無詩無非也 非也完存犯不 義泄、學國 義信

進泄天賊之野甲 小道 退猶之民害, 也。人工 無沓方興也辟 多 故犯不 禮沓蹶喪 上貨 日刑信 言也無無 國城國

則事然日禮 不 之郭之 非君泄矣下聚災 所

不信道工不信度君子

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 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.

ro. 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!”

II. “ 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

and 小人,—with reference to station. The ching, III. ii. Ode X.2. 蹶read zwei, the 4th 也 at the end of the two clauses shows that tone. 泄i, 4th tone.—From this paragraph

they are both equally assertive, though the it is the ministers of a prince who are contemprince, governed and governing by principles plated by Mencius. They have their duty to of righteousness, will be a law to his ministers. perform, in order that the benevolent govern

II.

we are to understand that this phrase was

9.城郭,一see Bk. II. Pt. II.i.a辟=闢ment may be realised. 猶沓沓as in Bk. I. Pt. I. vii. 16. 田野,‘fields commonly used in Mencius's time with this and wilds.’喪,一4th tone. to. See the Shih. acceptation. 12.,-used as a verb, 'to

敬以

君也之閉日先 者盡聖孟· 邪責王 賊 皆君人子 謂難之

法道人 以堯欲倫

不 事舜為之矩 以堯而臣至方 堯事已盡也員 之君 矣 臣 欲之 所不不氣 不道 道為至

之於道

敬、君者

it without regard to propriety, 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.'

CHAP. 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 sovereign would perfectly discharge the duties of a sovereign, and he who as a minister would perfectly discharge the duties of a minister, have only to imitate-the one Yao, and the other Shun. He who does not serve his sovereign as Shun served Yao, does not respect his sovereign; and he who does not rule his people as Yâo ruled his, injures his people.

slander,' or 'disown.' 13. Compare Bk. II. Pt. ing as in the translation. So with the 2nd

II. ii. 4. We are obliged to supply considerably clause. 人倫一 -see Bk. III. Pt. I. iv. 8.

in the translation, to bring out the meaning of

the last sentence. may be taken as a verb

-'to injure,' or as I have taken it.

2.

二者=‘these two' things, putting the

above clauses abstractly, but we cannot do that

2. A CONTINUATION OF THE LAST CHAPTER; so well in English. The force of 而已, that Yâo and Shun are THE PERFECT MODELS OF according to the, is 'to show that there SOVEREIGNS AND MINISTERS, AND THE CONSEQUENCES is no other way for the sovereign and minister OF NOT IMITATING THEM. 1. "The compass and to pursue.'-Of 'the human relations' only that square are the perfection of squares and of sovereign and minister is here adduced, circles;'-but we must understand the mean- because Mencius was speaking with reference

孔子日道二仁與不仁而

以治民治民賊共民者也

四

亡不甚則身危國削名之

已矣暴其民甚則身弒

在

七孔以

不曰亡

萬

甚

幽厲雖孝子慈孫百世

也以仁其失天下也以不

長孟子 日三代之得天下

夏后之世此之謂也

不能改也詩云殷鑒不遠

而也。

3. Confucius said, "There are but two courses, which can be

pursued, that of virtue and its opposite."

4. A ruler who carries the oppression of his people to the highest pitch, will himself be slain, and his kingdom will perish. If one stop short of the highest pitch, his life will notwithstanding be in danger, and his kingdom 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.

5. ‘This is what is intended in the words of the Book of Poetry, “The beacon of Yin is not remote,

It is in the time of the (last) sovereign of Hsiâ.”’ CHAP. III. 1. Mencius said, 'It was by benevolence that the three dynasties gained the throne, and by not being benevolent that they lost it.

to the rulers of his time. 3. If the remark | where has in Mencius. 5. See the Shih-ching, were Mencius's own, we should translate III. iii. Ode I. st. 8, an ode of the time of the by‘benevolence.' The term in Confucius

rather denotes 'perfect virtue.' By the course of virtue is intended the imitation of Yao and Shun; by its opposite, the neglect of them as models. 4. By sovereigns, who carry their oppression to the highest pitch, Mencius intends, as his examples, Chieh and Châu, the last kings of the Hsiâ and Yin dynasties. By 'The Dark' and 'The Cruel,' he intends the twelfth (B. C. 781) and tenth (B. c. 878) kings of the Châu dynasty, who received those posthumous indelible designations. I take in the sense of (weakened' (dictionary 弱), which it else-l

monarch Li (), intended for his warning.

The sovereign of Hsia is the tyrant Chieh, and by Yin is intended the tyrant Châu, by whose fate, though he neglected the lesson furnished him by that of Chieh, it is suggested that Li should be admonished.

