Teng Wen Gong II · Passage 03 / 10 · 孟子 3B.3

Mencius 3B.3: why the superior person takes office

Mencius does not treat office as mere salary or rank. He compares it to farming: for one who bears the Way, public responsibility is part of the work itself.

周霄問曰：「古之君子仕乎？」孟子曰：「仕。傳曰：『孔子三月無君，則皇皇如也。出疆必載質。』公明儀曰：『古之人三月無君則弔。』」「三月無君則弔，不以急乎？」曰：「士之失位也，猶諸侯之失國家也。《禮》曰：『諸侯耕助，以供粢盛。夫人蠶繅，以為衣服。犧牲不成，粢盛不潔，衣服不備，不敢以祭。惟士無田，則亦不祭。』牲殺器皿衣服不備，不敢以祭，則不敢以宴，亦不足弔乎？」「出疆必載質，何也？」曰：「士之仕也，猶農夫之耕也。農夫豈為出疆舍其耒耜哉？」曰：「晉國亦仕國也，未嘗聞仕如此其急。仕如此其急也，君子之難仕，何也？」曰：「丈夫生而愿為之有室，女子生而愿為之有家。父母之心，人皆有之。不待父母之命、媒妁之言，鉆穴隙相窺，逾墻相從，則父母、國人皆賤之。古之人未嘗不欲仕也，又惡不由其道。不由其道而往者，與鉆穴隙之類也。」

zhōu xiāo wèn yuē：「gǔ zhī jūn zǐ shì hū？」 mèng zǐ yuē：「shì。 chuán yuē：『kǒng zǐ sān yuè wú jūn， zé huáng huáng rú yě。 chū jiāng bì zài zhì。』 gōng míng yí yuē：『gǔ zhī rén sān yuè wú jūn zé diào。』」「sān yuè wú jūn zé diào， bù yǐ jí hū？」 yuē：「shì zhī shī wèi yě， yóu zhū hóu zhī shī guó jiā yě。《lǐ》 yuē：『zhū hóu gēng zhù， yǐ gòng zī shèng。 fū rén cán sāo， yǐ wéi yī fú。 xī shēng bù chéng， zī shèng bù jié， yī fu bú bèi， bù gǎn yǐ jì。 wéi shì wú tián， zé yì bú jì。』 shēng shā qì mǐn yī fu bú bèi， bù gǎn yǐ jì， zé bù gǎn yǐ yàn， yì bù zú diào hū？」「chū jiāng bì zài zhì， hé yě？」 yuē：「shì zhī shì yě， yóu nóng fū zhī gēng yě。 nóng fū qǐ wéi chū jiāng shè qí lěi sì zāi？」 yuē：「jìn guó yì shì guó yě， wèi cháng wén shì rú cǐ qí jí。 shì rú cǐ qí jí yě， jūn zǐ zhī nán shì， hé yě？」 yuē：「zhàng fu shēng ér yuàn wéi zhī yǒu shì， nǚ zǐ shēng ér yuàn wéi zhī yǒu jiā。 fù mǔ zhī xīn， rén jiē yǒu zhī。 bú dài fù mǔ zhī mìng、 méi shuò zhī yán， zuān xué xì xiāng kuī， yú qiáng xiāng cóng， zé fù mǔ、 guó rén jiē jiàn zhī。 gǔ zhī rén wèi cháng bú yù shì yě， yòu è bù yóu qí dào。 bù yóu qí dào ér wǎng zhě， yǔ zuān xué xì zhī lèi yě。」

Zhou Xiao asked Mencius, saying, 'Did superior men of old time take office?' Mencius replied, 'They did. The Record says, "If Confucius was three months without being employed by some ruler, he looked anxious and unhappy. When he passed from the boundary of a State, he was sure to carry with him his proper gift of introduction." Gong Ming Yi said, "Among the ancients, if an officer was three months unemployed by a ruler, he was condoled with."' Xiao said, 'Did not this condoling, on being three months unemployed by a ruler, show a too great urgency?' Mencius answered, 'The loss of his place to an officer is like the loss of his State to a prince. It is said in the Book of Rites, "A prince ploughs himself, and is assisted by the people, to supply the millet for sacrifice. His wife keeps silkworms, and unwinds their cocoons, to make the garments for sacrifice." If the victims be not perfect, the millet not pure, and the dress not complete, he does not presume to sacrifice. "And the scholar who, out of office, has no holy field, in the same way, does not sacrifice. The victims for slaughter, the vessels, and the garments, not being all complete, he does not presume to sacrifice, and then neither may he dare to feel happy." Is there not here sufficient ground also for condolence?' Xiao again asked, 'What was the meaning of Confucius's always carrying his proper gift of introduction with him, when he passed over the boundaries of the State where he had been?' 'An officer's being in office,' was the reply, 'is like the ploughing of a husbandman. Does a husbandman part with his plough, because he goes from one State to another?' Xiao pursued, 'The kingdom of Jin is one, as well as others, of official employments, but I have not heard of anyone being thus earnest about being in office. If there should be this urge why does a superior man make any difficulty about taking it?' Mencius answered, 'When a son is born, what is desired for him is that he may have a wife; when a daughter is born, what is desired for her is that she may have a husband. This feeling of the parents is possessed by all men. If the young people, without waiting for the orders of their parents, and the arrangements of the go-betweens, shall bore holes to steal a sight of each other, or get over the wall to be with each other, then their parents and all other people will despise them. The ancients did indeed always desire to be in office, but they also hated being so by any improper way. To seek office by an improper way is of a class with young people's boring holes.'