Page 317 - 《孟子》（三）中·英对照版

告
子
下

be destroying the people. A destroyer of the people
would not have been tolerated in the times of Yao
and Shun. Though by a single battle you should
subdue Qi, and get possession of Nanyang, the thing
ought not to be done.”

Shen changed countenance, and said in displeasure,
“This is what I, Guli, do not understand.”

Mencius said, “I will lay the case plainly before
you. The territory appropriated to the sovereign is
1,000 li square. Without a thousand li, he would
not have sufficient for his entertainment of the
princes. The territory appropriated to a Hou is
100 li square. Without 100 li, he would not have
sufficient wherewith to observe the statutes kept in
his ancestral temple. When Zhougong was invested
with the principality of Lu, it was a hundred li
square. The territory was indeed enough, but it was
not more than 100 li. When Taigong was invested
with the principality of Qi, it was 100 li square. The

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