Jin Xin I · Passage 01 / 46 · 孟子 7A.1

Mencius 7A.1: exhausting the heart, knowing nature

Mencius binds together knowing nature, knowing Heaven, and establishing destiny.

孟子曰：「盡其心者，知其性也。知其性，則知天矣。存其心，養其性，所以事天也。夭壽不貳，修身以俟之，所以立命也。」

mèng zǐ yuē：「jìn qí xīn zhě， zhī qí xìng yě。 zhī qí xìng， zé zhī tiān yǐ。 cún qí xīn， yǎng qí xìng， suǒ yǐ shì tiān yě。 yāo shòu bú èr， xiū shēn yǐ sì zhī， suǒ yǐ lì mìng yě。」

Mencius said, 'He who has exhausted all his mental constitution knows his nature. Knowing his nature, he knows Heaven. To preserve one's mental constitution, and nourish one's nature, is the way to serve Heaven. When neither a premature death nor long life causes a man any double-mindedness, but he waits in the cultivation of his personal character for whatever issue; this is the way in which he establishes his Heaven-ordained being.'

Priority note

A human-edited reading layer

Central question

Why does Mencius say that exhausting the heart leads to knowing nature and Heaven?

Direct answer

Because a person who never fully develops the heart remains trapped in fragments. Only when the heart's capacities are brought to completion can one perceive both oneself and the larger order one belongs to.

First principle

Knowledge is not extra information acquired from outside the heart, but a discovery that occurs when one's given capacities are fully unfolded.

Why it matters

This opening passage of Jin Xin is a gateway into Mencius's view of cultivation, Heaven, and destiny, with clear relevance to search intent around nature and transcendence.

What this passage is doing

This is passage 1 of 46 in Jin Xin I. The cleanest entry point is "He who has exhausted all his mental constitution…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about exhausting the heart, sincerity, and preserving the original heart and can be read alongside Human nature.

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