CHAPTER XIII

1. When Mencius left Ch＇î, Ch＇ung Yü questioned him upon the way, saying, ＇Master, you look like one who carries an air of dissatisfaction in his countenance.

—＇the king is, after all, competent to do good＇, but 用expresses more than that. 予日望之 conveys in itself no more than the translation, but the king＇s change of course involved Mencius＇s recall to Ch＇î. Perhaps we have in the words an amplification of Mencius＇s thoughts before he quitted Châu.

5. Compare with this paragraph Confucius＇s defence of Kwan Chung, Analects, XIV. xviii.

CHAPTER 13. MENCIUS＇S CHIEF AT NOT FINDING AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THE GOOD WHICH HE COULD.

1. Ch＇ung Yü,—the same mentioned in chap. vii.Though Ch＇ung Yü attributes the maxim 不怨天不尤人 to his master, we find it in Confucius, see Analects,XIV. xxxvii.

But formerly I heard you say— "The superior man does not murmur against Heaven, nor grudge against men."＇

2. Mencius said, ＇That was one time, and this is another.

3. ＇It is a rule that a true royal sovereign should arise in the course of five hundred years, and that during that time there should be men illustrious in their generation.

4. ＇From the commencement of the Châu dynasty till now, more than seven hundred years have elapsed. Judging numerically, the date is past. Examining thecharacter of the present time, we might expect the rise of such individuals in it.

5. ＇But Heaven does not yet wish that the kingdom should enjoy tranquillity and good order. If it wished this, who is there besides me to bring it about? How should I be otherwise than dissatisfied?＇

3. ＇500 years＇,—this is speaking in very round and loose numbers, even if we judge from the history of China prior to Mencius. 其间, ＇during them＇, but the meaning is—at the same time with the sovereign shall arise men able to assist him. 名世=有 or 著名于世.

4. The Châu dynasty lasted altogether 867 years,and Mencius died, according to some accounts, at the age of 102, in the second year of the last century, little more than fifty years removed from the extinction of the dynasty. 以其时考之则可矣, literally, ＇By the time examining it, then may＇, i.e. such things may be.

5. 舍我其谁, literally, ＇Letting me go, then who?＇Compare last chapter, par.4, and many other places,where Mencius speaks of what he could accomplish.On the reference to the will of Heaven, compare Analects, IX v. 3.