尽心下 · 第 38 / 38 章 · 孟子 7B.38
《孟子·尽心下》7B.38：去圣未远，为何无人续其传
孟子沿着尧舜、汤、文王、孔子的传承链追问：离圣人之世并不算远，离圣人之居也不算远，为何还没有人把这条线接起来？
孟子曰：「由尧、舜至于汤，五百有余岁，若禹、皋陶，则见而知之；若汤，则闻而知之。由汤至于文王，五百有余岁，若伊尹、莱朱则见而知之；若文王，则闻而知之。由文王至于孔子，五百有余岁，若大公望、散宜生，则见而知之；若孔子，则闻而知之。由孔子而来至于今，百有余岁，去圣人之世，若此其未远也；近圣人之居，若此其甚也，然而无有乎尔，则亦无有乎尔！」
英文参考译文
Mencius said, 'From Yao and Shun down to Tang were 500 years and more. As to Yu and Gao Yao, they saw those earliest sages, and so knew their doctrines, while Tang heard their doctrines as transmitted, and so knew them. From Tang to king Wen were 500 years and more. As to Yi Yin, and Lai Zhu, they saw Tang and knew his doctrines, while king Wen heard them as transmitted, and so knew them. From king Wen to Confucius were 500 years and more. As to Tai Gong Wang and San Yi Sheng, they saw Wen, and so knew his doctrines, while Confucius heard them as transmitted, and so knew them. From Confucius downwards until now, there are only 100 years and somewhat more. The distance in time from the sage is so far from being remote, and so very near at hand was the sage's residence. In these circumstances, is there no one to transmit his doctrines? Yea, is there no one to do so?'
重点修订页
人工补强的解释层
核心问题
为什么孟子在 7B.38 里反复计算圣贤相距的年数？
直接回答
因为他要把“失传”从抽象感慨，变成现实羞问：时间并不太远、地理也不太远，若仍无人接续，就不能只怪历史，而要问当代人自己为什么不承其传。
第一性原理
传统不会自动续命；只要距离仍可抵达，断裂首先不是天意，而是当代人没有承担传递责任。
为什么重要
这章适合承接“圣人之传”“Mencius on transmission”“why no one continues the sages”这类搜索，也直接说明本站存在的使命结构。
延伸阅读
这章在做什么
这章是《尽心下》第 38 / 38 章，最直接的进入线索是“由尧、舜至于汤，五百有余岁，若禹、皋…”。放回全卷，它讨论的是知言、知命与修养完成，并可与仁政互相印证。
更宽的搜索入口
如果你带着更宽的问题进入这一章，先从正确的 hub 页进入
全卷语境
《尽心下》把知言、知命与修养完成阶段的判断放在一起讨论。
关联主题
引用提示
不要把它只读成怀古。孟子不是单纯感伤过去，而是在把责任推回今天：既然还够近，就该有人续上。