CHAPTER VII
1. Kung-sun Châu asked Mencius, saying, ＇What is the point of righteousness involved in your not going to see the princes?＇ Mencius replied, ＇Among the ancients, if one had not een a minister in a State, he did not go to see the sovereign.
2. ＇Twan Kan-mû leaped over his wall to avoid the prince. Hsieh Liû shut his door, and would not admit the prince.
In the 万姓通谱 we read:—＇Tâi Pû-shăng said to Hsieh Chü-châu, "It is only the virtuous scholar (善士) who can set forth what is virtuous, and shut up the way of what is corrupt. You are a scholar of virtue; cannot you make the king virtuous?"＇ But this and what follows was probably constructed from Mencius＇s remark, and so I prefer to take 谓 as= ＇supposed＇, ＇believed＇, not＇said＇. 长,—the 3rd tone. 居於王所,—＇to dwell in the king＇s place＇, i.e. to be about him.
CHAPTER 7. MENCIUS DEFENDE HIS NOT GOING TO SEE THE PRINCE BY THE EXAMPLE AND MAXIMS OF THE ANCIENTS.
1. 何义 is not simply—＇what is the meaning?＇ but＇what is the rightness?＇ Mencius, however, does not state distinctly the principle of the thing, but appeals to prescription and precedent. 不为臣=未见臣, or 未仕於其国. In the Analects, XIV. xxii, we have an example of how Confucius, not then actually in office,but having been so, went to see the duke of Lû.
2. Twan Kan-mû was a scholar of Wei (魏),who refused to see the prince Wăn (文). Wăn was the posthumous title of 斯, B.C. 426-386. In the＇Historical Records＇, it is mentioned that he received the writings of Tsze-hsiâ, and never drove past Kanmû＇s house without bowing forward to the front bar of his carriage. 辟=避, 4th tone. 之refers to the prince Wăn. Hsieh Liû was a scholar of Lû, who refused to admit (内=纳) the duke Mû (缪); see Bk. II. Pt. II. xi. 3.The incident referred to here must have been previous to the time spoken of there. 迫斯可以见矣,—literally,＇being urgent, this (or, then) may be seen＇.
These two, however, carried their scrupulosity to excess. When a prince is urgent, it is not improper to see him.
3. ＇Yang Ho wished to get Confucius to go to see him, but disliked doing so by any want of propriety.As it is the rule, therefore, that when a great officer sends a gift to a scholar, if the latter be not at home to receive it, he must go to the officer＇s to pay his respects, Yang Ho watched when Confucius was out, and sent him a roasted pig. Confucius, in his turn, watched when Ho was out, and went to pay his respects to him. At that time, Yang Ho had taken the initiative;— how could Confucius decline going to see him?
4. ＇Tsăng-tsze said, "They who shrug up their shoulders, and laugh in a flattering way, toil harder than the summer labourer in the fields." Tsze-lû said,"There are those who talk with people with whom they have no great community of feeling. If you look at their countenances, they are full of blushes. I do not desire to know such persons." By considering these remarks, the spirit which the superior man nourishes may be known.＇
4th tone, with a hiphil sense. Compare Analects, XVII.i. 恶,—the verb, in 4th tone. 大夫有赐云云,—see the Lî Chî, XI. Sect. iii. 20. Mencius, however, does not quote the exact words. 亡=无, and so read.
3. 欲见,—见, it is noted here, should be read in the
4. 胁肩, ＇to rib＇, i.e. to shrug ＇the shoulders＇. 病, as in Bk. II. Pt. I. ii. 16. 夏畦=夏月治畦之人. Chû Hsî makes君子 to mean ＇those two superior men＇, referring to Tsăng and Tsze-lû, but this seems to be unnecessary.
