Mencius went to see King Hui of Liang, who said,
“Venerable sir, you have traveled a thousand miles to see me – surely you must have some way to benefit my state?”
Mencius replied,
“Your Majesty, why must you speak of benefit? What counts is benevolence and righteousness. “
Then Mencius explained,
“If you say, ‘How can I benefit my state?’; your ministers will say, ‘How can I benefit my family?’; and the common people will say, ‘How can I benefit myself?’ When those above and below all seek profit from one another, the state will be in danger. In a state possessing ten thousand chariots, the one who assassinates its ruler will surely come from a family with a thousand chariots; in a state of a thousand chariots, the regicide will come from a family with a hundred chariots. Taking a thousand out of ten thousand, or a hundred out of a thousand – is that not already plenty? Yet if one places profit before righteousness, they will never be satisfied until they seize everything. There has never been a person who practiced benevolence yet abandoned their parents, nor one who upheld righteousness yet neglected their ruler. Your Majesty should speak only of benevolence and righteousness – why speak of profit?”
孟子見梁惠王。王曰：「叟不遠千里而來，亦將有以利吾國乎？」
孟子對曰：「王何必曰利？亦有仁義而已矣。王曰『何以利吾國』？大夫曰『何以利吾家』？士庶人曰『何以利吾身』？上下交征利而國危矣。萬乘之國弒其君者，必千乘之家；千乘之國弒其君者，必百乘之家。萬取千焉，千取百焉，不為不多矣。苟為後義而先利，不奪不饜。未有仁而遺其親者也，未有義而後其君者也。王亦曰仁義而已矣，何必曰利？」
Introduing King Hui of Liang
During the reign of King Hui of Liang (also known as King Hui of Wei, 400 BCE – 319 BCE), the state of Wei suffered continuous military defeats, leading to a marked decline in national strength. Desperate for strategies to restore his state’s power, King Hui sought advice from various thinkers. Mencius, as a leading Confucian philosopher, traveled among the warring states promoting the doctrine of “benevolent governance”. He arrived in Daliang – the capital of Wei (modern-day Kaifeng, Henan) – in the mid-to-late 4th century BCE, hoping to influence rulers through dialogue. However, King Hui remained trapped within the prevailing mindset of vertical and horizontal alliances (zongheng diplomacy), obsessed with rapid enrichment and military strengthening, and thus failed to adopt Mencius’s proposals.
Although ambitious, King Hui lacked the political and military acumen of his grandfather Marquis Wen of Wei and his father Marquis Wu of Wei. His governance and military strategies ultimately failed to reverse Wei’s decline.
One notable trait of King Hui was his fondness for intellectual refinement – he actively befriended and generously supported prominent philosophers and scholars of his time.
Consequently, many passages in the book Mencius record dialogues between Mencius and King Hui of Liang. Similarly, the Zhuangzi also contains several debates and conversations involving King Hui. Notably, King Hui even appointed the renowned philosopher Hui Shi (also known as Master Hui or Huizi), a close friend of Zhuangzi, as his prime minister.
In 342 BCE, when heard that his old companion Huizi had attained high office, Zhuangzi traveled to Liang simply to see his friend – not out of ambition, but out of genuine affection and curiosity.
Interpretation of Mencius’s thought
The aforementioned dialogue opens the first chapter of Mencius: King Hui of Liang, encapsulating the core of Mencius’s political philosophy: governing through benevolence and righteousness, and rejecting short-sighted utilitarianism.
The debate between Righteousness and Profit
Mencius did not entirely reject “profit”; rather, he insisted that profit must be guided by righteousness. He argued that when benevolent governance and care for the people are practiced, social harmony and national prosperity naturally follow as inevitable outcomes.
This perspective stands in contrast to Mozi’s doctrine of “mutual benefit” and the Legalist emphasis on “enriching the state and strengthening the military,” prioritizing moral principles over material gain.
Critique of Warring States realpolitik
During the Warring States period, feudal lords competed for dominance through cunning strategies and military force – what Mencius condemned as “hegemonic rule”. For example, the Qin state rose from barbarian to Hegemon through the Reform of Shang Yang in the Warring States period.
In opposition, both Confucius and Mencius championed the “Way of the Humane Sovereign” (Wang Dao, Benevolent Governance, or Righteous Rule): winning the people’s hearts through benevolence and righteousness, thereby gaining the Mandate of Heaven and unifying the realm.
His dialogue implicitly criticizes King Hui: Wei’s earlier decline stemmed precisely from its shortsighted pursuit of territorial gains at the expense of ethical considerations – a clear consequence of placing profit before righteousness.
The Confucian vision of order
Mencius viewed political crisis as fundamentally an ethical crisis. If everyone pursues self-interest, the natural bonds between father and son, ruler and minister, will disintegrate.
He emphasized the continuity of moral cultivation: “cultivating the self, regulating the family, governing the state.” Benevolence and righteousness begin with personal virtue, extend to familial harmony, and ultimately ensure national stability and peace.
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