Book 7B · Fulfilling the Heart, Part Two

14.1 Mencius said, “How inhumane King Hui of Liang was! A humane man extends his care from those he loves to those he does not love; an inhumane man lets his disregard for those he does not love reach even those he loves.”Gongsun Chou asked, “What do you mean?”“King Hui ground down his people in war for land and suffered a great defeat. Desiring to fight again but fearing he could not win, he drove his own beloved sons and younger brothers to die in battle. That is letting his disregard for those he does not love reach those he loves.”

14.2 Mencius said, “The Spring and Autumn Annals record no righteous wars. Some combatants were better than others, but that is all. A punitive campaign is an attack by a superior on an inferior; equal states cannot punish one another.”

14.3 Mencius said, “It is better to have no Documents than to believe all of them. Of the chapter Completion of the War I accept only two or three bamboo slips. A humane man has no enemy in the world. How could blood have flowed so deep that it carried away the pestles when one of supreme humaneness attacked one of supreme inhumanity?”

14.4 Mencius said, “Someone who claims, ‘I know how to arrange armies; I know how to wage war,’ is guilty of a great crime. When a state's ruler loves humaneness, he has no enemy in the world. When he marches south, northern tribes complain; when he marches east, western tribes complain, ‘Why leave us until last?’ King Wu went to attack Yin with three hundred armored chariots and three thousand brave soldiers. He said, ‘Do not be afraid! I come to bring you peace, not to oppose the common people.’ They bent their foreheads to the ground in homage, as though collapsing. A punitive campaign is so called because it sets things right: all wished to set themselves right. What need was there for battle?”

14.5 Mencius said, “Woodworkers, carpenters, wheelwrights, and carriage-makers can give others compass and square, but cannot make them skillful.”

14.6 Mencius said, “When Shun ate dry grain and wild greens, it was as if he would live so forever. When he became Son of Heaven, wore splendid robes, played the zither, and had the emperor's two daughters serving him, it was as if he had always possessed them.”

14.7 Mencius said, “Only now do I understand how grave it is to kill another's parent. Kill a man's father, and he will kill yours; kill his elder brother, and he will kill yours. You might not kill your own family with your own hand, but there is only one step between the two.”

14.8 Mencius said, “In antiquity border gates were established to keep out violence. Today they are used to commit it.”

14.9 Mencius said, “If you do not follow the Way yourself, even your wife and children will not follow it. If you command people without the Way, you cannot even command your wife and children.”

14.10 Mencius said, “One fully provisioned in material goods will not be killed by a year of famine. One fully provisioned in virtue will not be corrupted by a perverse age.”

14.11 Mencius said, “A man who loves renown can give away a state of a thousand chariots. If he is not genuinely that sort of man, however, his face betrays him over a basket of food or a bowl of soup.”

14.12 Mencius said, “Fail to trust the humane and worthy, and your state stands empty. Without ritual propriety and rightness, high and low fall into disorder; without sound administration, there will not be enough resources.”

14.13 Mencius said, “Some have gained a state without humaneness; no one has gained the world without it.”

14.14 Mencius said, “The people matter most; the altars of soil and grain come next; the ruler matters least. Win the people of the villages and you become Son of Heaven; win the Son of Heaven and you become a lord; win a lord and you become a minister. If a lord endangers the altars of soil and grain, replace him. If the sacrificial animals have been prepared, the grain offerings cleansed, and sacrifices made at the proper time, yet droughts and floods continue, replace even the altars of soil and grain.”

14.15 Mencius said, “A sage teaches for a hundred generations: Bo Yi and Liuxia Hui are examples. Hear of Bo Yi's conduct, and even stubborn men become upright, weak men acquire purpose. Hear of Liuxia Hui, and the shallow become steadfast, the mean-spirited generous. They rose a hundred generations ago, yet people who hear of them a hundred generations later are still stirred. Could anyone but a sage accomplish this? How much greater their influence on those who knew them in person!”

14.16 Mencius said, “Humaneness means being truly human. The two taken together are the Way.”

14.17 Mencius said, “When Confucius left Lu he said, ‘Slowly, slowly I go.’ That is how one leaves one's ancestral state. When he left Qi he departed with his rice still draining. That is how one leaves another state.”

14.18 Mencius said, “When the noble person was in distress between Chen and Cai, he had no contacts among those above or those below.”

