CHAPTER V
1. The Mohist, Î Chih, sought, through Hsü Pî, to see Mencius. Mencius said, ＇I indeed wish to see him, but at present I am still unwell. When I am better, I will myself go and see him. He need not come here again.＇2. Next day, Î Chih again sought to see Mencius.Mencius said, ＇To-day I am able to see him. But if I do not correct his errors, the true principles will not be fully evident. Let me first correct him. I have heard that this Î is a Mohist. Now Mo considers that in the regulation of funeral matters a spare simplicity should be the rule. Î thinks with Mo＇s doctrines to change thecustoms of the kingdom;—how does he regard them as if they were wrong, and not honour them?
The size of the shoes is mentioned as a thing more palpable than their quality, and exposing more easily the absurdity of Hsü＇s proposition.
CHAPTER 5. HOW MENCIUS CONVINCED A MORIST OF HIS ERROR, THAT ALL MEN WERE TO BE LOVED EQUALLY, WITHOUT DIFFERENCE OF DEGREE.
1. Mo, by name 翟 (Tî), was a heresiarch between the times of Confucius and Mencius. His most distinguishing principle was that of universal and equal love, which he contended would remedy all the evils of society;—see next Part, chap. ix, et al.It has been contended, however, by the Rev. Dr.Edkins, that Mencius＇s account of Mo＇s views is unfair. See Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. II. Some of Mo＇s writings remain, and some notice of them will be found in the prolegomena. 徐辟 (read Pî or P＇î)was a disciple of Mencius. The philosopher, according to the opinion of ChûHsi, was well enough, but feigned sickness and told Ȋ Chih that he need not come again to see him,—to try his sincerity. It is to be understood that Chih had intimated that he was dissatisfied with his Mohism,and Mencius would be guided in his judgment of his really being so, by testing his desire to obtain an interview with him. It is difficult to express the force of the particle 且;—＇myself＇comes near it. 夷子不来 is Mencius＇s remark, and Châo Ch＇î is wrong, when he carries it on to the next paragraph, and construes—＇Ȋ in consequence did not then come, but another day, &c.＇
2. 他日, ＇another day＇; probably, ＇next day＇. The repetition of the application satisfied Mencius that Chih was really anxious to be instructed. 直, ChûHsî says,=尽言以相正, ＇to expound the truth fully to correct him＇. 不见,—见, 4th tone.
Notwithstanding his views, Î buried his parents in a sumptuous manner, and so he served them in the way which his doctrines discountenance.＇
3. The disciple Hsü informed Î of these remarks. Îsaid, ＇Even according to the principles of the learned,we find that the ancients acted towards the people＇ ＇as if they were watching over an infant.＇ ＇What does this expression mean? To me it sounds that we are to love all without difference of degree; but the manifestation of love must begin with our parents.＇ Hsü reported this reply to Mencius, who said, ＇Now, does Î really think that a man＇s affection for the child of his brother is merely like his affection for the infant of a neighbour? What is to be approved in that expression is simply this:— that if an infant crawling about is likely to fall into a well, it is no crime in the infant. Moreover,
我且直之,—且 is here=将, ＇will＇. The 备旨 says that 对未遽见言, ＇it is used with reference to the not readily granting Ȋ an interview＇. Mencius wanted to put the applicant right, before conversing with him. We are to suppose that, after the acknowledgement in the concluding paragraph, he admitted Ȋ to his presence.This principle about conducting funerals, or mourning generally, in a spare and inexpensive manner, was a subordinate point of Mo＇s teaching, and Mencius knowing that Ȋ Chih had not observed it, saw how he could lead him on from it to see the error of the chief principle of the sect. 贵 and 贱 are both verbs.
