悅為於直自中然竊事 日有嚴 1.有壓 棺古請虞 不美 達七者也不 吾有不得也於寸棺木敢 然庶椁椁若請 以可後人稱無以今 何財可 獨 為以盡非之 I did not venture to put any question to you. wish to take the liberty to submit the matter. 美願 Now, however, I The wood of the coffin, it appeared to me, was too good.' 2. Mencius replied, ' Anciently, there was no rule for the size of either the inner or the outer coffin. In middle antiquity, the inner coffin was made seven inches thick, and the outer one the same. This was done by all, from the sovereign to the common people, and not simply for the beauty of the appearance, but because they thus satisfied the natural feelings of their hearts. 3. 'If prevented by statutory regulations from making their coffins in this way, men cannot have the feeling of pleasure. If they have not the money to make them in this way, they cannot have the feeling of pleasure. When they were not prevented, and had the money, the ancients all used this style. Why should I alone not do so ? How long he remained in Lt is uncertain; 不肯,一 ‚—see Chung Yung, chap. iv. is perhaps the whole three years proper to the explained as in the translation. But for the mourning for a parent. Whether his stopping critics, I should render,--'In the gravity of at Ying was for a night merely, or a longer -see Pt. I.ii.20. a. 'Middle period, is also disputed. Ch'ung' Yi was one your sorrow. 竊: of his disciples. It has appeared strange that antiquity' commences with the Châu dynasty. Yu should have cherished the matter so long,, the 4th tone, 'to correspond, or be equal, and submitted it to his master after a lapse of three years. (This is on the supposition that to盡於人心於 is not what they Mencius's return to Ch'i was after the comple- call an empty character, merely completing tion of the three years' mourning.) But it is the rhythm of the sentence. The whole = 'they replied in the , that this only felt complete (that they had done their utmost) illustrates how fond Mencius's disciples were of in their human hearts.' Mencius's account of applying to him for a solution of their doubts, the equal dimensions of the outer and inner and the instance of Ch'an Tsin, chap. iii, is coffin does not agree with what we find in the another case in point of the length of time they Li Chi, XIX. ii. 31. It must be borne in mind also, that the seven inches of the Châu dynasty would keep things in mind. 1, as in Bk. I. were only rather more than four inches of the Pt. II. xvi. 1, 'to beg to put a question. 敦 present day. 3. 不得, being opposed to 無 -董治(to attend as in Pt. I.vii. I. 財, requires to be supplemented, as in the 不子與伐 噲人 燕孟同 伐與孟子日可子噲不得 沉同以其私問已燕哥 此不可 之祿爵夫士也亦無王命 不告於王而私與之吾子 子噲有仕於此而子悦之 命子之於得 儉 其聞親 4. ‘And moreover, is there no satisfaction to the natural feelings of a man, in preventing the earth from getting near to the bodies of his dead ? 5. ‘I have heard that the superior man will not for all the world be niggardly to his parents.' CHAP. VIII. i. Shăn Tung, on his own impulse, asked Mencius, saying, 'May Yen be smitten?' Mencius replied, 'It may. Tsze-k'wai had no right to give Yen to another man, and Tsze-chih had no right to receive Yen from Tsze-k'wai. Suppose there were an officer here, with whom you, Sir, were pleased, and that, without informing the king, you were privately to give to him your salary and rank; and suppose that this officer, also without the king's orders, were privately to receive them from you-would such a transaction be allowable? And where is the difference between the case of Yen and this?' translation. For ·為有財, 80 sorne would give 而有財 The 而 reads better, but the ·比(the 4th tone) 化者,-the same as 比死者 in Bk. I. meaning is the same. 4. Pt. I. v. 1. is used appropriately with reference to the dissolution of the bodies of the dead.,'skin' the bodies., the 4th tone, hsião. 獨無乎,-the meaning is a son's feelingo ?' 5. 不以天下云云 Chao Ch'i interprete this :− will not deny anything in all the world which he can commodern paraphrasts. mand to his parente. So, substantially, the 8. DESERVED PUNISHMENT MAY NOT BE INFLICTED BUT BY PROPER AUTHORITY. A STATE OR NATION MAY ONLY BE SMITTEN BY THE MINISTER OF HEAVEN The incidents in the history of Yen referred to are briefly these :-Tsze-k'wai, a weak silly man, was wrought upon to resign his throne to hin prime minister Taze-chih, in the expectation -'shall this thing alone give no satisfaction to that Tsze-chih would decline the honour, and 則應人曰彼與燕於而 今 之者為如吾有 如吾有是私 以應日或 日或天日 日應諸齊受 燕之可問吏孰之 之曰人之 1.彼之則可日 日未供 伐 燕為如日可 日可以可也燕 何士曰人以伐彼沈或則 師就可伐之然同問可 殺之則而問曰乎 之可以與今將伐燕勸何 哉。以殺 齊以 殺之將殺 也伐伐異 2. The people of Ch'i smote Yen. Some one asked Mencius, saying, 'Is it really the case that you advised Ch'i to smite Yen ?' He replied, 'No. Shan Tung asked me whether Yen might be smitten, and I answered him, "It may." They accordingly went and smote it. If he had asked me-"Who may smite it? I would have answered him, "He who is the minister of Heaven may smite it." Suppose the case of a murderer, and that one asks me-"May' this man be put to death?" I will answer him-" He may." If he ask men" Who may put him to death ?" I will answer him, "The chief criminal judge may put him to death." But now with one Yen to smite another Yen :-how should I have advised this ?' 