Synthesized answer
A kingdom adopting benevolence and righteousness as its guiding principles, rather than profit, would see tangible shifts in policy and leadership behavior. Mencius suggests that a benevolent government would regulate the people's livelihood to ensure they have sufficient resources to care for their parents and support their families [4]. Policies would be sparing in punishments and fines, with light taxes and levies, encouraging deep cultivation of fields and diligent weeding [5]. Furthermore, strong-bodied individuals would use their leisure time to cultivate virtues like filial piety, fraternal respectfulness, sincerity, and truthfulness, serving elders and superiors [5]. This would lead to a people who are eager to serve in government offices, farm the land, conduct commerce, and travel freely and safely within the kingdom, with strangers wishing to visit and those with grievances seeking to complain to the ruler [2].
This approach directly contrasts with a kingdom focused on profit, where superiors and inferiors would try to snatch profit from each other, endangering the kingdom [3]. In a profit-driven system, without a certain livelihood, people lack a fixed heart and may…
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From the book
e kingdom of ten thousand chariots, the murderer of his sovereign shall be the chief of a family of a thousand chariots. In the kingdom of a thousand chariots, the murderer of his prince shall be the chief of a family of a hundred chariots. To have a thousand in ten thousand, and a hundred in a thousand, cannot be said not to be a large allotment, but if righteousness be put last, and profit be put first, they will not be satisfied without snatching all. 'There never has been a benevolent man who neglected his parents. There never has been a righteous man who made his sovereign an after…
nd Tsâu's contending with Ch'û? For, with such a desire, you must turn back to the proper course for its attainment. 18. 'Now if your Majesty will institute a government whose action shall be benevolent, this will cause all the officers in the kingdom to wish to stand in your Majesty's court, and all the farmers to wish to plough in your Majesty's fields, and all the merchants, both travelling and stationary, to wish to store their goods in your Majesty's market-places, and all travelling strangers to wish to make their tours on your Majesty's roads, and all throughout the kingdom who feel…
← The Chinese Classics/Volume 2/The Works of Mencius The Chinese Classics/Volume 2/The Works of Mencius by Mencius , translated by James Legge Chapter 1 Chapter 2 → 410759 The Chinese Classics/Volume 2/The Works of Mencius — Chapter 1 James Legge Mencius Mencius went to see king Hûi of Liang. The king said, 'Venerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand lî, may I presume that you are provided with counsels to profit my kingdom?' Mencius replied, 'Why must your Majesty use that word "profit?" What I am provided with, are counsels to benevolence and…
Mencius replied, 'They are only men of education, who, without a certain livelihood, are able to maintain a fixed heart. As to the people, if they have not a certain livelihood, it follows that they will not have a fixed heart. And if they have not a fixed heart, there is nothing which they will not do, in the way of self-abandonment, of moral deflection, of depravity, and of wild license. When they thus have been involved in crime, to follow them up and punish them;-- this is to entrap the people. How can such a thing as entrapping the people be done under the rule of a benevolent man? 21.…
Mencius replied, 'With a territory which is only a hundred lî square, it is possible to attain to the royal dignity. 3. 'If Your Majesty will indeed dispense a benevolent government to the people, being sparing in the use of punishments and fines, and making the taxes and levies light, so causing that the fields shall be ploughed deep, and the weeding of them be carefully attended to, and that the strong-bodied, during their days of leisure, shall cultivate their filial piety, fraternal respectfulness, sincerity, and truthfulness, serving thereby, at home, their fathers and elder brothers,…
More questions about this book
- If you were to explain Mencius's fundamental concern with King Hûi's use of "profit" to a modern leader, how would you articulate the precise chain of societal decay Mencius predicts, and what specific steps in this progression are most convincingly illustrated by his examples?
- Mencius states, "There never has been a benevolent man who neglected his parents. There never has been a righteous man who made his sovereign an after consideration." What essential human principles or societal structures does Mencius assume are universally true to make these claims, and how do they underpin his argument for prioritizing benevolence and righteousness over profit?
- A skeptic might argue that "profit," when managed ethically, is essential for a kingdom's prosperity and its ability to provide for its people. How might Mencius respond to this idea, distinguishing between different forms of "profit," or why might he believe that even well-intentioned pursuit of profit ultimately devolves into the self-interest and danger he describes?
- Consider a contemporary ethical dilemma in leadership or business where the pursuit of "profit" (broadly defined as gain or advantage) clashes with principles of "benevolence and righteousness." How would Mencius analyze this situation, and what specific advice would he offer, based on his dialogue with King Hûi?