3. "Now an earth-worm eats the dry mould above, and drinks the yellow spring below. Was the house in which Mr Chung lives built by a Pih-e? or was it built by a robber like Chih? Was the grain which he eats planted by a Pih-e? or was it planted by a robber like Chih? These are things. which cannot be known."

4. "But," said [Chang], "what does that matter? He himself weaves sandals of hemp, and his wife twists hempen threads, which they exchange [for other things]."

5. [Mencius] rejoined, " Mr Chung belongs to an ancient and noble family of Ts'e. His elder brother Tae received from Kah a revenue of 10,000 chung, but he considered his brother's emolument to be unrighteous, and would not dwell in the place. Avoiding his brother, and leaving his mother, he went and dwelt in Woo-ling. One day afterwards, he returned [to their house], when it happened that some one sent his brother a present of a live goose. He, knitting his brows, said, 'What are you going to use that cackling thing for?' By-and-by, his mother killed. the goose, and gave him some of it to eat. [Just then] his brother came into the house and said, 'It's the flesh of that cackling thing,' on which he went out, and vomited it.

6. "Thus what his mother gave him he would not eat, but what his wife gives him he eats. He will not dwell in his brother's house, but he dwells in Woo-ling. How can he in such circumstances complete the style of life which he professes? With such principles as Mr Chung holds, [a man must be] an earth-worm, and then he can carry them out."

Par. 3. Pih-e, -see II. i. II. 22, et al. Chih was a famous robber chief of Confucius' time, a younger brother of Hwuy of Lew-hea, celebrated by Mencius in II. i. IX. 2, et al. There was, however, it is said, in high antiquity in the time of Hwang-te, a noted robber so called, whose name was given to Hwuy's brother because of the similarity of their course. "The robber Chih had come to be used like a proper name.-As Chung withdrew from human society lest he should be defiled by it, Mencius shows that unless he were a worm, he could not be independent of other men. Even the house he lived in, and the grain he ate, might be the result of the labour of a villain like Chih, or of a worthy like Pih-e, for anything he could tell.

Parr. 4, 5. K'wang Chang says that the lodging and food of Mr Ch'in were innocently and righteously come by; and it was not necessary to push one's inquiries further back. Mencius does not reply to him directly, but throws ridicule on the self-denying recluse by the ridiculous story which he tells; and concludes by reiterating what he had affirmed as to the impracticability of the man and of his principles.

BOOK IV.

LE LOW. PART I.

CHAPTER I. 1. Mencius said, "The power of vision of Le Low, and the skill of hand of Kung-shoo, without the compass and square, could not form squares and circles. The acute ear of the [music]-master Kwang, without the pitch-tubes, could not determine correctly the five notes. The principles of Yaou and Shun, without a benevolent government, could not secure the tranquil order of the kingdom.

With this Book commences what is commonly called the second or lower Part of the Works of Mencius; but that division is not recognized in the critical editions. It is called Le Low from its commencing with those two characters, and contains twenty-eight chapters which are most of them shorter than those of the preceding Books.

CH. I. THERE IS AN ART OF GOVERNMENT, AS WELL AS A WISH TO GOVERN WELL, TO BE LEARNED FROM THE EXAMPLE AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ANCIENT KINGS, AND WHICH MUST BE STUDIED AND PRACTISED BY RULERS AND THEIR MINISTERS.

Par. 1. Le Low, called also Le Choo, carries us back to the highest Chinese antiquity. He was, it is said, of the time of Hwang-te, and so acute of vision that at the distance of a hundred paces he would see the point of the smallest hair. Kung-shoo, named Pan, was a celebrated mechanist of Loo, contemporary with Confucius, if, as some think, he was a son of duke Ch'aou. He is fabled to have made birds of bamboo which could continue flying for three days, and other marvellous contrivances. He is now the tutelary spirit of carpenters, under the name of Loo Pan or Pan of Loo; but many critics contend that the Kung-shoo of Mencius and Loo Pan ought not to be identified. See the Le Ke, II. ii. II. 21. Kwang, styled Tsze-yay, was a famous music-master of Tsin, a little before the time of Confucius. There is an interesting conversation between him and the marquis of Tsin in the Tso Chuen, under the 14th year of duke Sëang. The pitch-tubes, here called "six," by synecdoche for "twelve," were invented in the earliest times, to determine by their various lengths the notes of the musical scale, and for other purposes. See some account of them under par. 8 in the Shoo, II. i. "The five notes" are the five full notes of the octave, omitting the semitones. The word "principles " in the phrase, "the principles of Yaou and Shun," must be taken vaguely, and as meaning simply the wish to govern rightly, subsequently embodied in "benevolent government," such as Mencius delighted to dwell on in many chapters of the previous Books. The use of "principles," however, in this vague and uncertain way, introduces an

2. "There are now [princes] who have benevolent hearts and a reputation for benevolence, 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, 'Goodness 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,

'Erring in nothing, forgetful of nothing,

Observing and following the old statutes.'

Never has any one fallen into error who followed the laws of . the ancient kings.

