Jin Xin II · Passage 25 / 38 · 孟子 7B.25

Mencius 7B.25: the ladder from goodness to the spirit-like

Mencius uses Yue Zheng to map a sequence of virtue: goodness, reality, beauty, greatness, sagehood, and finally the spirit-like beyond our grasp.

浩生不害問曰：「樂正子，何人也？」孟子曰：「善人也，信人也。」「何謂善？何謂信？」曰：「可欲之謂善。有諸己之謂信。充實之謂美。充實而有光輝之謂大。大而化之之謂聖。聖而不可知之之謂神。樂正子，二之中、四之下也。」

hào shēng bú hài wèn yuē：「lè zhèng zǐ， hé rén yě？」 mèng zǐ yuē：「shàn rén yě， xìn rén yě。」「hé wèi shàn？ hé wèi xìn？」 yuē：「kě yù zhī wèi shàn。 yǒu zhū jǐ zhī wèi xìn。 chōng shí zhī wèi měi。 chōng shí ér yǒu guāng huī zhī wèi dà。 dà ér huà zhī zhī wèi shèng。 shèng ér bù kě zhī zhī zhī wèi shén。 lè zhèng zǐ， èr zhī zhōng、 sì zhī xià yě。」

Hao Sheng Bu Hai asked, saying, 'What sort of man is Yue Zheng?' Mencius replied, 'He is a good man, a real man.' 'What do you mean by "A good man," "A real man?"' The reply was, 'A man who commands our liking is what is called a good man. He whose goodness is part of himself is what is called real man. He whose goodness has been filled up is what is called beautiful man. He whose completed goodness is brightly displayed is what is called a great man. When this great man exercises a transforming influence, he is what is called a sage. When the sage is beyond our knowledge, he is what is called a spirit-man. Yue Zheng is between the two first characters, and below the four last.'

Priority note

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Central question

Why does Mencius arrange goodness, reality, beauty, greatness, sagehood, and the spirit-like in a sequence?

Direct answer

Because moral excellence does not leap to the top in a single jump. It grows from what draws our approval, to what is internalized, to what is full, radiant, transformative, and finally beyond easy knowing.

First principle

Moral growth is not a change of label but the continuous filling out and brightening of one and the same heart until it can affect others.

Why it matters

This passage serves searches around stages of virtue, goodness, sagehood, and moral formation in Mencius, while strengthening the site's cultivation framework.

What this passage is doing

This is passage 25 of 38 in Jin Xin II. The cleanest entry point is "What sort of man is Yue Zheng". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about knowing words, knowing destiny, and the completion of cultivation and can be read alongside Humane government / kingly way.

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