14.19 Mo Ji said, “I have been much maligned.”Mencius said, “It does no harm. A man of service attracts many slanderous tongues. The Odes say, ‘My heart is troubled, resented by petty men’: that was Confucius. ‘He did not extinguish their resentment, yet his reputation did not fall’: that was King Wen.”

14.20 Mencius said, “The worthy make others clear-sighted through their own clarity. Now people try to enlighten others while still confused themselves.”

14.21 Mencius told Gaozi, “When a narrow trail in the mountains is used continually, it becomes a path. Leave it unused for a while and grass chokes it. Now grass has choked your heart.”

14.22 Gaozi said, “The music of Yu surpassed that of King Wen.”“Why do you say so?” asked Mencius.“Because the knobs of Yu's bells are so worn.”“How does that prove it? Do the grooves at a city gate come from the force of just two horses?”

14.23 There was famine in Qi. Chen Zhen said, “The people all expect you to petition again for the opening of the stores at Tang. I fear you cannot do that again.”Mencius said, “That would make me like Feng Fu. This man of Jin was skilled at fighting tigers, but afterward became a good man of service. Once he went into the wild, where a crowd was chasing a tiger. The tiger had backed into a corner, and no one dared approach. When they saw Feng Fu, they ran to greet him. Feng Fu rolled up his sleeves and stepped down from his carriage. The crowd rejoiced, but his fellow men of service laughed at him.”

14.24 Mencius said, “The mouth's taste for flavors, the eyes' for colors, the ears' for sounds, the nose's for scents, and the limbs' for ease belong to nature, but whether these are fulfilled rests with the Mandate; thus a noble person does not call them nature. Humaneness between father and son, rightness between ruler and minister, ritual propriety between host and guest, wisdom among the worthy, and the sage's relation to Heaven's Way depend on the Mandate, yet nature is present in them; thus a noble person does not call them matters of the Mandate.”

14.25 Haosheng Buhai asked, “What kind of man is Yue Zheng?”“He is a good man and a trustworthy man.”“What do ‘good’ and ‘trustworthy’ mean?”“What is worthy of desire is good. Possessing it within oneself is trustworthy. To be filled with it is beautiful. To be filled with it and shine forth is great. To be great and transform others is sagehood. To be a sage whose workings cannot be understood is godlike. Yue Zheng stands at the middle of the first two grades and below the remaining four.”

14.26 Mencius said, “Those who leave Mo's teaching are sure to turn to Yang's; those who leave Yang's turn to the classicists. When they turn to us, simply receive them. People who dispute with Yang and Mo today are like someone pursuing an escaped pig: after it has entered its pen, they still grab at its legs.”

14.27 Mencius said, “There are levies on cloth and thread, grain, and labor. A noble person imposes one and defers the other two. Impose two and people will starve to death; impose all three and fathers and sons will be parted.”

14.28 Mencius said, “A lord has three treasures: land, people, and government. One who treasures pearls and jade will surely bring disaster upon himself.”

14.29 Pen Chengkuo took office in Qi. Mencius said, “Pen Chengkuo will die!”He was killed, and Mencius's disciples asked, “How did you know?”“He had a little talent but had never heard the great Way of a noble person. That was enough to bring about his death.”

14.30 When Mencius went to Teng, he lodged in the upper residence. A sandal in the making was left by the window, but the lodging keeper looked for it and could not find it.Someone asked Mencius, “Are your followers really so prone to stealing?”“Do you think they came here to steal a sandal?”“Surely not. But in admitting students, you do not pursue those who depart or refuse those who arrive. If they come with the right heart, you accept them.”

14.31 Mencius said, “Everyone feels something they cannot bear to see happen; extend that feeling to what you now bear, and you have humaneness. Everyone has something they refuse to do; extend that refusal to what you now do, and you have rightness. Fulfill the heart that does not wish to harm others, and your humaneness will be inexhaustible. Fulfill the heart that refuses to break into someone's home, and your rightness will be inexhaustible. If you fulfill your refusal to accept contemptuous forms of address, you will act rightly wherever you go. To speak when you should not is to seek advantage through words; to remain silent when you should speak is to seek advantage through silence. Both are forms of breaking in through another's wall.”

14.32 Mencius said, “Good words speak of what is near but point far away; a good Way holds to what is simple but extends widely. A noble person's words need not reach below his belt to contain the Way. A noble person's discipline perfects himself and brings peace to the world. People's trouble is that they leave their own fields to weed another's: they make heavy demands of others while demanding little of themselves.”

