Li Lou II · Passage 04 / 33 · 孟子 4B.4

Mencius 4B.4: innocent blood releases duty to stay

Mencius says that once a regime kills scholars or people without crime, staying can cease to be loyalty and begin to look like complicity with injustice.

孟子曰：「無罪而殺士，則大夫可以去；無罪而戮民，則士可以徙。」

mèng zǐ yuē：「wú zuì ér shā shì， zé dài fu kě yǐ qù； wú zuì ér lù mín， zé shì kě yǐ xǐ。」

Mencius said, 'When scholars are put to death without any crime, the great officers may leave the country. When the people are slaughtered without any crime, the scholars may remove.'

Priority note

A human-edited reading layer

Central question

Why does Mencius say that officials and scholars may leave when innocent scholars or people are killed?

Direct answer

Because at that point the issue is no longer ordinary disagreement within a legitimate order. The order itself has crossed a foundational line. Remaining in place may then become a form of endorsement.

First principle

Loyalty does not extend infinitely to any existing power. Once power crosses the boundary of innocent blood, withdrawal itself becomes part of right judgment.

Why it matters

This passage serves searches around tyranny, withdrawal, complicity, and the moral limits of political loyalty.

What this passage is doing

This is passage 4 of 33 in Li Lou II. The cleanest entry point is "When scholars are put to death without any…". 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.

Broader search routes