King Hui of Liang I · Passage 04 / 07 · 孟子 1A.4
Mencius 1A.4: famine deaths are political killings
Famine against government itself: when kitchens and stables are full while people starve in the wild, rule has become a way of killing without swords.
梁惠王曰：「寡人願安承教。」孟子對曰：「殺人以梃與刃，有以異乎？」曰：「無以異也。」「以刃與政，有以異乎？」曰：「無以異也。」曰：「庖有肥肉，廄有肥馬，民有饑色，野有餓莩；此率獸而食人也。獸相食，且人惡之；為民父母行政，不免於率獸而食人，惡在其為民父母也？仲尼曰：『始作俑者，其無後乎？』為其像人而用之也。如之何其使斯民饑而死也！」
King Hui of Liang said, 'I wish quietly to receive your instructions.' Mencius replied, 'Is there any difference between killing a man with a stick and with a sword ?' The king said, 'There is no difference!' 'Is there any difference between doing it with a sword and with the style of government?' 'There is no difference,' was the reply. Mencius then said, 'In your kitchen there is fat meat; in your stables there are fat horses. But your people have the look of hunger, and on the wilds there are those who have died of famine. This is leading on beasts to devour men. Beasts devour one another, and men hate them for doing so. When a prince, being the parent of his people, administers his government so as to be chargeable with leading on beasts to devour men, where is his parental relation to the people? Zhong Ni said, "Was he not without posterity who first made wooden images to bury with the dead?" So he said, because that man made the semblances of men, and used them for that purpose - what shall be thought of him who causes his people to die of hunger?'
Priority note
A human-edited reading layer
Central question
Why does Mencius treat deaths in famine as a political responsibility rather than a natural accident alone?
Direct answer
Because once a ruling order preserves abundance for itself while leaving people to die in hunger, it can no longer shift blame to weapons or bad years. The structure of rule itself has become lethal.
First principle
When non-action foreseeably produces human death, it stops being neutral neglect and becomes a form of violence.
Why it matters
This is a decisive entry point for Mencius on political accountability, fitting searches around famine, violence by policy, and the famous image of leading beasts to devour men.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 4 of 7 in King Hui of Liang I. The cleanest entry point is "I wish quietly to receive your instructions". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about profit, humane rule, and the livelihood of the people and can be read alongside Humane government / kingly way.
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King Hui of Liang I concentrates on profit versus righteousness, public livelihood, and the opening conditions of humane rule.
Related principles
Citation note
Do not isolate the striking phrase about beasts devouring men. The comparison between full kitchens and starving people is what proves the issue is structural government failure, not mere indignation.