Mencius 7B.10
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part II: Jin Xin II 盡心下
孟子曰：「周于利者，凶年不能殺；周于德者，邪世不能亂。」
Mencius said, 'A bad year cannot prove the cause of death to him whose stores of gain are large; an age of corruption cannot confound him whose equipment of virtue is complete.'
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
- 周zhōuZhou dynasty; circumference
- 于yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 凶xiōngculprit; murder; bad, sad
- 年niányear; anniversary; a person's age
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 殺shāto kill, to murder, to slaughter; to hur
- 德déethics, morality; compassion, kindness
- 邪xiéwrong, evil, demonic; perverse, depraved
- 世shìgeneration, era, age; world
- 亂luànanarchy, chaos; revolt
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Zhuangzi Man Among Men
- Art of War 12.15
- Zhuangzi Contingencies
- Zhuangzi The Circling Sky
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.