Yan’s People Accept Qi

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The people of Yan rebelled, and the king said, “I am very ashamed before Mencius.”

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Chen Jia said, “Do not worry about it, Your Majesty. In your own judgment, compared with the Duke of Zhou, who is more benevolent and wise?”

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The king said, “Oh! What kind of talk is this!”

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[Chen Jia] said, “The Duke of Zhou sent Guan Shu to oversee Yin, and Guan Shu rebelled with Yin. If he knew what would happen and still sent him, that was not benevolent; if he did not know and sent him, that was not wise. As for benevolence and wisdom, the Duke of Zhou did not fully attain them—how much less can the king? I, Jia, beg leave to go see Mencius and clear this up.”

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[Chen Jia] went to see Mencius and asked, “What sort of person was the Duke of Zhou?”

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[Mencius] said, “He was a sage of antiquity.”

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[Chen Jia] said, “The Duke of Zhou sent Guan Shu to oversee Yin, and Guan Shu rebelled with Yin—was that so?”

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Mencius said, 'Yes.'

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Chen Jia said, 'Did the Duke of Zhou know that he was going to rebel and still send him?'

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Mencius said, 'The Duke of Zhou did not know.'

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Chen Jia said, 'If so, does a sage still have faults?'

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Mencius said, “The Duke of Zhou was the younger brother, and Guan Shu the elder. Was it not justified for the Duke of Zhou to act against Guan Shu? Moreover, when a noble person of antiquity made a mistake, he corrected it; today’s noble person follows the mistake instead. The faults of the ancients were like eclipses of the sun and moon: everyone saw them, and when they corrected them, everyone looked up to them. Do people today merely persist in their faults? They also invent arguments to defend them.”

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