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Mencius – Chapter 8.22 Five generations and the thread breaks
Mencius said: “The influence of a noble person lasts for five generations and then ends; the legacy of a petty person also ends after five generations. I never had the chance to be Confucius’s direct disciple, but I learned his Dao by privately admiring and studying through his later followers.”
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Mencius – Chapter 8.21 From Odes to Annals: the fall of poetic governance
Mencius said: “When the traces of the sage-kings faded, the civilization of rites and music represented by The Book of Songs (Book of Poetry) thus came to an end; and after that, the Spring and Autumn Annals emerged. The Cheng of Jin, the Taowu of Chu, and the Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu…
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Mencius – Chapter 8.20 The Five Virtues of Sage-Kings
Mencius said: “Yu the Great detested fine wine but loved wise counsel. Tang held to the Golden Mean and appointed the worthy without regard to their background. King Wen of Zhou looked upon the people as if they were wounded, and though he longed for the Dao, he always felt he had not yet…
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Mencius – Chapter 8.19 Acting from, not performing, virtue
Mencius said: “The difference between humans and birds or beasts is extremely slight – just a tiny bit. Ordinary people tend to lose this small distinction, while noble persons preserve it. Shun understood the principles of all things and clearly discerned human relationships. He acted from benevolence and righteousness, not merely performing benevolence and…
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Mencius – Chapter 8.18 Rooted like a Spring, Not a Storm
Xu Zi asked: “Confucius often praised water, exclaiming, ‘Ah, water! Ah, water!’ What did he admire about it?”