Taxation and the Way of Yao and Shun
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English translation
Original Chinese text
白圭曰:“吾欲二十而取一,何如?”孟子曰:“子之道,貉道也。万室之国,一人陶,则可乎?”曰:“不可,器不足用也。”曰:“夫貉,五谷不生,惟黍生之,无城郭、宫室、宗庙、祭祀之礼,无诸侯币帛饔飧,无百官有司,故二十取一而足也。今居中国,去人伦,无君子,如之何其可也?陶以寡,且不可以为国,况无君子乎?欲轻之于尧舜之道者,大貉、小貉也;欲重之于尧舜之道者,大桀、小桀也。”
English translation
Bai Gui asked, “What if I levy one part in twenty?” Mencius replied, “That is the way of the Mo people. In a state of ten thousand households, would it work to have only one potter?” “No,” Bai Gui said; “there would not be enough vessels.” Mencius said, “Among the Mo, the five grains do not grow; only millet does. They have no walled towns, palaces, ancestral temples, or sacrificial rites; no exchanges of gifts and banquets between lords; and no officials or administrative offices. Thus one part in twenty is enough. But to live in the central states while abandoning human relationships and having no gentlemen—how could that work? Too few potters would already make a state impossible; how much more so without worthy leaders? Those who want taxes lighter than the Way of Yao and Shun are great or small Mo; those who want them heavier are great or small Jie.”