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Confucianism -> Mengzi -> Jin Xin I -> 22

孟子曰：Mencius said,
「伯夷辟紂，'Bo Yi, that he might avoid Zhou,
居北海之濱，was dwelling on the coast of the northern sea
聞文王作興，曰：when he heard of the rise of king Wen. He roused himself and said,
『盍歸乎來！ "Why should I not go and follow him?
吾聞西伯善養老者。』I have heard that the chief of the West knows well how to nourish the old."
太公辟紂，Tai Gong, to avoid Zhou,
居東海之濱， was dwelling on the coast of the eastern sea.
聞文王作興， When he heard of the rise of king Wen,
曰： he said,
『盍歸乎來！ "Why should I not go and follow him?
吾聞西伯善養老者。』 I have heard that the chief if the West knows well how to nourish the old."
天下有善養老，If there were a prince in the kingdom, who knew well how to nourish the old,
則仁人以為己歸矣。 all men of virtue would feel that he was the proper object for them to gather to.
五畝之宅， Around the homestead with its five mau,
樹牆下以桑， the space beneath the walls was planted with mulberry trees,
匹婦蠶之， with which the women nourished silkworms,
則老者足以衣帛矣。 and thus the old were able to have silk to wear.
五母雞，Each family had five brood hens
二母彘， and two brood sows,
無失其時， which were kept to their breeding seasons,
老者足以無失肉矣。 and thus the old were able to have flesh to eat.
百畝之田，匹夫耕之， The husbandmen cultivated their farms of 100 mu,
八口之家足以無飢矣。 and thus their families of eight mouths were secured against want.
所謂西伯善養老者，The expression, "The chief of the West knows well how to nourish the old,"
制其田里， refers to his regulation of the fields and dwellings,
教之樹畜， his teaching them to plant the mulberry and nourish those animals,
導其妻子， and his instructing the wives and children,
使養其老。 so as to make them nourish their aged.
五十非帛不煖，At fifty, warmth cannot be maintained without silks,
七十非肉不飽。 and at seventy flesh is necessary to satisfy the appetite.
不煖不飽，Persons not kept warm nor supplied with food
謂之凍餒。 are said to be starved and famished,
文王之民， but among the people of king Wen,
無凍餒之老者， there were no aged who were starved or famished.
此之謂也。」 This is the meaning of the expression in question.'

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