Part 04 · 14 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 II develops flood-like qi, steadiness of character, and the public duty of the scholar.
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孟子 2B.1
Because even excellent conditions collapse when a polity is inwardly divided, while moral legitimacy keeps generating strength when people actually support the order they live under.
This passage scales Mencius from individual virtue to collective order. It speaks directly to search intent around social trust, political legitimacy, and durable coordination.
孟子 2B.2
Because the issue is not merely scheduling. If the worthy must always bend their route to suit power, independent moral speech will slowly disappear from government.
This passage serves searches around rulers and worthies, distance from power, and why Mencius guards the form of respect in political counsel.
孟子 2B.3
Because outwardly similar gifts can carry very different meanings. Travel expenses or defensive provision answer a real circumstance within propriety; an unsolicited rich gift with no rightful place is an attempt to buy the person.
This passage serves searches around gifts, integrity, and receiving or refusing support, while clarifying how Mencius distinguishes rightful provision from corrupt purchase.
孟子 2B.4
Because officials punish failure in military order immediately, yet often pretend that starving people collapsing into the ditches and scattering abroad is somehow not their responsibility. Mencius forces the comparison: if you accept charge over a people and do not seek their pasture, you are as derelict as a bad shepherd.
This passage serves searches around political accountability, famine, and Mencius on official dereliction. It is one of his most operational texts on governance responsibility.
孟子 2B.5
Because different positions carry different responsibilities. Some answer for the work of office; others answer for whether necessary truth can still be spoken.
This passage serves searches around resignation, duty, speech, and the ethics of office in Mencius.
孟子 2B.6
Because matters that belong to the proper officers should remain with the proper officers. Not every companion with rank automatically becomes a second necessary channel of deliberation.
This passage serves searches around office, role clarity, and delegated responsibility in Mencius, while strengthening the site's account of ordered political roles.
Why does Mencius rank human harmony above favorable timing and geography?
Source opening: Mencius said, 'Opportunities of time vouchsafed by Heaven are not equal to advantages of situation afforded by the Earth, and advantages of situation afforded by the Earth are not…
Why does Mencius refuse to rearrange himself around the king's sudden request in 2B.2?
Source opening: As Mencius was about to go to court to see the king, the king sent a person to him with this message:
Why does Mencius sometimes accept gifts and sometimes refuse them?
Source opening: Chen Zhen asked Mencius, saying, 'Formerly, when you were in Qi, the king sent you a present Of 2,400 taels of fine silver, and you refused to accept it.
Why does Mencius invoke the rule about a spearman losing his place three times a day when confronting the governor of Ping Lu?
Source opening: Mencius having gone to Ping Lu, addressed the governor of it, saying, 'If one of your spearmen should lose his place in the ranks three times in one day, would you, Sir, put him to…
Why does Mencius divide the question of leaving into office-holders and those charged to speak?
Source opening: Mencius said to Qi Wa, 'There seemed to be reason in your declining the governorship of Ling Qiu, and requesting to be appointed chief criminal judge, because the latter office wou…
Why does Mencius travel with Wang Huan yet never discuss the mission with him?
Source opening: Mencius, occupying the position of a high dignitary in Qi, went on a mission of condolence to Teng.
Why does Mencius insist on using excellent wood for his mother's coffin instead of imposing austerity on himself?
Source opening: Mencius went from Qi to Lu to bury his mother.
Why does Mencius say Yan may be attacked yet deny that he urged Qi to attack it?
Source opening: Shen Tong, on his own impulse, asked Mencius, saying, 'May Yan be smitten?
Why does Mencius refuse the attempt to excuse the king of Qi after the disorder in Yan?
Source opening: The people of Yan having rebelled, the king of Qi said, 'I feel very much ashamed when I think of Mencius.
Why does Mencius refuse the king's generous support instead of treating it as a better chance to influence policy?
Source opening: Mencius gave up his office, and made arrangements for returning to his native State.
Why does Mencius respond so coldly to the man sent to persuade him to stay?
Source opening: Mencius, having taken his leave of Qi, was passing the night in Zhou.
Why did Mencius remain for three nights after leaving Qi instead of cutting off at once?
Source opening: When Mencius had left Qi, Yin Shi spoke about him to others, saying, 'If he did not know that the king could not be made a Tang or a Wu, that showed his want of intelligence.
Why does Mencius say the superior man does not murmur against Heaven, yet confess dissatisfaction as he leaves Qi?
Source opening: When Mencius left Qi, Chong Yu questioned him upon the way, saying, 'Master, you look like one who carries an air of dissatisfaction in his countenance.
Why does Mencius say that holding office without salary is not the ancient norm, yet he himself did it?
Source opening: When Mencius left Qi, he dwelt in Xiu.