Gao Zi I · Passage 08 / 20 · 孟子 6A.8

Mencius 6A.8: Niu Mountain and the loss of the good heart

With the image of Niu Mountain stripped by axes day after day, Mencius explains that people do not appear base because they never had goodness.

孟子曰：「牛山之木嘗美矣。以其郊於大國也，斧斤伐之，可以為美乎？是其日夜之所息，雨露之所潤，非無萌蘗之生焉，牛羊又從而牧之，是以若彼濯濯也。人見其濯濯也，以為未嘗有材焉，此豈山之性也哉？雖存乎人者，豈無仁義之心哉？其所以放其良心者，亦猶斧斤之於木也。旦旦而伐之，可以為美乎？其日夜之所息，平旦之氣，其好惡與人相近也者幾希，則其旦晝之所為，有梏亡之矣。梏之反覆，則其夜氣不足以存。夜氣不足以存，則其違禽獸不遠矣。人見其禽獸也，而以為未嘗有才焉者，是豈人之情也哉？故茍得其養，無物不長；茍失其養，無物不消。孔子曰：『操則存，舍則亡。出入無時，莫知其鄉。』惟心之謂與？」

mèng zǐ yuē：「niú shān zhī mù cháng měi yǐ。 yǐ qí jiāo wū dà guó yě， fǔ jīn fá zhī， kě yǐ wéi měi hū？ shì qí rì yè zhī suǒ xī， yǔ lù zhī suǒ rùn， fēi wú méng bò zhī shēng yān， niú yáng yòu cóng ér mù zhī， shì yǐ ruò bǐ zhuó zhuó yě。 rén jiàn qí zhuó zhuó yě， yǐ wéi wèi cháng yǒu cái yān， cǐ qǐ shān zhī xìng yě zāi？ suī cún hū rén zhě， qǐ wú rén yì zhī xīn zāi？ qí suǒ yǐ fàng qí liáng xīn zhě， yì yóu fǔ jīn zhī wū mù yě。 dàn dàn ér fá zhī， kě yǐ wéi měi hū？ qí rì yè zhī suǒ xī， píng dàn zhī qì， qí hǎo è yǔ rén xiāng jìn yě zhě jī xī， zé qí dàn zhòu zhī suǒ wéi， yǒu gù wáng zhī yǐ。 gù zhī fǎn fù， zé qí yè qì bù zú yǐ cún。 yè qì bù zú yǐ cún， zé qí wéi qín shòu bù yuǎn yǐ。 rén jiàn qí qín shòu yě， ér yǐ wéi wèi cháng yǒu cái yān zhě， shì qǐ rén zhī qíng yě zāi？ gù jì dé qí yǎng， wú wù bù cháng； jì shī qí yǎng， wú wù bù xiāo。 kǒng zǐ yuē：『cāo zé cún， shè zé wáng。 chū rù wú shí， mò zhī qí xiāng。』 wéi xīn zhī wèi yǔ？」

Mencius said, 'The trees of the Niu mountain were once beautiful. Being situated, however, in the borders of a large State, they were hewn down with axes and bills - and could they retain their beauty? Still through the activity of the vegetative life day and night, and the nourishing influence of the rain and dew, they were not without buds and sprouts springing forth, but then came the cattle and goats and browsed upon them. To these things is owing the bare and stripped appearance of the mountain, and when people now see it, they think it was never finely wooded. But is this the nature of the mountain? And so also of what properly belongs to man; shall it be said that the mind of any man was without benevolence and righteousness? The way in which a man loses his proper goodness of mind is like the way in which the trees are denuded by axes and bills. Hewn down day after day, can it - the mind - retain its beauty? But there is a development of its life day and night, and in the calm air of the morning, just between night and day, the mind feels in a degree those desires and aversions which are proper to humanity, but the feeling is not strong, and it is fettered and destroyed by what takes place during the day. This fettering taking place again and again, the restorative influence of the night is not sufficient to preserve the proper goodness of the mind; and when this proves insufficient for that purpose, the nature becomes not much different from that of the irrational animals, and when people now see it, they think that it never had those powers which I assert. But does this condition represent the feelings proper to humanity? Therefore, if it receive its proper nourishment, there is nothing which will not grow. If it lose its proper nourishment, there is nothing which will not decay away. Confucius said, "Hold it fast, and it remains with you. Let it go, and you lose it. Its outgoing and incoming cannot be defined as to time or place." It is the mind of which this is said!'