Gong Sun Chou II · Passage 05 / 14 · 孟子 2B.5

Mencius 2B.5: leave when your charge is impossible

Mencius separates office-bearing responsibility from speech-bearing responsibility, and judges departure by whether one's real charge can still be fulfilled.

孟子謂蚔蛙曰：「子之辭靈丘而請士師，似也，為其可以言也。今既數月矣，未可以言與？」蚔蛙諫於王而不用，致為臣而去。齊人曰：「所以為蚔蛙，則善矣；所以自為，則吾不知也。」公都子以告。曰：「吾聞之也：有官守者，不得其職則去；有言責者，不得其言則去。我無官守，我無言責也，則吾進退豈不綽綽然有餘裕哉？」

mèng zǐ wèi qí wā yuē：「zǐ zhī cí líng qiū ér qǐng shì shī， sì yě， wéi qí kě yǐ yán yě。 jīn jì shù yuè yǐ， wèi kě yǐ yán yǔ？」 qí wā jiàn wū wáng ér bú yòng， zhì wéi chén ér qù。 qí rén yuē：「suǒ yǐ wéi qí wā， zé shàn yǐ； suǒ yǐ zì wéi， zé wú bù zhī yě。」 gōng dōu zǐ yǐ gào。 yuē：「wú wén zhī yě： yǒu guān shǒu zhě， bù dé qí zhí zé qù； yǒu yán zé zhě， bù dé qí yán zé qù。 wǒ wú guān shǒu， wǒ wú yán zé yě， zé wú jìn tuì qǐ bú chuò chuò rán yǒu yú yù zāi？」

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 would afford you the opportunity of speaking your views. Now several months have elapsed, and have you yet found nothing of which you might speak?' On this, Qi Wa remonstrated on some matter with the king, and, his counsel not being taken, resigned his office and went away. The people of Qi said, 'In the course which he marked out for Qi Wa he did well, but we do not know as to the course which he pursues for himself.' His disciple Gong Du told him these remarks. Mencius said, 'I have heard that he who is in charge of an office, when he is prevented from fulfilling its duties, ought to take his departure, and that he on whom is the responsibility of giving his opinion, when he finds his words unattended to, ought to do the same. But I am in charge of no office; on me devolves no duty of speaking out my opinion - may not I therefore act freely and without any constraint, either in going forward or in retiring?'

Priority note

A human-edited reading layer

Central question

Why does Mencius divide the question of leaving into office-holders and those charged to speak?

Direct answer

Because different positions carry different responsibilities. Some answer for the work of office; others answer for whether necessary truth can still be spoken.

First principle

The right measure of staying or leaving is not profit or sentiment, but the actual responsibility one bears and whether it remains genuinely possible to discharge it.

Why it matters

This passage serves searches around resignation, duty, speech, and the ethics of office in Mencius.

What this passage is doing

This is passage 5 of 14 in Gong Sun Chou II. The cleanest entry point is "There seemed to be reason in your declining…". 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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