CHAPTER II
1. When the duke Ting of T＇ăngdied, the prince said to Yen Yû, ＇Formerly, Mencius spoke with me in Sung,and in my mind I have never forgotten his words.Now, alas!
3. 道—而已, —道 seems here to be used as in the Chung Yung, i. I,—＇an accordance with this nature is called the Path＇, but viewed here more in the consummation of high sageship and distinction to which it leads, which may be reached by treading it,and which can be reached in no other way. We have here for the first time the statement of Mencius＇s doctrine, which he subsequently dwells so much on,that ＇the nature of man is good＇.
4. Of Ch＇ăng Chi＇en we only know what is here said.彼丈夫—彼 referring to the sages. 丈夫, used for ＇man＇or ＇men＇, with the idea of vigour and capability. Kungming Ȋ was a disciple first of Tsze-chang, and then of Tsăng Shăn. 文王我师 would appear to have been a remark originally of Châu-kung, which Ȋ appropriates and vindicates on that high authority.
5. 绝长补短,—cutting the long to supplement the short. Observe the force of 将, as in the translation.犹 implying—＇It is small, but still.＇善国, compare chap. iii:—＇a good kingdom＇ is such an one as is there described. 若药云云,—see the Shû-ching, IV. viii. Sect. I. 3.暝, read meen, the 4th tone.
CHAPTER 2. HOW MENCIUS ADVISED THE DUKE OF T＇ĂNG TO CONDUCT THE MOURNING FOR HIS FATHER.
1. 薨 is the proper term to express the death of any of the feudal princes of the kingdom. Yen Yû had been the prince＇s Grand tutor (太傅);
this great duty to my father devolves upon me; I wish to send you to ask the advice of Mencius, and then to proceed to its various services＇
2. Zan Yû accordingly proceeded to Tsâu, and consulted Mencius. Mencius said, ＇Is this not good? In discharging the funeral duties to parents, men indeed feel constrained to do their utmost. The philosopher Tsăng said, "When parents are alive, they should be served according to propriety; when they are dead,they should be buried according to propriety; and they should be sacrificed to according to propriety:—this may be called filial piety." The ceremonies to be observed by the princes I have not learned, but I have heard these points:— that the three years＇ mourning,the garment of coarse cloth with its lower edge even,and the eating of congee, were equally prescribed by the three dynasties, and binding on all, from the sovereign to the mass of the people.＇
3. Zan Yû reported the execution of his commission,
I suppose that 然 is the surname. 大故 is a phrase applied to the funeral of, and mourning for, parents;—＇the great cause, or matter＇.
2. 之邻,—之 is the verb,=往. 不亦善乎,—spoken with reference to the prince＇s sending to consult him on such a subject. 亲丧固所自尽,—compare Analects,XIX. xvii. The words attributed to Tsăng Shăn were originally spoken by Confucius; see Analects, II. v.Tsăng may have appropriated them, and spoken them,so as to make them be regarded as his own, or, what is more likely, Mencius here makes a slip of memory. 齐,1st tone, read tsze; see Analects, IX. ix. 飦, as used in the text, read like and=饘, denotes congee, like 粥, but made thicker.
3. 反命, ＇returned the commission＇, i.e. reported his execution of it and the reply. 世子 must be understood as the subject of 定. 父兄, ＇his fathers and brothers＇,
and the prince determined that the three years＇mourning should be observed. His aged relatives, and the body of the officers, did not wish that it should be so, and said, ＇The former princes of Lû, that kingdom which we honour, have, none of them, observed this practice, neither have any of our own former princes observed it. For you to act contrary to their example is not proper. Moreover, the History says,—"In the observances of mourning and sacrifice, ancestors are to be followed," meaning that they received those things from a proper source to hand them down.＇
4. The prince said again to Zan Yû, ＇Hitherto, I have not given myself to the pursuit of learning, but have found my pleasure in horsemanship and swordexercise, and now I don＇t come up to the wishes of my aged relatives and the officers. I am afraid I may not be able to discharge my duty in the great business that I have entered on; do you again consult Mencius for me.＇ On this, Zan Yû went again to Tsâu, and consulted Mencius.
i.e. his uncles and elderly ministers of the ducal family. The phrase is commonly applied by Chinese to the elders of their own surname, whatever be the degrees of their relationship. 吾宗国,—the ducal house of T＇ăng was descended from one of the sons of king Wăn (Shû-hsiû, 叔繍), but by an inferior wife,while Châu-kung, the ancestor of Lû, was in the true sovereign line, the author of all the civil institutions of the dynasty, and hence all the other States ruled by descendants of king Wăn were supposed to look up to Lû. That Châu-kung and the first rulers of T＇ăng had not observed the three years＇ mourning is not to be supposed. The crown-prince＇s remonstrants are wrong in attributing to them the neglect of later dukes. 志,—what particular ＇history＇ they refer to is not known. 吾有所受之,—吾 is to be understood as spoken in the person of the ancestors, and I have therefore rendered it by ＇they＇. Châo Ch＇î, however, says that some made this a reply of the prince:—＇The prince said, I haveone (i.e. Mencius) from whom I received it.＇
4. 不我足=不以我足满其意, as in the translation. 恐其不能,—＇I am afraid of the not being able, &c.＇ It is the sentiment of the prince himself,
Mencius said, ＇It is so, but he may not seek a remedy in others, but only in himself. Confucius said, "When a prince dies, his successor entrusts the administration to the prime minister. He sips the congee. His face is of a deep black. He approaches the place of mourning,and weeps. Of all the officers and inferior ministers there is not one who will presume not to join in the lamentation, he setting them this example. What the superior loves, his inferiors will be found to love exceedingly. The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and grass. The grass must bend when the wind blows upon it." The business depends on the prince.＇
5. Zan Yû returned with this answer to his commission, and the prince said, ＇It is so. The matter does indeed depend on me.＇ So for five months he dwelt in the shed, without issuing an order or a caution. All the officers and his relatives said, ＇He may be said to understand the ceremonies.＇ When the time of interment arrived, they came from all quarters of the State to witness it.
and 恐 must be translated in the first person, and not in the third, as Julien does. In the 其 there is a reference to his antecedents, as occasioning the present difficulty. 不可以他求 is taken by Ch＇âo Ch＇î, ＇You may not seek (to overcome their opposition) by any other way (but carrying out what you have begun).＇ChûHsi＇s view, as in the translation, is better. In the quotations from Confucius, Mencius has blended different places of the Analects together, and enlarged them to suit his own purpose, or, it may be, the text of the Analects was different in his time. See Analects, XII. xxi. et al.即位而哭,—the 位 is the place where the coffin lay,during the five months that elapsed between the death and interment.
5. The 庐 was a shed, built of boards and straw,outside the centre door of the palace, against the surrounding wall, which the mourning prince tenanted till the interment; see the Lî Chî, XVIII. Sect. I. i. 7.可谓曰知 is supposed by ChûHsî, with reason, to be corrupted or defective.
Those who had come from other States to condole with him, were greatly pleased with the deep dejection of his countenance and the mournfulness of his wailing and weeping.