Book 4A · Li Lou, Part One

7.1 Mencius said, “Even with Li Lou's keen vision and Master Gongshu's skill, one cannot make squares and circles without compass and square. Even with Shi Kuang's sharp hearing, one cannot tune the five notes without the six pitch-pipes. Even with Yao and Shun's Way, one cannot bring peace and order to the world without humane government. Today there are rulers with humane hearts and humane reputations, yet the people receive no benefit from them and later generations cannot take them as models, because they do not follow the Way of the former kings. Thus it is said: goodness alone is not enough for government; laws alone cannot put themselves into effect. The Odes say, ‘Neither straying nor forgetting, he followed the old statutes.’ No one has ever gone wrong by following the laws of the former kings. The sages exhausted the power of their eyes, then added compass, square, level, and line to make squares, circles, flat surfaces, and straight lines, tools whose uses cannot be exhausted. They exhausted the power of their ears, then added the six pitch-pipes to tune the five notes, whose uses cannot be exhausted. They exhausted the power of their hearts, then established a government that could not bear the suffering of others, and humaneness spread throughout the world. Thus, to build high, one must start from hills; to make a deep place, one must start from rivers and marshes. Can government that ignores the former kings' Way be called wise? Only the humane should hold high office. When an inhumane man does so, he spreads his evil among the people. Those above have no guiding principles, those below no laws to observe; the court distrusts the Way, artisans disregard standards; noble people violate rightness and ordinary people violate the law. If such a state survives, it is by luck. Incomplete walls and few weapons and suits of armor are not its greatest calamity. Uncultivated fields and scant stores of wealth are not its greatest harm. When those above lack ritual propriety and those below lack education, a destructive populace arises, and ruin is close. The Odes say, ‘When Heaven is about to overturn you, do not drift in indifference.’ Indifference means idle chatter. To serve a ruler without rightness, to advance or withdraw without ritual propriety, and to speak disparagingly of the former kings' Way—these are idle chatter. Thus to challenge a ruler with difficult demands is respect; to present the good and bar the wrong is reverence; to say ‘My ruler is incapable’ is to betray him.”

7.2 Mencius said, “Compass and square are the perfection of the circle and square; sages are the perfection of human relationships. If you wish to be a ruler, fulfill the ruler's Way; if a minister, fulfill the minister's Way. Both require only that you take Yao and Shun as your models. If you do not serve your ruler as Shun served Yao, you fail to respect him. If you do not govern your people as Yao governed his, you injure them. Confucius said, ‘There are only two ways: humaneness and its absence.’ If a ruler does grievous violence to his people, he will be killed and his state destroyed. If his violence is less grievous, his life will be endangered and his state diminished. His posthumous name will be ‘the Dark’ or ‘the Cruel,’ and not even devoted descendants in a hundred generations can change it. The Odes say, ‘The mirror for Yin is not distant: it lies in the age of the Xia rulers.’ This is what they mean.”

7.3 Mencius said, “The three dynasties gained the world through humaneness and lost it through inhumanity. The rise and fall, survival and extinction, of states happen in the same way. Without humaneness the Son of Heaven cannot preserve the four seas, a lord cannot preserve his altars of soil and grain, a minister cannot preserve his ancestral temple, and a man of service or commoner cannot preserve his own limbs. To hate death and destruction yet delight in inhumanity is like hating drunkenness while forcing yourself to drink wine.”

7.4 Mencius said, “If you love someone and they do not grow close to you, examine your humaneness. If you govern people and they remain disorderly, examine your wisdom. If you treat someone with ritual propriety and receive no answer, examine your respect. Whenever you do not obtain what you seek, seek the cause in yourself. When your own person is upright, the world turns to you. The Odes say, ‘Always seek to accord with the Mandate and find abundant blessings for yourself.’”

7.5 Mencius said, “People constantly speak of ‘the world, the state, and the family.’ The world's foundation is the state, the state's foundation is the family, and the family's foundation is the individual.”

