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.
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.
All people crave honor, yet genuine nobility lies in inner morality rather than worldly status granted by nobles like Zhao Meng, who can revoke such glory. Fully fulfilled with benevolence and righteousness, one transcends material vanity and external praise.
Mencius differentiates heavenly moral ranks and secular official ranks. The ancients cultivated inner virtues naturally gaining status, while modern people practice morality only for office then abandon virtue, which will bring total loss in the end.