was a double-peaked hill, giving its name to the adjoining country, the old State of Châu. Its name is still retained in the district of Ch＇î-shan, in Fănghsiang, the most western department of Shen-hsi,bordering on Kan-sû.
The husbandmen cultivated for the government oneninth of the land; the descendants of officers were salaried; at the passes and in the markets, strangers were inspected, but goods were not taxed: there were no prohibitions respecting the ponds and weirs; the wives and children of criminals were not involved in their guilt. There were the old and wifeless, or widowers; the old and husbandless, or widows; the old and childless, or solitaries; the young and fatherless,or orphans:—these four classes are the most destitute of the people, and have none to whom they can tell their wants, and king Wăn, in the institution of his government with its benevolent action, made them thefirst objects of his regard, as it is said in the Book of Poetry,
"The rich may get through life well;
But alas! for the miserable and solitary!" ＇
4. The king said, ＇O excellent words!＇ Mencius said,＇Since your Majesty deems them excellent, why do you not practise them?＇ ＇I have an infirmity,＇ said the king; ＇I am fond of wealth.＇
耕者九一, a square ü was divided into nine parts,each containing 100 mâu; eight farming families were located upon them, one part being reserved for government, which was cultivated by the joint labours of the husbandmen;—see III. Pt. I. iii. 仕者世禄,—＇officers, hereditary emolument;＇ that is,descendants of meritorious officers, if men of ability, received office, and, even if they were not, they had pensions, in reward of the merit of their fathers. ＇Ponds and weirs,＇—it is not to be understood that the ponds were artificial. 先斯四,—先 is the verb. For the ode, see the Shih-ching, II. iv. Ode VIII. st. 13, where for茕 we 悸.
4. 公刘, ＇The duke Lîu,＇ was the great grandson of Hâu-chî, the high ancestor of the Châu family. By him the waning fortunes of his house were revived, and he founded a settlement in 豳 (Pin), the present Pin-châu(邠州), in Shen-hsi. The account of his doing so is found in the ode quoted, Shih-ching, III. ii.
The reply was, ＇Formerly, Kung-lîu was fond of wealth. It is said in the Book of Poetry,
"He reared his ricks, and filled his granaries,
He tied up dried provisions and grain,
In bottomless bags, and sacks,
That he might gather his people together, and glorify his State.
With bows and arrows all-displayed,
With shields, and spears, and battle-axes, large and small,
He commenced his march."
In this way those who remained in their old seat had their ricks and granaries, and those who marched had their bags of provisions. It was not till after this that he thought he could begin his march. If your Majesty loves wealth, give the people power to gratify the same feeling, and what difficulty will there be in your attaining the royal sway?＇
5. The king said, ＇I have an infirmity; I am fond of beauty.＇ The reply was, ＇Formerly, king T＇âi was fond of beauty, and loved his wife. It is said in the Book of Poetry,
"Kû-kung T＇an-fû
Came in the morning, galloping his horse,
By the banks of the western waters,
Ode IV. st. i. For 乃 we have in the Shih-ching 廼,and for 戢, 辑. 积, read ts＇ze, in 4th tone, ＇to store up＇,＇stores＇. ChûHsi explains:—＇stores in the open air＇.
5. The king T＇âi (see the Doctrine of the Mean, chap.xviii) was the ninth in descent from Kung Liû, by name T＇an-fû (in 3rd tone).
As far as the foot of Ch＇î hill,
Along with the lady of Chiang;
They came and together chose the site for their settlement."
At that time, in the seclusion of the house, there were no dissatisfied women, and abroad, there were no unmarried men. If your Majesty loves beauty, let the people be able to gratify the same feeling, and what difficulty will there be in your attaining the royal sway?＇