Sharing Joy with the People

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English translation

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius met King Hui of Liang. Standing beside a pond and looking at the wild geese and deer, the king asked, ‘Do worthy people also take pleasure in these things?’

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius replied, ‘Only one who is worthy can truly enjoy them. Someone unworthy may possess them, yet find no joy in them.’

Original Chinese text

English translation

The Odes say: ‘Work began on the Spirit Terrace; its bounds were laid out. The people built it, and it was finished in no time. At the start there was no call for haste, yet the people came as children come to a parent.’

Original Chinese text

English translation

‘The king was in the Spirit Park, where the does lay at rest. The does were sleek, the white birds gleamed. The king was at the Spirit Pond, filled with leaping fish.’

Original Chinese text

English translation

King Wen used the people's labor to build a terrace and a pond, yet they gladly took part. They called the terrace the Spirit Terrace and the pond the Spirit Pond, and delighted in the deer, fish, and turtles there. Rulers of old shared such pleasures with their people; that was why they could enjoy them themselves.

Original Chinese text

English translation

The Declaration of Tang says: ‘When will this sun perish? We would perish with you!’ When the people longed to perish along with their ruler, how could he enjoy his terraces, ponds, birds, and beasts alone?

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