Citing six heroes elevated from hardship, Mencius states adversity tempers character and builds capability. People grow through mistakes and struggles; states without critics or external threats collapse. Thus hardship sustains life, ease brings ruin.
Han Fei tells King Wen gave a jade tablet to Shang’s corrupt Fei Zhong, not the virtuous Jiao Ge, to weaken Shang. True wisdom is subtle statecraft.
Gongsun Chou asked Mencius, “If you should hold the power of government in Qi, could you achieve great deeds like Guan Zhong and Yanzi?”