7.6 Mencius said, “Governing is not difficult: do not offend the great families. What they admire, the whole state will admire; what the whole state admires, the world will admire. Then your teaching in virtue will flow abundantly across the four seas.”

7.7 Mencius said, “When the world has the Way, those with lesser virtue serve those with greater virtue, and the less worthy serve the worthier. When the world lacks the Way, the small serve the great and the weak serve the strong. Both conditions come from Heaven; those who follow Heaven survive, those who oppose it perish. Duke Jing of Qi said, ‘If I cannot command others and will not accept commands, I will cut myself off from all.’ Weeping, he gave his daughter in marriage to Wu. Now a small state imitates a great one yet feels ashamed to accept its orders, like a pupil ashamed to receive instructions from his first teacher. If this shames you, nothing is better than taking King Wen as your teacher. Follow King Wen, and within five years if your state is large, or seven if it is small, you will govern the world. The Odes say, ‘The descendants of Shang numbered beyond counting. When the Lord on High sent his command, they became subjects of Zhou. Subjects of Zhou they became: Heaven's Mandate does not remain fixed. The graceful, able officers of Yin brought libations at the capital.’ Confucius said, ‘Numbers cannot overpower humaneness! Let the ruler of a state love humaneness, and he will have no enemies in the world.’ To seek to be without enemies but reject humaneness is like grasping something burning hot yet refusing to wash your hands. The Odes say, ‘Who can hold something burning without washing his hands?’”

7.8 Mencius said, “Can one reason with the inhumane? They feel safe in danger, find advantage in disaster, and delight in the very things that will destroy them. If one could reason with them, how would states and families ever be ruined? A child sings, ‘When the waters of Canglang are clear, I may wash the strings of my cap; when the waters of Canglang are muddy, I may wash my feet.’ Confucius said, ‘Listen, children! Clear water washes the cap strings, muddy water the feet; the water brings it upon itself.’ A person must first insult himself before others will insult him; a family must first destroy itself before others can destroy it; a state must first attack itself before others attack it. The Great Jia says, ‘Disasters wrought by Heaven may still be escaped; disasters wrought by oneself leave no hope of survival.’ This is what it means.”

7.9 Mencius said, “Jie and Zhou lost the world because they lost their people; they lost their people because they lost their hearts. There is a way to win the world: win the people, and you win the world. There is a way to win the people: win their hearts, and you win the people. There is a way to win their hearts: gather what they desire and give it to them; do not inflict on them what they hate. People turn to humaneness as water runs downhill and beasts run to the wild. Thus the otter drives fish into the deep pool; the hawk drives sparrows into the thicket; Jie and Zhou drove the people toward Tang and King Wu. If a ruler anywhere in the world loved humaneness today, all the other lords would drive their people to him. Even if he wished not to become king, he could not avoid it. One who seeks kingship today resembles a man ill for seven years who searches for mugwort aged three years. If he has not stored it, he will never find it. If a ruler does not set his heart on humaneness, he will live in sorrow and disgrace until he meets destruction. The Odes say, ‘How can they come to good? Together they sink beneath the water.’ This is what they mean.”

7.10 Mencius said, “You cannot speak with those who do violence to themselves; you cannot work with those who abandon themselves. To denounce ritual propriety and rightness in speech is to do violence to yourself; to say ‘I cannot dwell in humaneness and walk in rightness’ is to abandon yourself. Humaneness is humanity's safe dwelling; rightness is its straight road. To leave the safe dwelling empty and refuse to live there, to abandon the straight road and refuse to walk it—how sad!”

7.11 Mencius said, “The Way lies close, yet people seek it far away; the task is easy, yet people seek it in difficulty. Let each person cherish their own parents and respect their own elders, and the world will be at peace.”

7.12 Mencius said, “If you hold a subordinate position and cannot win the trust of those above you, you cannot govern the people. There is a way to win that trust: if your friends do not trust you, neither will your superiors. There is a way to earn your friends' trust: if you do not please your parents in serving them, your friends will not trust you. There is a way to please your parents: if you examine yourself and find no sincerity, you cannot please them. There is a way to make yourself sincere: if you do not understand goodness, you cannot be sincere. Thus sincerity is Heaven's Way; striving for sincerity is humanity's Way. No one has ever been wholly sincere without moving others; no one without sincerity has ever moved others.”

