Page 146 - 《孟子》（三）中·英对照版

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子

way, can he be said to be pleased with him?”
Wan Zhang said, “I venture to ask how the

sovereign of a state, when he wishes to support a
superior man, must proceed, that he may be said to
do so in the proper way?”

Mencius answered, “At first, the present
must be offered with the prince’s commission, and
the scholar, making obeisance twice with his head
bowed to the ground, will receive it. But after this
the storekeeper will continue to send grain, and the
master of the kitchen to send meat, presenting it
as if without the prince’s express commission. Zisi
considered that the meat from the prince’s caldron,
giving him the annoyance of constantly doing
obeisance, was not the way to support a superior
man. There was Yao’s conduct to Shun: —He caused
his nine sons to serve him, and gave him his two
daughters in marriage; he caused the various officers,
oxen and sheep, storehouses and granaries, all to be

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