| | 滕文公上: |
有为神农之言者许行，自楚之滕，踵门而告文公曰：“远方之人闻君行仁政，愿受一廛而为氓。”文公与之处，其徒数十人，皆衣褐，捆屦、织席以为食。 |
| Teng Wen Gong I: |
There came from Chu to Teng one Xu Xing, who gave out that he acted according to the words of Shen Nong. Coming right to his gate, he addressed the duke Wen, saying, 'A man of a distant region, I have heard that you, Prince, are practising a benevolent government, and I wish to receive a site for a house, and to become one of your people.' The duke Wen gave him a dwelling-place. His disciples, amounting to several tens, all wore clothes of haircloth, and made sandals of hemp and wove mats for a living. |
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陈良之徒陈相与其弟辛，负耒耜而自宋之滕，曰：“闻君行圣人之政，是亦圣人也，愿为圣人氓。”陈相见许行而大悦，尽弃其学而学焉。 |
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At the same time, Chen Xiang, a disciple of Chen Liang, and his younger brother, Xin, with their plough-handles and shares on their backs, came from Song to Teng, saying, 'We have heard that you, Prince, are putting into practice the government of the ancient sages, showing that you are likewise a sage. We wish to become the subjects of a sage.' When Chen Xiang saw Xu Xing, he was greatly pleased with him, and, abandoning entirely whatever he had learned, became his disciple. |
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陈相见孟子，道许行之言曰：“滕君，则诚贤君也；虽然，未闻道也。贤者与民并耕而食，饔飧而治。今也滕有仓廪府库，则是厉民而以自养也，恶得贤？” |
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Having an interview with Mencius, he related to him with approbation the words of Xu Xing to the following effect: 'The prince of Teng is indeed a worthy prince. He has not yet heard, however, the real doctrines of antiquity. Now, wise and able princes should cultivate the ground equally and along with their people, and eat the fruit of their labour. They should prepare their own meals, morning and evening, while at the same time they carry on their government. But now, the prince of T'ang has his granaries, treasuries, and arsenals, which is an oppressing of the people to nourish himself. How can he be deemed a real worthy prince?' |
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孟子曰：“许子必种粟而后食乎？”曰：“然。” |
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Mencius said,'I suppose that Xu Xing sows grain and eats the produce. Is it not so?' 'It is so,' was the answer. |
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“许子必织布而后衣乎？”曰：“否。许子衣褐。” |
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'I suppose also he weaves cloth, and wears his own manufacture. Is it not so?' 'No. Xu wears clothes of haircloth.' |
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“许子冠乎？”曰：“冠。” |
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'Does he wear a cap?' 'He wears a cap.' |
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曰：“奚冠？”曰：“冠素。” |
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'What kind of cap?' 'A plain cap.' |
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曰：“自织之与？”曰：“否。以粟易之。” |
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'Is it woven by himself?' 'No. He gets it in exchange for grain.' |
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曰：“许子奚为不自织？”曰：“害于耕。” |
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'Why does Xu not weave it himself?' 'That would injure his husbandry.' |
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曰：“许子以釜甑爨，以铁耕乎？”曰：“然。” |
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'Does Xu cook his food in boilers and earthenware pans, and does he plough with an iron share?' 'Yes.' |
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“自为之与？”曰：“否。以粟易之。” |
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'Does he make those articles himself?' 'No. He gets them in exchange for grain.' |
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“以粟易械器者，不为厉陶冶；陶冶亦以其械器易粟者，岂为厉农夫哉？且许子何不为陶冶。舍皆取诸其宫中而用之？何为纷纷然与百工交易？何许子之不惮烦？”曰：“百工之事，固不可耕且为也。” |
