Jin Xin I · Passage 43 / 46 · 孟子 7A.43

Mencius 7A.43: do not ask from borrowed status

Mencius refuses questions pressed through rank, age, merit, or prestige, because a request to learn is already corrupted if leverage comes first.

公都子曰：「滕更之在門也，若在所禮，而不答，何也？」孟子曰：「挾貴而問，挾賢而問，挾長而問，挾有勛勞而問，挾故而問，皆所不答也。滕更有二焉。」

gōng dōu zǐ yuē：「téng gèng zhī zài mén yě， ruò zài suǒ lǐ， ér bù dá， hé yě？」 mèng zǐ yuē：「xié guì ér wèn， xié xián ér wèn， xié cháng ér wèn， xié yǒu xūn láo ér wèn， xié gù ér wèn， jiē suǒ bù dá yě。 téng gèng yǒu èr yān。」

The disciple Gong Du said, 'When Geng of Tang made his appearance in your school, it seemed proper that a polite consideration should be paid to him, and yet you did not answer him. Why was that?' Mencius replied, 'I do not answer him who questions me presuming on his nobility, nor him who presumes on his talents, nor him who presumes on his age, nor him who presumes on services performed to me, nor him who presumes on old acquaintance. Two of those things were chargeable on Geng of Tang.'

Priority note

A human-edited reading layer

Central question

Why does Mencius say he does not answer questions posed with rank, wisdom, age, or merit in hand?

Direct answer

Because real inquiry puts the question first, not one's credentials. If leverage enters first, the posture of learning is already bent away from truth.

First principle

Teaching and learning collapse when external status captures the exchange before the matter itself can speak.

Why it matters

This passage serves searches around humility, learning, rank, and why Mencius guards the posture of inquiry.

What this passage is doing

This is passage 43 of 46 in Jin Xin I. The cleanest entry point is "When Geng of Tang made his appearance in…". 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.

Broader search routes