Gong Sun Chou I · Passage 05 / 09 · 孟子 2A.5
Mencius 2A.5: honor the worthy, employ the able
Mencius lists scholars, merchants, farmers, travelers, and the politically wronged to show that humane rule is not a slogan.
孟子曰：「尊賢使能，俊杰在位，則天下之士皆悅而愿立於其朝矣。市，廛而不征，法而不廛，則天下之商皆悅而愿藏於其市矣。關，譏而不征，則天下之旅皆悅而愿出於其路矣。耕者，助而不稅，則天下之農皆悅而愿耕於其野矣。廛，無夫、里之布，則天下之民皆悅而愿為之氓矣。信能行此五者，則鄰國之民仰之若父母矣。率其子弟攻其父母，自有生民以來未有能濟者也。如此，則無敵於天下。無敵於天下者，天吏也。然而不王者，未之有也。」
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 scholars of the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to stand in his court. If, in the market-place of his capital, he levy a ground-rent on the shops but do not tax the goods, or enforce the proper regulations without levying a ground-rent - then all the traders of the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to store their goods in his market-place. If, at his frontier-passes, there be an inspection of persons, but no taxes charged on goods or other articles, then all the travellers of the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to make their tours on his roads. If he require that the husbandmen give their mutual aid to cultivate the public feld, and exact no other taxes from them - then all the husbandmen of the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to plough in his fields. If from the occupiers of the shops in his market-place he do not exact the fine of the individual idler, or of the hamlet's quota of cloth, then all the people of the kingdom will be pleased, and wish to come and be his people. If a ruler can truly practise these five things, then the people in the neighbouring kingdoms will look up to him as a parent. From the first birth of mankind till now, never has any one led children to attack their parent, and succeeded in his design. Thus, such a ruler will not have an enemy in all the kingdom, and he who has no enemy in the kingdom is the minister of Heaven. Never has there been a ruler in such a case who did not attain to the royal dignity.'
Priority note
A human-edited reading layer
Central question
Why does Mencius say that once the worthy are honored and the able employed, scholars, merchants, farmers, and travelers will all want to come?
Direct answer
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.
First principle
The legitimacy of a system is proved not by proclamation but by whether the key participants within it willingly move toward it and remain inside it.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around attracting talent, humane rule, commerce, and Mencius on how good government becomes visibly magnetic.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 5 of 9 in Gong Sun Chou I. The cleanest entry point is "If a ruler give honour to men of…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about the four beginnings, human goodness, and the grounds of humane rule and can be read alongside Four beginnings / four sprouts, Humane government / kingly way.
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Gong Sun Chou I is a key part for the four beginnings, human goodness, and the grounds of humane government.
Related principles
Citation note
Do not reduce it to shallow economic attraction. Mencius is not teaching bribery, but showing that ordered justice naturally draws scholars, producers, traders, travelers, and the aggrieved.