Mencius 7B.22
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part II: Jin Xin II 盡心下
高子曰：「禹之聲，尚文王之聲。」孟子曰：「何以言之？」曰：「是奚足哉？城門之軌，兩馬之力與？」
The disciple Gao said, 'The music of Yu was better than that of king Wen.'
Mencius observed, 'On what ground do you say so?'
曰：「以追蠡。」
And the other replied, 'Because at the pivot the knob of Yu's bells is nearly worn through.'
Mencius said, 'How can that be a sufficient proof? Are the ruts at the gate of a city made by a single two-horsed chariot?'
James Legge (1861), The Works of Mencius, The Chinese Classics vol. 2 (1861; 2nd ed. 1895); romanization modernized on Wikisource — public domain.
Character glossary
- 高gāotall, lofty; high, elevated
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 禹yǔlegendary Hsia dynasty founder
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 聲shēngsound, noise; voice, tone, music
- 尚shàngstill, yet; even; fairly, rather
- 文wénculture, literature, writing
- 王wángking, ruler; royal; surname
- 孟mèngfirst in a series; great, eminent
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 言yánwords, speech; to speak, to say
- 是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay
- 奚xīwhere, what, why, how
- 足zúfoot; to attain, to satisfy; enough
- 哉zāifinal exclamatory particle
- 城chéngcastle, city, town; municipality
- 門méngate, door, entrance, opening
- 軌guǐtrack, rut, path
- 兩liǎngtwo, both, pair, couple; ounce
- 馬mǎhorse; surname
- 力lìstrength, power; capability, influence
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Analects 14.20
- Mencius 2B.12
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
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.