14.33 Mencius said, “Yao and Shun embodied virtue by nature; Tang and King Wu returned to it through effort. To move and turn so that every gesture accords with ritual propriety is virtue at its fullest. One weeps for the dead from grief, not for the living to see; follows the enduring rule of virtue without deviation, not to gain a stipend; and speaks truthfully, not merely to establish a reputation for honesty. The noble person follows what is right and awaits the Mandate.”

14.34 Mencius said, “When persuading powerful men, regard them as small; do not be awed by their grandeur. Halls several ren high, with rafters jutting out several feet—I would not build them if I attained power. Feasts spread across a square zhang, with hundreds of serving women—I would not hold them. Indulgent music, wine, galloping horses and hunts, a thousand carriages following—I would not have these. Everything they possess is something I would refuse. What I possess is the order established by antiquity. Why should I fear them?”

14.35 Mencius said, “Nothing nourishes the heart better than reducing desire. In one who desires little, little of the heart will be lost; in one who desires much, little of it will remain.”

14.36 Zeng Xi loved yang dates, and his son Zengzi could not bear to eat them after his father's death. Gongsun Chou asked, “Which tastes better, sliced roast meat or yang dates?”“Roast meat, of course.”“Then why did Zengzi eat roast meat but not yang dates?”“Roast meat is enjoyed by everyone; yang dates were his father's particular pleasure. That is why one avoids speaking a parent's personal name, but not the family name: the family name is shared, while the personal name is that person's alone.”

14.37 Wan Zhang asked, “When Confucius was in Chen, he said, ‘Why not return? The young men of my group are ambitious and bold, advancing without forgetting their first purpose.’ Why did he think of the impetuous scholars of Lu?”Mencius said, “Confucius said, ‘If I cannot find companions on the middle Way, I must choose the ardent or the principled. The ardent press forward; the principled refuse certain things.’ Of course Confucius wanted companions on the middle Way, but he could not be sure of finding them, and so thought of the next best.”“What makes someone ardent?”“Men such as Qin Zhang, Zeng Xi, and Mu Pi were the ones Confucius called ardent.”“Why?”“They had lofty ambitions and were always speaking of ‘the people of antiquity,’ but when one examined their conduct, it did not match their words. If the ardent could not be found, he wanted to associate with men too principled to do anything impure: these were the cautious. They were next in rank. Confucius said, ‘Who can pass my gate without entering my house and cause me no regret? Only the respectable villager. The respectable villager is a thief of virtue.’”“What is a respectable villager?”“Such a man says, ‘Why all this lofty talk? His words do not match his actions, his actions do not match his words, yet he cries, “The people of antiquity!” Why walk about so solitary and forlorn? Live in this age and adapt yourself to it: being considered good is enough.’ He quietly flatters the world: that is the respectable villager.”Wan Zhang said, “The whole village calls him respectable, and wherever he goes he appears respectable. Why does Confucius call him a thief of virtue?”“One can find no clear act to condemn, no definite fault to reproach. He flows with the vulgar customs and fits himself to a corrupt age. At home he seems loyal and trustworthy, in public upright and pure. The crowd is delighted with him; he thinks himself right, yet he cannot enter the Way of Yao and Shun. That is why he is a thief of virtue. Confucius said, ‘I detest what looks right but is wrong. I detest weeds for fear they will be confused with seedlings; glib speakers for fear they will confuse rightness; clever tongues for fear they will confuse trustworthiness; the music of Zheng for fear it will confuse true music; purple for fear it will confuse vermilion; respectable villagers for fear they will confuse virtue.’ The noble person simply returns to the enduring rule. When the rule is set right, the common people rise to it; when they rise to it, perversity disappears.”

14.38 Mencius said, “From Yao and Shun to Tang was more than five hundred years. Yu and Gao Yao saw them and understood; Tang heard of them and understood. From Tang to King Wen was more than five hundred years. Yi Yin and Lai Zhu saw and understood; King Wen heard and understood. From King Wen to Confucius was more than five hundred years. Taigong Wang and Sanyi Sheng saw and understood; Confucius heard and understood. From Confucius to the present is only a little more than a hundred years. The sage's time is not so distant; we are still so near the place where he lived. If there is no one to carry on his Way now, then there is no one indeed!”

