Mencius 7A.46
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part I: Jin Xin I 盡心上
孟子曰:「知者無不知也,當務之為急;仁者無不愛也,急親賢之為務。堯舜之知而不遍物,急先務也;堯舜之仁不遍愛人,急親賢也。不能三年之喪,而緦小功之察;放飯流歠,而問無齒決,是之謂不知務。」
Mencius said, 'The wise embrace all knowledge, but they are most earnest about what is of the greatest importance. The benevolent embrace all in their love, but what they consider of the greatest importance is to cultivate an earnest affection for the virtuous. Even the wisdom of Yao and Shun did not extend to everything, but they attended earnestly to what was important. Their benevolence did not show itself in acts of kindness to every man, but they earnestly cultivated an affection for the virtuous. Not to be able to keep the three years' mourning, and to be very particular about that of three months, or that of five months; to eat immoderately and swill down the soup, and at the same time to inquire about the precept not to tear the meat with the teeth; such things show what I call an ignorance of what is most important.
Character glossary
- 孟mèngfirst in a series; great, eminent
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 也yěalso, too
- 當dāngappropriate, timely; to act, to serve; t
- 務wùaffairs, business; should; must
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 急jíanxious, worried; hasty, quick; pressing
- 仁rénbenevolent, humane, kind
- 愛àito love, to like, to be fond of; love, a
- 親qīnrelatives, parents; intimate; the hazeln
- 賢xiánvirtuous, worthy; good, able
- 堯yáoa legendary ancient emperor-sage
- 舜shùnlegendary ruler
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 遍biàneverywhere, all over, throughout
- 物wùthing, substance, matter; creature
- 先xiānfirst, former, previous
- 人rénman, person; people
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 三sānthree
- 年niányear; anniversary; a person's age
- 喪sàngmourning; mourn; funeral
- 緦sīcoarse cotton cloth used for mourning
- 小xiǎosmall, tiny, insignificant
- 功gōngachievement, good work; merit; service
- 察cháto examine, to investigate, to observe
- 放fàngto release, to liberate, to free
- 飯fànmeal, food; cooked rice
- 流liúto flow, to drift, to circulate; class
- 歠chuòsip, drink, suck
- 問wènto ask about, to inquire after
- 齒chǐteeth; gears, cogs; age
- 決juéto decide, to determine, to judge
- 是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay
- 謂wèito call, to say, to tell; name, title; m
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Zhuangzi The Empire
- Zhuangzi The Evidence of Virtue Complete
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Mencius 3A.4
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.