CHAPTER I
1. Kung-sun Ch＇âu asked Mencius, saying, ＇Master,if you were to obtain the ordering of the government in Ch＇î, could you promise yourself to accomplish anew such results as those realized by Kwan Chung and Yen?＇
2. Mencius said, ＇You are indeed a true man of Ch＇î.You know about Kwan Chung and Yen, and nothing more.
3. ＇Some one asked Tsăng Hsî, saying, "Sir, to which do you give the superiority,—to yourself or to Tszelû?" Tsăng Hsî looked uneasy, and said, "He was an object of veneration to my grandfather."
TITLE OF THIS BOOK.—The name of Kung-sun Ch＇âu, a disciple of Mencius, heading the first chapter,the book is named from him accordingly. On 章句上see note on the title of the first Book.
CHAPTER 1. WHILE MENCIUS WISHED TO SEE A TRUE ROYAL GOVERNMENT AND SWAY IN THE KINGDOM, AND COULD EASILY HAVE REALIZED IT, FROM THE PEOULIAR CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE TIME, HE WOULD NOT, TO DO SO, HAVE HAD RECOURSE TO ANY WAYS INCONSISTENT WITH ITS IDEA.
1. Kung-sun Ch＇âu, one of Mencius＇s disciples,belonged to Ch＇î, and was probably a cadet of the ducal family. The sons of the princes were generally公子; their sons again, 公孙, ＇ducal grandsons＇, and those two characters became the surname of their descendants, who mingled with the undistinguished clauses of the people. 当路, literally, ＇in a way＇. Châo Ch＇î says—当仕路, ＇in an official way＇, and ChûHsî, 居要地, ＇to occupy an important position＇. The gloss in the 备旨 says:—＇当路 is 操政柄, to grasp the handle of government.＇ The analogous phrase—当道 is used now to describe an officer＇s appointment. 管仲,—see Confucian Analects, III. xxii; XIV. x, xvii, xviii. 晏子,—see Analects, V. xvi; Mencius, I. Pt. II. iv.
3. Tsăng Hsî was the grandson, according to Châo Ch＇î and ChûHsî, of Tsăng Shăn, the famous disciples of Confucius. Others say he was Shăn＇s son. It is a most-point .孰贤,—compare Analects, XI. xv. 蹴然,according to Chû, is 不安貌, as in the translation.
"Then," pursued the other, "Do you give the superiority to yourself or to Kwan Chung?" Tsang Hsî, flushed with anger and displeased, said, "How dare you compare me with Kwan Chung? Considering how entirely Kwan Chung possessed the confidenceof his prince, how long he enjoyed the direction of the government of the State, and how low, after all, was what he accomplished,—how is it that you liken me to him?"
4. ＇Thus,＇ concluded Mencius, ＇Tsăng Hsî would not play Kwan Chung, and is it what you desire for me that I should do so?＇
5. Kung-sun Ch＇âu said, ＇Kwan Chung raised his prince to be the leader of all the other princes, and Yen made his prince illustrious, and do you still think it would not be enough for you to do what they did?＇
6. Mencius answered, ＇To raise Ch＇î to the royal dignity would be as easy as it is to turn round the hand.＇
7. ＇So!＇ returned the other. ＇The perplexity of your disciple is hereby very much increased.
The dictionary gives it, 敬貌, ＇the appearance of reverence＇. 先子,—we see what a wide application this character子 has. 何曾,—曾 is not to be taken as if it were the sign of the present complete tense, tough in the dictionary this passage is quoted under that signification of the character. It is here=则 or 乃. For more than forty years Kwan Chung possessed the entire confidence of the duke Hwan.
4. 为我, —为, 4th tone, ＇on my behalf＇. Sun Shih(孙奭), the paraphrast of Châo Ch＇î, takes it as=以为:—＇Do you think that I desire to do so?＇ This does not appear to be Ch＇î＇s own interpretation.
5. 管仲晏子犹不足为与, —literally, ＇and are Kwan Chung and Yen still not sufficient to be played?＇
7. 若是—＇in this case＇; but by using our exclamatory So! the spirit of the remark is brought out.
