When Should a Gentleman Serve?

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Original Chinese text

English translation

Chen Zi asked how a gentleman of antiquity would accept office. Mencius said there were three grounds for taking office and three for leaving. If welcomed respectfully and with proper rites, with a promise that his counsel would be carried out, he would serve; if courtesy remained but his words were ignored, he would leave. Next, even before his counsel was followed, respectful welcome could lead him to serve; when the courtesy declined, he would leave. In the lowest case, a gentleman might be so hungry that he could not leave his gate. If the ruler, ashamed that he neither followed the Way nor heeded the counsel yet let the man starve in his territory, offered relief, it could be accepted—but only to avoid death.

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