Respect, Righteousness, and the Heart
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
孟季子问公都子曰:“何以谓义内也?”
English translation
Meng Jizi asked Gongduzi, “Why do you say that righteousness is internal?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“行吾敬,故谓之内也。”
English translation
Gongduzi replied, “I act according to the reverence within me; that is why I call it internal.”
Original Chinese text
“乡人长于伯兄一岁,则谁敬?”
English translation
Meng Jizi asked, “If a villager is one year older than your eldest brother, whom do you honor?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“敬兄。”
English translation
Gongduzi replied, “I honor my elder brother.”
Original Chinese text
“酌则谁先?”
English translation
Meng Jizi asked, “Then whom do you serve first when pouring wine?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“先酌乡人。”
English translation
Gongduzi replied, “I pour for the villager first.”
Original Chinese text
“所敬在此,所长在彼。果在外,非由内也。”
English translation
Meng Jizi said, “The person you honor is here, while the person older than you is there. Surely this shows that righteousness is external, not derived from within.”
Original Chinese text
公都子不能答,以告孟子。
English translation
Gongduzi could not answer and reported the exchange to Mencius.
Original Chinese text
孟子曰:“‘敬叔父乎?敬弟乎?’彼将曰:‘敬叔父。’曰:‘弟为尸,则谁敬?’彼将曰:‘敬弟。’子曰:‘恶在其敬叔父也?’彼将曰:‘在位故也。’子亦曰:‘在位故也。’庸敬在兄,斯须之敬在乡人。”
English translation
Mencius said, “Ask him, ‘Do you honor your uncle or your younger brother?’ He will answer, ‘My uncle.’ Then ask, ‘If your younger brother is serving as the ritual impersonator of an ancestor, whom do you honor?’ He will answer, ‘My younger brother.’ Ask, ‘Where, then, is your honoring of your uncle?’ He will reply, ‘Because of the position he occupies.’ You can answer in the same way: ‘Because of the position he occupies.’ Ordinarily one honors one’s elder brother, but for a time one honors the villager.”
Original Chinese text
季子闻之,曰:“敬叔父则敬,敬弟则敬。果在外,非由内也。”
English translation
When Jizi heard this, he said, “Honoring an uncle is called honor, and honoring a younger brother is also called honor. Surely righteousness is external, not internal.”
Original Chinese text
公都子曰:“冬日则饮汤,夏日则饮水。然则饮食亦在外也?”
English translation
Gongduzi said, “In winter we drink hot soup; in summer we drink water. Does that mean our preferences in eating and drinking are external too?”