7.13 Mencius said, “Bo Yi fled from Zhou and lived on the northern seacoast. Hearing that King Wen had risen, he said, ‘Why not go to him? I hear the lord of the west cares well for the old.’ Taigong fled from Zhou and lived on the eastern seacoast. Hearing that King Wen had risen, he said the same: ‘Why not go to him? I hear the lord of the west cares well for the old.’ These two elders were the great elders of the world. When they turned to King Wen, the fathers of the world turned to him. If the fathers turn to him, where can their children go? If any lord practices King Wen's government, within seven years he will govern the world.”

7.14 Mencius said, “Ran Qiu served as steward to the Ji family, but could not reform their conduct; instead he doubled their former grain levy. Confucius said, ‘Qiu is no follower of mine. My young disciples may sound the drum and denounce him.’ From this we see that Confucius rejected anyone who enriched a ruler who did not practice humane government. How much more would he reject one who made war more fierce for such a ruler? When states fight for land, the dead fill the fields; when they fight for cities, the dead fill the cities. This is called feeding human flesh to the land. Death alone is not punishment enough for such a crime. The ablest at war deserve the severest punishment, those who forge alliances among the lords the next, and those who clear wasteland to enlarge territories the next.”

7.15 Mencius said, “Nothing in a person is more revealing than the pupils of the eyes: they cannot conceal evil. If the heart is upright, the eyes are clear; if the heart is crooked, the eyes are clouded. Listen to a person's words and look into their eyes: where can they hide?”

7.16 Mencius said, “The respectful do not insult others; the frugal do not rob them. A ruler who insults and robs people fears only that they will fail to obey him. How could he be respectful or frugal? Can respect and frugality be put on with a smiling face and a gentle voice?”

7.17 Chunyu Kun asked, “Is it part of ritual propriety that men and women do not touch hands when giving or receiving things?”“Yes,” said Mencius.“If your sister-in-law were drowning, would you pull her out by the hand?”“Not to pull her out would make one a wolf. That men and women should not touch hands in passing things is ritual propriety; that one should pull a drowning sister-in-law out by the hand is a matter of weighing circumstances.”“The world is drowning today. Why do you not pull it out?”“A drowning world must be rescued with the Way; a drowning sister-in-law with one's hand. Would you rescue the world with your hand?”

7.18 Gongsun Chou asked, “Why does a noble person not teach his own son?”Mencius said, “The circumstances will not allow it. A teacher must teach what is right; if his teaching fails, anger follows. Anger in turn causes injury. The son says, ‘My father teaches me to be upright, yet he himself has not been upright.’ Thus father and son injure each other, and that is a terrible thing. In antiquity people exchanged sons to teach. Father and son should not demand perfection of each other; to do so estranges them, and no misfortune is greater than that estrangement.”

7.19 Mencius said, “Which service is greatest? Serving one's parents. Which guardianship is greatest? Guarding oneself. I have heard of people who kept themselves whole and could serve their parents; I have never heard of anyone who lost himself and could serve them. All things involve service, but serving one's parents is its root; all things require guarding, but guarding oneself is its root. When Zengzi cared for his father Zeng Xi, he always provided wine and meat. Before clearing the table he always asked whom he should give what remained; if asked whether there was anything left, he always said, ‘Yes.’ After Zeng Xi died, Zeng Yuan cared for Zengzi and always provided wine and meat; but before clearing the table he did not ask whom he should give the remainder, and if asked whether anything remained, he said, ‘Nothing,’ because he meant to serve it again. That is nourishing the mouth and body. Zengzi nourished his father's wishes. Serve your parents as Zengzi did, and you do well.”

7.20 Mencius said, “It is not enough to reprimand the ruler's followers or criticize particular policies. Only a great person can correct what is wrong in the ruler's heart. If the ruler is humane, all are humane; if he is righteous, all are righteous; if he is upright, all are upright. Set the ruler right once, and the state is settled.”

