Gong Sun Chou II · Passage 04 / 14 · 孟子 2B.4
Mencius 2B.4: losing formation three times a day
Mencius juxtaposes military discipline with civil collapse to show that officials should be held at least as accountable for mass misery among the people.
孟子之平陸，謂其大夫曰：「子之持戟之士，一日而三失伍，則去之否乎？」曰：「不待三。」「然則子之失伍也亦多矣。兇年饑歲，子之民老羸轉於溝壑，壯者散而之四方者幾千人矣。」曰：「此非距心之所得為也。」曰：「今有受人之牛羊而為之牧之者，則必為之求牧與芻矣。求牧與芻而不得，則反諸其人乎？抑亦立而視其死與？」曰：「此則距心之罪也。」他日，見於王曰：「王之為都者，臣知五人焉。知其罪者，惟孔距心。為王誦之。」王曰：「此則寡人之罪也。」
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 death or not?' 'I would not wait for three times to do so,' was the reply. Mencius said, 'Well then, you, Sir, have likewise lost your place in the ranks many times. In bad calamitous years, and years of famine, the old and feeble of your people, who have been found lying in the ditches and water-channels, and the able-bodied, who have been scattered about to the four quarters, have amounted to several thousand.' The governor replied, 'That is a state of things in which it does not belong to me Ju Xin to act.' 'Here,' said Mencius, 'is a man who receives charge of the cattle and sheep of another, and undertakes to feed them for him - of course he must search for pasture-ground and grass for them. If, after searching for those, he cannot find them, will he return his charge to the owner? or will he stand by and see them die?' 'Herein,' said the officer, 'I am guilty.' Another day, Mencius had an audience of the king, and said to him, 'Of the governors of your Majesty's cities I am acquainted with five, but the only one of them who knows his faults is Kong Ju Xin.' He then repeated the conversation to the king, who said, 'In this matter, I am the guilty one.'
Priority note
A human-edited reading layer
Central question
Why does Mencius invoke the rule about a spearman losing his place three times a day when confronting the governor of Ping Lu?
Direct answer
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.
First principle
Responsibility should not be ranked by the comfort of the powerful, but by the degree of damage suffered in what has been entrusted to them.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around political accountability, famine, and Mencius on official dereliction. It is one of his most operational texts on governance responsibility.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 4 of 14 in Gong Sun Chou II. The cleanest entry point is "Well then, you, Sir, have likewise lost your…". 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.
Broader search routes
If you came here with a wider question, start from the right hub page
Humane government: political order begins with livelihood
If your real query is broader than one citation, start from the theme page and use this passage as proof text.
Open humane government / kingly wayWho is Mencius?
If you first need the person, the aliases, and why he matters, start from the about page.
Open About MenciusMencius quotes and sayings
If you arrived through a famous line, start from the quotes hub and then return to the exact passage.
Open Mencius quotesMencius full text and works of Mencius
If you need the book structure, the works of Mencius, or where to read the text, start from the full-text hub.
Open the full-text hubBook context
Gong Sun Chou II develops flood-like qi, steadiness of character, and the public duty of the scholar.
Related principles
Citation note
Do not read it as a generic famine slogan. Mencius is actually equalizing standards of accountability: the official must answer for people's lives with at least the severity used in military discipline.