Mencius said, “Yao and Shun possessed virtue by their very nature; Tang and Wu achieved it through personal cultivation; the Five Hegemons merely borrowed it. However, if one borrows it for a long time without returning it, how can one know that it will not eventually become truly their own?”
Note
This passage from the Jin Xin I chapter of the Mencius is Mencius’ ultimate moral judgment on the emperors and hegemons of past dynasties. Drawing on traditional commentaries and historical context, we can understand its underlying thought through the following dimensions:
- A Three-Tiered Ladder of Moral Realms: “Possessing by Nature,” “Achieving through Cultivation,” and “Borrowing”
Mencius constructs an extremely rigorous moral evaluation system here. The highest realm is “possessing by nature” (Yao and Shun), where morality and innate nature are completely unified, and doing good is as natural as breathing, requiring no deliberate effort. The second realm is “achieving through cultivation” (Tang and Wu), where although one’s innate nature is not perfectly complete, one ultimately fulfills the Way of Benevolence through arduous self-cultivation and self-restraint. The third realm is “borrowing” (the Five Hegemons), meaning they had no true benevolence in their hearts, but merely used the name of righteousness as a tool and a disguise for political gain. This classification clearly establishes the Confucian value benchmark of “inner sagehood and outer kingliness.” - A Profound Exposure of Hegemonic Politics: The Utilitarian Essence of “Borrowing”
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, feudal lords often launched wars of annexation under the banners of “honoring the king and repelling barbarians” or “saving the people from disaster.” Mencius hit the nail on the head, pointing out that the essence of the Five Hegemons was “borrowing” (pretending). They did not truly care about the people of the world, but used morality as a bargaining chip to obtain hegemonic power. This critique of “hypocrisy” and “political showmanship” demonstrates Mencius’ extremely clear-sighted political insight. - A Highly Dialectical View of Transformation: “If One Borrows It for a Long Time Without Returning It, How Can One Know It Will Not Become Their Own?”
This is the most brilliant piece of philosophical speculation in the entire passage. Logically, Mencius should have completely denied the “fake benevolence and righteousness” of the Five Hegemons. Instead, he posed an open-ended rhetorical question: If a person pretends to do good for a long time and persists without changing, who can say for sure that they won’t turn the pretense into reality and eventually internalize benevolence and righteousness as their true character? This reflects Mencius’ profound optimism and inclusiveness regarding human nature. He implies the principle that “behavior can reshape the inner mind”: even if the initial “borrowing” is driven by utilitarian motives, as long as one persistently practices benevolence and righteousness, external norms can ultimately be internalized into genuine morality. This provides the world with a path to goodness that moves “from the outside in.”
孟子曰：“尧舜，性之也；汤武，身之也；五霸，假之也。久假而不归，恶知其非有也。”
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