Gao Zi II · Passage 01 / 16 · 孟子 6B.1

Mencius 6B.1: ritual or food misses the root

Mencius shows that many sharp questions work only by distorting proportion: once the root is ignored and the extremes are miscompared.

任人有問屋廬子曰：「禮與食孰重？」曰：「禮重。」「色與禮孰重？」曰：「禮重。」曰：「以禮食則饑而死，不以禮食則得食，必以禮乎？親迎則不得妻，不親迎則得妻，必親迎乎？」屋廬子不能對。明日之鄒以告孟子。孟子曰：「於答是也何有？不揣其本，而齊其末，方寸之木可使高於岑樓。金重於羽者，豈謂一鉤金與一輿羽之謂哉？取食之重者與禮之輕者而比之，奚翅食重？取色之重者與禮之輕者而比之，奚翅色重？往應之曰，『紾兄之臂而奪之食，則得食，不紾，則不得食，則將紾之乎？逾東家墻而摟其處子，則得妻，不摟，則不得妻，則將摟之乎？』」

rèn rén yǒu wèn wū lú zǐ yuē：「lǐ yǔ shí shú zhòng？」 yuē：「lǐ zhòng。」「sè yǔ lǐ shú zhòng？」 yuē：「lǐ zhòng。」 yuē：「yǐ lǐ shí zé jī ér sǐ， bù yǐ lǐ shí zé dé shí， bì yǐ lǐ hū？ qīn yíng zé bù dé qī， bù qīn yíng zé dé qī， bì qīn yíng hū？」 wū lú zǐ bù néng duì。 míng rì zhī zōu yǐ gào mèng zǐ。 mèng zǐ yuē：「wū dá shì yě hé yǒu？ bù chuāi qí běn， ér qí qí mò， fāng cùn zhī mù kě shǐ gāo wū cén lóu。 jīn zhòng wū yǔ zhě， qǐ wèi yì gōu jīn yǔ yì yú yǔ zhī wèi zāi？ qǔ shí zhī zhòng zhě yǔ lǐ zhī qīng zhě ér bǐ zhī， xī chì shí zhòng？ qǔ sè zhī zhòng zhě yǔ lǐ zhī qīng zhě ér bǐ zhī， xī chì sè zhòng？ wǎng yīng zhī yuē，『tiǎn xiōng zhī bì ér duó zhī shí， zé dé shí， bù tiǎn， zé bù dé shí， zé jiāng tiǎn zhī hū？ yú dōng jiā qiáng ér lǒu qí chǔ zǐ， zé dé qī， bù lǒu， zé bù dé qī， zé jiāng lǒu zhī hū？』」

A man of Ren asked the disciple Wu Lu, saying, 'Is an observance of the rules of propriety in regard to eating, or eating merely, the more important?' The answer was, 'The observance of the rules of propriety is the more important.' 'Is the gratifying the appetite of sex, or the doing so only according to the rules of propriety, the more important?' The answer again was, 'The observance of the rules of propriety in the matter is the more important.' The man pursued, 'If the result of eating only according to the rules of propriety will be death by starvation, while by disregarding those rules we may get food, must they still be observed in such a case? If according to the rule that he shall go in person to meet his wife a man cannot get married, while by disregarding that rule he may get married, must he still observe the rule in such a case?' Wu Lu was unable to reply to these questions, and the next day he went to Zou, and told them to Mencius. Mencius said, 'What difficulty is there in answering these inquiries? If you do not adjust them at their lower extremities, but only put their tops on a level, a piece of wood an inch square may be made to be higher than the pointed peak of a high building. Gold is heavier than feathers; but does that saying have reference, on the one hand, to a single clasp of gold, and, on the other, to a waggon-load of feathers? If you take a case where the eating is of the utmost importance and the observing the rules of propriety is of little importance, and compare the things together, why stop with saying merely that the eating is more important? So, taking the case where the gratifying the appetite of sex is of the utmost importance and the observing the rules of propriety is of little importance, why stop with merely saying that the gratifying the appetite is the more important? Go and answer him thus, "If, by twisting your elder brother's arm, and snatching from him what he is eating, you can get food for yourself, while, if you do not do so, you will not get anything to eat, will you so twist his arm? If by getting over your neighbour's wall, and dragging away his virgin daughter, you can get a wife, while if you do not do so, you will not be able to get a wife, will you so drag her away?"'