Gaozi said, “Human nature is like swirling water. Open a passage to the east, and it flows east; open a passage to the west, and it flows west. Human nature is not disposed to either good or bad, just as water is not disposed to either east or west.”
Mencius replied, “Water indeed does not distinguish between east and west, but does it not distinguish between up and down? The tendency of human nature to do good is like the tendency of water to flow downward. There are no men who do not tend toward goodness, just as there is no water that does not flow downward. Of course, if you strike the water and make it leap, you can make it go over your forehead; if you dam it and force it, you can make it go up a hill. But is this the nature of water? It is merely the result of external force. That men can be made to do what is not good is exactly the same principle: their nature is forced by external circumstances.”
Note
Drawing on historical context and traditional commentaries, we can understand this brilliant exchange through the following dimensions:
- Gaozi’s “Blank Slate” Theory: The Absolute Plasticity of Morality
Using the metaphor of swirling water, Gaozi’s core idea is that “human nature is neither good nor bad.” He believed that natural human instincts are like a blank slate or clear water, possessing no inherent moral attributes. Whether a person ultimately becomes good or evil depends entirely on the guidance of the postnatal environment and external forces (the “openings”). This view emphasizes the decisive role of postnatal education and environment, possessing a primitive materialistic color. - “Water Flows Downward”: Establishing the Internal Inevitability of Goodness
Mencius astutely seized upon a physical common sense in Gaozi’s metaphor: while water doesn’t distinguish east and west, it absolutely distinguishes up and down. Mencius equated “flowing downward” with “tending toward goodness,” and “flowing upward” with “tending toward evil.” Through this, he established the cornerstone of the “Innate Goodness” theory: tending toward good is not imposed externally, but an internal, natural inevitability akin to gravity. As long as one follows nature, a person will inevitably move toward goodness. - “Striking Water to Make it Leap”: A Perfect Explanation for Evil in Reality
If human nature is inherently good, why are there so many evil people in reality? This is the greatest challenge to the theory of innate goodness. Mencius provided a perfect answer using “striking water to make it leap over the forehead.” He pointed out that water splashing up a hill is not its true nature, but the result of external force (“its momentum causes it to be so”). Similarly, people do bad things not because there are seeds of evil in their nature, but because their innate goodness is twisted, suppressed, and obscured under harsh social environments and cruel survival pressures. This shifts the responsibility for “evil” from “human nature” to “a bad social environment,” thereby providing a strong theoretical basis for the Confucian advocacy of benevolent governance and improving people’s livelihoods.
告子曰：「性猶湍水也，決諸東方則東流，決諸西方則西流。人性之無分於善不善也，猶水之無分於東西也。」
孟子曰：「水信無分於東西。無分於上下乎？人性之善也，猶水之就下也。人無有不善，水無有不下。今夫水，搏而躍之，可使過顙；激而行之，可使在山。是豈水之性哉？其勢則然也。人之可使為不善，其性亦猶是也。」
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