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Mencius then said, 'The getting those various articles in exchange for grain, is not oppressive to the potter and the founder, and the potter and the founder in their turn, in exchanging their various articles for grain, are not oppressive to the husbandman. How should such a thing be supposed? And moreover, why does not Xu act the potter and founder, supplying himself with the articles which he uses solely from his own establishment? Why does he go confusedly dealing and exchanging with the handicraftsmen? Why does he not spare himself so much trouble?' Chen Xiang replied, 'The business of the handicraftsman can by no means be carried on along with the business of husbandry.' |
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“然则治天下独可耕且为与？有大人之事，有小人之事。且一人之身，而百工之所为备。如必自为而后用之，是率天下而路也。故曰：或劳心，或劳力；劳心者治人，劳力者治于人；治于人者食人，治人者食于人：天下之通义也。 |
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Mencius resumed, 'Then, is it the government of the kingdom which alone can be carried on along with the practice of husbandry? Great men have their proper business, and little men have their proper business. Moreover, in the case of any single individual, whatever articles he can require are ready to his hand, being produced by the various handicraftsmen - if he must first make them for his own use, this way of doing would keep all the people running about upon the roads. Hence, there is the saying, "Some labour with their minds, and some labour with their strength. Those who labour with their minds govern others; those who labour with their strength are governed by others. Those who are governed by others support them; those who govern others are supported by them." This is a principle universally recognised. |
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“当尧之时，天下犹未平，洪水横流，泛滥于天下。草木畅茂，禽兽繁殖，五谷不登，禽兽逼人。兽蹄鸟迹之道，交于中国。尧独忧之，举舜而敷治焉。舜使益掌火，益烈山泽而焚之，禽兽逃匿。禹疏九河，瀹济漯，而注诸海；决汝汉，排淮泗，而注之江，然后中国可得而食也。当是时也，禹八年于外，三过其门而不入，虽欲耕，得乎？后稷教民稼穑。树艺五谷，五谷熟而民人育。人之有道也，饱食、暖衣、逸居而无教，则近于禽兽。圣人有忧之，使契为司徒，教以人伦：父子有亲，君臣有义，夫妇有别，长幼有序，朋友有信。放勋曰：‘劳之来之，匡之直之，辅之翼之，使自得之，又从而振德之。’圣人之忧民如此，而暇耕乎？ |
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'In the time of Yao, when the world had not yet been perfectly reduced to order, the vast waters, flowing out of their channels, made a universal inundation. Vegetation was luxuriant, and birds and beasts swarmed. The various kinds of grain could not be grown. The birds and beasts pressed upon men. The paths marked by the feet of beasts and prints of birds crossed one another throughout the Middle Kingdom. To Yao alone this caused anxious sorrow. He raised Shun to office, and measures to regulate the disorder were set forth. Shun committed to Yi the direction of the fire to be employed, and Yi set fire to, and consumed, the forests and vegetation on the mountains and in the marshes, so that the birds and beasts fled away to hide themselves. Yu separated the nine streams, cleared the courses of the Ji and Ta, and led them all to the sea. He opened a vent also for the Ru and Han, and regulated the course of the Huai and Si, so that they all flowed into the Jiang. When this was done, it became possible for the people of the Middle Kingdom to cultivate the ground and get food for themselves. During that time, Yu was eight years away from his home, and though he thrice passed the door of it, he did not enter. Although he had wished to cultivate the ground, could he have done so? The Minister of Agriculture taught the people to sow and reap, cultivating the five kinds of grain. When the five kinds of grain were brought to maturity, the people all obtained a subsistence. But men possess a moral nature; and if they are well fed, warmly clad, and comfortably lodged, without being taught at the same time, they become almost like the beasts. This was a subject of anxious solicitude to the sage Shun, and he appointed Xie to be the Minister of Instruction, to teach the relations of humanity: how, between father and son, there should be affection; between sovereign and minister, righteousness; between husband and wife, attention to their separate functions; between old and young, a proper order; and between friends, fidelity. The high meritorious sovereign said to him, "Encourage them; lead them on; rectify them; straighten them; help them; give them wings - thus causing them to become possessors of themselves. Then follow this up by stimulating them, and conferring benefits on them." When the sages were exercising their solicitude for the people in this way, had they leisure to cultivate the ground? |
