Li Lou II · Passage 18 / 33 · 孟子 4B.18
Mencius 4B.18: the spring that never ceases day or night
Mencius uses spring water to explain rooted learning and character: what has a source advances step by step and reaches the seas.
徐子曰：「仲尼亟稱於水曰：『水哉！水哉！』何取於水也？」孟子曰：「源泉混混，不舍晝夜，盈科而後進，放乎四海；有本者如是，是之取爾。茍為無本，七、八月之間雨集，溝澮皆盈；其涸也，可立而待也。故聲聞過情，君子恥之。」
The disciple Xu said, 'Zhong Ni often praised water, saying, "0 water! 0 water!" What did he find in water to praise?' Mencius replied, 'There is a spring of water; how it gushes out! It rests not day nor night. It fills up every hole, and then advances, flowing onto the four seas. Such is water having a spring! It was this which he found in it to praise. But suppose that the water has no spring. In the seventh and eighth when the rain falls abundantly, the channels in the fields are all filled, but their being dried up again may be expected in a short time. So a superior man is ashamed of a reputation beyond his merits.'
Priority note
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Central question
Why does Mencius use spring water to describe the superior person's way?
Direct answer
Because what is truly dependable has source, continuity, and sequence. Noise without a source can look full for a moment, but it vanishes quickly; rooted growth keeps flowing until it becomes vast.
First principle
Growth and reputation should be judged not by momentary overflow, but by whether there is a source capable of sustaining them.
Why it matters
This passage strongly serves searches around rootedness, water imagery in Mencius, and the shame of reputation outrunning reality.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 18 of 33 in Li Lou II. The cleanest entry point is "Zhong Ni often praised water, saying, "0 water". 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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Li Lou II offers concrete judgments about seeing people, handling relationships, and the discipline of ritual.
Related principles
Citation note
Do not read it as scenery alone. Mencius lands on the warning that a superior person is ashamed of reputation beyond merit, which shows that the image is really about having or lacking a source.