Li Lou II · Passage 20 / 33 · 孟子 4B.20

Mencius 4B.20: rulers who love good words keep learning

By naming Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, and the Duke of Zhou, Mencius shows that sound rule stays open to good counsel, worthy people, and continued correction.

孟子曰：「禹惡旨酒而好善言。湯執中，立賢無方。文王視民如傷，望道而未之見。武王不泄邇，不忘遠。周公思兼三王，以施四事。其有不合者，仰而思之，夜以繼日；幸而得之，坐以待旦。」

mèng zǐ yuē：「yǔ è zhǐ jiǔ ér hǎo shàn yán。 tāng zhí zhōng， lì xián wú fāng。 wén wáng shì mín rú shāng， wàng dào ér wèi zhī jiàn。 wǔ wáng bú xiè ěr， bú wàng yuǎn。 zhōu gōng sī jiān sān wáng， yǐ shī sì shì。 qí yǒu bù hé zhě， yǎng ér sī zhī， yè yǐ jì rì； xìng ér dé zhī， zuò yǐ dài dàn。」

Mencius said, 'Yu hated the pleasant wine, and loved good words. Tang held fast the Mean, and employed men of talents and virtue without regard to where they came from. King Wen looked on the people as he would on a man who was wounded, and he looked towards the right path as if he could not see it. King Wu did not slight the near, and did not forget the distant. The duke of Zhou desired to unite in himself the virtues of those kings, those founders of the three dynasties, that he might display in his practice the four things which they did. If he saw any thing in them not suited to his time, he looked up and thought about it, from daytime into the night, and when he was fortunate enough to master the difficulty, he sat waiting for the morning.'