14.1 Mencius said, “How unkind King Hui of Liang was! A kind person extends care from those he loves to those he does not love. An unkind person lets the harm he does to those he does not love reach those he loves.”Gongsun Chou asked, “What do you mean?”“King Hui went to war over land and let his people be torn apart in battle. He suffered a severe defeat and wanted revenge, but feared he could not win. So he drove the young men he loved into battle to die with the rest. That is how he let the harm he did to people he did not love reach those he loved.”

14.2 Mencius said, “There is no war fought for rightness in the Spring and Autumn Annals, though some sides were better than others. A punitive campaign is made by a superior against an inferior. States of equal rank cannot punish one another in that way.”

14.3 Mencius said, “If you believe everything in the Book of Documents, you would be better off without it. I accept only two or three bamboo slips of the Account of King Wu's Success. A kind man has no enemy in the world. If a ruler of the greatest kindness attacked a ruler of the greatest cruelty, how could the blood have flowed so deep that it floated the wooden clubs?”

14.4 Mencius said, “Anyone who says, ‘I am good at arranging armies and good at fighting,’ is guilty of a terrible wrong. If a state's ruler loves kindness, he will have no enemy in the world. When he goes south to punish a ruler, people in the north complain; when he goes east, people in the west complain, ‘Why are we last?’ When King Wu attacked Yin, he had three hundred war chariots and three thousand brave soldiers. He said, ‘Do not be afraid! I am bringing you peace, not fighting the ordinary people.’ They bowed down so quickly that their foreheads seemed to strike the ground. To punish in this sense is to set things right; everyone wants to be set right. What need is there to fight?”

14.5 Mencius said, “Carpenters and makers of wheels and carriages can give others compasses and squares, but they cannot make others skilled.”

14.6 Mencius said, “When Shun ate dried grain and wild plants, he lived as though he would do so all his life. When he became Son of Heaven, he wore embroidered clothes, played the lute, and had the emperor's two daughters attending him, as though all of it had always been his.”

14.7 Mencius said, “Only now do I understand how grave a wrong it is to kill another person's relative. If you kill a person's father, that person may kill yours; if you kill his older brother, he may kill yours. There is only one step between doing that and killing your own father or brother yourself.”

14.8 Mencius said, “In ancient times border gates kept violent people out. Today border gates are used to commit violence.”

14.9 Mencius said, “If you do not follow the Way yourself, you cannot make even your wife and children follow it. If you order people around without following the Way, you cannot direct even your wife and children.”

14.10 Mencius said, “Those with adequate resources will survive even a year of famine. Those rich in virtue will not be corrupted even in a troubled age.”

14.11 Mencius said, “Someone who loves a good reputation may give up a state with a thousand chariots. If he is not truly that kind of person, his face will show his resentment at being asked to give up a basket of food and a bowl of soup.”

14.12 Mencius said, “Without trust in kind and worthy people, the state is left empty and weak. Without proper conduct and rightness, those above and below fall into disorder. Without effective government, resources will not be enough.”

14.13 Mencius said, “An unkind man has sometimes gained a state, but no unkind man has ever gained the whole world.”

14.14 Mencius said, “The people matter most; the state's altars come next; the ruler matters least. So one becomes Son of Heaven by winning the common people, a lord by winning the Son of Heaven, and a senior official by winning a lord. If a lord endangers the state, replace him. If proper sacrificial animals are ready, the offering grain clean, and sacrifices made at the right time, yet drought or floods continue, then replace the altars of the land and grain themselves.”

14.15 Mencius said, “Sages can teach people a hundred generations later. Bo Yi and Liuxia Hui are examples. Stubborn people who hear of Bo Yi's example grow honest, and timid people find a purpose. Cold people who hear of Liuxia Hui's example grow warmer, and narrow-minded people more generous. They acted more than a hundred generations ago, yet people a hundred generations later who hear of them still rise to do better. Could anyone but a sage have that effect? Imagine the effect on those who knew them in person!”

14.16 Mencius said, “Kindness is what makes us human. When being human and being kind come together, that is the Way.”

14.17 Mencius said, “When Confucius left Lu, he said, ‘I will take my time.’ That is how one leaves one's home state. When he left Qi, he set out while his washed rice was still draining. That is how one leaves another state.”

14.18 Mencius said, “When the noble person was in danger between Chen and Cai, he had no one in authority or among the people with whom he had a bond.”

14.19 Mo Ji said, “I am severely criticized by others.”Mencius said, “That need not trouble you. Men of service attract many critics. The Book of Songs says, ‘My heart is troubled; petty people are angry with me.’ That applied to Confucius. It also says, ‘He did not end their anger, but he did not lose his reputation.’ That applied to King Wen.”

