Mencius 1B.8
Mencius (孟子), Book 1, Part II: Liang Hui Wang II 梁惠王下
齊宣王問曰：「湯放桀，武王伐紂，有諸？」孟子對曰：「於傳有之。」曰：「臣弒其君可乎？」曰：「賊仁者謂之賊，賊義者謂之殘，殘賊之人謂之一夫。聞誅一夫紂矣，未聞弒君也。」
The king Xuan of Qi asked, saying, 'Was it so, that Tang banished Jie, and that king Wu smote Zhou?'
Mencius replied, 'It is so in the records.'
The king said, 'May a minister then put his sovereign to death?'
Mencius said, 'He who outrages the benevolence proper to his nature, is called a robber; he who outrages righteousness, is called a ruffian. The robber and ruffian we call a mere fellow. I have heard of the cutting off of the fellow Zhou, but I have not heard of the putting a sovereign to death, in his case.'
Character glossary
- 齊qíeven, uniform, of equal length
- 宣xuānto proclaim, to declare, to announce; su
- 王wángking, ruler; royal; surname
- 問wènto ask about, to inquire after
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 湯tāngsoup, gravy, broth; hot water
- 放fàngto release, to liberate, to free
- 桀jiéchicken roost; ancient emperor
- 武wǔmilitary; martial, warlike
- 伐fácut down, subjugate, attack
- 紂zhòusaddle strap, harness; an emperor
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 諸zhūall, many, various; surname
- 孟mèngfirst in a series; great, eminent
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 對duìcorrect, right; facing, opposed
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 傳chuánto pass on; to propagate; to transmit; s
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 臣chénminister, statesman, official, vassal
- 弒shìpatricide, matricide
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 賊zéithief, traitor; cunning, sly
- 仁rénbenevolent, humane, kind
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 謂wèito call, to say, to tell; name, title; m
- 義yìright conduct, propriety; justice
- 殘cánto injure, to ruin, to spoil; cruel, opp
- 人rénman, person; people
- 一yīone; a, an; alone
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 聞wénnews; to hear, to smell; to make known
- 誅zhūto execute, to kill; to punish
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.
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