Li Lou I · Passage 07 / 28 · 孟子 4A.7

Mencius 4A.7: weak states should learn from king Wen

Mencius tells small states that wounded pride is useless; if they want to change their position, they must learn humane order from king Wen.

孟子曰：「天下有道，小德役大德，小賢役大賢。天下無道，小役大，弱役強，斯二者，天也。順天者存，逆天者亡。齊景公曰：『既不能令，又不受命，是絶物也。』涕出而女於呉。今也小國師大國，而恥受命焉，是猶弟子而恥受命於先師也。如恥之，莫若師文王，師文王，大國五年，小國七年，必爲政於天下矣。《詩》云：『商之孫子，其麗不億。上帝既命，侯于周服。侯服于周，天命靡常。殷士膚敏，祼將于京。』孔子曰：『仁不可爲衆也夫！國君好仁，天下無敵。』今也欲無敵於天下，而不以仁，是猶執熱而不以濯也。《詩》云：『誰能執熱，逝不以濯？』」

mèng zǐ yuē：「tiān xià yǒu dào， xiǎo dé yì dà dé， xiǎo xián yì dà xián。 tiān xià wú dào， xiǎo yì dà， ruò yì qiáng， sī èr zhě， tiān yě。 shùn tiān zhě cún， nì tiān zhě wáng。 qí jǐng gōng yuē：『jì bù néng lìng， yòu bú shòu mìng， shì jué wù yě。』 tì chū ér nǚ wū wú。 jīn yě xiǎo guó shī dà guó， ér chǐ shòu mìng yān， shì yóu dì zǐ ér chǐ shòu mìng wū xiān shī yě。 rú chǐ zhī， mò ruò shī wén wáng， shī wén wáng， dà guó wǔ nián， xiǎo guó qī nián， bì wéi zhèng wū tiān xià yǐ。《shī》 yún：『shāng zhī sūn zǐ， qí lí bú yì。 shàng dì jì mìng， hóu yú zhōu fú。 hóu fú yú zhōu， tiān mìng mí cháng。 yīn shì fū mǐn， guàn jiāng yú jīng。』 kǒng zǐ yuē：『rén bù kě wéi zhòng yě fū！ guó jūn hǎo rén， tiān xià wú dí。』 jīn yě yù wú dí wū tiān xià， ér bù yǐ rén， shì yóu zhí rè ér bù yǐ zhuó yě。《shī》 yún：『shuí néng zhí rè， shì bù yǐ zhuó？』」

Mencius said, 'When right government prevails in the kingdom, princes of little virtue are submissive to those of great, and those of little worth to those of great. When bad government prevails in the kingdom, princes of small power are submissive to those of great, and the weak to the strong. Both these cases are the rule of Heaven. They who accord with Heaven are preserved, and they who rebel against Heaven perish. The duke Jing of Qi said, "Not to be able to command others, and at the same time to refuse to receive their commands, is to cut one's self off from all intercourse with others." His tears flowed forth while he gave his daughter to be married to the prince of Wu. 'Now the small States imitate the large, and yet are ashamed to receive their commands. This is like a scholar's being ashamed to receive the commands of his master. For a prince who is ashamed of this, the best plan is to imitate king Wen. Let one imitate king Wen, and in five years, if his State be large, or in seven years, if it be small, he will be sure to give laws to the kingdom. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "The descendants of the sovereigns of the Shang dynasty, Are in number more than hundreds of thousands, But, God having passed His decree, They are all submissive to Zhou. They are submissive to Zhou, Because the decree of Heaven is not unchanging. The officers of Yin, admirable and alert, Pour out the libations, and assist in the capital of Zhou." Confucius said, "As against so benevolent a sovereign, they could not be deemed a multitude." Thus, if the prince of a state love benevolence, he will have no opponent in all the kingdom. Now they wish to have no opponent in all the kingdom, but they do not seek to attain this by being benevolent. This is like a man laying hold of a heated substance, and not having first dipped it in water. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "Who can take up a heated substance, Without first dipping it (in water)?"'