Li Lou II · Passage 32 / 33 · 孟子 4B.32

Mencius 4B.32: Yao and Shun were just men

Mencius says Yao and Shun were not another species. Sagehood matters because human beings can really fulfill possibilities already human.

儲子曰：「王使人瞷夫子，果有以異於人乎？」孟子曰：「何以異於人哉？堯、舜與人同耳。」

chǔ zǐ yuē：「wáng shǐ rén jiàn fū zǐ， guǒ yǒu yǐ yì wū rén hū？」 mèng zǐ yuē：「hé yǐ yì wū rén zāi？ yáo、 shùn yǔ rén tóng ěr。」

The officer Chu said to Mencius, 'Master, the king sent persons to spy out whether you were really different from other men.' Mencius said, 'How should I be different from other men? Yao and Shun were just the same as other men.'

Priority note

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Central question

Why does Mencius say that Yao and Shun were just the same as other men?

Direct answer

Because if sages were a different species, moral cultivation would be cut off from ordinary people. Mencius insists that Yao and Shun fulfilled possibilities already human.

First principle

Ethics can bind ordinary people only if the highest human good is genuinely human, not the privilege of another kind of being.

Why it matters

This passage serves searches around Yao and Shun, ordinary people, moral growth, and human goodness in Mencius.

What this passage is doing

This is passage 32 of 33 in Li Lou II. The cleanest entry point is "Master, the king sent persons to spy out…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about seeing people clearly, ritual restraint, and governing relationships and can be read alongside Humane government / kingly way.

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