Jin Xin, Part One

孟子曰：「盡其心者，知其性也。知其性，則知天矣。存其心，養其性，所以事天也。殀壽不貳，修身以俟之，所以立命也。」

Mencius said: "One who fully exerts his heart knows his nature. One who knows his nature knows Heaven. To preserve one's heart and nourish one's nature is how one serves Heaven. Not being of two minds about early death or long life, and cultivating oneself to await it, is how one establishes one's destiny."

孟子曰：「莫非命也，順受其正。是故知命者，不立乎巖牆之下。盡其道而死者，正命也。桎梏死者，非正命也。」

Mencius said: "There is nothing that is not destiny; one should accept what is correct in it. So one who knows destiny does not stand beneath a tottering wall. One who dies after having fully followed his Way has met a proper destiny. One who dies in fetters and shackles has not met a proper destiny."

孟子曰：「求則得之，舍則失之，是求有益於得也，求在我者也。求之有道，得之有命，是求無益於得也，求在外者也。」

Mencius said: "Seek and you get it; let go and you lose it: this is a seeking that benefits the getting, for the seeking lies within oneself. To seek by the proper way and to get by destiny: this is a seeking that does not benefit the getting, for the seeking lies outside."

孟子曰：「萬物皆備於我矣。反身而誠，樂莫大焉。強恕而行，求仁莫近焉。」

Mencius said: "All things are complete within me. To reflect on oneself and find oneself sincere, there is no greater joy than this. To strive to act according to the way of reciprocity, there is no nearer path to seeking humaneness."

孟子曰：「行之而不著焉，習矣而不察焉，終身由之而不知其道者，眾也。」

Mencius said: "To act without understanding, to become accustomed without examining, to follow it all one's life without knowing its Way: this is the multitude."

孟子曰：「人不可以無恥。無恥之恥，無恥矣。」

Mencius said: "A person cannot be without shame. To be ashamed of having no shame is to be without shame."

孟子曰：「恥之於人大矣。為機變之巧者，無所用恥焉。不恥不若人，何若人有？」

Mencius said: "Shame matters greatly to a person. Those who deal in cunning and expediency have no place to use shame. One who is not ashamed of being unlike other people, how could he ever be like them?"

孟子曰：「古之賢王好善而忘勢，古之賢士何獨不然？樂其道而忘人之勢。故王公不致敬盡禮，則不得亟見之。見且猶不得亟，而況得而臣之乎？」

Mencius said: "The worthy kings of ancient times loved goodness and forgot power; why would the worthy scholars of ancient times alone not be so? They delighted in their own Way and forgot the power of others. So if kings and dukes did not show respect and fulfill ritual, they could not see them frequently. If they could not even see them frequently, how much less could they treat them as subjects?"

孟子謂宋句踐曰：「子好遊乎？吾語子游。人知之，亦囂囂；人不知，亦囂囂。」

Mencius said to Song Goujian: "Do you like to persuade rulers? I will tell you about persuading. If people know you, be self-possessed; if people do not know you, be self-possessed."

曰：「何如斯可以囂囂矣？」

Song Goujian said: "How can one be self-possessed?"

曰：「尊德樂義，則可以囂囂矣。故士窮不失義，達不離道。窮不失義，故士得己焉；達不離道，故民不失望焉。古之人，得志，澤加於民；不得志，修身見於世。窮則獨善其身，達則兼善天下。」

Mencius said: "Honor virtue and delight in righteousness, and you can be self-possessed. So a scholar in distress does not lose righteousness, and in success does not leave the Way. In distress not losing righteousness, a scholar keeps himself; in success not leaving the Way, the people are not disappointed. The ancients, when they achieved their aims, bestowed benefits on the people; when they did not achieve their aims, they cultivated themselves and showed it to the world. In distress, they perfected themselves alone; in success, they perfected the whole world together."

孟子曰：「待文王而後興者，凡民也。若夫豪傑之士，雖無文王猶興。」

Mencius said: "Those who wait for King Wen and only then rouse themselves are ordinary people. As for outstanding scholars, even without King Wen they rouse themselves."

孟子曰：「附之以韓魏之家，如其自視欿然，則過人遠矣。」

Mencius said: "If one is given the houses of Han and Wei in addition, and he himself looks on it with a sense of inadequacy, then he is far above other people."

孟子曰：「以佚道使民，雖勞不怨；以生道殺民，雖死不怨殺者。」

Mencius said: "If one employs the people by the way that gives them ease, even if they toil they do not resent it; if one kills the people by the way that keeps them alive, even in death they do not resent the one who kills them."

