Teng Wen Gong I · Passage 03 / 05 · 孟子 3A.3

Mencius 3A.3: stable livelihood, stable heart

Mencius directly links secure livelihood with moral steadiness: to destroy people's material basis and then punish the disorder that follows is a trap.

滕文公問為國。孟子曰：「民事不可緩也。《詩》云：『晝爾于茅，宵爾索绹。亟其乘屋，其始播百穀。』民之為道也，有恒產者有恒心，無恒產者無恒心。茍無恒心，放僻邪侈，無不為已。及陷乎罪然後從而刑之，是罔民也。焉有仁人在位罔民而可為也？是故賢君必恭儉禮下，取於民有制。陽虎曰：『為富不仁矣；為仁不富矣。』夏后氏五十而貢，殷人七十而助，周人百畝而徹。其實皆什一也。徹者徹也，助者藉也。龍子曰：『治地莫善於助，莫不善於貢。貢者校數歲之中以為常。樂歲粒米狼戾，多取之而不為虐，則寡取之；兇年糞其田而不足，則必取盈焉。為民父母，使民盻盻然，將終歲勤動，不得以養其父母，又稱貸而益之，使老稚轉乎溝壑，惡在其為民父母也？』夫世祿滕固行之矣。《詩》云：『雨我公田，遂及我私。』惟助為有公田。由此觀之，雖周亦助也。設為庠序學校以教之。庠者養也，校者教也，序者射也。夏曰校，殷曰序，周曰庠，學則三代共之，皆所以明人倫也。人倫明於上，小民親於下。有王者起，必來取法，是為王者師也。《詩》云：『周雖舊邦，其命維新。』文王之謂也。子力行之，亦以新子之國！」使畢戰問井地。孟子曰：「子之君將行仁政，選擇而使子，子必勉之。夫仁政必自經界始。經界不正，井地不均，穀祿不平。是故暴君污吏必慢其經界。經界既正，分田制祿，可坐而定也。」「夫滕壤地褊小，將為君子焉，將為野人焉。無君子莫治野人，無野人莫養君子。請野九一而助，國中什一使自賦。卿以下必有圭田。圭田五十畝，餘夫二十五畝。死徙無出鄉，鄉田同井，出入相友，守望相助，疾病相扶持，則百姓親睦。方里而井；井九百畝，其中為公田。八家皆私百畝，同養公田。公事畢，然後敢治私事，所以別野人也。此其大略也。若夫潤澤之，則在君與子矣。」

