Mencius 7A.8
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part I: Jin Xin I 盡心上
孟子曰：「古之賢王好善而忘勢，古之賢士何獨不然？樂其道而忘人之勢。故王公不致敬盡禮，則不得亟見之。見且猶不得亟，而況得而臣之乎？」
Mencius said, 'The able and virtuous monarchs of antiquity loved virtue and forgot their power. And shall an exception be made of the able and virtuous scholars of antiquity, that they did not do the same? They delighted in their own principles, and were oblivious of the power of princes. Therefore, if kings and dukes did not show the utmost respect, and observe all forms of ceremony, they were not permitted to come frequently and visit them. If they thus found it not in their power to pay them frequent visits, how much less could they get to employ them as ministers?'
Character glossary
- 孟mèngfirst in a series; great, eminent
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 古gǔold, classic, ancient
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 賢xiánvirtuous, worthy; good, able
- 王wángking, ruler; royal; surname
- 好hǎogood, excellent, fine; proper, suitable;
- 善shàngood, virtuous, charitable, kind
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 忘wàngto forget, to miss, to neglect, to overl
- 勢shìpower, force; tendency, attitude
- 士shìscholar, gentleman; soldier
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
- 獨dúalone, independent, only, single, solita
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 然ráncertainly; naturally; suddenly
- 樂lècheerful, happy, laughing; music
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 人rénman, person; people
- 故gùreason, cause; happening, instance
- 公gōngfair, equitable; public; duke
- 致zhìto send; to present, to deliver; to caus
- 敬jìngto respect, to honor; respectfully
- 盡jǐnto exhaust, to use up, to deplete
- 禮lǐcourtesy, manners, social customs
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 亟jíurgently, immediately, extremely
- 見jiànto see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- 且qiěmoreover, also (post-subject); about to,
- 猶yóusimilar to, just like, as
- 況kuàngcondition, situation; furthermore
- 臣chénminister, statesman, official, vassal
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 5B.7
- Mencius 6B.14
- Mencius 2B.2
- Zhuangzi The Secret of Life
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
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.