3. THE IMPORTANCE TO ALL, AND SPECIALLY TO RULERS, OF EXERCISING BENEVOLENCE. I. 'The three dynasties' are the Hsiâ, the Shang, and the Châu. It is a bold utterance, seeing the Châu dynasty was still existing in the time of Mencius, though he regarded it as old and ready to vanish away. He has a reference, according

to Chû Hsi, to the sovereigns Li and Yû, men

不仁不不亡仁

亡仁不保保者國 不 保社四亦

反其仁治人不治反

惡醉而强酒

孟子曰愛人不親

死亡而樂不仁是猶

反親

酒。不

子廢

士 大

是今庶夫不不要 猶惡人不仁仁存

2. ‘It is by the same means that the decaying and flourishing,

the preservation and perishing, of States are determined.

3. If the sovereign be not benevolent, he cannot preserve the

throne from passing from him. If the Head of a State be not benevolent, he cannot preserve his rule. If a high noble or great officer be not benevolent, he cannot preserve his ancestral temple. If a scholar or common man be not benevolent, he cannot preserve his four limbs.

4. Now they hate death and ruin, and yet delight in being not benevolent ;-this is like hating to be drunk, and yet being strong to drink wine.'

CHAP. IV. 1. Mencius said, 'If a man love others, and no responsive attachment is shown to him, let him turn inwards and examine his own benevolence. If he is trying to rule others, and his government is unsuccessful, let him turn inwards and examine his wisdom. If he treats others politely, and they do not return his tioned in the last chapter. 3. 四海,(the BEFORE A MAN DEATS WITH OTHERS, EXPECTING

four seas,' i.e. all with them, as subject to the THEM TO BE AFFECTED BY HIM, HE SHOULD FIRST sovereign's jurisdiction. There is a special refer- DEAL WITH HIMSELF. The sentiment is expressed ence, however, to the sovereign's right to offer all quite generally, but a particular reference is sacrifices:-those peculiar to himself, and those to be understood to the princes of Mencius's

open to others. 社稷,‘the spirits of the time. I. 反 is used in a manner runmon in

Mencius, = 'to turn back from the Cute rng pursued, and then to turn inwards to the work of examination and correction.' In the next paragraph, we have it followed by another verb,

land and the grain,' i.e. the spirits securing the stability and prosperity of a particular State, which it was the prerogative of the ruler to sacrifice to. Hence the expression is here used figuratively. See the Li Chi, Bk. III. iii. 6. 4. In is in 2nd tone, 'to is

惡,the verb, in 4th tone, (to hate, dislike.' regulate,' to try to rule;' in 不治治 s ((in and tone)洒,like the Hebrew idiom, in 4th tone, to be regulated,' the government isa. v. 22. This is spoken with reference to the being effective. The clauses-愛人不親

princes of Mencius's time.

4. WITH WHAT MEASURE A MAN METES IT WILL

BE MEASURED TO HIM AGAIN, AND CONSEQUENTLY

| &c., are very concise. The paraphrase in the

備旨thus expands: 爲治者體仁

本在日闔福詩已行其 其有

孟在國天孟

子身。國

己其身正而天下歸之

云永言配命自求多

孟子日人有恆言皆

在國國之本在家家之

不

天有

之本皆

得人

者

皆

其智禮人不答反艹

求其

多之諸敬。

politeness, let him turn inwards and examine his own feeling of respect.

2. When we do not, by what we do, realise what we desire, we must turn inwards, and examine ourselves in every point. When a man's person is correct, the whole kingdom will turn to him with "recognition and submission.

3. It is said in the Book of Poetry,

"Be always studious to be in harmony with the ordinances of God, And you will obtain much happiness."

CHAP. V. Mencius said, 'People have this common saying,“The kingdom, the State, the family.” The root of the kingdom is in the State. The root of the State is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its Head.'

CHAP. VI. Mencius said, "The administration of government is not difficult;-it lies in not offending the great families. He whom

ing,' text of Confucius, par. 4. The common

以愛人,宜乎人之我親矣, GOOD INFLUENCE. Compare (The Superior Learn而顧有不親焉,則必反其saying repeated by all probably means:-the 恐伐之愛人有未至也, and of their component families ;–i.e. the ZZ, 'He who administers government families of the great officers.

embodies benevolence to love men, and it is to be expected men will love him. Should he

find however that they do not, he must turn

in and examine his benevolence, lest it should be imperfect,' &c. 2. 不得不得其

does not get what he wishes.

all,' with reference to the general form of the preceding clause. 3. See Bk. II. Pt. I.iv.6. 5. PERSONAL CHARACTER IS NECESSARY TO ALL

kingdom is made up of its component States, But Mencius takes its meaning more generally, and carries it out a step farther.

6. THE IMPORTANCE TO A RULER OF SECURING

THE ESTEEM AND SUBMISSION OF THE GREAT HOUSES.

The 'not offending' is to be taken in a moral sense;–the ruler's doing nothing but what will command the admiring approbation of the old and great families in the State. In illustration of the sentiment, a story is related from Liû Hsiang of the duke Hwan of Ch'i. Lighting, one day in hunting, on an old man