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“尧以不得舜为己忧，舜以不得禹、皋陶为己忧。夫以百亩之不易为己忧者，农夫也。分人以财谓之惠，教人以善谓之忠，为天下得人者谓之仁。是故以天下与人易，为天下得人难。孔子曰：‘大哉尧之为君！惟天为大，惟尧则之，荡荡乎民无能名焉！君哉舜也！巍巍乎有天下而不与焉！’尧舜之治天下，岂无所用其心哉？亦不用于耕耳。 |
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'What Yao felt giving him anxiety was the not getting Shun. What Shun felt giving him anxiety was the not getting Yu and Gao Yao. But he whose anxiety is about his hundred mu not being properly cultivated, is a mere husbandman. The imparting by a man to others of his wealth, is called "kindness." The teaching others what is good, is called "the exercise of fidelity." The finding a man who shall benefit the kingdom, is called "benevolence." Hence to give the throne to another man would be easy; to find a man who shall benefit the kingdom is difficult. Confucius said, "Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign. It is only Heaven that is great, and only Yao corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue! The people could find no name for it. Princely indeed was Shun! How majestic was he, having possession of the kingdom, and yet seeming as if it were nothing to him!" In their governing the kingdom, were there no subjects on which Yao and Shun employed their minds? There were subjects, only they did not employ their minds on the cultivation of the ground. |
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“吾闻用夏变夷者，未闻变于夷者也。陈良，楚产也。悦周公、仲尼之道，北学于中国。北方之学者，未能或之先也。彼所谓豪杰之士也。子之兄弟事之数十年，师死而遂倍之。昔者孔子没，三年之外，门人治任将归，入揖于子贡，相向而哭，皆失声，然后归。子贡反，筑室于场，独居三年，然后归。他日，子夏、子张、子游以有若似圣人，欲以所事孔子事之，强曾子。曾子曰：‘不可。江汉以濯之，秋阳以暴之，颢颢乎不可尚已。’今也南蛮觖舌之人，非先王之道，子倍子之师而学之，亦异于曾子矣。吾闻出于幽谷迁于乔木者，末闻下乔木而入于幽谷者。《鲁颂》曰：‘戎狄是膺，荆舒是惩。’周公方且膺之，子是之学，亦为不善变矣。” |
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'I have heard of men using the doctrines of our great land to change barbarians, but I have never yet heard of any being changed by barbarians. Chen Liang was a native of Chu. Pleased with the doctrines of Zhou Gong and Zhong Ni, he came northwards to the Middle Kingdom and studied them. Among the scholars of the northern regions, there was perhaps no one who excelled him. He was what you call a scholar of high and distinguished qualities. You and your brother followed him some tens of years, and when your master died, you forthwith turned away from him. Formerly, when Confucius died, after three vears had elapsed, his disciples collected their baggage, and prepared to return to their several homes. But on entering to take their leave of Zi Gong, as they looked towards one another, they wailed, till they all lost their voices. After this they returned to their homes, but Zi Gong went back, and built a house for himself on the altar-ground, where he lived alone other three years, before he returned home. On another occasion, Zi Xia, Zi Zhang, and Zi You, thinking that You Ruo resembled the sage, wished to render to him the same observances which they had rendered to Confucius. They tried to force the disciple Zeng to join with them, but he said, "This may not be done. What has been washed in the waters of the Jiang and Han, and bleached in the autumn sun - how glistening is it! Nothing can be added to it." Now here is this shrike-tongued barbarian of the south, whose doctrines are not those of the ancient kings. You turn away from your master and become his disciple. Your conduct is different indeed from that of the philosopher Zeng. I have heard of birds leaving dark valleys to remove to lofty trees, but I have not heard of their descending from lofty trees to enter into dark valleys. In the Praise-songs of Lu it is said, "He smote the barbarians of the west and the north, He punished Jing and Shu." Thus Zhou Gong would be sure to smite them, and you become their disciple again; it appears that your change is not good.' |
