CHAPTER I
1. Ch＇ăn Tâi said to Mencius,＇In not going to wait upon any of the princes, you seem to me to be standing 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 sovereign, or, if smaller, that you would make one of them chief of all the other princes. Moreover, the History says, "By bending only one cubit, you make eight cubits straight." It appears to me like a thing which might be done.＇
2. Mencius said, ＇Formerly, the duke Ching of Ch＇î,once when he was hunting, called his 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 determined officer never forgets
CHAPTER 1. HOW MENCIUS DEFENDED THE DIGNITY OF RESERVE BY WHICH HE REGULATED HIS INTERCOURSE WITH THE PRINCES OF HIS TIME.
To understand the 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 influence 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.
1. Ch＇ăn Tâi was one of Mencius＇s disciples. 不见=不往见. 宜若小然,=＇in reason is as if it were small like＇.大 is said to be 大用, ＇if you were greatly employed＇,and 小=小用. It is better to take these terms as in the translation. The clauses must be expended—大则以其君王, 小则以其君霸. 王, 4th tone. 志,—see Pt. I. ii. 3.The ＇thing that might be done＇ is Mencius＇s going towait on the princes.
2. The 虞人 was an officer as old as the time of Shun, who appoints Yî (益), Shû-ching, II. i. 22, saying that ＇he could rightly superintend the birds and beasts of the fields and trees on his hills, and in his forests＇. In the Châu Lî, Pt. II. Bk. xvi, we have an account of the office, where it appears, that, on occasion of a great hunting, the forester had to clear the paths, and set up flags for the hunters to collect around.
that his end may be in a ditch or a stream; the brave officer never forgets 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 the article which was not appropriate to him. If one go to see the princes without waiting to be invited,what can be thought of him?
3. ＇Moreover, that sentence, "By bending only one cubit, you make eight cubits straight," is spoken with reference to the gain that may be got. If gain be the object, then, if it can be got by bending eight cubits to make one cubit straight, may we likewise do that?
4. ＇Formerly, the officer Châo Chien made Wang Liang act as charioteer for his favourite Hsî, when,in the course of a whole day, they did not get a single bird.
There the charges are the ＇hills＇ and ＇marshes＇, and here, according to Châo Ch＇î and Chû Hsî, they were the ＇preserves and parks＇. In those times, the various officers had their several tokens, which the prince＇s messenger bore when he was sent to call any of them.A forester＇s token was a fur cap, and the one in the text would not answer to a summons with a flag. See the incident in the 左传, 昭公, 二十年, where the details,however, and Confucius＇s judgment on it, are different.It is there said:—＇The prince of Ch＇î was hunting in P＇î and summoned the forester with a bow. As the forester did not come, the prince had him seized, when he excused himself, saying, In the huntings of formerprinces, 大夫 have been summoned with a banner;士, with a bow; and the forester with a fur cap. As I did not see the fur cap, I did not venture to approach.The duke on this dismissed the man. Chung-nî said,He observed the law of his office, rather than the ordinary rule of answering the summons. Superior men will approve of his act.＇田,—used for 畋 or 佃.The observations which must be taken as made by Confucius are found nowhere else. 元,—here=首, ＇the head＇. 不忘 is a difficult phrase in the connextion.I have made the best of it I could. The first 其招 is plain enough—the summons appropriate to him, i.e.to a forester. We cannot lay so much stress, however,on the 其 in the same phrase in the last sentence, the subject of the chapter being the question of Mencius＇s waiting on the princes without being called by them at all.
3. 且夫 (2nd tone) is more forcible and argumentative than 且 alone. 如以利=如以计利为心. The question in亦可为与 is an appeal to Tâi＇s own sense of what was right. Admitting what he asked in par. I, any amount of evil might be done that good might come. Was he prepared to allow that? 4. The Chieh (简) in Châo Chien is the posthumous epithet. His name was 鞅(Yang), a noble of Tsin, in the time of Confucius, and Wang Liang was his charioteer, famous for his skill.Liang appears in the histories of the time—the 左传and 国语—by different names.
The favourite Hsî reported this result, saying, "He is the poorest charioteer in the world." Some one told this to Wang Liang, who said, "I beg leave to try again." By dint of pressing, this was accorded to him,when in one morning they got ten birds. The favourite,reporting this result, said, "He is the best charioteer in the world." Chien said, "I will make him always drive your chariot for you." When he told Wang Liang so, however, Liang refused, saying, "I drove for him,strictly observing the proper 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. It is said in the Book of Poetry,
＇There is no failure in the management of their horses;
The arrows are discharged surely, like the blows of an axe.＇
I am not accustomed to drive for a mean man. I beg leave to decline the office."
He is called 邮无恤, 邮无正, 邮良, as well as 王良;—see the 四书拓余说, in loc. 与=为, ＇for＇, and 乘 (4th tone), ＇a chariot＇. 反命,—see Pt. I. ii. 3. It is a phrase of form. 工,—＇a mechanic＇, ＇an artist＇; here= ＇a charioteer＇.请复 (4th tone) 之,—＇I beg to again it＇. 强,—2nd tone.掌与女 (=汝) 乘,—＇to manage the chariot-driving for you＇. It is not common in Chinese to separate, as here,the verb and its object. 良不可, ＇Liang might not＇, i.e.would not be induced to take the office. 吾为 (4th tone)之范我驰驱, ＇I for him law-ed my racing my horses and whipping them.＇诗云,—see the Shih-ching, II. iii.Ode V. st. 6. Literally the two lines are, ＇They err not in the galloping; they let go the arrows, as if rending＇.舍,—the 3rd tone. 贯,—used for 惯. 5. 比,—4th tone, in the sense of ＇to flatter＇.
5. ＇Thus this charioteer even was ashamed to bend improperly to the will of such an archer. Though,by bending to it, they would have caught birds and animals sufficient to form a hill, he would not do so. If I were to bend my principles and follow those princes,of what kind would my conduct be? And you are wrong. Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight.＇