Gao Zi II · Passage 10 / 16 · 孟子 6B.10

Mencius 6B.10: why taking only one-twentieth may still

A lower tax rate does not automatically mean better politics when the surrounding social structure it must sustain is completely different.

白圭曰：「吾欲二十而取一，何如？」孟子曰：「子之道，貉道也。萬室之國，一人陶，則可乎？」曰：「不可，器不足用也。」曰：「夫貉，五穀不生，惟黍生之，無城郭、宮室、宗廟、祭祀之禮，無諸侯幣帛饔飧，無百官有司，故二十取一而足也。今居中國，去人倫，無君子，如之何其可也？陶以寡，且不可以為國，況無君子乎？欲輕之於堯舜之道者，大貉、小貉也；欲重之於堯舜之道者，大桀、小桀也。」

bái guī yuē：「wú yù èr shí ér qǔ yī， hé rú？」 mèng zǐ yuē：「zǐ zhī dào， mò dào yě。 wàn shì zhī guó， yì rén táo， zé kě hū？」 yuē：「bù kě， qì bù zú yòng yě。」 yuē：「fū mò， wǔ gǔ bù shēng， wéi shǔ shēng zhī， wú chéng guō、 gōng shì、 zōng miào、 jì sì zhī lǐ， wú zhū hóu bì bó yōng sūn， wú bǎi guān yǒu sī， gù èr shí qǔ yī ér zú yě。 jīn jū zhōng guó， qù rén lún， wú jūn zǐ， rú zhī hé qí kě yě？ táo yǐ guǎ， qiě bù kě yǐ wéi guó， kuàng wú jūn zǐ hū？ yù qīng zhī wū yáo shùn zhī dào zhě， dà mò、 xiǎo mò yě； yù zhòng zhī wū yáo shùn zhī dào zhě， dà jié、 xiǎo jié yě。」

Bai Gui said, 'I want to take a twentieth of the produce only as the tax. What do you think of it?' Mencius said, 'Your way would be that of the Mo. In a country of ten thousand families, would it do to have only one potter?' Gui replied, 'No. The vessels would not be enough to use.' Mencius went on, 'In Mo all the five kinds of grain are not grown; it only produces the millet. There are no fortified cities, no edifices, no ancestral temples, no ceremonies of sacrifice; there are no princes requiring presents and entertainments; there is no system of officers with their various subordinates. On these accounts a tax of one-twentieth of the produce is sufficient there. But now it is the Middle Kingdom that we live in. To banish the relationships of men, and have no superior men - how can such a state of things be thought of? With but few potters a kingdom cannot subsist; how much less can it subsist without men of a higher rank than others? If we wish to make the taxation lighter than the system of Yao and Shun, we shall just have a great Mo and a small Mo. If we wish to make it heavier, we shall just have the great Jie and the small Jie.'