Gao Zi I · Passage 09 / 20 · 孟子 6A.9

Mencius 6A.9: one day in the sun, ten days in the cold

Mencius uses the image of one day of warmth and ten of cold to argue that moral growth depends on sustained conditions, not occasional inspiration.

孟子曰：「無或乎王之不智也。雖有天下易生之物也，一日暴之，十日寒之，未有能生者也。吾見亦罕矣，吾退而寒之者至矣，吾如有萌焉何哉！今夫弈之為數，小數也；不專心致志，則不得也。弈秋，通國之善弈者也。使弈秋誨二人弈：其一人專心致志，惟弈秋之為聽；一人雖聽之，一心以為有鴻鵠將至，思援弓繳而射之。雖與之俱學，弗若之矣。為是其智弗若與？曰：非然也。」

mèng zǐ yuē：「wú huò hū wáng zhī bú zhì yě。 suī yǒu tiān xià yì shēng zhī wù yě， yí rì bào zhī， shí rì hán zhī， wèi yǒu néng shēng zhě yě。 wú jiàn yì hǎn yǐ， wú tuì ér hán zhī zhě zhì yǐ， wú rú yǒu méng yān hé zāi！ jīn fū yì zhī wéi shù， xiǎo shù yě； bù zhuān xīn zhì zhì， zé bù dé yě。 yì qiū， tōng guó zhī shàn yì zhě yě。 shǐ yì qiū huì èr rén yì： qí yī rén zhuān xīn zhì zhì， wéi yì qiū zhī wéi tīng； yì rén suī tīng zhī， yì xīn yǐ wéi yǒu hóng hú jiāng zhì， sī yuán gōng jiǎo ér shè zhī。 suī yǔ zhī jù xué， fú ruò zhī yǐ。 wéi shì qí zhì fú ruò yǔ？ yuē： fēi rán yě。」

Mencius said, 'It is not to be wondered at that the king is not wise! Suppose the case of the most easily growing thing in the world; if you let it have one day's genial heat, and then expose it for ten days to cold, it will not be able to grow. It is but seldom that I have an audience of the king, and when I retire, there come all those who act upon him like the cold. Though I succeed in bringing out some buds of goodness, of what avail is it? Now chess-playing is but a small art, but without his whole mind being given, and his will bent, to it, a man cannot succeed at it. Chess Qiu is the best chess-player in all the kingdom. Suppose that he is teaching two men to play. The one gives to the subject his whole mind and bends to it all his will, doing nothing but listening to Chess Qiu. The other, although he seems to be listening to him, has his whole mind running on a swan which he thinks is approaching, and wishes to bend his bow, adjust the string to the arrow, and shoot it. Although he is learning along with the other, he does not come up to him. Why? Because his intelligence is not equal? Not so.'