King Hui of Liang II · Passage 12 / 16 · 孟子 1B.12

Mencius 1B.12: people do not die for rulers who failed them

Mencius traces the people's refusal to defend their officers back to famine, neglect, and a prior failure of care. Loyalty cannot be demanded after abandonment.

鄒與魯鬨。穆公問曰：「吾有司死者三十三人，而民莫之死也。誅之，則不可勝誅；不誅，則疾視其長上之死而不救，如之何則可也？」孟子對曰：「凶年饑歲，君之民老弱轉乎溝壑，壯者散而之四方者，幾千人矣；而君之倉廩實，府庫充，有司莫以告，是上慢而殘下也。曾子曰：『戒之戒之！出乎爾者，反乎爾者也。』夫民今而後得反之也。君無尤焉！君行仁政，斯民親其上，死其長矣。」

zōu yǔ lǔ hòng。 mù gōng wèn yuē：「wú yǒu sī sǐ zhě sān shí sān rén， ér mín mò zhī sǐ yě。 zhū zhī， zé bù kě shèng zhū； bù zhū， zé jí shì qí cháng shàng zhī sǐ ér bú jiù， rú zhī hé zé kě yě？」 mèng zǐ duì yuē：「xiōng nián jī suì， jūn zhī mín lǎo ruò zhuǎn hū gōu hè， zhuàng zhě sàn ér zhī sì fāng zhě， jī qiān rén yǐ； ér jūn zhī cāng lǐn shí， fǔ kù chōng， yǒu sī mò yǐ gào， shì shàng màn ér cán xià yě。 céng zǐ yuē：『jiè zhī jiè zhī！ chū hū ěr zhě， fǎn hū ěr zhě yě。』 fū mín jīn ér hòu dé fǎn zhī yě。 jūn wú yóu yān！ jūn xíng rén zhèng， sī mín qīn qí shàng， sǐ qí cháng yǐ。」

There had been a brush between Zou and Lu, when the duke Mu asked Mencius, saying,'Of my officers there were killed thirty-three men, and none of the people would die in their defence. Though I sentenced them to death for their conduct, it is impossible to put such a multitude to death. If I do not put them to death, then there is the crime unpunished of their looking angrily on at the death of their officers, and not saving them. How is the exigency of the case to be met?' Mencius replied, 'In calamitous years and years of famine, the old and weak of your people, who have been found lying in the ditches and water-channels, and the able-bodied who have been scattered about to the four quarters, have amounted to several thousands. All the while, your granaries, 0 prince, have been stored with grain, and your treasuries and arsenals have been full, and not one of your officers has told you of the distress. Thus negligent have the superiors in your State been, and cruel to their inferiors. The philosopher Zeng said, "Beware, beware. What proceeds from you, will return to you again." Now at length the people have paid back the conduct of their officers to them. Do not you, 0 prince, blame them. If you will put in practice a benevolent government, this people will love you and all above them, and will die for their officers.'

Priority note

A human-edited reading layer

Central question

Why does Mencius say that people refuse to die for their officers because of earlier failures of rule?

Direct answer

Because willingness to defend superiors in crisis is not produced by command at the last minute. It depends on whether the people have long been seen, settled, and protected. Those already abandoned do not suddenly die for authority.

First principle

Political loyalty is not manufactured at the moment of danger. It is accumulated by whether rule has truly borne the responsibilities of care beforehand.

Why it matters

This passage serves searches around public trust, famine responsibility, and why humane government has consequences that show up in moments of mortal test.

What this passage is doing

This is passage 12 of 16 in King Hui of Liang II. The cleanest entry point is "Of my officers there were killed thirty-three men,…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about shared joy with the people, judgments about war, and political responsibility and can be read alongside Humane government / kingly way.

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