Mencius 7B.26
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part II: Jin Xin II 盡心下
孟子曰：「逃墨必歸於楊，逃楊必歸於儒。歸，斯受之而已矣。今之與楊墨辯者，如追放豚，既入其苙，又從而招之。」
Mencius said, 'Those who are fleeing from the errors of Mo naturally turn to Yang, and those who are fleeing from the errors of Yang naturally turn to orthodoxy. When they so turn, they should at once and simply be received. Those who nowadays dispute with the followers of Yang and Mo do so as if they were pursuing a stray pig, the leg of which, after they have got it to enter the pen, they proceed to tie.'
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
- 逃táoto abscond, to dodge, to escape, to flee
- 墨mòink; writing; Mexico
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 歸guīto return, to go back; to return to, to
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 楊yángwillow, poplar, aspen; surname
- 儒rúConfucian scholar
- 斯sīthis, thus, such; emphatic particle; use
- 受shòuto receive, to get, to accept; to bear
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 今jīnmodern, current; today, now
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 辯biànto argue, to dispute; to discuss, to deb
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 追zhuīto pursue, to chase after; to expel
- 放fàngto release, to liberate, to free
- 豚túnsuckling pig; to suckle
- 既jìalready, since, then; both; de facto
- 入rùto enter, to come in; to join
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 苙lìa pig-sty; a kind of medicinal plant
- 又yòuand, also, again, in addition
- 從cóngfrom, by, since, whence, through
- 招zhāoto summon; to recruit; to levy
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
- Mencius 7B.30
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- Zhuangzi Mountain Trees
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi Joined Toes
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.