3. Chih attempts to show that the classical doctrine likewise had the principle of equal and universal love.See the 若保赤子, quoted in the ＇Great Learning＇.Commentary, ix. 2. 之则,—之 is the name of the speaker. 差, read ts＇ze, ＇uneven＇. 差等,—＇uneven degrees＇. Ȋ Chih does not attempt to vindicate the sumptuous interment of his parents;—he says 施由始亲, not knowing what to say. 夫,—2nd tone. 彼有取尔 (=耳) 也, with what follows, requires to be supplemented by the reader:—＇The child＇s falling into the well being thus from no perverse intent, but the consequence of its helplessness, people will all try to save it; and the people, liable to offend in ignorance, are to be dealt with in the same way;—to be instructed and watched over. This is all that we can find in the words which he quotes.＇
Heaven gives birth to creatures in such a way that they have one root, and Î makes them to have two roots. This is the cause of his error.
4. ＇And, in the most ancient times, there were some who did not inter their parents. When their parents died, they took them up and threw them into some water-channel. Afterwards, when passing by them,they saw foxes and wild-cats devouring them, and flies and gnats biting at them. The perspiration started out upon their foreheads, and they looked away, unable to bear the sight. It was not on account of other people that this perspiration flowed.
Châo Ch＇î makes 彼 refers to Ȋ Chih:—＇he only takes a part of the meaning. He loses the scope of the whole,and clings to the word infant.＇ This is ingenious, but does not seem sound. The ＇one root＇ is the parents(and the seed in reference to inanimate things, but the subject is all about men, and hence the 备旨 says that物 is to be taken as=人), to whom therefore should be given a peculiar affection. Mo saying that other men should be loved as much, and in the same way, as parents, made two roots. The 故 is quite enigmatic, but it is explained as I have done.
4. 盖, not exactly ＇for＇, but as a more general continuative. Julien translates the first clause:—＇Porroin superioribus seculis nondum errant qui sepelirent suos parentes,＇ and he blames Noel for rendering—＇quidam fllii parentes suos tumulo non mandabant.＇Mencius, he says, ＇is treating of all men, and not of some only＇. I cannot, however, get over the 者, which would seem to require the rendering given by Noel.Reference is made indeed to the highest antiquity (上世), when the sages had not yet delivered their rules for ceremonies, but from the clause 非为人泚 we may infer that even then all were not equally unobservant of what was proper. 遏,—the 1st tone. The passing by is not to be taken as fortuitous. Their natural solicitude brought them to see how it was with the bodies. The狐 is ＇the fox＇. 狸 or 貍 is a name given to different animals. We have the 貓狸, or ＇wild cat＇; the 风狸,which appears to be the ＇raccoon＇; and others. 姑, says Chû Hsî, has no meaning, but is a drawl between the words before and after it. Some would take it for 蛄, a kind of cricket. 非为人泚,—compare 非所以要誉云云, Bk. II. Pt. I. vi. 3. 中心, ＇their middle heart＇, the very centre of their being. 盖归,—盖= ＇and forthwith＇, but what follows contains a proof of what is said before—中心云云. 反虆梩, ＇overturned baskets and shovels＇,
The emotions of their hearts affected their faces and eyes, and instantly they went home, and came back with baskets and spades and covered the bodies. Ifthe covering them thus was indeed right, you may see that the filial son and virtuous man, in interring in ahandsome manner their parents, act according to a proper rule.＇
5. The disciple Hsü informed Î of what Mencius had said. Î was thoughtful for a short time, and then said,＇He has instructed me.＇
i.e. of earth. 虆,—read le (not lü, as enjoined in the tonal notes in most editions of Mencius), in 2nd tone.The meaning of 梩 is obscure; chat of a spade or shovel (wooden, of course) is given, however, to it.The conclusion of the argument is this, that what affection prompted in the first case, was prompted similarly in its more sumptuous exhibition in the progress of civilization. If any interment was right, a handsome one must be right also.
5. 怃然, in the dictionary, is explained, as ＇the appearance of being surprised＇. In Analects, XVIII.vi. 4, Chû Hsî explains the phrase by 怅然, ＇vexedlike＇. I have there translated—＇with a sigh＇. 命之,—之is again the speaker＇s name. 命 is in the sense of 教, ＇the instruct＇.