Teng Wen Gong II · Passage 02 / 10 · 孟子 3B.2

Mencius 3B.2: riches cannot corrupt, power cannot bend

Mencius refuses to treat the swagger of political persuaders as greatness. The true great person keeps the way under wealth, poverty, and coercive force alike.

景春曰：「公孫衍、張儀豈不誠大丈夫哉？一怒而諸侯懼，安居而天下熄。」孟子曰：「是焉得為大丈夫乎？子未學禮乎？丈夫之冠也，父命之；女子之嫁也，母命之，往送之門，戒之曰：『往之女家，必敬必戒，無違夫子。』以順為正者，妾婦之道也。居天下之廣居，立天下之正位，行天下之大道；得志與民由之，不得志，獨行其道；富貴不能淫，貧賤不能移，威武不能屈──此之謂大丈夫。」

jǐng chūn yuē：「gōng sūn yǎn、 zhāng yí qǐ bù chéng dà zhàng fu zāi？ yí nù ér zhū hóu jù， ān jū ér tiān xià xī。」 mèng zǐ yuē：「shì yān dé wéi dà zhàng fu hū？ zǐ wèi xué lǐ hū？ zhàng fu zhī guān yě， fù mìng zhī； nǚ zǐ zhī jià yě， mǔ mìng zhī， wǎng sòng zhī mén， jiè zhī yuē：『wǎng zhī nǚ jiā， bì jìng bì jiè， wú wéi fū zǐ。』 yǐ shùn wéi zhèng zhě， qiè fù zhī dào yě。 jū tiān xià zhī guǎng jū， lì tiān xià zhī zhèng wèi， xíng tiān xià zhī dà dào； dé zhì yǔ mín yóu zhī， bù dé zhì， dú xíng qí dào； fù guì bù néng yín， pín jiàn bù néng yí， wēi wǔ bù néng qū ── cǐ zhī wèi dà zhàng fu。」

Jing Chun said to Mencius, 'Are not Gong Sun Yan and Zhang Yi really great men? Let them once be angry, and all the princes are afraid. Let them live quietly, and the flames of trouble are extinguished throughout the kingdom.' Mencius said, 'How can such men be great men? Have you not read the Ritual Usages? "At the capping of a young man, his father admonishes him. At the marrying away of a young woman, her mother admonishes her, accompanying her to the door on her leaving, and cautioning her with these words, 'You are going to your home. You must be respectful; you must be careful. Do not disobey your husband.'" Thus, to look upon compliance as their correct course is the rule for women. To dwell in the wide house of the world, to stand in the correct seat of the world, and to walk in the great path of the world; when he obtains his desire for office, to practise his principles for the good of the people; and when that desire is disappointed, to practise them alone; to be above the power of riches and honours to make dissipated, of poverty and mean condition to make swerve from principle, and of power and force to make bend - these characteristics constitute the great man.'