Mencius accepted gifts from regent Ji Ren and minister Chu Zi but only visited Ji Ren later. He judged ritual sincerity: Ji Ren could not travel, while Chu Zi avoided visiting, making his gift hollow and lacking genuine respect.
Gongsun Chou cites Gaozi’s claim that Xiao Bian, full of resentment, is a petty man’s poem. Mencius refutes this: its grief springs from deep familial love. He balances filial emotion, noting resentment fits grave parental faults yet not trivial ones.
Cao Jiao doubts he can become sage kings Yao and Shun due to his physique. Mencius argues sagehood relies on practicing filial piety rather than looks. The moral Way is an open road; one only fails to seek it, with teachers all around.
A man confuses Wuluzi by pitting survival needs against minor rituals. Mencius rejects this unequal comparison, using gold and wood analogies, and counters with immoral extreme acts to prove ritual morality must never be discarded for self-interest.
Mencius uses archery and carpentry metaphors. Master Yi demands full bow draws; master carpenters stick to compass and square. Moral cultivation likewise needs strict objective standards and the highest striving for perfect virtue.
Mencius states benevolence naturally defeats evil as water extinguishes fire. Many only make feeble moral efforts yet blame benevolence for failure, which sides with wickedness and leads to their own downfall eventually.