Kuang Zhang asked Mencius:
“Isn’t Chen Zhongzi truly an honest and incorruptible man?
He lived in Yuling and once went three days without food – so weak he couldn’t hear or see.
There was a plum tree by a well; worms had eaten more than half the fruit. He crawled over, ate a few bites, swallowed three mouthfuls, and only then regained his hearing and sight.”
Mencius replied:
“Among the scholars of Qi, I must indeed regard Zhongzi as the greatest.
But how can he truly be called ‘incorruptible’?
If one were to fully carry out his standard of conduct, only an earthworm could manage it!
An earthworm eats dry soil above and drinks from underground springs below – it depends on no one.
But the house Zhongzi lives in – was it built by Boyi (Bo Yi, the ancient sage) or by Dao Zhi (the great bandit)?
The grain he eats – was it grown by Bo Yi or by Dao Zhi? We simply cannot know!”
Kuang Zhang countered:
“What does that matter? He weaves sandals himself, his wife spins hemp thread, and they trade these for food and shelter. Isn’t that pure enough?”
Mencius continued:
“Zhongzi was born into a noble Qi family. His elder brother, Chen Dai, received a stipend of ten thousand zhong.
Zhongzi considered his brother’s income unjust, so he refused to eat it; he deemed his brother’s house tainted, so he wouldn’t live in it. He abandoned his brother and left his mother, moving alone to Yuling.
One day he returned home. Someone sent his brother a live goose. Zhongzi frowned and said, ‘Why do we need this noisy bird?’
Later, his mother killed the goose and served it to him. While he was eating, his brother came in from outside and said, ‘That’s the meat of the noisy goose!’
Zhongzi immediately ran out and vomited it up.
Consider this: he ate it when his mother gave it, but spat it out when told it came from his brother;
he refuses to live in his brother’s house, yet lives in a house in Yuling.
Can this really be called consistently following his principles?
A man like Zhongzi could only fulfill his extreme ideal if he became an earthworm!”
匡章曰：「陳仲子豈不誠廉士哉？居於陵，三日不食，耳無聞，目無見也。井上有李，螬食實者過半矣，匍匐往將食之，三咽，然後耳有聞，目有見。」
孟子曰：「於齊國之士，吾必以仲子為巨擘焉。雖然，仲子惡能廉？充仲子之操，則蚓而後可者也。夫蚓，上食槁壤，下飲黃泉。仲子所居之室，伯夷之所築與？抑亦盜跖之所築與？所食之粟，伯夷之所樹與？抑亦盜跖之所樹與？是未可知也。」
曰：「是何傷哉？彼身織屨，妻辟纑，以易之也。」
曰：「仲子，齊之世家也。兄戴，蓋祿萬鍾。以兄之祿為不義之祿而不食也，以兄之室為不義之室而不居也，辟兄離母，處於於陵。他日歸，則有饋其兄生鵝者，己頻顣曰：『惡用是鶃鶃者為哉？』他日，其母殺是鵝也，與之食之。其兄自外至，曰：『是鶃鶃之肉也。』出而哇之。以母則不食，以妻則食之；以兄之室則弗居，以於陵則居之。是尚為能充其類也乎？若仲子者，蚓而後充其操者也。」
Note
This passage from Mencius: Teng Wen Gong II critiques the ascetic purity of Chen Zhongzi (also known as Chen Zhong or Tian Zhong), revealing Mencius’s vision of ethics as embedded in human relationships and social reality.
Against moral puritanism
Zhongzi’s rejection of family ties in the name of “purity” violates Confucian core values: filial piety and fraternal duty are the roots of benevolence. True virtue cannot require abandoning humanity itself.
The impossibility of absolute autonomy
Only an earthworm – living entirely outside human society – can achieve Zhongzi’s ideal of non-contamination. Mencius insists: humans are inherently social; moral life must unfold within interdependence, not isolation.
Indirect critique of Yangist individualism
Zhongzi exemplifies the Yang Zhu school (“for myself”), which Mencius condemned as “denying the ruler.” Such retreat into self-preservation abandons the Confucian mission to transform society.
Consistency and universalizability in ethics
Mencius challenges: “Can his principle be consistently extended?” Zhongzi’s arbitrary distinctions – accepting his wife’s trade goods but rejecting his brother’s house – reveal a morality based on symbolic obsession, not rational coherence.
Historical Context: Responding to Warring States reclusion
During the chaotic period, many scholars chose to withdraw from society (such as Xu You, Chao Fu, Bo Yi, and Shu Qi). Chen Zhong and Zhuangzi were renowned representatives of hermits during the Warring States era. Chen Zhong grew up in an aristocratic family, where he witnessed the corrupt and decadent lifestyle within the aristocratic class, as well as the cruel exploitation and oppression of the lower classes. Thus, in his youth, he resolutely broke away from his elder brother and chose a life of seclusion. When the King of Chu heard that Chen Zhong refused to serve as an official in the state of Qi and was highly knowledgeable, he sought to recruit him, sending envoys with generous gifts to invite him to become chancellor. However, Chen Zhong clearly recognized that the rulers of various states were essentially alike – neither benevolent nor righteous – and therefore declined the offer, returning the gifts. Zhuangzi, a key figure of Daoism, shared a similar experience, having also refused the King of Chu’s invitation to serve as chancellor.
Amidst widespread hermitage, Mencius acknowledges Zhongzi’s sincerity (“the greatest among Qi scholars”) but insists: in chaotic times, the virtuous must engage, not withdraw. “When poor, cultivate oneself; when successful, benefit all under heaven” (Jin Xin I) remains the ideal.
Contrast with Mohist frugality
Unlike Mozi, whose austerity served collective welfare, Zhongzi’s asceticism benefits no one – it is mere moral theater. True integrity lies not in rejecting society, but in reforming it from within.
Mencius thus affirms: Authentic virtue thrives not in sterile purity, but in the messy, relational world – guided by principle, tempered by humanity, and committed to the common good.
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