CHAPTER II
1. As Mencius was about to go to court to see the king, the king sent a person to him with thismessage,— ＇I was wishing to come and see you. But I have got a cold, and may not expose myself to the wind. In the morning I will hold my court. I do not know whether you will give me the opportunity of seeing you then.＇ Mencius replied, ＇Unfortunately, I am unwell, and not able to go to the court.＇
亲戚,—relatives by blood and by affinity.
5. The case put in the two first clauses is here left by Mencius to suggest its own result. The chūn-tsze is the prince intended above, ＇who finds the proper course＇.ChûHsi and others complete 有不战 by 则已, ＇If he do not fight, well＇; but the translation gives, I think, a better meaning.
CHAPTER 2. HOW MENCIUS CONSIDERED THAT IT WAS SLIGHTING HIM FOR A RPINCE TO CALL HIM BY MESSENGERS TO GO TO SEE HIM, AND THE SHIFTS HE WAS PUT TO TO GET THIS UNDERSTOOD.
It must be understood that, at the time to which this chapter refers, Mencius was merely an honoured guest in Ch＇î, and had no official situation or emolument.It was for him to pay his respects at court, if he felt inclined to do so; but if the king wished his counsel, it was for him to show his sense of his worth by going to him, and asking him for it.
1. The first, third, and fourth 朝 are ch＇âo, in 2nd tone,= ＇to go to, or wait upon, at court＇. So in all the other paragraphs. The second is châo, in 1st tone, ＇the morning＇. The morning, as soon as it was light, was the regular time for the sovereign, and princes, to give audience to their nobles and officers, and proceed to the administration of business. The modern practice corresponds with the ancient in this respect. 如 is said to be here=欲, ＇to wish＇, which sense seems to be necessary, though we do not find it in the dictionary. 造,read ts＇âo, the 4th tone, ＇to go to＇. The king＇s cold was merely a pretence. He wanted Mencius to wait on him. Mencius＇s cold was equally a pretence.
2. Next day, he went out to pay a visit of condolence to some one of the Tung-kwŏh family, when Kungsun Ch＇âu said to him, ＇Yesterday, you declined goingto the court on the ground of being unwell, and today you are going to pay a visit of condolence. May this not be regarded as improper?＇ ＇Yesterday,＇ said Mencius, ＇I was unwell; to-day, I am better:—why should I not pay this visit?＇
3. In the mean time, the king sent a messenger to inquire about his sickness, and also a physician. Măng Chung replied to them, ＇Yesterday, when the king＇s order came, he was feeling a little unwell, and could not go to the court. To-day he was a little better, and hastened to go to court. I do not know whether he can have reached it by this time or not.＇ Having said this,he sent several men to look for Mencius on the way, and say to him, ＇I beg that, before you return home,you will go to the court.＇
4. On this, Mencius felt himself compelled to go to Ching Ch＇âu＇s, and there stop the night.
Compare Confucius＇s conduct, Analects, XVII. xx.
2. Tung-kwŏh is not exactly a surname. The individual intended was a descendant of the duke Hwan, and so surnamed Chiang (姜), but that branch of Hwan＇s descendants to which he belonged having their possessions in the ＇eastern＇ part of the State, the style of Tung-kwŏh appears to have been given to them to distinguish them from the other branches. In going to pay the visit of condolence, Mencius＇s idea was that the king might hear of it, and understand that he had merely feigned sickness, to show his sense of the disrespect done to him in trying to inveigle him to go to court.
3. It is a moot-point, whether Măng Chung was Mencius＇s son, or merely a relative. The latter is more likely. 采薪之忧,—literally, ＇sorrow of gathering firewood＇,=a little sickness. See a similar expression in the Lî Chî, I. Sect. II. i. 3. 8,—君使士射, 不能, 则辞以疾, 言曰某有负薪之忧. On this the 正义 says:—＇Carrying firewood was the business of the children of the common people. From the lips of an officer, suchlanguage was indicative of humility.＇要, the 1st tone,=求.
Mr. Ching said to him, ＇In the family, there is therelation of father and son; abroad, there is therelation of prince and minister. These are the two great relations among men. Between father and son the ruling principle is kindness. Between prince and minister the ruling principle is respect. I have seen the respect of the king to you, Sir, but I have not seen in what way you show respect to him.＇ Mencius replied, ＇Oh! what words are these? Among the people of Ch＇î there is no one who speaks to the king about benevolence and righteousness. Are they thus silent because they do not think that benevolence and righteousness are admirable? No, but in their hearts they say, "This man is not fit to be spoken with about benevolence and righteousness." Thus they manifest a disrespect than which there can be none greater. I do not dare to set forth before the king any but the ways of Yâo and Shun. There is therefore no man of Ch＇îwho respects the king so much as I do.＇
Măng Chung, having committed himself to a falsehood, in order to make his words good, was anxious that Mencius should go to court.