5. "When the sages had used all the power of their eyes, they called in to their aid the compass, the square, the level, and the line; and the ability to make things square, round, level, and straight was inexhaustible. When they had used all the power of their ears, they called in the aid of the pitch-tubes; and the ability to determine correctly the five notes was inexhaustible. When they had used all the thoughts of their hearts, they called in to their aid a government that could not bear [to witness the suffering of] men; and their benevolence overspread all under heaven.

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

inconsistency and ambiguity into the chapter. Mencius exhorts to follow the ways or "principles " of the ancient kings, and yet they are here said to be insufficient for good government.

Par. 2. One of the early commentators of the Sung dynasty refers to king Seuen of Ts'e of I. i. VII. et al., as an instance of the rulers who have a benevolent heart, and to the first emperor of the Leang dynasty, (A.D. 502— 549), whose Buddhistic scrupulosity about taking life made him have a reputation for benevolence. Yet the heart of the one and the reputation of the other proved of little benefit to their people.

Par. 3. "Goodness alone" is the benevolent heart without the method. "Laws alone" is the benevolent government without the heart.

Par. 4. See the She, III. ii. V. 2.

Par. 5. According to the views of Chinese writers, the lever was the first of the mechanical powers which was invented. "The lever revolving produced the circle. The circle produced the square. The square produced the line; and the line produced the level." On government as not bearing to witness the sufferings of men," see II. i. VI.

Par. 6. The saying is found in the Le Ke, X. ii. 10.

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to a [great] depth, we must commence in [the low ground of] a stream or a marsh.' Can he be pronounced wise who, in the exercise of government, does not start from the ways of the ancient 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 the multitudes [below him].

8. "When the ruler has not principles by which he examines [his administration], and his ministers have no laws by which they keep themselves [in the discharge of their duties], 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 interior and exterior walls being incomplete, nor the supply of weapons offensive and defensive not being large, which constitutes the calamity of a State. It is not the non-extension of the cultivable area, nor the non-accumulation of stores and wealth, which is injurious to a State.' When superiors do

not observe the rules of propriety, and inferiors do not learn [anything better], then seditious people spring up, and [that State] will perish in no time.

10. "It is said in the Book of Poetry,

'Heaven is now producing such movements ;—

Do not be so indifferent.'

11. "Indifferent,' that is, careless and dilatory.

12. "And so may [those officers] be deemed who serve their ruler without righteousness, who take office and retire from office without regard to propriety, and in their words disown the ways of the ancient kings.

Par. 7. The "therefore" expresses a consequence from what has been said in all the previous paragraphs. "High stations" should perhaps be "the highest station." The ruler is indicated.

Par. 8 is an illustration of the concluding clause of par. 7, showing how wickedness flows downwards, with its consequences.

Par. 10. See the She, III. ii. X. 2.-From this paragraph Mencius has the ministers of a ruler in view. They have their duties to perform, in order that the benevolent government may be realized.

Par. 13. Compare II. ii. II. 4.

13.."Therefore it is said, 'To urge one's ruler to difficult achievements should be called showing respect for him; to set before him what is good and repress his perversities should be called showing reverence for him. [He who does not do these things, but says to himself], My ruler is incompetent to this,' should be said to play the thief with him."

II. 1. Mencius said, "The compass and square produce perfect circles and squares. By the sages the human relations are perfectly exhibited.

2. "He who, as a ruler, would perfectly discharge the duties of a ruler, and he who, as a minister, would perfectly discharge the duties of a minister, have only to imitate,the one Yaou, and the other Shun. He who does not serve his ruler as Shun served Yaou does not reverence his ruler, and he who does not rule the people as Yaou ruled them injures his people.

3. "Confucius said, 'There are but two courses, that of benevolence and its opposite.'

4. "[A ruler] who carries the oppression of his people to the highest pitch will himself be slain, and his State will perish. If one stop short of the highest pitch, his life will be in danger, and his State will be weakened. He will be styled The Dark' or 'The Cruel;' and though he may have filial sons and affectionate grandsons, they will not be able in a hundred generations to change [the designation].

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CH. II. A CONTINUATION OF LAST CHAPTER.-THAT YAOU AND SHUN WERE PERFECT MODELS FOR RULERS AND MINISTERS; AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT IMITATING THEM.

Par. 1. The "human relations are the five specified in III. i. IV. 8. "The sages," according to this par., were not only models for rulers and ministers, but showed human nature in all its relations according to its ideal.

Par. 2. We have no particular account of how Shun discharged his duties as a minister, nor of how Yaou discharged his as a ruler. All our information about them is comprised in a short space at the beginning of the Shoo. We must believe that Shun was all that a minister could be, and Yaou all that a ruler could be.

Par. 3. This is a saying of Confucius for the preservation of which we are indebted to Mencius. By the course of benevolence is intended the imitation of Yaou and Shun; by its opposite the neglect of them as models. Par. 4. By rulers who carry oppression to the highest pitch Mencius intends Këeh and Chow, the last sovereigns of the Hea and Yin dynasties; by "The