孟子曰：「霸者之民，驩虞如也；王者之民，皞皞如也。殺之而不怨，利之而不庸，民日遷善而不知為之者。夫君子所過者化，所存者神，上下與天地同流，豈曰小補之哉？」

Mencius said: "The people of a hegemon appear cheerful and merry; the people of a true king appear serene and broad. They kill them without resentment, benefit them without regarding it as merit, and the people move toward goodness day by day without knowing who does it. Where the exemplary person passes, there is transformation; where he abides, there is spirit; above and below he flows together with heaven and earth; how can it be said to be of small benefit?"

孟子曰：「仁言，不如仁聲之入人深也。善政，不如善教之得民也。善政民畏之，善教民愛之；善政得民財，善教得民心。」

Mencius said: "Humane words do not enter people as deeply as a humane reputation. Good government does not win the people as good teaching does. Under good government the people fear; under good teaching the people love; good government wins the people's wealth, and good teaching wins the people's hearts."

孟子曰：「人之所不學而能者，其良能也；所不慮而知者，其良知也。孩提之童，無不知愛其親者；及其長也，無不知敬其兄也。親親，仁也；敬長，義也。無他，達之天下也。」

Mencius said: "What people can do without learning is innate ability (liangneng: the instinct to be able without learning); what they know without deliberation is innate knowing (liangzhi: the heart's knowing that arises without deliberation). Even a child in arms knows to love his parents; and when he grows up, there is none who does not know to respect his elder brother. To love one's parents is humaneness; to respect elders is righteousness. There is nothing else; it extends to the whole world."

孟子曰：「舜之居深山之中，與木石居，與鹿豕遊，其所以異於深山之野人者幾希。及其聞一善言，見一善行，若決江河，沛然莫之能御也。」

Mencius said: "When Shun lived in the deep mountains, he lived with trees and stones and roamed with deer and pigs, and there was very little by which he differed from the wild people of the deep mountains. But when he heard a single good word or saw a single good deed, it was like a river breached, overflowing with no way to hold it back."

孟子曰：「無為其所不為，無慾其所不欲，如此而已矣。」

Mencius said: "Do not do what he does not do, and do not want what he does not want; that is all."

孟子曰：「人之有德慧術知者，恆存乎疢疾。獨孤臣孽子，其操心也危，其慮患也深，故達。」

Mencius said: "Those who have virtue, wisdom, skill and intelligence often exist in the midst of calamity. Only isolated ministers and sons of concubines hold their hearts anxious and fearful and ponder calamity deeply, and so they are enlightened."

孟子曰：「有事君人者，事是君則為容悅者也。有安社稷臣者，以安社稷為悅者也。有天民者，達可行於天下而後行之者也。有大人者，正己而物正者也。」

Mencius said: "There are those who serve a ruler, and they serve this ruler for the sake of pleasing him. There are ministers who secure the altars of the state, and they take securing the altars of the state as their joy. There are the people of Heaven, who act only when they can reach the point of acting throughout the world. There are great persons, who set themselves right and things are set right along with them."

孟子曰：「君子有三樂，而王天下不與存焉。父母俱存，兄弟無故，一樂也。仰不愧於天，俯不怍於人，二樂也。得天下英才而教育之，三樂也。君子有三樂，而王天下不與存焉。」

Mencius said: "The noble person has three joys, and ruling the world as king is not among them. That one's parents are both alive and one's brothers are without trouble is the first joy. That looking up one is not ashamed before Heaven, and looking down one does not blush before people, is the second joy. To gain the outstanding talents of the world and teach them is the third joy. The noble person has three joys, and ruling the world as king is not among them."

孟子曰：「廣土眾民，君子欲之，所樂不存焉。中天下而立，定四海之民，君子樂之，所性不存焉。君子所性，雖大行不加焉，雖窮居不損焉，分定故也。君子所性，仁義禮智根於心。其生色也，睟然見於面，盎於背，施於四體，四體不言而喻。」

Mencius said: "Broad land and many people are what the noble person desires, but his joy does not lie there. To stand at the center of the world and settle the people within the four seas is what the noble person delights in, but his nature does not lie there. What the noble person's nature consists of is not increased even if the Great Way is carried out, and not decreased even if he lives in poverty, because it is a matter of his fixed portion. What the noble person's nature consists of is benevolence, righteousness, ritual and wisdom, rooted in the heart. They give rise to a look that shows glossily on the face, fills the back, and extends to the four limbs, and the four limbs understand without being told."