4. What compelled Mencius to go to Ching Ch＇âu＇s was his earnest wish that the king should know that his sickness was merely feigned, and that he had not gone to court, only because he would not be CALLED to do so. As Măng Chung＇s falsehood interfered with his first plan, he wished that his motive should get to the king through Ching Ch＇âu, who was an officer of Ch＇î. After 宿焉, Châo Ch＇î appends a note,—＇when he told him all the previous incidents＇. No doubt, he did so. 恶, the 1st tone, ＇oh!＇ as in Pt. I. ii. 19. 齐人……者, observe the force of the 者, carrying on the clause to those following for an explanation of it, as if there were a 所以 after 人. 云而,—see Analects, VII. xviii.
5. Mr. Ching said, ＇Not so. That was not what I meant. In the Book of Rites it is said, "When a father calls, the answer must be without a moment＇s hesitation. When the prince＇s order calls, the carriage must not be waited for." You were certainly going to the court, but when you heard the king＇s order, then you did not carry your purpose out. This does seem as if it were not in accordance with that rule of propriety.＇
6. Mencius answered him, ＇How can you give that meaning to my conduct? The philosopher Tsăng said,"The wealth of Tsin and Ch＇û cannot be equalled.Let their rulers have their wealth:—I have my benevolence. Let them have their nobility:—I have my righteousness. Wherein should I be dissatisfied as inferior to them?" Now shall we say that these sentiments are not right? Seeing that the philosopher Tsăng spoke them, there is in them, I apprehend, a real principle.—In the kingdom there are three things universally acknowledged to be honourable. Nobility is one of them; age is one of them; virtue is one of them.
5. Different passages are here quoted together from the Book of Rites. 夫召无诺,—see Bk. I. Sect. I. iii. 3,14,＇A son must cry唯to his father, and not 诺＇, which latter is a lingering response. 君命召不侯驾 is found substantially in Bk. XI. Sect. iii. 2.夫, in 1st tone,=斯,as in Analects, XI. ix. 3, et al.
6. 岂谓是与 (the 2nd tone),—literally, ＇how means(it) this?＇ 慊 has two opposite meanings, either＇dissatisfied＇, or ＇satisfied＇, in which latter sense it is lso hsieh. ChûHsi explains this by making it the same as 隒, ＇something held in the mouth＇, according to the nature of which will be the internal feeling. In the text,the idea is that of dissatisfaction. 夫岂不义,—义 is here 当然之理,= ＇what is proper and right＇, the subject being the remarks of Tsăng.
In courts, nobility holds the first place of the three; in villages, age holds the first place; and for helping one＇s generation and presiding over the people, the other two are not equal to virtue. How can the possession of only one of these be presumed on to despise one who possesses the other two?
7. ＇Therefore a prince who is to accomplish great deeds will certainly have ministers whom he does not call to go to him. When he wishes to consult with them, he goes to them. The prince who does not honour the virtuous, and delight in their ways of doing, to this extent, is not worth having to do with.
8. ＇Accordingly, there was the behaviour of T＇ang to Î Yin:—he first learned of him, and then employed him as his minister; and so without difficulty he became sovereign. There was the behaviour of the duke Hwan to Kwan Chung:—he first learned of him,and then employed him as his minister; and so without difficulty he became chief of all the princes.
而曾子言之云云 is expanded thus in the 备旨:—＇And,Tsăng-tsze speaking them, they contain＇ perhaps another principle different from the vulgar view.＇ 乡党,Analects, X. i. 齿, ＇teeth＇,=age.
7. 不足与有为 is by some interpreted—＇is not fit to have to do with them＇, i.e. the virtuous, but I prefer the meaning adopted in the translation.
8. In the ＇Historical Records＇, 殷本纪, one of the accounts of Ȋ Yin＇s becoming minister to T＇ang is, that it was only after being five times solicited by special messengers that he went to the prince＇s presence;—see the 集证, on Analects, XII. xxii. The confidence reposed by the duke Hwan in Kwan Chung appears in Pt. I. i. 3. Kwan was brought to Ch＇î originally as a prisoner to be put to death, but the duke, knowing his ability and worth, had determined to employ him, and therefore, having first caused him to be relieved of his fetters, and otherwise honourably treated, he drove himself out of his capital to meet and receive him with all distinction, listening to a long discourse on government;
9. ＇Now throughout the kingdom, the territories of the princes are of equal extent, and in their achievements they are on a level. Not one of them is able to exceed the others. This is from no other reason,but that they love to make ministers of those whom they teach, and do not love to make ministers of those by whom they might be taught.
10. ＇So did T＇ang behave to Î Yin, and the duke Hwan to Kwan Chung, that they would not venture to call them to go to them. If Kwan Chung might not be called to him by his prince, how much less may he be called, who would not play the part of Kwan Chung!＇