original text
Mencius said, "Fish is what I want, and 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.
Desire also; 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; Death is also what I hate, which is worse than the dead, so I can't avoid it. 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. Those who are not only wise have hearts, everyone has them, and sages can not lose their lives.
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. "
translate
Fish is what I want, and bear's paw is what I want. If these two things can't be obtained at the same time, then I have to abandon fish and choose bear's paw. Life is what I pursue, and righteousness is what I pursue. If these two things can't be obtained at the same time, I can only give up life and choose righteousness. Life is what I pursue, but what I like is more than life, so I don't do anything to drag out an ignoble existence; I hate death, but there are more serious things I hate than death, so I don't avoid some disasters.
If what people pursue is not beyond life, then what means can be used to survive? If there is nothing more terrible than death that people hate, what methods can't be used to avoid disaster? There are ways to make people survive, and there are ways to avoid disasters, but there are ways to avoid them. That's because what they are pursuing is something more precious than life (that is "courtesy"); What they hate is something worse than death (that is, "injustice"). It is not only the nature of sages that everyone has, but sages can not lose it.
A basket of rice and a bowl of soup, you can live if you get it, or you will starve if you don't get it. But the hungry passers-by refused to accept the impolite shouting for others to eat; Kicking (or stepping on) others to eat, beggars also disdain to accept. Accept a generous salary regardless of whether it is in line with etiquette and righteousness. In this way, what good is a generous salary for me! Are you grateful to me for the splendor of my house, the service of my wives and concubines and the poor people I know well? Previously (some people would rather die than accept (lose their righteousness because of gaining benefits), and (if they do) this practice is called losing their nature, virtue and shame.
author
Mencius (about 372- 289 BC), whose name was Ke, the word Ziyu, was a native of Zou in the middle of the Warring States Period (now a native of southeast Zou County, Shandong Province), not far from Confucius' hometown Qufu. He is a famous thinker, politician, educator, the successor of Confucius' theory and an important representative of Confucianism. According to legend, Mencius is a descendant of Meng Sun Shi, an aristocrat of Lu State. He lost his father at an early age, his family was poor, and he was a student of Zisi.
After Mencius completed his studies, he lobbied governors as a scholar in an attempt to promote his own political views, and went to Liang (Wei), Qi, Song, Teng and Lu. At that time, several great powers were committed to enriching Qiang Bing and striving for reunification through violent means. He inherited Confucius' idea of "benevolence" and developed it into "benevolent politics", which was called "Yasheng".
source
This article is excerpted from Mencius Gaozi. The main content of Gao Zi Shang is to clarify the theory of "good nature", that is, there are seeds of goodness in human nature, and everyone has the so-called "compassion"; Everyone has the heart of shame and evil; Everyone has a respectful heart; Everyone has a heart of right and wrong. " This kind of good nature is the "original heart" of people. The "original heart" should not be underestimated, because they are the budding forms of morality such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom: "Compassion is the end of benevolence; The heart of shame and evil, the end of righteousness; The heart of resignation (meaning close to "respect") is the end of ceremony; The heart of right and wrong is also the end of wisdom. " People should infer the original heart, develop in the direction of "original heart" and carry it forward, so as to become morally perfect people.
Therefore, in the full text of Gao Zi Xia, this article is about everyone's "original heart", and no matter what the circumstances, people should keep their own "original heart". As long as the "original heart" exists, even in do or die, people can stand the test; And if you lose your "true heart", people will do things that are detrimental to your personality.