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“从许子之道，则市贾不贰，国中无伪。虽使五尺之童适市，莫之或欺。布帛长短同，则贾相若；麻缕丝絮轻重同，则贾相若；五谷多寡同，则贾相若；屦大小同，则贾相若。”曰：“夫物之不齐，物之情也；或相倍蓰，或相什伯，或相千万。子比而同之，是乱天下也。巨屦小屦同贾，人岂为之哉？从许子之道，相率而为伪者也，恶能治国家？” |
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Chen Xiang said, 'If Xu's doctrines were followed, then there would not be two prices in the market, nor any deceit in the kingdom. If a boy of five cubits were sent to the market, no one would impose on him; linen and silk of the same length would be of the same price. So it would be with bundles of hemp and silk, being of the same weight; with the different kinds of grain, being the same in quantity; and with shoes which were of the same size.' Mencius replied, 'It is the nature of things to be of unequal quality. Some are twice, some five times, some ten times, some a hundred times, some a thousand times, some ten thousand times as valuable as others. If you reduce them all to the same standard, that must throw the kingdom into confusion. If large shoes and small shoes were of the same price, who would make them? For people to follow the doctrines of Xu, would be for them to lead one another on to practise deceit. How can they avail for the government of a State?' |
| | 滕文公下: |
公都子曰：“外人皆称夫子好辩，敢问何也？” |
| Teng Wen Gong II: |
The disciple Gong Du said to Mencius, 'Master, the people beyond our school all speak of you as being fond of disputing. I venture to ask whether it be so.' |
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孟子曰：“予岂好辩哉？予不得已也。天下之生久矣，一治一乱。当尧之时，水逆行，泛滥于中国。蛇龙居之，民无所定。下者为巢，上者为营窟。《》曰：‘洚水警余。’洚水者，洪水也。使禹治之，禹掘地而注之海，驱蛇龙而放之菹。水由地中行，江、淮、河、汉是也。险阻既远，鸟兽之害人者消，然后人得平土而居之。 |
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Mencius replied, 'Indeed, I am not fond of disputing, but I am compelled to do it. A long time has elapsed since this world of men received its being, and there has been along its history now a period of good order, and now a period of confusion. In the time of Yao, the waters, flowing out of their channels, inundated the Middle Kingdom. Snakes and dragons occupied it, and the people had no place where they could settle themselves. In the low grounds they made nests for themselves on the trees or raised platforms, and in the high grounds they made caves. It is said in the Book of History, "The waters in their wild course warned me." Those "waters in their wild course" were the waters of the great inundation. Shun employed Yu to reduce the waters to order. Yu dug open their obstructed channels, and conducted them to the sea. He drove away the snakes and dragons, and forced them into the grassy marshes. On this, the waters pursued their course through the country, even the waters of the Jiang, the Huai, the He, and the Han, and the dangers and obstructions which they had occasioned were removed. The birds and beasts which had injured the people also disappeared, and after this men found the plains available for them, and occupied them. |
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“尧、舜既没，圣人之道衰。暴君代作，坏宫室以为污池，民无所安息；弃田以为园囿，使民不得衣食。邪说暴行又作，园囿、污池、沛泽多而禽兽至。及纣之身，天下又大乱。周公相武王，诛纣伐奄，三年讨其君，驱飞廉于海隅而戮之。灭国者五十，驱虎、豹、犀、象而远之。天下大悦。《》曰：‘丕显哉，文王谟！丕承哉，武王烈！佑启我后人，咸以正无缺。’ |
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'After the death of Yao and Shun, the principles that mark sages fell into decay. Oppressive sovereigns arose one after another, who pulled down houses to make ponds and lakes, so that the people knew not where they could rest in quiet; they threw fields out of cultivation to form gardens and parks, so that the people could not get clothes and food. Afterwards, corrupt speakings and oppressive deeds became more rife; gardens and parks, ponds and lakes, thickets and marshes became more numerous, and birds and beasts swarmed. By the time of the tyrant Zhou, the kingdom was again in a state of great confusion. Zhou Gong assisted king Wu, and destroyed Zhou. He smote Yan, and after three years put its sovereign to death. He drove Fei Lian to a corner by the sea, and slew him. The States which he extinguished amounted to fifty. He drove far away also the tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, and elephants - and all the people was greatly delighted. It is said in the Book of History, "Great and splendid were the plans of king Wen! Greatly were they carried out by the energy of king Wu! They are for the assistance and instruction of us who are of an after day. They are all in principle correct, and deficient in nothing." |