téng wén gōng wèn wéi guó。 mèng zǐ yuē：「mín shì bù kě huǎn yě。《shī》 yún：『zhòu ěr yú máo， xiāo ěr suǒ táo。 jí qí chéng wū， qí shǐ bō bǎi gǔ。』 mín zhī wéi dào yě， yǒu héng chǎn zhě yǒu héng xīn， wú héng chǎn zhě wú héng xīn。 jì wú héng xīn， fàng pì xié chǐ， wú bù wéi yǐ。 jí xiàn hū zuì rán hòu cóng ér xíng zhī， shì wǎng mín yě。 yān yǒu rén rén zài wèi wǎng mín ér kě wéi yě？ shì gù xián jūn bì gōng jiǎn lǐ xià， qǔ wū mín yǒu zhì。 yáng hǔ yuē：『wéi fù bù rén yǐ； wéi rén bú fù yǐ。』 xià hòu shì wǔ shí ér gòng， yīn rén qī shí ér zhù， zhōu rén bǎi mǔ ér chè。 qí shí jiē shén yī yě。 chè zhě chè yě， zhù zhě jiè yě。 lóng zǐ yuē：『zhì dì mò shàn wū zhù， mò bú shàn wū gòng。 gòng zhě xiào shù suì zhī zhōng yǐ wéi cháng。 lè suì lì mǐ láng lì， duō qǔ zhī ér bù wéi nüè， zé guǎ qǔ zhī； xiōng nián fèn qí tián ér bù zú， zé bì qǔ yíng yān。 wéi mín fù mǔ， shǐ mín xì xì rán， jiāng zhōng suì qín dòng， bù dé yǐ yǎng qí fù mǔ， yòu chēng dài ér yì zhī， shǐ lǎo zhì zhuǎn hū gōu hè， è zài qí wéi mín fù mǔ yě？』 fū shì lù téng gù xíng zhī yǐ。《shī》 yún：『yǔ wǒ gōng tián， suì jí wǒ sī。』 wéi zhù wéi yǒu gōng tián。 yóu cǐ guān zhī， suī zhōu yì zhù yě。 shè wéi xiáng xù xué xiào yǐ jiào zhī。 xiáng zhě yǎng yě， xiào zhě jiào yě， xù zhě shè yě。 xià yuē xiào， yīn yuē xù， zhōu yuē xiáng， xué zé sān dài gòng zhī， jiē suǒ yǐ míng rén lún yě。 rén lún míng wū shàng， xiǎo mín qīn wū xià。 yǒu wáng zhě qǐ， bì lái qǔ fǎ， shì wéi wáng zhě shī yě。《shī》 yún：『zhōu suī jiù bāng， qí mìng wéi xīn。』 wén wáng zhī wèi yě。 zǐ lì xíng zhī， yì yǐ xīn zǐ zhī guó！」 shǐ bì zhàn wèn jǐng dì。 mèng zǐ yuē：「zǐ zhī jūn jiāng xíng rén zhèng， xuǎn zé ér shǐ zǐ， zǐ bì miǎn zhī。 fū rén zhèng bì zì jīng jiè shǐ。 jīng jiè bú zhèng， jǐng dì bù jūn， gǔ lù bù píng。 shì gù bào jūn wū lì bì màn qí jīng jiè。 jīng jiè jì zhèng， fēn tián zhì lù， kě zuò ér dìng yě。」「fū téng rǎng dì biǎn xiǎo， jiāng wéi jūn zǐ yān， jiāng wéi yě rén yān。 wú jūn zǐ mò zhì yě rén， wú yě rén mò yǎng jūn zǐ。 qǐng yě jiǔ yī ér zhù， guó zhōng shén yì shǐ zì fù。 qīng yǐ xià bì yǒu guī tián。 guī tián wǔ shí mǔ， yú fū èr shí wǔ mǔ。 sǐ xǐ wú chū xiāng， xiāng tián tóng jǐng， chū rù xiāng yǒu， shǒu wàng xiāng zhù， jí bìng xiāng fú chí， zé bǎi xìng qīn mù。 fāng lǐ ér jǐng； jǐng jiǔ bǎi mǔ， qí zhōng wéi gōng tián。 bā jiā jiē sī bǎi mǔ， tóng yǎng gōng tián。 gōng shì bì， rán hòu gǎn zhì sī shì， suǒ yǐ bié yě rén yě。 cǐ qí dà lüè yě。 ruò fū rùn zé zhī， zé zài jūn yǔ zǐ yǐ。」

