Li Lou I · Passage 03 / 28 · 孟子 4A.3
Mencius 4A.3: the realm stands or falls by benevolence
Mencius places dynastic rise and fall, state survival, and personal preservation under one law: what is gained by benevolence is lost by abandoning it.
孟子曰：「三代之得天下也以仁，其失天下也以不仁。國之所以廢興存亡者亦然。天子不仁，不保四海；諸侯不仁，不保社稷；卿大夫不仁，不保宗廟；士庶人不仁，不保四體。今惡死亡而樂不仁，是由惡醉而強酒。」
Mencius said, 'It was by benevolence that the three dynasties gained the throne, and by not being benevolent that they lost it. It is by the same means that the decaying and flourishing, the preservation and perishing, of States are determined. If the sovereign be not benevolent, he cannot preserve the throne from passing from him. If the Head of a State be not benevolent, he cannot preserve his rule. If a high noble or great officer be not benevolent, he cannot preserve his ancestral temple. If a scholar or common man be not benevolent, be cannot preserve his four limbs. Now they hate death and ruin, and yet delight in being not benevolent - this is like hating to be drunk, and yet being strong to drink wine!'
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Central question
Why does Mencius say that the three dynasties gained the realm by benevolence and lost it by the lack of benevolence?
Direct answer
Because he is arguing that benevolence is not merely attractive private virtue. It is a condition of durable preservation. From the Son of Heaven to the common person, once benevolence is abandoned, even the thing one most wants to preserve finally cannot be kept.
First principle
A true first principle must explain how the largest order stands and how the smallest life is preserved. For Mencius, benevolence is that sort of principle.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around dynastic survival, benevolence, and Mencius on why political realism without benevolence ends in self-destruction.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 3 of 28 in Li Lou I. The cleanest entry point is "It was by benevolence that the three dynasties…". 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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Related principles
Citation note
Do not read it as moral ornament. Mencius is not saying benevolence looks nicer; he is saying that non-benevolence fails even on its own terms of survival.