The Unmoved Mind and Haoran Qi

Contents

Text

English translation

Original Chinese text

English translation

Gong Sun Chou asked, “If you, Master, were appointed chief minister of Qi and could put your Way into practice, it would be no surprise if you thereby became a hegemon or a true king. In such a position, would your resolve be shaken?”

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said, “No. By the age of forty, my resolve was no longer shaken.”

Original Chinese text

English translation

Gong Sun Chou said, 'If so, then you, Master, far surpass Meng Ben.'

Original Chinese text

English translation

He said, 'That is not difficult. Gaozi attained an unmoved heart before I did.'

Original Chinese text

English translation

He said, 'Is there a way to an unmoved heart?'

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said, “Yes. In Beigong You’s training in courage, his skin did not flinch and his gaze did not turn away. If he thought someone had inflicted even the slightest humiliation on him, it was as though he had been flogged in the marketplace or at court. He would accept neither an insult from a commoner in coarse clothes nor one from a ruler of ten thousand chariots; he regarded stabbing such a ruler as no different from stabbing an ordinary man. He held the feudal lords in no awe, and when abusive words reached him he returned them. Meng Shishe said of his own training in courage: ‘I treat not winning as though it were winning. To advance only after measuring the enemy and join battle only after calculating the odds—this is to fear the opposing forces. How could I guarantee victory? I can only remain unafraid.’ Meng Shishe resembled Zengzi, and Beigong You resembled Zixia. I do not know which of the two was braver, but Meng Shishe held to the essential point. Once Zengzi said to Zixiang: ‘Do you love courage? I once heard the Master speak of great courage: if, on examining myself, I find I am not upright, would I not be afraid even of a commoner in coarse clothes? If I find myself upright, I will go forward even against thousands and tens of thousands.’ Meng Shishe’s way of holding to his vital force was not as disciplined as Zengzi’s way of holding to the essential principle.”

Original Chinese text

English translation

Gongsun Chou said, “I venture to ask: may I hear about your not being moved in heart and Gaozi’s not being moved in heart?”

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said, “Gaozi said: ‘When you do not get it in words, do not seek it in the mind; when you do not get it in the mind, do not seek it in qi.’ If you do not get it in the mind, not seeking it in qi is acceptable; if you do not get it in words, not seeking it in the mind is not acceptable. The will is the commander of qi; qi is what fills the body. Where the will arrives, qi follows. Therefore it is said: ‘Hold fast to your will; do not do violence to your qi.’”

Original Chinese text

English translation

Gongsun Chou said, “Since you say, ‘Where the will arrives, qi follows,’ and yet also say, ‘Hold fast to your will; do not do violence to your qi,’ why is that?”

Original Chinese text

English translation

He said, “When the will is concentrated, it moves the qi; when the qi is concentrated, it moves the will. Now, those who stumble or hurry—this is the qi, and yet it in turn stirs their hearts.”

Original Chinese text

English translation

May I venture to ask, Master, in what you excel?

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said, “I understand how to discern words, and I am good at nurturing my haoran qi—the vast, upright vital force within me.”

Original Chinese text

English translation

I venture to ask what is meant by the vast qi?

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said, “It is hard to explain. This qi is supremely great and strong: nourish it through upright conduct without harming it, and it will fill the space between Heaven and Earth. It must accord with righteousness and the Way; without them it becomes depleted. It arises from the steady accumulation of righteous actions; one cannot seize it through a sudden, isolated act of righteousness. If one’s conduct leaves the heart unsatisfied, the qi is depleted. That is why I said Gaozi never truly understood righteousness: he treated it as something external. One must keep working at it without fixing the result in advance; keep it in mind, but do not try to force its growth. Do not be like the man of Song who worried that his seedlings were not growing and pulled them upward. He went home exhausted and told his family, “I am worn out today! I helped the seedlings grow!” His son hurried out to look, but the seedlings had withered. There are few people in the world who do not try to help seedlings grow in this way. Those who abandon the work because they think it useless are like people who do not weed the seedlings. Those who try to force the seedlings to grow are like people who pull them up. That does no good and causes harm.”

