King Xuan of Qi asked,
“ls it true that the hunting ground of King Wen of Zhou was seventy Ii square?”
“It is recorded in history,” answered Mencius.
“Was it really as large as that?”
”The people even thought it to be too small.”
“My hunting ground is only forty Li square, but the people think it to be too big. Why?”
“Indeed, King Wen’s hunting ground was seventy Ii square, but the firewood gatherers and hare hunters all had access to it. Since he shared it with the people, is it not natural that they should have thought it to be too small? When I got to your borders, I inquired about your major prohibitions before I ventured to enter. I heard that within the outskirts of your capital there was a hunting ground as large as forty Ii square, in which the killing of a deer was as serious a crime as the murder of a man. Such being the case, your hunting ground though only forty Ii square in size is just like a trap in the middle of the state. ls it not natural that the people should think it to be too big?”
齊宣王問曰：「文王之囿方七十里，有諸？」
孟子對曰：「於傳有之。」
曰：「若是其大乎？」
曰：「民猶以為小也。」
曰：「寡人之囿方四十里，民猶以為大，何也？」
曰：「文王之囿方七十里，芻蕘者往焉，雉兔者往焉，與民同之。民以為小，不亦宜乎？臣始至於境，問國之大禁，然後敢入。臣聞郊關之內有囿方四十里，殺其麋鹿者如殺人之罪。則是方四十里，為阱於國中。民以為大，不亦宜乎？」
Note
This dialogue, recorded in Mencius: King Hui of Liang II, appears to debate the size of a hunting ground – but in truth, it reveals a profound political philosophy. In ancient China, the royal ‘you’ (hunting park or game reserve) symbolized control over natural resources. For Confucians, King Wen of Zhou – the paragon of virtuous rule – exemplified the ideal: shared access, not exclusive ownership.
By contrast, King Xuan’s park, though smaller, was guarded by draconian laws that turned nature into private property and citizens into potential criminals. As the Records of the Grand Historian notes, Qi under King Xuan imposed heavy taxes and harsh punishments – precisely the kind of governance Mencius condemned.
Mencius’s point was timeless: Greatness is not measured in acres, but in generosity; smallness is not in size, but in selfishness. A ruler who hoards forests and rivers breeds resentment; one who shares them earns loyalty.
This idea flows directly from Mencius’s core doctrine: “Protect the people, and you will become king.” It echoes his famous line: “The people are the most important element; the state comes next; the ruler is least.”
In this dialogue, Mencius exposed the moral fault line between tyranny and humane rule.
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