7.21 Mencius said, “Some praise comes unexpectedly; some reproach comes despite one's pursuit of perfection.”

7.22 Mencius said, “People speak carelessly because no one holds them to account.”

7.23 Mencius said, “People's failing is their love of playing teacher to others.”

7.24 Yue Zheng accompanied Ziao to Qi. When he visited Mencius, Mencius said, “So you have come to see me?”“Why do you speak like that, Master?”“How many days have you been here?”“Since yesterday.”“If you arrived yesterday, is my question not fitting?”“I had not yet settled into my lodging.”“Have you heard the saying, ‘First settle into your lodging, and only then seek out your elders’?”“I am at fault,” said Yue Zheng.

7.25 Mencius told Yue Zheng, “You came with Ziao merely to eat and drink. I had not thought you would study the Way of the ancients only to seek food and drink.”

7.26 Mencius said, “There are three ways to be unfilial; the greatest is leaving no descendants. Shun married without telling his parents because he feared leaving no descendants. Noble people regard it as though he had told them.”

7.27 Mencius said, “The substance of humaneness is serving one's parents; the substance of rightness is following one's elder brother. The substance of wisdom is knowing these two and not abandoning them. The substance of ritual propriety is ordering and adorning them. The substance of music is delighting in them; delight springs to life, and once it lives, how could it stop? If it cannot stop, one dances with one's feet and waves one's hands without knowing it.”

7.28 Mencius said, “Only Shun looked on the delight of the whole world and its desire to turn to him as though it were grass or chaff. He knew that without his parents' approval he could not be fully human; without harmony with them he could not be a son. Shun fulfilled every duty toward his father until Gu Sou became joyful. Once Gu Sou was joyful, the world was transformed; once Gu Sou was joyful, the relationship between fathers and sons everywhere was settled. This is called great devotion to parents.”

7.1 Mencius said, “Even with Li Lou's sharp eyesight and Master Gongshu's skill, you cannot make accurate squares and circles without compasses and carpenter's squares. Even with Shi Kuang's excellent hearing, you cannot tune the five notes without the six pitch pipes. Even the Way of Yao and Shun cannot bring peace and order to the world without kind government. Some rulers today have kind hearts and a reputation for kindness, yet their people receive no benefits and later generations cannot follow their example. That is because they do not practice the ancient kings' Way. Thus, good intentions alone are not enough to govern, and rules alone cannot put themselves into practice. The Book of Songs says, ‘He made no mistakes and forgot nothing; he followed the old standards.’ No one has gone wrong by following the ancient kings' rules. The sages used their eyesight as far as they could, then devised compass, square, level, and line, producing inexhaustible standards for roundness, squareness, flatness, and straightness. They used their hearing as far as they could, then devised the six pitch pipes to tune the five notes, producing an inexhaustible guide. They thought as hard as they could and then established government that could not bear to see people suffer, extending kindness over the whole world. That is why I say: to build high, use a hill; to build low, use a valley. Can government be called wise if it does not draw on the ancient kings' Way? Only kind people should hold high positions. If an unkind person holds high office, he spreads his wrongs among the people. Those above have no guiding principles; those below have no rules to follow. The court does not trust the Way, and craftsmen do not trust measurements. Officials violate rightness, ordinary people break laws, and it is only luck if the state survives. So I say: damaged walls or too few weapons and suits of armor are not a state's true disaster. Fields left uncultivated and wealth not accumulated are not its true danger. When those above ignore proper conduct and those below receive no education, harmful people arise and the state will soon fall. The Book of Songs says, ‘When Heaven is shaking us, do not be so careless.’ Carelessness here means lazy complacency. To serve a ruler without rightness, to enter or leave office without proper conduct, and to criticize the ancient kings' Way when speaking is lazy complacency. So I say: to demand hard things of a ruler is respect; to present what is good and shut out what is bad is devotion; to say, ‘My ruler cannot do it,’ is to betray him.”

