Mencius said, “If the fields are cultivated with ease and taxes are kept light, the people can be made prosperous. If food is consumed in accordance with the seasons and expenditures are made according to propriety, wealth will never be exhausted.
People cannot live without water and fire. Yet, if someone knocks on a door at dusk asking for water or fire, no one will refuse, because these things are abundantly sufficient. When a sage governs the world, they ensure that beans and grain (staple food) are as abundant as water and fire. If beans and grain are as abundant as water and fire, how could the people be anything but benevolent?”
Note
This passage from the Jin Xin I chapter of the Mencius is a classic discourse on the relationship between “enriching the people” and “moral education.” Drawing on traditional commentaries and historical context, we can understand its underlying thought through the following dimensions:
- The Economic Proposition of Enriching the People: “Cultivating Fields with Ease and Keeping Taxes Light”
Mencius prescribes the first remedy for governance here: reducing corvée labor and taxes to allow the people to rest and recuperate. “Cultivating fields with ease” means giving the people sufficient energy and time for intensive farming without being interrupted by heavy labor conscription; “keeping taxes light” directly reduces state exploitation. During the Warring States period, various states frequently imposed exorbitant taxes and levies for hegemonic wars, leading to widespread misery. Mencius astutely pointed out that the prerequisite for national prosperity is not a full state treasury, but prosperous citizens. Only by keeping wealth among the people can society possess the resilience to withstand risks. - Consumption Ethics and Sustainable Development: “Consuming Food in Accordance with Seasons and Expenditures According to Propriety”
Mencius focuses not only on production but also on consumption, proposing a sustainable economic view of “consuming food in accordance with seasons and expenditures according to propriety.” “Consuming food in accordance with seasons” means following natural laws, avoiding over-exploitation, and not violating agricultural timing. “Expenditures according to propriety” emphasizes moderation in consumption and opposes extravagance and waste. In Mencius’ view, as long as both production and consumption follow rational rules, societal wealth will circulate endlessly and be “never exhausted.” This demonstrates the highly forward-looking ecological and economic wisdom of Confucianism. - The Unity of Material Foundation and Moral Education: “Beans and Grain as Abundant as Water and Fire” and “How Could They Not Be Benevolent”
This is the philosophical climax of the passage. Mencius uses an extremely vivid metaphor: the reason people are willing to share water and fire is that they are “abundantly sufficient.” Similarly, if a sage governs the world and ensures that staple food is as universally abundant as water and fire, people will naturally stop fighting and scheming against each other merely for survival. Mencius uses this to shatter the prejudice that “morality is empty preaching,” profoundly pointing out that noble morality (benevolence) must be built on a solid material foundation. When survival is no longer an issue, the brilliance of human nature and benevolence will naturally emerge. This is a vivid reflection of the Confucian principle that “when granaries are full, people will know propriety.”
孟子曰：“易其田畴，薄其税敛，民可使富也。食之以时，用之以礼，财不可胜用也。民非水火不生活，昏暮叩人之门户，求水火，无弗与者，至足矣。圣人治天下，使有菽粟如水火。菽粟如水火，而民焉有不仁者乎？”
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