Our Shared Nature and Human Potential

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Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said, “In prosperous years, young people tend to be idle; in years of famine, they tend toward violence. Heaven did not give them different natural capacities; their hearts have been trapped and submerged by circumstances. Consider wheat: when sown and weeded on the same soil at the same time, it sprouts vigorously and ripens by the summer solstice. Differences arise from fertile or poor soil, rain and dew, and unequal human care. Things of the same kind are generally alike, so why doubt this only of human beings? Sages and I belong to the same kind. Longzi said, ‘If someone makes shoes without knowing the size of the foot, I know he will not make a basket.’ Shoes resemble one another because people’s feet are alike. People share tastes: Yi Ya was simply the first to discover what our mouths enjoy. If people’s tastes were as different as humans are from dogs and horses, why would everyone follow Yi Ya’s judgment of flavor? The whole world agrees with Yi Ya about taste, showing that our mouths are alike. The same holds for hearing: the world looks to Shi Kuang for music, showing our ears are alike. So too with sight: everyone knows that Zidu is handsome; those who do not know this are blind. Our mouths share likes, our ears share what they enjoy hearing, and our eyes share what they find beautiful. Should the heart alone have nothing in common? What do hearts commonly approve? Principle and righteousness. Sages simply recognize first what our hearts all recognize. Thus principle and righteousness delight the heart just as fine meat delights the mouth.”

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