Part 03 · 9 passages
This part page carries the argument map and stable citation routes; full source text, pinyin, and close bilingual reading live on the passage pages.
Gong Sun Chou I is a key part for the four beginnings, human goodness, and the grounds of humane government.
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孟子 2A.1
Because once the standard of politics is reduced to skill in making one state stronger, the horizon of kingly rule has already been surrendered. Mencius is not competing for the title of superior technician of power, but for a higher political measure.
This passage serves searches around Guan Zhong, Yan Ying, kingly rule, and Mencius on political standards. It explains why he keeps lifting discussion above mere statecraft technique.
孟子 2A.2
Because he is not describing the trick of pushing fear down. He is describing a state in which judgment, conduct, and righteousness have been aligned long enough that the heart can stand firm without strain.
This is the entry point for flood-like qi. It turns courage from a personality label into a cultivable structure and shows why self-cultivation matters for public action.
孟子 2A.3
Because submission under force lasts only as long as resistance is impossible. Real political support appears only when people inwardly judge a direction to be more rightful.
This is a central passage for understanding force, virtue, and legitimacy in Mencius, and it fits high-intent searches around moral leadership and winning hearts.
孟子 2A.4
Because if one truly hates disgrace, one should not remain in the very place that keeps generating it. A ruler who fears humiliation yet stays in inhumanity is like someone who hates getting wet but refuses to leave the swamp.
This passage serves searches around honor, virtue, and the root cause of political disgrace. It is a characteristic example of Mencius diagnosing politics by first principles.
孟子 2A.5
Because political quality is not measured by self-praise. It is measured by whether different kinds of people judge this order to be the better place to work, trade, travel, and seek justice. When humane rule takes shape, it attracts by its structure.
This passage serves searches around attracting talent, humane rule, commerce, and Mencius on how good government becomes visibly magnetic.
孟子 2A.6
Because the scene strips away advantage, reputation, and relationship strategy. If a person still recoils in alarm and compassion, then the beginning of humaneness exists prior to external reward and punishment.
2A.6 anchors three major lines at once: human nature is good, the four beginnings, and humane rule. It is one of the most important citation pages on the site.
Why does Mencius refuse to compare himself to Guan Zhong and Yan Ying?
Source opening: Gong Sun Chou asked Mencius, saying, 'Master, if you were to obtain the ordering of the government in Qi, could you promise yourself to accomplish anew such results as those realiz…
Why is Mencius's 'unmoved heart' not mere emotional suppression or bravado?
Source opening: Gong Sun Chou asked Mencius, saying, 'Master, if you were to be appointed a high noble and the prime minister of Qi, so as to be able to carry your principles into practice, though…
Why does Mencius think force can subdue people without truly gaining them?
Source opening: Mencius said, 'He who, using force, makes a pretence to benevolence is the leader of the princes.
Why does Mencius say that fearing disgrace while remaining in inhumanity is like fearing dampness while living in low ground?
Source opening: Mencius said, 'Benevolence brings glory to a prince, and the opposite of it brings disgrace.
Why does Mencius say that once the worthy are honored and the able employed, scholars, merchants, farmers, and travelers will all want to come?
Source opening: Mencius said, 'If a ruler give honour to men of talents and virtue and employ the able, so that offices shall all be filled by individuals of distinction and mark - then all the sc…
Why does Mencius use the child-at-the-well scene to argue about human nature?
Source opening: Mencius said, 'All men have a mind which cannot bear to see the sufferings of others.
Why does Mencius link benevolence as a home with the need to seek the cause in oneself?
Source opening: Mencius said, 'Is the arrow-maker less benevolent than the maker of armour of defence?
Why does Mencius treat helping others practice the good as greater than merely being good by oneself?
Source opening: Mencius said, 'When any one told Zi Lu that he had a fault, he rejoiced.
Why does Mencius place Bo Yi and Liu Xia Hui side by side?
Source opening: Mencius said, 'Bo Yi would not serve a prince whom he did not approve, nor associate with a friend whom he did not esteem.