孟子曰：「伯夷闢紂，居北海之濱，聞文王作興，曰：『盍歸乎來！吾聞西伯善養老者。』太公闢紂，居東海之濱，聞文王作興，曰：『盍歸乎來！吾聞西伯善養老者。』天下有善養老，則仁人以為己歸矣。五畝之宅，樹牆下以桑，匹婦蠶之，則老者足以衣帛矣。五母雞，二母彘，無失其時，老者足以無失肉矣。百畝之田，匹夫耕之，八口之家足以無飢矣。所謂西伯善養老者，制其田裡，教之樹畜，導其妻子，使養其老。五十非帛不煖，七十非肉不飽。不煖不飽，謂之凍餒。文王之民，無凍餒之老者，此之謂也。」

Mencius said: "Boyi, avoiding Zhou, lived by the shore of the North Sea, and hearing that King Wen had risen, said: 'Why not return! I have heard that the Earl of the West is good at caring for the old.' Taigong, avoiding Zhou, lived by the shore of the East Sea, and hearing that King Wen had risen, said: 'Why not return! I have heard that the Earl of the West is good at caring for the old.' When there is someone in the world who is good at caring for the old, the benevolent take him as their refuge. With a homestead of five mu, planting mulberry trees beneath the wall, and the housewife raising silkworms, the old are enough to wear silk. With five hens and two sows, not missing their season, the old are enough not to lack meat. With a hundred mu of field, a farmer tilling it, a family of eight is enough not to go hungry. What is meant by the Earl of the West being good at caring for the old is that he set up the fields and villages, taught them to plant and raise animals, and guided their wives to nourish the old. At fifty, without silk one is not warm; at seventy, without meat one is not full. Not being warm and not being full is called freezing and starving. King Wen's people had no old who froze or starved; this is what it means."

孟子曰：「易其田疇，薄其稅斂，民可使富也。食之以時，用之以禮，財不可勝用也。民非水火不生活，昏暮叩人之門戶，求水火，無弗與者，至足矣。聖人治天下，使有菽粟如水火。菽粟如水火，而民焉有不仁者乎？」

Mencius said: "Manage the fields and reduce taxes and levies, and the people can be made rich. If they eat at proper times and use things according to ritual, wealth will be inexhaustible. People cannot live without water and fire, yet if one knocks on someone's door at dusk to ask for water and fire, none refuse, because they are so plentiful. When the sage governs the world, he makes beans and millet as plentiful as water and fire. When beans and millet are as plentiful as water and fire, how could the people be unbenevolent?"

孟子曰：「孔子登東山而小魯，登太山而小天下。故觀於海者難為水，遊於聖人之門者難為言。觀水有術，必觀其瀾。日月有明，容光必照焉。流水之為物也，不盈科不行；君子之志於道也，不成章不達。」

Mencius said: "Confucius climbed Mount Dong and felt that Lu was small; he climbed Mount Tai and felt that the world was small. So one who has seen the great sea is hard to move by water, and one who has roamed at the gate of the sages is hard to move by words. There is a method for observing water: one must look at its waves. The sun and moon have brightness, and wherever a crack can admit light, it is sure to shine in. Flowing water as a thing does not move forward until it has filled the hollows; the noble person, aiming at the Way, does not reach it unless he forms a pattern."

孟子曰：「雞鳴而起，孳孳為善者，舜之徒也。雞鳴而起，孳孳為利者，蹠之徒也。欲知舜與蹠之分，無他，利與善之閒也。」

Mencius said: "One who rises at cockcrow and diligently does good is of the kind of Shun. One who rises at cockcrow and diligently pursues profit is of the kind of Zhi. If you want to know the difference between Shun and Zhi, there is nothing else: it lies between profit and goodness."

孟子曰：「楊子取為我，拔一毛而利天下，不為也。墨子兼愛，摩頂放踵利天下，為之。子莫執中，執中為近之，執中無權，猶執一也。所惡執一者，為其賊道也，舉一而廢百也。」

Mencius said: "Master Yang chose 'for myself,' and would not pluck a single hair to benefit the world. Master Mo practiced universal love, and would rub his head bald from crown to heel if it would benefit the world, and would do it. Zimo held to the middle; holding to the middle comes near, but holding to the middle without adaptation is still holding to one extreme. The reason one dislikes holding to one extreme is that it harms the Way, raising one point and discarding a hundred."