66 that thus he would be praised as acting the part Tung, but we cannot translate it literally in dom. Tsze-chih, however, accepted the tender, of the ancient Yao, while he retained his king- English. 夫士也夫, in the and tone, and Tsze-k'whi was laid upon the shelf. By-|-斯; 士 is the same person as 仕 above, ta throne, and great confusion and suffering to scholar seeking official employment.' a. 應 the people ensued. Compare Bk.I. Pt.II.x, xi. the 4th tone. 彼然一彼 refers to the king and-by, his son endeavoured to wrest hack the 1. Shan (so read, as a surname) T'ung appears to have been a high minister of the State. It and people of Ch't. 彼如日一彼 refers is difficult to find a word by which to translate 伐 which implies the idea of Yen's deserving | only to Shăn Tung. 天吏 see Pt. I. v. 6. to be punished. 吾子,referring to Shăn Yen itself. The one Yen is of course Ch'i, as oppressive as 王自 之 1 惡為陳 盡是 人解也不 是殷何 不管言公 燕人畔王日吾甚於 見 况 仁秒 也就無 古孟於仁也 以日仁患 聖子王智不殷周且焉慙 人問乎周知畔公智。王於 CHAP. IX. 1. The people of Yen having rebelled, the king of Ch't said, I feel very much ashamed when I think of Mencius.' 2. Ch'ăn Chia said to him, Let not your Majesty be grieved. Whether does your Majesty consider yourself or Châu-kung the more benevolent and wise? The king replied, 'Oh! what words are those?’‘The duke of Chau,' said Chid, ' appointed Kwan-shd to oversee the heir of Yin, but Kwan-shu with the power of the Yin State rebelled. If knowing that this would happen he appointed Kwan-shd, he was deficient in benevolence. If he appointed him, not knowing that it would happen, he was deficient in knowledge. If the duke of Châu was not completely benevolent and wise, how much less can your Majesty be expected to be so! I beg to go and see Mencius, and relieve your Majesty from that feeling. 3. Ch'ăn Chid accordingly saw Mencius, and asked him, saying, What kind of man was the duke of Chau ?'· An ancient sage,' 9. How MENCTUS BRAT DOWN THE ATTEMPT To|of his own two brothere, Hsion (鮮) and Ta (度), one of them older, and the other ARGUE IN EXCUSE OF ERRORS AND MISCONDUCT. 1. The people of Yen set up the son of Tsze k'wai as king, and rebelled against the yoke Founger, than his brother Tan (日), who was which Ch'i had attempted to impose on them. Châu-kung. Hsien has come down to us under Ashamed when I think of Mencius,'-i.e. be- the title of Kwan-shu, Kwan being the name of cause of the advice of Mencius in regard to the principality which he received for himself. Yen which he had neglected. See Bk. L. Pt. II. After Wu's death, and the succession of his son, x, xi. a. Ch'ăn Chia was an officer of Chi. Hsien and Tû rebelled, when Chau-kung took Châu-kung,-see Analects, VII. v, et al. The action against them, put the former to death, case Chia refers to was this :-On king Wu's and banished the other. 監(the rst tone)殷 extinction of the Yin dynasty, sparing the life-the here is the son of the sovereign Châu.. of Châu's son, he conferred on him the small State of Yin from which the dynasty had taken That below is the name of the State. 解之 its name, but placed him under the surveillance-I take in the sense of 'to loose, to free 之順 使有日 過之諸。使 君見君吹過 日日然。 及其 不曰 徒其過之宜弟 也。公 也君乎。也 叔聖 將殷 畔 之也如子且管 從皆月則之兄人田 was the reply. (Is it the fact, that he appointed Kwan-shd to oversee the heir of Yin, and that Kwan-shû with the State of Yin rebelled?' 'It is.' 'Did the duke of Châu know that he would rebel, and purposely appoint him to that office?' Mencius said, 'He did not know.’(Then, though a sage, he still fell into error ?' ·The duke of Chau,' answered Mencius, ' was the younger brother. Kwan-shu was his elder brother. Was not the error of Châu-kung in accordance with what is right ? 4. 'Moreover, when the superior men of old had errors, they reformed them. The superior men of the present time, when they have errors, persist in them. The errors of the superior men of old were like eclipses of the sun and moon. All the people witnessed them, and when they had reformed them, all the people looked up to them with their former admiration. But do the superior men of the present day only persist in their errors? They go on to apologize for them likewise.' from,' with reference to the feeling of shame, | What Mencius means in conclusion is, that not 'to explain.' 3. Before there brother ought not to be suspicious of brother: that it is better to be deceived than to impute must should be a, as it , as it is the retort of Ch'ăn Chia evil 4 In今之君子,the君子 聖人且有過與一且 implies a suc be taken vaguely. 更 the st tone,欧 ceeding clause-how much more may one Shall we refer it to the sun and moon, or to the inferior to him ’一况下于公者乎 ancient worthies? Primarily, ite application in VOL. II. |
