Original text: Mencius said: "Fish, what I want, bear's paw is what I want;" You can't have both, and you can take the bear's paw instead of the fish. Life is what I want, and righteousness is what I want; You can't have both, and those who give up their lives for righteousness are also. Life is what I want, and I want more than the living, so I don't want to get it; If there is no more than death in disgust, what can be done to avoid the evil that can be used to escape evil? If people want nothing more than life, why not use those who can have life? If people are worse than the dead, then why not treat the sick? If you are right, you will be born with no need, and if you are right, you can make trouble without doing anything. A bowl of rice, a bowl of soup, get it can live, do not get it will starve. But with disdain to drink to eat, the hungry pedestrians are unwilling to accept; To kick others to eat with their feet, the beggars would not accept them.
A meal, a bean soup, if you get it, you will live, if you get it, you will die, if you shout, people on the street will receive it; It's too much to beg for help. 10,000 minutes is accepted without distinguishing propriety and righteousness. What does ten thousand minutes do to me? For the beauty of the palace, the service of wives and concubines, and the poor and needy? The hometown is not subject to physical death, and today it is the beauty of the palace; To die for one's body is not subject to it, and now it is regarded as a wife and concubine; Is it right or not to do it for the sake of dying and not accepting it, but for the sake of knowing the poor and needy? This is called the loss of human nature. "
Mencius said: "fish is my favorite food, and bear's paw is also my favorite food;" If I don't eat both, I will give up fish and eat bear's paw. Life is what I want, and justice is what I want. If I can't have both, I will give up my life and stick to justice. Life is what I want, but there is something more than life that I want to have, so I don't want to drag out an ignoble existence. I hate death, but there is something more disgusting than death, so I don't want to escape some disasters because I hate death. If people want nothing more than life, then what can't happen as long as they can live? If there is nothing more disgusting than death, then what can be done as long as it can escape the scourge of death? But there are also some people who can have a life by doing this, and do it at any time; You can escape the scourge of death by doing this, but you don't do it. Therefore, there are things that people want more than life, and there are things that people hate more than death. This kind of heart is not only for sages, but for everyone, only sages can keep it.
A basket of rice and a bowl of soup, for a person who is starving to death, can live if he gets it, or starve to death if he doesn't get it. However, if you don't politely yell for others to eat, no matter how hungry passers-by are, they will not accept it; If you kick the rice to others with your feet, even beggars can't accept it. But now, some people accept Wan Zhong's salary without asking whether it is in line with etiquette. In fact, what can this generous treatment bring me? Is it because I have a gorgeous house, the service of wives and concubines and the worship of others? Is it because of the appearance of these buildings, beauties and flattery that things that we once refused to accept compared with death become acceptable? Does that make sense? Such a practice can only show that a person has lost the true nature of his mind, that is, "losing his true heart."