孟子曰：「飢者甘食，渴者甘飲，是未得飲食之正也，飢渴害之也。豈惟口腹有飢渴之害？人心亦皆有害。人能無以飢渴之害為心害，則不及人不為憂矣。」

Mencius said: "The hungry find any food sweet, and the thirsty find any drink sweet; this is not obtaining the true taste of food and drink, because hunger and thirst have harmed it. Is it only the mouth and belly that suffer the harm of hunger and thirst? The human heart also has such harm. If a person can avoid taking the harm of hunger and thirst as the harm to the heart, he need not worry about falling behind others."

孟子曰：「柳下惠不以三公易其介。」

Mencius said: "Liuxia Hui would not change his integrity even for the post of one of the Three Dukes."

孟子曰：「有為者闢若掘井，掘井九軔而不及泉，猶為棄井也。」

Mencius said: "One who aims to accomplish something is like one digging a well: if one digs nine ren and does not reach the spring, it is still an abandoned well."

孟子曰：「堯舜，性之也；湯武，身之也；五霸，假之也。久假而不歸，惡知其非有也。」

Mencius said: "Yao and Shun had it as their natural endowment; Tang and Wu embodied it through practice; the Five Hegemons borrowed it. If one borrows for a long time and does not return, how do you know that one does not truly have it?"

公孫丑曰：「伊尹曰：『予不狎於不順。』放太甲於桐，民大悅。太甲賢。又反之，民大悅。賢者之為人臣也，其君不賢，則固可放與？」

Gongsun Chou said: "Yi Yin said: 'I will not be close to one who does not comply,' and banished Taijia to Tong, and the people were greatly pleased. When Taijia became worthy, he let him return, and the people were greatly pleased. If a worthy man is a minister of another and his ruler is not worthy, may he indeed banish him?"

孟子曰：「有伊尹之志，則可；無伊尹之志，則篡也。」

Mencius said: "If one has the aim of Yi Yin, it is permissible; if one lacks the aim of Yi Yin, it is usurpation."

公孫丑曰：「《詩》曰：『不素餐兮』，君子之不耕而食，何也？」

Gongsun Chou said: "The Book of Songs, in the 'Cutting Sandalwood' ode of the Odes of Wei, says: 'He does not eat for nothing'; the noble person does not plow and yet eats; why?"

孟子曰：「君子居是國也，其君用之，則安富尊榮；其子弟從之，則孝弟忠信。『不素餐兮』，孰大於是？」

Mencius said: "When the noble person lives in a state, if the ruler employs him, he is secure, rich, honored and glorious; if his sons and younger brothers follow him, they are filial, respectful, loyal and trustworthy. 'He does not eat for nothing'; is there anything greater than this?"

王子墊問曰：「士何事？」

Prince Dian asked: "What do scholars do?"

孟子曰：「尚志。」

Mencius said: "They elevate their aims."

曰：「何謂尚志？」

Prince Dian said: "What does it mean to elevate one's aims?"

曰：「仁義而已矣。殺一無罪，非仁也；非其有而取之，非義也。居惡在？仁是也；路惡在？義是也。居仁由義，大人之事備矣。」

Mencius said: "Benevolence and righteousness, that is all. To kill one innocent person is not benevolent; to take what is not one's own is not righteous. Where is one's dwelling? Benevolence is. Where is the road? Righteousness is. To dwell in benevolence and follow righteousness is to have the affairs of a great person complete."

孟子曰：「仲子，不義與之齊國而弗受，人皆信之，是舍簞食豆羹之義也。人莫大焉亡親戚、君臣、上下。以其小者信其大者，奚可哉？」

Mencius said: "Chen Zhongzi would not accept the state of Qi if it were given to him unrighteously, and everyone believes in him; this is the righteousness of giving up a basket of rice and a bowl of soup. For a person there is nothing greater than abandoning kin, ruler and minister, high and low. To believe in his great side on the basis of his small side, how can that be?"

桃應問曰：「舜為天子，皋陶為士，瞽瞍殺人，則如之何？」

Tao Ying asked: "If Shun were Son of Heaven, Gao Yao his judge, and Gusou killed a man, what should be done?"

孟子曰：「執之而已矣。」

Mencius said: "Arrest him, that is all."

「然則舜不禁與？」

(Tao Ying asked:) "Then would Shun not forbid it?"

曰：「夫舜惡得而禁之？夫有所受之也。」

Mencius said: "How could Shun forbid it? Gao Yao had received his authority from somewhere."