7.2 Mencius said, “Compasses and squares are the highest standards for circles and squares. Sages are the highest standard for human relationships. If you want to be a ruler, fulfill the ruler's responsibilities; if you want to be a minister, fulfill a minister's. For both, simply follow Yao and Shun. If you do not serve your ruler as Shun served Yao, you do not respect your ruler. If you do not govern people as Yao did, you harm your people. Confucius said, ‘There are only two ways: kindness and unkindness.’ If a ruler abuses his people severely, he is killed and his state destroyed. If he abuses them less severely, his life is endangered and his state loses territory. He receives a name like ‘You’ or ‘Li,’ and even dutiful children and loving grandchildren cannot change that name after a hundred generations. The Book of Songs says, ‘The warning to Yin is not far away: it lies in the age of Xia.’ This is what it means.”

7.3 Mencius said, “The three dynasties gained the world through kindness and lost it through unkindness. States rise and fall, survive and perish for the same reason. An unkind Son of Heaven cannot keep the world within the four seas; an unkind lord cannot keep his state and its altars; an unkind high official cannot protect his family's ancestral temples; and an unkind man of service or ordinary person cannot keep his own body safe. To hate death and ruin while enjoying unkindness is like hating drunkenness while forcing yourself to drink.”

7.4 Mencius said, “If you care for someone but that person does not feel close to you, examine your kindness. If you govern people but they are not well governed, examine your wisdom. If you treat someone with proper conduct but receive no answer in kind, examine your respect. When anything you do fails, look for the reason in yourself. Put yourself in order, and the world will come to you. The Book of Songs says, ‘Always think how to meet Heaven's command, and seek many blessings for yourself.’”

7.5 Mencius said, “People commonly speak of ‘the world, the state, and the family.’ The world's foundation is the state, the state's foundation is the family, and the family's foundation is the individual.”

7.6 Mencius said, “Governing is not difficult: do not offend the leading families. What those families admire, the whole state will admire. What the state admires, the whole world will admire. Then the ruler's moral teaching will spread widely beyond the four seas.”

7.7 Mencius said, “When the Way prevails in the world, people of lesser virtue serve those of greater virtue and the less worthy serve the more worthy. When it does not prevail, smaller states serve larger states and weaker ones serve stronger ones. These are conditions set by Heaven. Those who adapt to Heaven survive; those who oppose it perish. Duke Jing of Qi said, ‘If I can neither give orders to others nor accept them, I will have no relations left.’ With tears in his eyes, he sent his daughter in marriage to Wu. Small states today imitate the great ones but are ashamed to accept their commands. That is like a student who is ashamed to accept his first teacher's instructions. If they are ashamed, they should learn from King Wen instead. If a great state learned from King Wen, it could govern the world in five years; a small state could do so in seven. The Book of Songs says, ‘The descendants of Shang were countless. But when the Lord on High issued his command, they became subject to Zhou. Being subject to Zhou shows that Heaven's mandate does not last forever. The able men of Yin brought ceremonial offerings at Zhou's capital.’ Confucius said, ‘Numbers cannot defeat kindness! If a state's ruler loves kindness, he will have no enemy in the world.’ To want no enemies without practicing kindness is like holding something hot and refusing to wash your hands. The Book of Songs says, ‘Who can hold something hot without going to wash?’”

7.8 Mencius said, “Can you reason with an unkind ruler? He feels safe in danger, sees advantage in disaster, and enjoys doing what will ruin him. If you could reason with unkind rulers, why would any state or family ever be destroyed? A child once sang, ‘When the Canglang's water is clear, I can wash my hat strings in it; when its water is muddy, I can wash my feet in it.’ Confucius said, ‘Listen, children! When the water is clear, it washes hat strings; when muddy, it washes feet. It brings that treatment on itself.’ A person first acts in ways that invite insults before others insult him. A family first undermines itself before others destroy it. A state first attacks itself before others attack it. The Book of Tai Jia says, ‘Disasters sent by Heaven can still be escaped; disasters you bring on yourself leave no way to survive.’ That is what it means.”