Original Chinese text

English translation

Gong Sun Chou asked, “What do you mean by knowing how to discern words?”

Original Chinese text

English translation

He said: “For biased words, I know what obscures them; for excessive words, I know where they sink; for depraved words, I know what they depart from; for evasive words, I know where they are exhausted. When these arise in the mind, they harm government; when they are expressed in government, they harm affairs. If a sage were to arise again, he would certainly follow my words.”

Original Chinese text

English translation

Zai Wo and Zi Gong were good at crafting persuasive speeches; Ran Niu, Min Zi, and Yan Yuan were good at speaking about virtue and conduct. Confucius combined both, and said: ‘As for speeches and commands, I am not capable.’ That being so, are you, Master, already a sage?

Original Chinese text

English translation

He said: “Oh! What sort of talk is this? Formerly Zi Gong asked Confucius, saying: ‘Is the Master already a sage?’ Confucius said: ‘As for being a sage, I cannot; I learn without becoming weary and teach without becoming tired.’ Zi Gong said: ‘To learn without becoming weary is wisdom; to teach without becoming tired is benevolence. Benevolent and wise, the Master is already a sage.’ As for sagehood, Confucius did not claim it—what sort of talk is this?”

Original Chinese text

English translation

In the past I privately heard that Zixia, Ziyou, and Zizhang each possessed one aspect of a sage; Ran Niu, Minzi, and Yan Yuan possessed the whole but on a small scale. May I venture to ask where you would place yourself?

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said, 'For now, set this aside.'

Original Chinese text

English translation

Gongsun Chou said, 'What about Bo Yi and Yi Yin?'

Original Chinese text

English translation

He said: 'Their paths were not the same. He would not serve a ruler who was not the right one, and would not command people who were not the right ones; when the state was ordered, he advanced; when it was disordered, he withdrew—this was Bo Yi. What ruler would he not serve? What people would he not command? When the state was ordered he advanced, and when it was disordered he also advanced—this was Yi Yin. When it was proper to take office, he took office; when it was proper to stop, he stopped; when it was proper to remain long, he remained long; when it was proper to leave quickly, he left quickly—this was Confucius. All were ancient sages. I have not been able to act thus; as for what I desire, it is to learn from Confucius.'

Original Chinese text

English translation

Were Bo Yi and Yi Yin, in relation to Confucius, of the same rank in this way?

Original Chinese text

English translation

He said: 'No. Since there have been people, there has never been a Confucius.'

Original Chinese text

English translation

Gong Sun Chou said, 'Then do they have anything in common?'

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said, 'Yes. If they obtained a territory of a hundred li and ruled it, they could all use it to bring the feudal lords to court and possess the world. If by performing one unjust act or killing one innocent person they could obtain the world, none of them would do it. In this they are the same.'

Original Chinese text

English translation

Gong Sun Chou said, 'May I venture to ask wherein they differ?'

Original Chinese text

English translation

Mencius said: 'Zai Wo, Zi Gong, and You Ruo had intelligence sufficient to know the sage. Even if their conduct was lowly, they would not go so far as to favor those they liked. Zai Wo said: 'In my view of the Master, he was far superior to Yao and Shun.' Zi Gong said: 'By seeing his rites one knows his government; by hearing his music one knows his virtue. Looking back from a hundred generations and weighing the kings of a hundred generations, none can contradict him. Since the birth of the people, there has never been anyone like the Master.' You Ruo said: 'How could it be only among the people? The qilin among walking beasts, the phoenix among flying birds, Mount Tai among mounds, the rivers and seas among roadside pools—these are of the same kind. The sage in relation to the people is also of the same kind. He emerges from his kind and stands out above his assembly. Since the birth of the people, there has never been anyone greater than Confucius.'

Feedback