Jin Xin I · Passage 08 / 46 · 孟子 7A.8
Mencius 7A.8: loving goodness and forgetting power
Those who truly love goodness are not first measured by power. They let the way determine relation rather than letting status determine the heart.
孟子曰：「古之賢王，好善而忘勢。古之賢士，何獨不然？樂其道而忘人之勢。故王公不致敬盡禮，則不得亟見之。見且由不得亟，而況得而臣之乎？」
Mencius said, 'The able and virtuous monarchs of antiquity loved virtue and forgot their power. And shall an exception be made of the able and virtuous scholars of antiquity, that they did not do the same? They delighted in their own principles, and were oblivious of the power of princes. Therefore, if kings and dukes did not show the utmost respect, and observe all forms of ceremony, they were not permitted to come frequently and visit them. If they thus found it not in their power to pay them frequent visits, how much less could they get to employ them as ministers?'
Priority note
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Central question
Why does Mencius say that ancient worthy kings loved goodness and forgot power, and that worthy scholars likewise delighted in the way and forgot others' power?
Direct answer
Because once a person's scale is set first by power, goodness and the way can no longer remain highest. Mencius admires those who, even before rank and prestige, still let the way decide how relation should stand.
First principle
A real hierarchy of value must survive the appearance of power. If the measure reverses as soon as power appears, then power—not the way—was always first.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around moral independence, power, and Mencius on scholars. It explains why he insists on intellectual and ethical independence before rulers.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 8 of 46 in Jin Xin I. The cleanest entry point is "The able and virtuous monarchs of antiquity loved…". 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 Humane government / kingly way.
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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 read it as anti-ritual or anti-audience. Mencius is not praising arrogance, but insisting that ritual itself must be ordered by the way rather than by naked power.