Li Lou I · Passage 11 / 28 · 孟子 4A.11
Mencius 4A.11: way lies near, yet people seek it far away
Mencius argues that the real path is not found in remote abstraction but in the nearest human responsibilities of kinship and respect.
孟子曰：「道在邇，而求諸遠；事在易，而求諸難。人人親其親、長其長，而天下平。」
Mencius said, 'The path of duty lies in what is near, and men seek for it in what is remote. The work of duty lies in what is easy, and men seek for it in what is difficult. If each man would love his parents and show the due respect to his elders, the whole land would enjoy tranquillity.'
Priority note
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Central question
Why does Mencius say that the way lies near while people seek it far away?
Direct answer
Because people often look grand in distant slogans while failing in the duties nearest to them. Mencius pulls the way back from remote display into the ordinary human relationships where it must first be real.
First principle
A principle that cannot hold in the nearest sphere is not yet a real principle. Distance often becomes an excuse for evading the obvious duty at hand.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around near duty, kinship, and Mencius on why order begins close at hand. It is one of the clearest bridges from self-cultivation to public peace.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 11 of 28 in Li Lou I. The cleanest entry point is "The path of duty lies in what is…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about self-examination, disorder, and keeping the way and can be read alongside Humane government / kingly way.
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Li Lou I often approaches disorder through self-examination and the standards for keeping the way.
Related principles
Citation note
Do not read it as hostility to large questions. Mencius is not shrinking concern; he is insisting that every larger order must survive the test of the nearest human obligations.