Mencius 6A.19
Mencius (孟子), Book 6, Part I: Gaozi I 告子上
孟子曰：「五穀者，種之美者也；苟為不熟，不如荑稗。夫仁亦在乎熟之而已矣。」
Mencius said, 'Of all seeds the best are the five kinds of grain, yet if they be not ripe, they are not equal to the ti or the bai. So, the value of benevolence depends entirely on its being brought to maturity.'
James Legge (1861), The Works of Mencius, The Chinese Classics vol. 2 (1861; 2nd ed. 1895); romanization modernized on Wikisource — public domain.
Character glossary
- 孟mèngfirst in a series; great, eminent
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 五wǔfive; surname
- 穀gǔvalley, gorge, ravine
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 種zhǒngrace, kind, breed; seed; to plant
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 美měibeautiful, pretty; pleasing
- 也yěalso, too
- 苟gǒucareless, frivolous, illicit; but, if on
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 熟shúwell-cooked; ripe, mature; familiar with
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 荑tísprout; to weed
- 稗bàidarnels, weeds; small, insignificant
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 仁rénbenevolent, humane, kind
- 亦yìalso, too; likewise
- 在zàiat, in, on; to exist; used to indicate t
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
- Zhuangzi Opening Trunks
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Mencius 4A.9
- Zhuangzi Man Among Men
- Analects 7.15
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.