There was king Wăn, moreover, with all the virtue which belonged to him; and who did not die till he had reached a hundred years:—and still his influence had not penetrated throughout the kingdom. It required king Wû and the duke of Châu to continue his course,before that influence greatly prevailed. Now you say that the royal dignity might be so easily obtained:—is king Wăn then not a sufficient object for imitation?＇
8. Mencius said, ＇How can king Wăn be matched?From T＇ang to Wû-ting there had appeared six or seven worthy and sage sovereigns. The kingdom had been attached to Yin for a long time, and this length of time made a change difficult. Wû-ting had all the princes coming to his court, and possessed the kingdom as if it had been a thing which he moved round in his palm. Then, Châu was removed from Wû-ting by no great interval of time. There were still remaining some of the ancient families and of the old manners, of the influence also which had emanated from the earliersovereigns, and of their good government.
且 introduce a new subject, and a stranger one for the point in hand. King Wăn died at 97. —Ch＇âu uses the round number. 今言王若易然,=今言王齐若是之易然,＇Now you say that Ch＇î might be raised to the royal sway thus easily.＇
8. From T＇ang to Wû-ting (B.C. 1765-1323) there were altogether eighteen sovereigns, exclusive of themselves, and from Wû-ting to Châu (1323-1153) seven. 朝 (ch＇âo), and tone, used as in Bk. I. Pt. I. vii. 16.et al. 微子, 比干, 箕子,—see Analects, XVIII. i. The latter two are 王子, as being uncles of Châu, ＇royal sons＇.
Moreover, there were the viscount of Wei and his second son, their Royal Highnesses Pî-kan and the viscount of Ch＇î, and Kâo-ko, all men of ability and virtue, who gave their joint assistance to Châu in hisgovernment. In consequence of these things, it took a long time for him to lose the throne. There was not a foot of ground which he did not possess. There was not one of all the people who was not his subject. So it was on his side, and king Wăn at his beginning had only a territory of one hundred square lî. On all these accounts, it was difficult for him immediately to attainto the royal dignity.
9. ＇The people of Ch＇î have a saying—"A man may have wisdom and discernment, but that is not like embracing the favourable opportunity. A man may have instruments of husbandry, but that is not like waiting for the farming seasons." The present time is one in which the royal dignity may be easily attained.
10. ＇In the flourishing periods of the Hsiâ, Yin, and Châu dynasties, the royal domain did not exceed a thousand lî, and Ch＇î embraces so much territory.
微仲 was the second son (some say brother) of微子.Kâo-ko was a distinguished man and minister of the time,—whose worth was first discovered by king Wăn,but who continued loyal to the House ofYin.辅相— , h t王犹方云相之,—之文失hehrone.efers4ttttone.ro,云,—犹, the opp. of former cases, takes the place of 由.
9. 镃基,—written variously, 兹基, 镃钅基 ,—was the name fora hoe.
10. 夏后, 殷, 周, see Analects, III. xxi. 辟=开. The last sentence, as in Bk. I. Pt. I. vii. 3.
Cocks crow and dogs bark to one another, all the way to the four borders of the State:—so Ch＇î possesses the people. No change is needed for the enlarging of its territory: no change is needed for the collecting of a population. If its ruler will put in practice a benevolent government, no power will be able to prevent his becoming sovereign.
11. ＇Moreover, never was there a time farther removed than the present from the rise of a true sovereign: never was there a time when the sufferings of the people from tyrannical government were more intense than the present. The hungry readily partake of any food, and the thirsty of any drink.
12. ＇Confucius said, "The flowing progress of virtue is more rapid than the transmission of royal orders by stages and couriers."
13. ＇At the present time, in a country of ten thousand chariots, let benevolent government be put in practice,and the people will be delighted with it, as if they were relieved from hanging by the heels. With half the merit of the ancients, double their achievements is sure to be realized.
11. The 为 in 易为食, 易为饮 is perplexing. We might put it in the 3rd tone, and 食 and 饮 in the same.But in Bk. VII. Pt. I. xxvii, we have the expressions饥者甘食, 渴者甘饮, where 食 and 饮 must have their ordinary tones. Stress therefore is not to be laid on the为. Perhaps the expressions= ＇easily do eating, easily do drinking＇.
12. The distinction between 置 and 邮 is much disputed. Some make the former a foot-post, but that is unlikely. It denotes the slower conveyance of despatches, and the other the more rapid. So much seeing plain. See the 集证, in loc.
13. 犹解倒悬,—ChûHsî simply says:—倒悬喻困苦, ＇倒悬 expresses bitter suffering＇.
It is only at this time that such could be the case.＇