Li Lou II · Passage 21 / 33 · 孟子 4B.21
Mencius 4B.21: when the traces of kingly rule
The Spring and Autumn is not mere record-keeping, but a way in which moral judgment survives after the living traces of kingly rule have faded.
孟子曰：「王者之跡熄而《詩》亡，《詩》亡然後《春秋》作。晉之《乘》、楚之《梼杌》、魯之《春秋》，一也。其事則齊桓、晉文，其文則史。孔子曰：『其義則丘竊取之矣。』」
Mencius said, 'The traces of sovereign rule were extinguished, and the royal odes ceased to be made. When those odes ceased to be made, then the Chun Qiu was produced. The Sheng of Jin, the Tao Wu of Chu, and the Chun Qiu of Lu were books of the same character. The subject of the Chun Qiu was the affairs of Huan of Qi and Wen of Jin, and its style was the historical. Confucius said, "Its righteous decisions I ventured to make."'
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Central question
Why does Mencius say that when the traces of kingly rule vanished and the royal odes ceased, then the Spring and Autumn arose?
Direct answer
Because when true kingly order disappears, standards of right and wrong do not disappear with it. What had once been shown directly in practice must now be preserved through historical writing, selection, and judgment. The Spring and Autumn is therefore more than chronicle; it carries moral meaning.
First principle
When right order declines in reality, standards must not vanish with it. They migrate from living enactment into acts of record, interpretation, and judgment.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around the Spring and Autumn, moral history, and Mencius on classical judgment. It is a key text for the site's treatment of history and interpretation.
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This is passage 21 of 33 in Li Lou II. The cleanest entry point is "The traces of sovereign rule were extinguished, and…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about seeing people clearly, ritual restraint, and governing relationships and can be read alongside Flood-like qi.
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Citation note
Do not read it as mere literary history. Mencius is concerned with how righteousness continues to be preserved when kingly order has retreated from public life.