Mencius. Book 2, Part 2, Chapter 9.
Book 2, Kung-Sun Ch'ow. Part 2.
1. The people of Ye having rebelled, the king of Ts'e said, "I feel very much ashamed when I think of Mencius."
2. Ch'in Kea said to him, "Let not Your Majesty be grieved. Whether does Your Majesty consider yourself or Chow-kung the more benevolent and wise?" The king replied, "Oh! what words are those?" "The duke of Chow," said Kea, "appointed Kwan-shuh to oversee the heir of Yin, but Kwan-shuh with the power of the Yin state rebelled. If knowing that this would happe he appointed Kwan-shuh, he was deficient in benevolence. If he appointed him, not knowing that it would happen, he was deficient in knowledge. If the duke of Chow was not completely benevolent and wise, how much less can Your Majesty be expected to be so! I beg to go and see Mencius, and relieve Your Majesty from that feeling."
3. Ch'in Kea accordingly saw Mencius, and asked him, saying, "What kind of man was the duke of Chow?" "An ancient sage," was the reply. "Is it the fact that he appointed Kwan-shuh to oversee the heir of Yin, and that Kwan-shuh with the state of Yin rebelled?" "It is." "Did the duke of Chow know that he would rebel, and purposely appoint him to that office?" Mencius said, "He did not know." "Then, though a sage, he still fell into error?" "The duke of Chow," answered Mencius, "was the younger brother. Kwan-shuh was his elder brother. Was not the error of Chow-kung in accordance with what is right?
4. "Moreover, when the superior men of old had errors, they reformed them. The superior men of the present time, when they have errors, persist in them. The errors of the superior men of old were like eclipses of the sun and moon. All the people witnessed them, and when they had reformed them, all the people looked up to them with their former admiration. But do the superior men of the present day only perist in their errors? They go on to raise apologizing discussins about them likewise."
Book 2, Kung-Sun Ch'ow. Part 2.
1. The people of Ye having rebelled, the king of Ts'e said, "I feel very much ashamed when I think of Mencius."
2. Ch'in Kea said to him, "Let not Your Majesty be grieved. Whether does Your Majesty consider yourself or Chow-kung the more benevolent and wise?" The king replied, "Oh! what words are those?" "The duke of Chow," said Kea, "appointed Kwan-shuh to oversee the heir of Yin, but Kwan-shuh with the power of the Yin state rebelled. If knowing that this would happe he appointed Kwan-shuh, he was deficient in benevolence. If he appointed him, not knowing that it would happen, he was deficient in knowledge. If the duke of Chow was not completely benevolent and wise, how much less can Your Majesty be expected to be so! I beg to go and see Mencius, and relieve Your Majesty from that feeling."
3. Ch'in Kea accordingly saw Mencius, and asked him, saying, "What kind of man was the duke of Chow?" "An ancient sage," was the reply. "Is it the fact that he appointed Kwan-shuh to oversee the heir of Yin, and that Kwan-shuh with the state of Yin rebelled?" "It is." "Did the duke of Chow know that he would rebel, and purposely appoint him to that office?" Mencius said, "He did not know." "Then, though a sage, he still fell into error?" "The duke of Chow," answered Mencius, "was the younger brother. Kwan-shuh was his elder brother. Was not the error of Chow-kung in accordance with what is right?
4. "Moreover, when the superior men of old had errors, they reformed them. The superior men of the present time, when they have errors, persist in them. The errors of the superior men of old were like eclipses of the sun and moon. All the people witnessed them, and when they had reformed them, all the people looked up to them with their former admiration. But do the superior men of the present day only perist in their errors? They go on to raise apologizing discussins about them likewise."
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Text source: The Works of Mencius. Translated by James Legge.
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