The duke Wen of Teng asked Mencius about the proper way of governing a kingdom. Mencius said, 'The business of the people may not be remissly attended to. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "In the day-light go and gather the grass, And at night twist your ropes; Then get up quickly on the roofs; Soon must we begin sowing again the grain." The way of the people is this: If they have a certain livelihood, they will have a fixed heart; if they have not a certain livelihood, they have not a fixed heart. If they have not a fixed heart, there is nothing which they will not do in the way of self-abandonment, of moral deflection, of depravity, and of wild license. When they have thus been involved in crime, to follow them up and punish them - this is to entrap the people. How can such a thing as entrapping the people be done under the rule of a benevolent man? Therefore, a ruler who is endowed with talents and virtue will be gravely complaisant and economical, showing a respectful politeness to his ministers, and taking from the people only in accordance with regulated limits. Yang Hu said, "He who seeks to be rich will not be benevolent. He who wishes to be benevolent will not be rich." 'The sovereign of the Xia dynasty enacted the fifty mu allotment, and the payment of a tax. The founder of the Yin enacted the seventy mu allotment, and the system of mutual aid. The founder of the Zhou enacted the hundred mu allotment, and the share system. In reality, what was paid in all these was a tithe. The share system means mutual division. The aid system means mutual dependence. Long said, "For regulating the lands, there is no better system than that of mutual aid, and none which is not better than that of taxing. By the tax system, the regular amount was fixed by taking the average of several years. In good years, when the grain lies about in abundance, much might be taken without its being oppressive, and the actual exaction would be small. But in bad years, the produce being not sufficient to repay the manuring of the fields, this system still requires the taking of the full amount. When the parent of the people causes the people to wear looks of distress, and, after the whole year's toil, yet not to be able to nourish their parents, so that they proceed to borrowing to increase their means, till the old people and children are found lying in the ditches and water-channels - where, in such a case, is his parental relation to the people?" As to the system of hereditary salaries, that is already observed in Teng. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "May the rain come down on our public field, And then upon our private fields!" It is only in the system of mutual aid that there is a public field, and from this passage we perceive that even in the Zhou dynasty this system has been recognised. 'Establish Xiang, Xu, Xue, and Xiao, all those educational institutions, for the instruction of the people. The name Xiang indicates nourishing as its object; Xiao, indicates teaching; and Xu indicates archery. By the Xia dynasty the name Xiao was used; by the Yin, that of Xu; and by the Zhou, that of Xiang. As to the Xue, they belonged to the three dynasties, and by that name. The object of them all is to illustrate the human relations. When those are thus illustrated by superiors, kindly feeling will prevail among the inferior people below. Should a real sovereign arise, he will certainly come and take an example from you; and thus you will be the teacher of the true sovereign. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "Although Zhou was an old country, It received a new destiny." That is said with reference to king Wen. Do you practise those things with vigour, and you also will by them make new your kingdom.' The duke afterwards sent Bi Zhan to consult Mencius about the nine-squares system of dividing the land. Mencius said to him, 'Since your prince, wishing to put in practice a benevolent government, has made choice of you and put you into this employment, you must exert yourself to the utmost. Now, the first thing towards a benevolent government must be to lay down the boundaries. If the boundaries be not defined correctly, the division of the land into squares will not be equal, and the produce available for salaries will not be evenly distributed. On this account, oppressive rulers and impure ministers are sure to neglect this defining of the boundaries. When the boundaries have been defined correctly, the division of the fields and the regulation of allowances may be determined by you, sitting at your ease. Although the territory of Teng is narrow and small, yet there must be in it men of a superior grade, and there must be in it country-men. If there were not men of a superior grade, there would be none to rule the country-men. If there were not country-men, there would be none to support the men of superior grade. I would ask you, in the remoter districts, observing the nine-squares division, to reserve one division to be cultivated on the system of mutual aid, and in the more central parts of the kingdom, to make the people pay for themselves a tenth part of their produce. From the highest officers down to the lowest, each one must have his holy field, consisting of fifty mu. Let the supernumerary males have their twenty-five mu. On occasions of death, or removal from one dwelling to another, there will be no quitting the district. In the fields of a district, those who belong to the same nine squares render all friendly offices to one another in their going out and coming in, aid one another in keeping watch and ward, and sustain one another in sickness. Thus the people are brought to live in affection and harmony. A square li covers nine squares of land, which nine squares contain nine hundred mu. The central square is the public field, and eight families, each having its private hundred mu, cultivate in common the public field. And not till the public work is finished, may they presume to attend to their private affairs. This is the way by which the country-men are distinguished from those of a superior grade. Those are the great outlines of the system. Happily to modify and adapt it depends on the prince and you.'