Li Lou II · Passage 15 / 33 · 孟子 4B.15

Mencius 4B.15: learn widely, return to the essential

Mencius says learning must return to the point: wide study and detailed discussion matter only if they come back to what is concise and essential.

孟子曰：「博學而詳說之，將以反說約也。」

mèng zǐ yuē：「bó xué ér xiáng shuō zhī， jiāng yǐ fǎn shuō yuē yě。」

Mencius said, 'In learning extensively and discussing minutely what is learned, the object of the superior man is that he may be able to go back and set forth in brief what is essential.'

Priority note

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Central question

Why does Mencius say that broad learning and detailed discussion should return to concise essentials?

Direct answer

Because learning that cannot come back to the point only multiplies words. Real understanding can withstand expansion and still gather itself into a clear, brief structure.

First principle

Good thought moves from rich input toward clarified structure, not from accumulated material toward endless diffusion.

Why it matters

This passage clearly serves searches around broad learning, essence, and first-principles study. It also anchors the site's method page in the Mencian text itself.

What this passage is doing

This is passage 15 of 33 in Li Lou II. The cleanest entry point is "In learning extensively and discussing minutely what is…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about seeing people clearly, ritual restraint, and governing relationships and can be read alongside Human nature.

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