7.9 Mencius said, “Jie and Zhou lost the world because they lost the people; they lost the people because they lost the people's hearts. Here is how to gain the world: gain the people and you gain the world. Here is how to gain the people: win their hearts and you gain the people. Here is how to win their hearts: gather and provide the things they want, and do not impose the things they hate. People turn to a kind ruler as water flows downhill or animals run to open ground. Otters drive fish toward deep pools; hawks drive birds toward thick woods. Jie and Zhou drove the people toward Tang and King Wu. If one ruler in the world today loved kindness, all the other lords would drive the people to him. Even if he did not wish to be king, he could not avoid it. Anyone today who wants to be king is like a person with a seven-year illness looking for three-year-old dried mugwort. If he has not stored any, he will never find it. If a ruler does not set his heart on kindness, he will face worry and shame for the rest of his life, ending in death and destruction. The Book of Songs says, ‘How can it end well? Together they sink.’ That is what it means.”

7.10 Mencius said, “You cannot discuss anything with someone who harms himself; you cannot accomplish anything with someone who gives up on himself. To speak against proper conduct and rightness is to harm yourself. To say, ‘I cannot live by kindness and follow rightness,’ is to give up on yourself. Kindness is a person's safe home; rightness is the proper road. To leave a safe home empty and not live in it, to abandon the proper road and not follow it—how sad!”

7.11 Mencius said, “The Way is nearby, but people look for it far away. Its work is easy, but people look for it in difficult things. Let everyone care for their parents and respect their elders, and the world will be at peace.”

7.12 Mencius said, “If someone in a lower position cannot win the trust of those above, he cannot govern the people. There is a way to win that trust: unless your friends trust you, those above will not trust you. There is a way to win your friends' trust: unless your parents are pleased with how you serve them, your friends will not trust you. There is a way to please your parents: unless you examine yourself and find yourself sincere, you will not please them. There is a way to become sincere: unless you understand what is good, you cannot be sincere. So sincerity is Heaven's Way, and striving to be sincere is the human way. No one has ever been completely sincere without moving others; no one who lacks sincerity has been able to move others.”

7.13 Mencius said, “Bo Yi fled Zhou and lived by the North Sea. When he heard that King Wen had arisen, he said, ‘Why not go to him? I hear the lord of the west cares well for the old.’ The Grand Duke fled Zhou and lived by the East Sea. Hearing that King Wen had arisen, he too said, ‘Why not go to him? I hear the lord of the west cares well for the old.’ These two elders were the greatest elders in the world. By winning them over, King Wen won the fathers of the world. Where would their children go, if the fathers came to him? If any lord practiced King Wen's government, he would govern the world within seven years.”

7.14 Mencius said, “Ran Qiu was steward to the Ji family. Instead of changing their conduct for the better, he doubled the grain he collected from the people. Confucius said, ‘Qiu is no follower of mine. Pupils, you may beat the drum and condemn him.’ From this we can see that Confucius rejected anyone who enriched a ruler who would not govern kindly. How much more would he reject someone who fought aggressively for such a ruler? In a war for land, the dead fill the fields; in a war for a city, they fill the city. This amounts to feeding human flesh to the land. No death penalty is severe enough for this crime. Those skilled at war deserve the worst punishment, those who form military alliances between lords the next, and those who clear waste land and claim new fields the next.”

7.15 Mencius said, “Nothing in a person reveals more than the eyes. The eyes cannot hide wrong within. When someone has an honest heart, the eyes are clear. When the heart is dishonest, the eyes grow clouded. Listen to what a person says and look into his eyes. How could he hide from you?”

7.16 Mencius said, “A respectful person does not insult others; a moderate person does not take what belongs to others. A ruler who insults and robs his people, fearing only that they may not obey him, cannot be respectful or moderate. Can a show of pleasant speech and smiles really count as respect and moderation?”