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“世衰道微，邪说暴行有作，臣弑其君者有之，子弑其父者有之。孔子惧，作《春秋》。《春秋》，天子之事也。是故孔子曰：‘知我者其惟春秋乎！罪我者其惟春秋乎！’ |
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'Again the world fell into decay, and principles faded away. Perverse speakings and oppressive deeds waxed rife again. There were instances of ministers who murdered their sovereigns, and of sons who murdered their fathers. Confucius was afraid, and made the "Spring and Autumn." What the "Spring and Autumn" contains are matters proper to the sovereign. On this account Confucius said, "Yes! It is the Spring and Autumn which will make men know me, and it is the Spring and Autumn which will make men condemn me." |
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“圣王不作，诸侯放恣，处士横议，杨朱、墨翟之言盈天下。天下之言，不归杨，则归墨。杨氏为我，是无君也；墨氏兼爱，是无父也。无父无君，是禽兽也。公明仪曰：‘庖有肥肉，厩有肥马，民有饥色，野有饿莩，此率兽而食人也。’杨墨之道不息，孔子之道不著，是邪说诬民，充塞仁义也。仁义充塞，则率兽食人，人将相食。吾为此惧，闲先圣之道，距杨墨，放淫辞，邪说者不得作。作于其心，害于其事；作于其事，害于其政。圣人复起，不易吾言矣。 |
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'Once more, sage sovereigns cease to arise, and the princes of the States give the reins to their lusts. Unemployed scholars indulge in unreasonable discussions. The words of Yang Zhu and Mo Di fill the country. If you listen to people's discourses throughout it, you will find that they have adopted the views either of Yang or of Mo. Now, Yang's principle is "each one for himself," which does not acknowledge the claims of the sovereign. Mo's principle is "to love all equally," which does not acknowledge the peculiar affection due to a father. But to acknowledge neither king nor father is to be in the state of a beast. Gong Meng Yi said, "In their kitchens, there is fat meat. In their stables, there are fat horses. But their people have the look of hunger, and on the wilds there are those who have died of famine. This is leading on beasts to devour men." If the principles of Yang and Mo be not stopped, and the principles of Confucius not set forth, then those perverse speakings will delude the people, and stop up the path of benevolence and righteousness. When benevolence and righteousness are stopped up, beasts will be led on to devour men, and men will devour one another. I am alarmed by these things, and address myself to the defence of the doctrines of the former sages, and to oppose Yang and Mo. I drive away their licentious expressions, so that such perverse speakers may not be able to show themselves. Their delusions spring up in men's minds, and do injury to their practice of affairs. Shown in their practice of affairs, they are pernicious to their government. When sages shall rise up again, they will not change my words. |
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“昔者禹抑洪水而天下平，周公兼夷狄驱猛兽而百姓宁，孔子成《春秋》而乱臣贼子惧。《》云：‘戎狄是膺，荆舒是惩，则莫我敢承。’无父无君，是周公所膺也。我亦欲正人心，息邪说，距诐行，放淫辞，以承三圣者；岂好辩哉？予不得已也。能言距杨墨者，圣人之徒也。” |
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'In former times, Yu repressed the vast waters of the inundation, and the country was reduced to order. Zhou Gong's achievements extended even to the barbarous tribes of the east and north, and he drove away all ferocious animals, and the people enjoyed repose. Confucius completed the "Spring and Autumn," and rebellious ministers and villainous sons were struck with terror. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "He smote the barbarians of the west and the north; He punished Jing and Shu; And no one dared to resist us." These father-deniers and king-deniers would have been smitten by Zhou Gong. I also wish to rectify men's hearts, and to put an end to those perverse doctrines, to oppose their one-sided actions and banish away their licentious expressions - and thus to carry on the work of the three sages. Do I do so because I am fond of disputing? I am compelled to do it. Whoever is able to oppose Yang and Mo is a disciple of the sages.' |