14.20 Mencius said, “Worthy people use their own clear understanding to make others understand. People today are confused themselves but try to make others understand.”

14.21 Mencius told Gaozi, “A narrow track across a mountain becomes a path if people use it regularly. If no one uses it for a while, grass and weeds block it. Now weeds have blocked your heart.”

14.22 Gaozi said, “Yu's music was finer than King Wen's.”“Why do you say that?” Mencius asked.“Because the rim of the bell used for Yu's music is worn down.”“Is that proof? When ruts at a city gate are deep, do you think one team of horses made them?”

14.23 Qi suffered a famine. Chen Zhen said, “Everyone in the state expects you to have the stores at Tang opened again, but I doubt you should do it again.”Mencius said, “That would be like Feng Fu. A man named Feng Fu in Jin was good at fighting tigers, but later became a man of sound character. Once when he went into the country, he saw a crowd chasing a tiger. The tiger had its back against a rocky corner, and no one dared approach it. When the people saw Feng Fu, they ran to welcome him. Feng Fu rolled up his sleeves and got out of his carriage. The crowd was delighted, but the men of service laughed at him.”

14.24 Mencius said, “The mouth's taste for food, the eye's attraction to colors, the ear's pleasure in sounds, the nose's pleasure in scents, and the limbs' desire for comfort are parts of our nature. Yet getting these things depends on destiny, so a noble person does not call them simply matters of nature. The kindness between parent and child, the rightness between ruler and minister, proper conduct between host and guest, wisdom among worthy people, and a sage's relation to Heaven's Way depend on destiny. Yet they are rooted in our nature, so a noble person does not call them simply matters of destiny.”

14.25 Haosheng Buhai asked, “What kind of man is Yue Zheng?”Mencius said, “He is a good man and a trustworthy man.”“What do ‘good’ and ‘trustworthy’ mean?”“What is worth wanting is good. Possessing it within yourself is being trustworthy. Being filled with it is being fine. To be filled with it and shine outwardly is being great. To be great and transform others is being a sage. To be a sage in ways no one can fully understand is being almost divine. Yue Zheng has reached the middle of the second stage, trustworthiness, but is below the other four.”

14.26 Mencius said, “Someone who escapes from Mozi's teaching will usually turn to Yang Zhu's, and someone who escapes Yang's will turn to the Confucians. When they come, simply welcome them. People who argue against Yang and Mozi today are like someone chasing an escaped pig and then tying it up again after it has already gone back to its pen.”

14.27 Mencius said, “There are taxes on cloth and thread, taxes on grain, and compulsory labor. A noble ruler uses one at a time and delays the other two. If he uses two at once, people will starve; if all three, parents and children will be separated.”

14.28 Mencius said, “Lords have three treasures: land, people, and government. A lord who treasures pearls and jade will bring disaster on himself.”

14.29 Pen Chengkuo took office in Qi. Mencius said, “Pen Chengkuo will die!”Pen Chengkuo was killed. Mencius's pupils asked, “How did you know he would be killed?”“He had some minor skills but had never learned the great Way of noble people. That was enough to get him killed.”

14.30 Mencius visited Teng and stayed at the Upper Palace. A pair of unfinished sandals was set by the window. The people looking after the lodging searched for them but could not find them.Someone asked Mencius, “Are your followers really given to hiding things?”“Do you think they came here to steal sandals?”“Probably not. You have a rule for admitting students: you do not pursue those who leave or refuse those who come. If they come with the right intention, you welcome them.”

14.31 Mencius said, “Everyone has things they cannot bear to see happen. Extend that feeling to the things you now bear to see happen, and you have kindness. Everyone has things they refuse to do. Extend that refusal to things you now do, and you have rightness. If people fully developed their unwillingness to hurt others, their kindness would have no limit. If they fully developed their unwillingness to break into someone else's house, their rightness would have no limit. If they fully developed their refusal to accept being spoken to with contempt, they would act rightly wherever they went. A man of service who speaks when it is not yet right to speak is trying to get something through his words. One who stays silent when it is right to speak is trying to get something through his silence. Both ways are like sneaking into another person's house.”

14.32 Mencius said, “Good speech uses familiar words to convey a far-reaching meaning. A good Way asks for simple commitments with wide benefits. A noble person speaks of matters close at hand, yet the Way is present in his words. He commits to improving himself, and the world is set right. People's trouble is that they leave their own fields to weed other people's. They demand much from others but take little responsibility themselves.”