7.17 Chunyu Kun asked, “Is it proper conduct that men and women do not touch when passing things to each other?”“Yes,” said Mencius.“If your brother's wife were drowning, would you give her your hand?”“Anyone who would not help his brother's wife when she was drowning would be a wolf. Not touching when passing things between men and women is proper conduct. Helping a drowning sister-in-law with your hand is a matter of judging the situation.”“The world is drowning now, but you do not give it your hand. Why?”“When the world is drowning, you rescue it with the Way. When a sister-in-law is drowning, you rescue her with your hand. Do you want me to rescue the world with my hand?”

7.18 Gongsun Chou asked, “Why does a noble person not teach his own son?”Mencius said, “The situation does not allow it. Teaching requires correction. If correction does not work, the father grows angry. The son's response will hurt him: ‘Father teaches me what is right but does not do what is right himself.’ Then father and son hurt each other, and that is bad. People of old exchanged sons to teach them. Father and son should not demand perfection from each other. Demanding it drives them apart, and nothing could be more unfortunate.”

7.19 Mencius said, “What is the most important service? Serving your parents. What is the most important thing to safeguard? Your own character. I have heard of someone keeping his character intact and serving his parents, but never of someone losing his character and still being able to serve his parents. All service matters, but service to parents is the foundation. Everything needs safeguarding, but safeguarding your character is the foundation. When Zengzi cared for his father Zeng Xi, he always had wine and meat for him. Before clearing the table, he always asked whom to give the leftovers to. If his father asked whether any remained, he always said, ‘Yes.’ After Zeng Xi died, Zeng Yuan cared for Zengzi and always provided wine and meat, but before clearing the table he never asked whom to give the leftovers to. If Zengzi asked whether any remained, he said, ‘There is none,’ because he meant to serve it again. That is feeding a parent's body and appetites. Zengzi, by contrast, cared for his father's wishes. Serving parents as Zengzi did is right.”

7.20 Mencius said, “It is not enough to argue with the people or find fault with government measures. Only a great person can correct what is wrong in a ruler's heart. If the ruler is kind, everyone is kind; if the ruler does what is right, everyone does what is right; if the ruler acts properly, everyone acts properly. Correct the ruler, and the state is put in order.”

7.21 Mencius said, “There is praise you did not expect and criticism when you sought to do everything perfectly.”

7.22 Mencius said, “People speak so carelessly because no one calls them to account.”

7.23 Mencius said, “The trouble with people is that they like to set themselves up as teachers of others.”

7.24 Yue Zheng traveled to Qi with Zi Ao. When Yue Zheng visited Mencius, Mencius said, “So you have finally come to see me?”“Why do you speak to me like that, teacher?”“How many days have you been here?”“Since yesterday.”“Since yesterday? Then surely I was right to say that.”“I had not yet found lodging.”“Have you heard it said, ‘First find lodging, then go to visit your elder’?”“I was wrong,” said Yue Zheng.

7.25 Mencius said to Yue Zheng, “You followed Zi Ao here just to get food and drink. I did not expect someone who studied the ancient Way to use it to get meals.”

7.26 Mencius said, “There are three ways of failing to respect one's parents. Having no descendant is the greatest. Shun married without telling his parents so that he would not remain without a descendant. Noble people regard that as if he had told them.”

7.27 Mencius said, “What kindness really means is serving your parents. What rightness really means is respecting your older brothers. What wisdom really means is knowing these two things and not leaving them. What proper conduct really means is giving them the right form and limits. What music really means is taking joy in them. When joy is felt it grows; when it grows, how can it stop? And when it cannot stop, you find your feet stepping and your hands dancing without even knowing it.”

7.28 Mencius said, “Only Shun looked on the whole world's delight at coming to him as if it were no more than a blade of grass. If you cannot win your parents' approval, you cannot be a fully human person; if you cannot follow your parents' wishes, you cannot be a good child. Shun did everything he could to serve his father Gusou, until Gusou was pleased. When Gusou was pleased, the world changed. When Gusou was pleased, the relations of fathers and sons throughout the world were set right. This is what it means to have the greatest respect for your parents.”