Jin Xin II · Passage 14 / 38 · 孟子 7B.14

Mencius 7B.14: the people are weightiest, the ruler

Mencius states the order of political importance plainly: the people come first, the altars of state next, and the ruler last.

孟子曰：「民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕。是故得乎丘民而為天子；得乎天子為諸侯；得乎諸侯為大夫。諸侯危社稷，則變置；犧牲既成，粢盛既潔，祭祀以時，然而旱乾水溢，則變置社稷。」

mèng zǐ yuē：「mín wéi guì， shè jì cì zhī， jūn wéi qīng。 shì gù dé hū qiū mín ér wéi tiān zǐ； dé hū tiān zǐ wéi zhū hóu； dé hū zhū hóu wéi dài fu。 zhū hóu wēi shè jì， zé biàn zhì； xī shēng jì chéng， zī shèng jì jié， jì sì yǐ shí， rán ér hàn qián shuǐ yì， zé biàn zhì shè jì。」

Mencius said, 'The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain are the next; the sovereign is the lightest. Therefore to gain the peasantry is the way to become sovereign; to gain the sovereign is the way to become a prince of a State; to gain the prince of a State is the way to become a great officer. When a prince endangers the altars of the spirits of the land and grain, he is changed, and another appointed in his place. When the sacrificial victims have been perfect, the millet in its vessels all pure, and the sacrifices offered at their proper seasons, if yet there ensue drought, or the waters overflow, the spirits of the land and grain are changed, and others appointed in their place.'