CHAPTER I
1. Mencius said, ＇The power of vision of LîLâu, and skill of hand of Kung-shû, without the compass and square, could not form squares and circles. The acute ear of the music-master K＇wang, without the pitchtubes, could not determine correctly the five notes.The principles of Yâo and Shun, without a benevolent government, could not secure the tranquil order of the kingdom.
2. ＇There are now princes who have benevolent hearts and a reputation for benevolence,
NOTE: With this Book commences what is commonly called the second or lower part of the works of Mencius, but that division is not recognised in the critical editions. It is named LîLâu, from its commencing with those two characters, and contains twenty-eight CHAP.s, which are most of them shorter than those of the preceding Books.
CHAPTER 1. THERE IS AN ART OF GOVERNMENT,AS WELL AS A WISH TO GOVERN WELL,TO BE LEARNED FROM THE EXAMPLE AND RPINCIPLES OF THE ANCIENT KINGS,AND WHICH REQUIRES TO BE STUDIED AND PRACTISED BY RULERS AND THEIR MINISTERS.
1. LîLâu, called also LîChû (朱), carries us back to a very high Chinese antiquity. He was, it is said, of the time of Hwang-tî, and so acute of vision, that, at the distance of 100 paces, he could discern the smallest hair. He is often referred to by the Tâoist writer Chwang (庄). Some say that LîLâu was a disciple of Mencius, but this is altogether unlikely. Kungshû, named Pan (written 班 and 般), was a celebrated mechanist of Lû, of the times of Confucius. He is fabled to have made birds of bamboo, that could continue flying for three days, and horses of wood,moved by springs, which could draw carriages. He is now the god of carpenters, and is worshipped by them; see the LîChî, Bk. II. Sect. II. ii. 21. There are some, however, who make two men of the name, an earlier and a later. K＇wang, styled Tsze-yê (子野), was music-master and a wise counsellor of Tsin, a little prior to the time of Confucius;—see the 左传襄公,十四年. 六律, ＇six pitch-tubes＇, put by synecdoche for 十二律, or ＇twelve tubes＇ invented, it is said, in the earliest times, to determine by their various adjusted lengths the notes of the musical scale. Six of them go by the name of lü(吕), which are to be understood as comprehended under the phrase in the text. The five notes are the five full notes of the octave, neglecting the semitones. They are called 宫, 商, 角, 徵 (chí),羽;—see on the Shû-ching, II. i. 24. 尧舜之道,—道 is to be taken ＇emptily＇, meaning the benevolent wish to govern well, such as animated Yâo and Shun.
while yet the people do not receive any benefits from them, nor will they leave any example to future ages;—all because they do not put into practice the ways of the ancient kings.
3. ＇Hence we have the saying:—"Virtue alone is not sufficient for the exercise of government; laws alone cannot carry themselves into practice."
4. ＇It is said in the Book of Poetry,
"Without transgression, without forgetfulness,
Following the ancient statutes."
Never has any one fallen into error, who followed the laws of the ancient kings.
5. ＇When the sages had used the vigour of their eyes,they called in to their aid the compass, the square,the level, and the line, to make things square, round,level, and straight:—the use of the instruments is inexhaustible.
仁政 is the same finding its embodiment, =the right art of government, having the same relation to it as the compass to circles, &c.
2. 闻,—4th tone. Observe the correlation of 者 and也, the last clause assigning the reason of what is said in the preceding ones. 先王之道,—here, and below, the道 must be taken differently from its application in the last paragraph, and=the 仁政 of that. The commentator范 refers to king Hsüan of Ch＇î (Bk. I. Pt. I. vii) as an instance of the princes who have a benevolent heart,and to the first emperor of the Liang dynasty (A.D.502-556), whose Buddhistic scrupulosity about taking life made him have a benevolent reputation. Yet the heart of the one did not advantage the State, nor the reputation of the other the empire.
3. 徒善,—here ＇simply being good＇, i.e. virtue without laws, and 徒法=laws without virtue, the virtue,however, being understood of the ＇benevolent heart＇.
