Human Nature and the Good Heart

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English translation

Original Chinese text

English translation

Gongduzi said, “Gaozi holds that human nature is neither good nor not good. Some say it can develop toward goodness or toward its opposite: when Kings Wen and Wu ruled, people favored goodness; under Kings You and Li, they favored violence. Others say some people are born good and some are born not good. They point out that when Yao was ruler there was Xiang, who was not virtuous; Shun had Gu Sou as his father; and even though Zhou was the son of an elder brother and became ruler, there were still worthy men such as Weizi Qi and Prince Bigan. You now say human nature is good. Does that mean all these other views are wrong?”

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said, “By their inborn dispositions, people can become good; that is what I mean by goodness. When people do wrong, it is not the fault of their natural capacities. Everyone has a heart of compassion, a heart of shame and dislike, a heart of reverence, and a heart that distinguishes right from wrong. Compassion is benevolence; shame and dislike are righteousness; reverence is ritual; and distinguishing right from wrong is wisdom. Benevolence, righteousness, ritual, and wisdom are not poured into us from outside; we already possess them, though we fail to reflect on them. Thus it is said: seek and you will find; abandon and you will lose. Some people differ from others many times over, beyond calculation, because they do not fully develop their natural capacities. The Book of Songs says, ‘Heaven gave birth to the many people; for every thing there is a pattern. The people hold fast to their constant nature and love this excellent virtue.’ Confucius said, ‘The one who composed this poem must have understood the Way! For every thing there is a pattern; this is what the people hold in common, and therefore they love excellent virtue.’”

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