The last prince whom he successfully confronted was the
Marquis of Lu, who turned him carelessly away. He accepted this as the
Divine sentence of his failure, "That I have not found in this marquis,
a ruler who would hearken to me is an intimation of heaven." Henceforth
he lived in retirement until his ninety-seventh year; but from his
apparent failure sprang a practical success. His written teachings are
amongst the most lively and epigrammatic works of Chinese literature,
have done much to keep alive amongst his countrymen the spirit of
Confucianism, and even Western readers may drink wisdom from this spring
of Oriental lore. The following selections from his sayings well exhibit
the spirit of his system of philosophy and morality.
E.W.
THE SAYINGS OF MENCIUS
BOOK I
KING HWUY OF LEANG
Part I
Mencius went to see King Hwuy of Leang. [1] The king said, "Venerable
Sir, since you have not counted it far to come here a distance of a
thousand li, may I presume that you are likewise provided with counsels
to profit my kingdom?" Mencius replied, "Why must your Majesty used that
word 'profit'? What I am likewise provided with are counsels to
benevolence and righteousness; and these are my only topics.
"If your Majesty say, 'What is to be done to profit my kingdom?' the
great officers will say, 'What is to be done to profit our families?'
and the inferior officers and the common people will say, 'What is to be
done to profit our persons?' Superiors and inferiors will try to take
the profit the one from the other, and the kingdom will be endangered.
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