「然則舜如之何？」

(Tao Ying asked:) "Then what would Shun do?"

曰：「舜視棄天下，猶棄敝蹝也。竊負而逃，遵海濱而處，終身訢然，樂而忘天下。」

Mencius said: "Shun would regard abandoning the world as abandoning a worn-out sandal. He would secretly carry his father on his back and flee, live along the seashore, and be happy all his life, joyful and forgetting the world."

孟子自範之齊，望見齊王之子。喟然嘆曰：「居移氣，養移體，大哉居乎！夫非盡人之子與？」

Mencius went from Fan to Qi and saw the son of the King of Qi. He sighed and said: "Dwelling changes one's temperament, and nourishment changes one's bearing; how great is the effect of dwelling! Are they not all sons of men?"

孟子曰：「王子宮室、車馬、衣服多與人同，而王子若彼者，其居使之然也；況居天下之廣居者乎？魯君之宋，呼於垤澤之門。守者曰：『此非吾君也，何其聲之似我君也？』此無他，居相似也。」

Mencius said: "The palaces, carriages and horses and clothing of the king's son are mostly the same as others', yet the king's son is like that, because his dwelling makes him so; how much more one who dwells in the broadest dwelling in the world? When the lord of Lu went to Song, he called out at the gate of Diezei. The gatekeeper said: 'This is not my lord; why is the voice like my lord's?' There is nothing else to it; their dwellings are alike."

孟子曰：「食而弗愛，豕交之也；愛而不敬，獸畜之也。恭敬者，幣之未將者也。恭敬而無實，君子不可虛拘。」

Mencius said: "To feed someone without loving him is to treat him as a pig; to love without respecting is to keep him as an animal. Respect is something that exists before gifts of cloth and silk are presented. Respect without substance is something the noble person cannot be held back by empty form."

孟子曰：「形色，天性也；惟聖人，然後可以踐形。」

Mencius said: "Bodily form and appearance are Heaven-given nature; only a sage can fully realize them."

齊宣王欲短喪。公孫丑曰：「為朞之喪，猶愈於已乎？」

King Xuan of Qi wanted to shorten the mourning period. Gongsun Chou said: "Is mourning for one year still better than stopping altogether?"

孟子曰：「是猶或紾其兄之臂，子謂之姑徐徐云爾，亦教之孝弟而已矣。」

Mencius said: "It is like someone twisting his elder brother's arm, and you only say, 'Just take it slowly'; this too is merely to teach him filial piety and respect for elders."

王子有其母死者，其傅為之請數月之喪。公孫丑曰：「若此者，何如也？」

When a prince's mother died, his tutor requested a few months of mourning for him. Gongsun Chou said: "How about a case like this?"

曰：「是欲終之而不可得也。雖加一日愈於已，謂夫莫之禁而弗為者也。」

Mencius said: "This is a case of wanting to finish the mourning but not being able to. Even adding one more day is better than stopping; I was speaking of those whom no one forbids but who do not do it."

孟子曰：「君子之所以教者五：有如時雨化之者，有成德者，有達財者，有答問者，有私淑艾者。此五者，君子之所以教也。」

Mencius said: "There are five ways in which the noble person teaches: some are like timely rain that transforms; some bring a person to complete his virtue; some develop a person's talent; some answer questions; and some are by private cultivation. These five are the ways the noble person teaches."

公孫丑曰：「道則高矣，美矣，宜若登天然，似不可及也。何不使彼為可幾及而日孳孳也？」

Gongsun Chou said: "The Way is lofty and fine, like climbing to Heaven, seemingly unreachable. Why not make it something one could hope to reach and strive at every day?"

孟子曰：「大匠不為拙工改廢繩墨，羿不為拙射變其彀率。君子引而不發，躍如也。中道而立，能者從之。」

Mencius said: "A great carpenter does not alter or discard the marking line for a clumsy workman, and Yi does not change his standard of drawing the bow fully for a clumsy archer. The noble person draws the bow but does not release it, looking poised and eager. He stands on the middle way, and those who can follow him do so."

孟子曰：「天下有道，以道殉身；天下無道，以身殉道。未聞以道殉乎人者也。」

Mencius said: "When the Way prevails in the world, one follows with the Way along with one's person; when the Way does not prevail in the world, one follows the Way with one's person. I have never heard of following people with the Way."

公都子曰：「滕更之在門也，若在所禮。而不答，何也？」

Gongdu Zi said: "Teng Geng was in your school, and seemed to be among those given courtesy. Yet you did not answer him; why?"