Chen Zhongzi’s Integrity
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English translation
Original Chinese text
匡章曰：“陈仲子岂不诚廉士哉？居于于陵，三日不食，耳无闻，目无见也。井上有李，螬食实者过半矣，匍匐往将食之，三咽，然后耳有闻、目有见。”
English translation
Kuang Zhang said, “Was Chen Zhongzi not truly a man of integrity? Living at Yuling, he went three days without food; he could neither hear nor see. There was a plum tree by the well, its fruit more than half eaten by grubs. He crawled over to eat one, and only after swallowing three mouthfuls could he hear and see again.”
Original Chinese text
孟子曰：“于齐国之士，吾必以仲子为巨擘焉。虽然，仲子恶能廉？充仲子之操，则蚓而后可者也。夫蚓上食槁壤，下饮黄泉。仲子所居之室，伯夷之所筑与？抑亦盗跖之所筑与？所食之粟，伯夷之所树与？抑亦盗跖之所树与？是未可知也。”
English translation
Mencius said, “Among the men of Qi, I would certainly rank Zhongzi as outstanding. Even so, how can he truly be called incorruptible? Carry his standard to its logical extreme, and only an earthworm could meet it. An earthworm eats dry soil above and drinks underground water below. Was the house in which Zhongzi lived built by Boyi, or by Robber Zhi? Was the grain he ate planted by Boyi, or by Robber Zhi? We cannot know.”
Original Chinese text
曰：“是何伤哉？彼身织屦、妻辟纑，以易之也。”
English translation
Kuang Zhang said, “Why should that matter? He made sandals himself, and his wife prepared hemp fiber for spinning; they exchanged their labor for what they needed.”
Original Chinese text
曰：“仲子，齐之世家也。兄戴，盖禄万锺。以兄之禄为不义之禄而不食也，以兄之室为不义之室而不居也，避兄、离母，处于于陵。他日归，则有馈其兄生鹅者，己频戚曰：‘恶用是鶃鶃者为哉？’他日其母杀是鹅也，与之食之。其兄自外至，曰：‘是鶃鶃之肉也。’出而哇之。以母则不食，以妻则食之；以兄之室则弗居，以于陵则居之。是尚为能充其类也乎？若仲子者，蚓而后充其操者也。”
English translation
Mencius said, “Zhongzi belonged to a hereditary aristocratic family of Qi. His elder brother Dai held a position at Gai and received a stipend of ten thousand zhong. Zhongzi judged his brother’s stipend unrighteous and would not eat from it; he judged his brother’s house unrighteous and would not live in it. So he avoided his brother, left his mother, and settled at Yuling. One day he returned, and someone had given his brother a live goose. Zhongzi frowned and said, ‘What use is this honking creature?’ Another day his mother killed the goose and served him some. When his brother came in and said, ‘That is the goose’s meat,’ Zhongzi went out and vomited it. He would not eat food provided by his mother, yet he ate what his wife provided; he would not live in his brother’s house, yet he lived in Yuling. Has he really carried his principle through consistently? A man like Zhongzi would have to become an earthworm to carry it through.”