Gong Sun Chou II · Passage 11 / 14 · 孟子 2B.11

Mencius 2B.11: do not retain worthies by making

Mencius refuses a polite plea to stay because real retention of worthy people requires structures that can settle them, not last-minute gestures.

孟子去齊，宿於晝。有欲為王留行者，坐而言。不應，隱几而臥。客不悅曰：「弟子齊宿而後敢言；夫子臥而不聽；請勿復敢見矣。」曰：「坐。我明語子：昔者魯繆公無人乎子思之側，則不能安子思；泄柳、申詳無人乎繆公之側，則不能安其身。子為長者慮，而不及子思。子絕長者乎？長者絕子乎？」

mèng zǐ qù qí， sù wū zhòu。 yǒu yù wéi wáng liú xíng zhě， zuò ér yán。 bù yīng， yǐn jǐ ér wò。 kè bú yuè yuē：「dì zǐ qí sù ér hòu gǎn yán； fū zǐ wò ér bù tīng； qǐng wù fù gǎn jiàn yǐ。」 yuē：「zuò。 wǒ míng yǔ zǐ： xī zhě lǔ móu gōng wú rén hū zǐ sī zhī cè， zé bù néng ān zǐ sī； xiè liǔ、 shēn xiáng wú rén hū móu gōng zhī cè， zé bù néng ān qí shēn。 zǐ wéi cháng zhě lǜ， ér bù jí zǐ sī。 zǐ jué cháng zhě hū？ cháng zhě jué zǐ hū？」

Mencius, having taken his leave of Qi, was passing the night in Zhou. A person who wished to detain him on behalf of the king, came and sat down, and began to speak to him. Mencius gave him no answer, but leant upon his stool and slept. The visitor was displeased, and said, 'I passed the night in careful vigil, before I would venture to speak to you, and you, Master, sleep and do not listen to me. Allow me to request that I may not again presume to see you.' Mencius replied, 'Sit down, and I will explain the case clearly to you. Formerly, if the duke Mou had not kept a person by the side of Zi Si, he could not have induced Zi Si to remain with him. If Xie Liu and Shen Xiang had not had a remembrancer by the side of the duke Mou, he would not have been able to make them feel at home and remain with him. You anxiously form plans with reference to me, but you do not treat me as Zi Si was treated. Is it you, Sir, who cut me? Or is it I who cut you?

Priority note

A human-edited reading layer

Central question

Why does Mencius respond so coldly to the man sent to persuade him to stay?

Direct answer

Because he sees that the issue is not verbal pleading but whether the political order contains people able to secure a place for the worthy without making them curry favor.

First principle

A community that truly values truth must build supports that let worthy people stand, not merely perform respect when they are about to leave.

Why it matters

This passage serves searches around retaining talent, worthy people, and institutional support for honest counsel in Mencius.

What this passage is doing

This is passage 11 of 14 in Gong Sun Chou II. The cleanest entry point is "I passed the night in careful vigil, before…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about flood-like qi, moral judgment, and public responsibility and can be read alongside Humane government / kingly way.

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