4. See the Shih-ching, Pt. III. ii. Ode V. st. 2.
5. 继之以,—literally, ＇continued it with＇. The line must be understood of the plumb-line, as well as of the marking-line. 准 is rightly translated,—＇the level＇,but I have not been able to ascertain its original form in China.
When they had used their power of hearing to the utmost, they called in the pitch-tubes to their aid to determine the five notes:—the use of those tubes is inexhaustible. When they had exerted to the utmost the thoughts of their hearts, they called in to their aid a government that could not endure to witness the sufferings of men:—and their benevolence overspread the kingdom.
6. ＇Hence we have the saying:—"To raise a thing high, we must begin from the top of a mound or a hill;to dig to a great depth, we must commence in the lowground of a stream or a marsh." Can he be pronounced wise, who, in the exercise of government, does not proceed according to the ways of the former kings?
7. ＇Therefore only the benevolent ought to be in high stations. When a man destitute of benevolence is in a high station, he thereby disseminates his wickedness among all below him.
8. ＇When the prince has no principles by which he examines his administration, and his ministers have no laws by which they keep themselves in the dischargeof their duties,
In the 前汉书, 本志, Bk. I, we read:—＇From the adjustment of weights and things sprang the lever (衡).The lever revolving produced the circle. The circle produced the square. The square produced the line.The line produced the level.＇ On the last sentence 韦昭 says:—＇They set up the level to look at the line,using water as the equaliser.＇不可胜 (the 1st tone) 用,—see Bk. I. Pt. I. iii. 3. The subject of 可 is the whole of what precedes from 继. 不忍人, see Bk. II. Pt. I. vi. I.
6. 因=依, ＇to conform to＇, i.e., here, to take advantage of. The saying is found in the LîChî. VIII. ii. 10.
8. This paragraph is an expansion of the last clause of the preceding, illustrating how the wickedness flows downwards, with its consequences. 上,—＇the highest＇,i.e. the prince. 下, the next ＇below his ministers＇. 朝,—ch＇âo, the 2nd tone, ＇the court＇, and 工, as opposed to it,the various officers, as having their ＇work＇ to do.
then in the court obedience is not paid to principle, and in the office obedience is not paid to rule. Superiors violate the laws of righteousness, and inferiors violate the penal laws. It is only by a fortunate chance that a State in such a case is preserved.
9. ＇Therefore it is said, "It is not the exterior and interior walls being incomplete, and the supply of weapons offensive and defensive not being large,which constitutes the calamity of a kingdom. It is not the cultivable area not being extended, and stores and wealth not being accumulated, which occasions the ruin of a State." When superiors do not observe the rules of propriety, and inferiors do not learn, then seditious people spring up, and that State will perish in no time.
10. ＇It is said in the Book of Poetry,
"When such an overthrow of Châu is being produced by Heaven,
Be not ye so much at your ease!"
11. ＇"At your ease;"— that is, dilatory.
12. ＇And so dilatory may those officers be deemed,who serve their prince without righteousness, who take office and retire from it without regard to propriety,
君子 and 小人,—with reference to station. The 也 at the end of the two clauses shows that they are both equally assertive, though the prince, governed and governing by principles of righteousness, will be a law to his ministers.
9. 城郭,—see Bk. II. Pt. II. I. 2. 辟=闢, as in Bk. I. Pt. I. vii. 16. 田野,—＇fields and wilds＇. 丧,—4th tone.
10. See the Shih-ching, III. ii. Ode X. 2. 厥,—read kwei, the 4th tone. 泄,—î, 4th tone.—From this paragraph it is the ministers of a prince who are contemplated by Mencius. They have their duty to perform, in order that the benevolent government may be realised.
11. 犹杳杳,—we are to understand that this phrase was commonly used in Mencius＇s time with this acceptation.
12. 非,—used as a verb, ＇to slander＇, or ＇disown＇.
and who in their words disown the ways of the ancient kings.
13. ＇Therefore it is said, "To urge one＇s sovereign to difficult achievements may be called showing respect for him. To set before him what is good and repress his perversities may be called showing reverence for him.He who does not do these things, saying to himself,—My sovereign is incompetent to this, may be said to play the thief with him."＇