Bai Gui said, “I would like to set the tax rate at one in twenty. What do you think?”
Mencius said, “Your way is the way of the Mo (a northern barbarian tribe). If a state of ten thousand households had only one person making pottery, would that be acceptable?”
Bai Gui replied, “No, there would not be enough vessels for use.”
Mencius said, “In the land of the Mo, various grains do not grow; only millet grows. They have no city walls, palaces, ancestral temples, or sacrificial rites; no gifts of silk or banquets between feudal lords; and no officials or administrative departments. Therefore, a tax rate of one in twenty is sufficient for them. But now you reside in a Central Plains state, and you wish to discard human relationships and do without gentlemen (scholar-officials and institutions). How could that possibly work? If having too few potters is insufficient to govern a state, how much more so is having no gentlemen? Those who wish to make taxation lighter than the Way of Yao and Shun are simply great or small Mo tribes; those who wish to make it heavier than the Way of Yao and Shun are simply great or small tyrants like Jie.”
Note
This passage from the Gaozi II chapter of the Mencius records a debate between Mencius and Bai Gui, a famous hydraulic and agricultural expert of the time, regarding the “national tax rate.” Through this, Mencius profoundly articulated the Confucian systematic political economy concerning state finance, social division of labor, and ritual institutions. Drawing on historical context and traditional commentaries, we can understand its philosophy through the following dimensions:
- The Binding of Finance and Civilization: Taxation as the Cost of Maintaining Society
Bai Gui’s proposal of “one in twenty” (a 5% tax rate) appeared on the surface to be a benevolent policy of reducing the burden on the people. However, Mencius astutely pointed out that such a low tax rate was only applicable to the primitive tribal stage of the “Mo.” In the highly civilized Central Plains states, maintaining city walls, palaces, ancestral temples, diplomatic etiquette, and a vast bureaucratic administrative system required enormous financial expenditure. Mencius broke the mechanical notion that “low taxes equal benevolent governance,” pointing out that the essence of taxation is the cost that the entire society must pay to maintain civilized order and public functions. - The Inevitability of the Division of Labor: The “Pottery Metaphor” and National Complexity
Using the vivid metaphor of “only one person making pottery in a state of ten thousand,” Mencius elucidated the complexity of social division of labor and national governance. A mature state requires not only agricultural production but also artisans, administrators, and ritual practitioners performing their respective duties. If an extremely low tax rate were forcibly implemented, state finances would be unable to support these professionals (gentlemen/officials) who maintain social operations, ultimately leading to the paralysis of the state apparatus and the regression of civilization. - The Golden Mean of Governance: Between the “Way of Mo” and the “Way of Jie”
Here, Mencius established the Confucian “Golden Mean” standard for fiscal policy. He opposed both the tyranny of over-exploiting the people (making taxation heavier than the Way of Yao and Shun, which makes one a great or small Jie) and the hypocritical pursuit of extremely low tax rates detached from the actual operational needs of the state (making taxation lighter than the Way of Yao and Shun, which makes one a great or small Mo). The “one in ten” tax rate of the Yao and Shun era was regarded by Mencius as the perfect balance. It ensured that the people could live and work in peace while maintaining the dignity and operation of the state’s ritual and musical institutions. This reflects the pragmatic political wisdom of Confucianism, which values both people’s livelihood and the effectiveness of state governance.
白圭曰：“吾欲二十而取一，何如？”
孟子曰：“子之道，貉道也。万室之国，一人陶，则可乎？”
曰：“不可，器不足用也。”
曰：“夫貉，五谷不生，惟黍生之。无城郭、宫室、宗庙、祭祀之礼，无诸侯币帛饔飧，无百官有司，故二十取一而足也。今居中国，去人伦，无君子，如之何其可也？陶以寡，且不可以为国，况无君子乎？欲轻之于尧舜之道者，大貉小貉也；欲重之于尧舜之道者，大桀小桀也。”
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