Benevolence and the Rise and Fall of States

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孟（mèng）子（zǐ）曰（yuē）：（）“（）三（sān）代（dài）之（zhī）得（dé）天（tiān）下（xià）也（yě）以（yǐ）仁（rén），（）其（qí）失（shī）天（tiān）下（xià）也（yě）以（yǐ）不（bù）仁（rén）。（）国（guó）之（zhī）所（suǒ）以（yǐ）废（fèi）兴（xīng）存（cún）亡（wáng）者（zhě）亦（yì）然（rán）。（）天（tiān）子（zǐ）不（bù）仁（rén），（）不（bù）保（bǎo）四（sì）海（hǎi）；（）诸（zhū）侯（hóu）不（bù）仁（rén），（）不（bù）保（bǎo）社（shè）稷（jì）；（）卿（qīng）大（dà）夫（fū）不（bù）仁（rén），（）不（bù）保（bǎo）宗（zōng）庙（miào）；（）士（shì）庶（shù）人（rén）不（bù）仁（rén），（）不（bù）保（bǎo）四（sì）体（tǐ）。（）今（jīn）恶（wù）死（sǐ）亡（wáng）而（ér）乐（lè）不（bù）仁（rén），（）是（shì）由（yóu）恶（wù）醉（zuì）而（ér）强（qiǎng）酒（jiǔ）。（）”（）

Mencius said, “The Xia, Shang, and Zhou gained the realm through benevolence and lost it through its opposite. The same is true of a state’s ruin or flourishing, survival or fall. If the Son of Heaven is not benevolent, he cannot keep the realm; if a feudal lord is not benevolent, he cannot keep his state; if a high minister is not benevolent, he cannot maintain his ancestral temple; if a scholar or commoner is not benevolent, he cannot even preserve his own person. To hate death yet delight in what is not benevolent is like hating drunkenness while forcing oneself to drink.”

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Benevolence and the Rise and Fall of States

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