Mencius 7B.21
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part II: Jin Xin II 盡心下
孟子謂高子曰：「山徑之蹊閒，介然用之而成路。為閒不用，則茅塞之矣。今茅塞子之心矣。」
Mencius said to the disciple Gao, 'There are the footpaths along the hills; if suddenly they be used, they become roads; and if, as suddenly they are not used, the wild grass fills them up. Now, the wild grass fills up your mind.'
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
- 謂wèito call, to say, to tell; name, title; m
- 高gāotall, lofty; high, elevated
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 山shānmountain, hill, peak
- 徑jìngpath, diameter; straight, direct
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 蹊qītrail, footpath
- 閒xiánleisure, idle time; tranquil, peaceful,
- 介jièagent, go-between, intermediary; to intr
- 然ráncertainly; naturally; suddenly
- 用yòngto use, to employ, to apply; use
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 成chéngto accomplish; to become; to complete, t
- 路lùroad, path, street; journey
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 茅máorushes, reeds, grass; surname
- 塞sāito stop up, to seal, to cork, to block;
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 今jīnmodern, current; today, now
- 心xīnheart; mind; soul
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Mencius 6A.12
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 53
- Analects 10.18
- Mencius 3A.5
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.