Jin Xin I · Passage 28 / 46 · 孟子 7A.28
Mencius 7A.28: office cannot buy principle
Mencius praises Liu Xia Hui because he would not exchange his integrity even for the highest offices of state.
孟子曰：「柳下惠不以三公易其介。」
Mencius said, 'Hui of Liu Xia would not for the three highest offices of State have changed his firm purpose of life.'
Priority note
A human-edited reading layer
Central question
Why does Mencius stress that Liu Xia Hui would not trade his integrity for the three highest offices?
Direct answer
Because office is an external addition. Once a person swaps integrity for it, he rises outwardly while falling inwardly.
First principle
Anything that can be given to you should not be allowed to buy the part of you that makes trust possible.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around Liu Xia Hui, integrity, office, and why moral trust outranks rank in Mencius.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 28 of 46 in Jin Xin I. The cleanest entry point is "Hui of Liu Xia would not for the…". 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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Jin Xin I centers on exhausting the heart, sincerity, and preserving the capacities already given in the human heart.
Related principles
Citation note
Do not treat it as simple disdain for office. The point is that office must not become the measure of one's worthiness.