14.33 Mencius said, “Yao and Shun followed their nature. Tang and King Wu returned to it through effort. When every movement and gesture fits proper conduct, virtue has reached its height. A person weeps for the dead because he feels sorrow, not for the sake of those still alive. He follows virtue without turning aside, not to get a salary. He speaks truthfully, not to make others praise his conduct. A noble person follows the right rules and waits for destiny.”

14.34 Mencius said, “When you speak to people of high rank, think little of their rank. Do not be overawed by their splendor. If I achieved my aims, I would not build halls several ren high with exposed rafters many feet long. I would not set a banquet a full square zhang in front of me or have hundreds of concubines serve me. I would not spend my time drinking and playing, galloping after game with a thousand carriages behind me. I would not do any of the things they do. What I hold to follows the practices of ancient times. Why should I fear them?”

14.35 Mencius said, “Nothing nurtures the heart better than having few desires. If someone has few desires, he will lose only a little of what is good within him. If he has many desires, he will keep only a little of it.”

14.36 Zeng Xi liked the fruit of the sheep-date tree, and Zengzi could not bring himself to eat it after his father's death. Gongsun Chou asked, “Which tastes better, finely cut meat and roast meat, or sheep-dates?”“Meat, of course,” Mencius replied.“Then why did Zengzi eat meat but not sheep-dates?”“Many people enjoy meat, but his father's love of sheep-dates was his own. That is why we avoid speaking a dead person's personal name but not his family name: the family name is shared, while the personal name is his alone.”

14.37 Wan Zhang asked, “When Confucius was in Chen, he said, ‘Why not go home? The young men of my circle are full of ambition but not yet disciplined. They keep making progress without forgetting their first aims.’ Why, while in Chen, did he think of the ambitious men of Lu?”Mencius said, “Confucius said, ‘If I cannot find people who follow the middle way, I must choose the ambitious or the careful. The ambitious advance, while the careful refuse to do wrong.’ Of course Confucius wanted people who followed the middle way, but he could not be sure of finding them, so he thought of the next best.”“What kind of person is ambitious in this sense?”“People like Qin Zhang, Zeng Xi, and Mu Pi. Confucius called them ambitious.”“Why?”“They made grand claims about following the people of old, but when you examined what they did, their actions did not match their words. If he could not find ambitious people either, he wanted people who refused to take part in anything dirty. They were careful, and they were his next choice. Confucius said, ‘If someone passes my door without entering, I do not regret it only if he is a village conformist. A village conformist harms virtue.’”“What is a village conformist?”Mencius said, “He says, ‘Why all these grand claims? Such people say one thing but do another. Why behave so lonely and isolated? We live in this age and should act like others in this age. It is enough to seem good.’ Such a person quietly flatters the world.”Wan Zhang asked, “But the whole village calls him a decent man, and wherever he goes he behaves like one. Why does Confucius say he harms virtue?”“Nothing obvious lets you condemn him, and nothing obvious lets you criticize him. He goes along with popular habits and fits into a corrupt age. In private he seems loyal and trustworthy; in action he seems honest. Everyone likes him, and he thinks he is right, but he cannot join the Way of Yao and Shun. That is why he harms virtue. Confucius said, ‘I hate things that seem right but are not. I hate weeds because they may be confused with grain seedlings; flattering speech because it may be confused with rightness; clever talk because it may be confused with trustworthiness; Zheng's music because it may be confused with good music; purple because it may be confused with true red; and village conformists because they may be confused with virtue.’ A noble person simply returns to the enduring standard. Once it is right, ordinary people rise to follow it; then false and harmful things disappear.”

14.38 Mencius said, “From Yao and Shun to Tang was more than five hundred years. Yu and Gao Yao knew the earlier sages by seeing them in person; Tang knew them from what he heard. From Tang to King Wen was more than five hundred years. Yi Yin and Lai Zhu knew the earlier sage by seeing him; King Wen knew him from what he heard. From King Wen to Confucius was more than five hundred years. The Grand Duke Wang and Sanyi Sheng knew King Wen in person; Confucius knew him from what he heard. From Confucius to today is only a little more than a hundred years. We are not far from the sage's time, and we live very near the place where he lived. Yet if there is no one to carry on his work now, then perhaps there will be no one at all!”