When a conflict broke out between the states of Zou and Lu, Duke Mu of Zou complained to Mencius:
“Thirty-three of my officials died in the fighting, yet not a single commoner came to their aid. If I punish the people, there are too many to execute; if I don’t, how can I tolerate them watching their superiors die without lifting a finger? What should I do?”
Mencius replied:
“In years of famine, thousands of your people – old and weak – perished in ditches, while the young scattered in all directions. Yet your granaries overflowed and your treasuries were full. Not one official reported the suffering. This is what we call ‘the rulers being negligent and cruel toward the people.’
Zengzi once said: ‘Be cautious! What you send out returns to you.’ Now the people finally have a chance to return what they received. Do not blame them.
If you practice benevolent governance, the people will naturally love their superiors and willingly lay down their lives for their leaders.”
鄒與魯鬨。穆公問曰：「吾有司死者三十三人，而民莫之死也。誅之，則不可勝誅；不誅，則疾視其長上之死而不救，如之何則可也？」
孟子對曰：「凶年饑歲，君之民老弱轉乎溝壑，壯者散而之四方者，幾千人矣；而君之倉廩實，府庫充，有司莫以告，是上慢而殘下也。曾子曰：『戒之戒之！出乎爾者，反乎爾者也。』夫民今而後得反之也。君無尤焉。君行仁政，斯民親其上、死其長矣。」
Note
This dialogue comes from Mencius: King Hui of Liang II and reflects the governance challenges faced by small states like Zou and Lu during the Warring States period, caught between internal instability and external threats. Duke Mu of Zou framed his problem as “the people’s disloyalty,” but Mencius exposed it for what it truly was: a crisis of political legitimacy.
This passage from Mencius cuts to the heart of Confucian political ethics: loyalty cannot be demanded – it must be earned through care and justice. When rulers hoard wealth while their people starve, they sever the moral bond that makes sacrifice possible. True strength lies not in punishment, but in righteousness.
The Rift between the People and their Rulers
Rather than addressing the symptom, Mencius traced the issue to deeper social injustice:
- During famines, while the ruler’s granaries were full and treasuries overflowing, ordinary people starved or fled – revealing extreme inequality in resource distribution.
- Officials concealed the disaster, showing a bureaucracy disconnected from the populace and accountable only upward.
- This pattern of “upper negligence and lower cruelty” had already shattered the bond of trust between ruler and people.
Mencius thus articulated a core principle of Confucian political ethics: loyalty is not a one-way duty but a reciprocal relationship. As the Book of Rites: The Great Learning states: “Love what the people love; hate what the people hate – only then is one a true parent of the people.” If rulers treat the people as worthless grass, the people will see rulers as enemies.
A political philosophy of moral reciprocity
As you sow, so shall you reap. By quoting Zengzi (a disciple of Confucius, co-author of The Analects), “What you send out returns to you”, Mencius emphasized that political actions carry moral consequences – not as supernatural karma, but as natural social feedback:
- Harsh rule in peacetime — alienated hearts;
- Crisis moments — no one willing to sacrifice.
This idea echoes in Mencius: Li Lou I:
“Those who love others are always loved in return; those who respect others are always respected in return.”
A ruler’s virtue directly shapes the people’s response.
Benevolent Governance is the only solution
Faced with the dilemma – “punish them? Impossible. Not punish? Unbearable” – Mencius rejected punitive measures and instead called for systemic reform through benevolent governance:
- Lighten taxes and corvee labor; provide famine relief;
- Ensure officials understand and convey the people’s suffering;
- Place the people at the center of statecraft.
Only then will “the people naturally love their superiors and willingly die for their leaders” – not out of fear, but out of genuine affection and gratitude. This is the Confucian ideal of the “Way of the True King”.
Historical Validation
Similar patterns appear throughout the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods:
- Duke Huan of Qi united the feudal lords and “brought order to the realm” not just through wealth and military strength, but by winning popular support through inclusive policies and moral leadership (“upholding the king, repelling the barbarians”).
- Qin, under Shang Yang’s legalist reforms, became powerful yet “harsh and ungrateful”; ultimately, “the people refused to serve it,” leading to its collapse after only two generations.
Mencius’s warning remains timeless: a nation’s unity in crisis is forged by the warmth of its governance in times of peace.
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