Classical Chinese is also translated in China.

[Introduction] I am in the Country is selected from Mencius Liang Shang, which criticizes Liang's mistake of being only satisfied with the kindness of "emigrating" and "moving millet" without fundamentally changing the situation of the people. To some extent, it reveals the social reality of class opposition and inequality. original text

King Hui of Liang said, "I am a country, and I devote myself to it. If Hanoi is fierce, the people will move to Hedong and the millet will move to Hanoi; Hedong is also fierce. People who observe the politics of neighboring countries have no intention like me. There are not many people in neighboring countries, and there are not many people in my country. Why? "

Mencius said to him, "The king is belligerent. Please use the metaphor of war. Replenish drums, weapons company, abandon armor. Or stop after a hundred steps, or stop after fifty steps. What if the pot is too black? "

Say, "no! If you don't go straight, you will do it. "

He said: "If Wang knows this, there is no hope that there will be more people in neighboring countries.

"If you don't go against the farming season, the valley can't take food; If the number (ù) does not enter the pool (wū), the fish and turtles will not be able to eat; Axe gold gets into the mountain in time, and mywood can't be used. Valley and fish turtles can't fight for food, and wood and wood can't fight for it, which makes people lose their lives and have no regrets. Keeping in good health and dying without regret is the beginning of kingly way.

"Five acres of house, the tree to mulberry, fifty clothes. Chickens, dolphins, dogs and pigs (ZHI) have no time to waste, and 70 people can eat meat. A hundred acres of land, if you don't hurry, a few people in a family can be hungry; I sincerely respect xiáng's teaching and apply it in the sense of filial piety, and the winners are not on the road. Seventy people eat clothes, silk and meat, and the people are not hungry or cold. However, those who are not wàng have nothing.

"Dogs eat people's food and don't know it, but they don't know it when they are coated with skin O. When people die, they say,' It's not me, it's old'." What's the difference between stabbing people and killing people, saying,' It's not me, it's a soldier'? The king is innocent, and the people in the world are heavy. "

translate

Liang said, "I work hard for my country. When there was a famine in the north of the Yellow River, the people there were moved to the east of the Yellow River, and the grain from the east of the Yellow River was transported to the north of the Yellow River. So is the famine east of the Yellow River. Compared with the politics of neighboring countries, no one is more dedicated than me. The people of neighboring countries will not decrease, and our people will not increase. Why? "

Mencius replied, "Your Majesty likes fighting. Allow me to take war as an example. Drumming drums, the blade of your gun has touched, but the soldiers threw down their armor and fled with their weapons. Some people stop running a hundred paces, while others stop running fifty paces. What do you think of running pot calling the kettle black? "

King Hui said, "No! It's just that I didn't run a hundred paces. This is also an escape. "

Mencius said: "If your majesty understands this truth, then don't expect to be more than your neighbors." .

"If the corvee doesn't interfere with the season of agricultural production, food will be inexhaustible; If the fine net does not go fishing in the deep pond, fish and turtles will eat more; If trees are cut down on the mountain according to a certain season, the wood will be inexhaustible. Food and aquatic products such as fish and turtles can't be eaten up, and wood can't be used up. The people are born without regrets, and they are raised and buried. It is the beginning of kingliness that people have no regrets about being born, raised and buried.

"Give people five acres of homestead, mulberry, people over the age of 50 can wear silk. Don't miss the breeding season when livestock raise chickens, dogs and pigs. Then, people over seventy can eat meat. Each family has 100 mu of arable land, and the government does not interfere in their production season. Then, a few people in a family can stop being hungry. Do a good job in the school and teach the people repeatedly on the principle of filial piety. Then, the gray-haired old man will not walk on the road by himself or with heavy objects. People over 70 years old have silk to wear and meat to eat, while ordinary people can't be hungry or frozen. This has never happened before.

"Wei now? The pigs and dogs of the rich ate the food of the people, but they didn't stop it; There are people starving to death on the road, but they don't open the granary to help. When the people died, they even said,' It's not my fault, it's because I was poor for several years.' What's the difference between this statement and killing someone with a knife and saying,' I didn't kill him but used a weapon'? If the king doesn't blame by 2008, then all the people in the world will go to Liang Guolai. "

Appreciation of my own country

I am for the country is a dialogue between Mencius and Liang. The clue that runs through the whole paper is the problem of "not increasing the number of people" and how to "increase the number of people".

First of all, understand the relevant background: during the Warring States period, countries competed for hegemony and wars were frequent, which led to a large number of population migration and casualties. At that time, there was neither a nationality system nor immigration restrictions, and people were free to find their own paradise. Which country is more stable, more prosperous and happier, move to that country as the subject. The population of a country is also one of the signs of whether a country is stable and prosperous. Therefore, in order to seek hegemony, all the vassals hope that the population of their country will increase. Liang is no exception.

The full text is divided into three parts:

The first part: Liang put forward the problem of "the people are in dire straits". Liang believes that he has been "loyal to the country." His argument is that he has helped the people in disaster relief, and the politics of neighboring countries have no concern for me. As a result, "there are not many people in neighboring countries, and there are not many of us." So ask questions. Let's first analyze Liang's self-proclaimed national salvation and disaster relief. For a country, disaster relief is its most basic task, and almost no country does not help its people in the face of natural disasters. In fact, it is not enough to help people with disaster relief. What is more important is to take all possible measures to prevent or reduce the occurrence of natural disasters and fundamentally solve the problem. To solve the problem fundamentally is to mobilize the enthusiasm of the people to the maximum extent and let them enjoy it. This is of course the concrete embodiment of benevolent governance. Liang himself may indeed devote himself to disaster relief and saving people, but this is actually a stopgap measure. However, in the politics of neighboring countries, there is no such thing as my intention. Perhaps it is because the politics of neighboring countries really have no intention of Liang. Perhaps it is because neighboring countries have taken better measures or luck has not caused too many natural disasters, so there are not many actions to help people. In any case, the result is that "there are not many people in neighboring countries, and there are not many people in our country." Through analysis, we know that in the process of Liang Dui's questioning, the reason of his "small population" has been revealed, so Mencius solved the problem with a quiz.

The second part: Mencius adopted the argumentation mode of "leading the monarch into the country" which he made good use of, and analyzed the reasons why Liang "did not add more people".

The so-called "leading the monarch into the urn" is an argument method that often uses metaphors to reason, and then attacks the other side with rhetorical sentences to force the other side to answer. If the other party doesn't answer, it will be trapped and fall into a passive and embarrassing situation. Facing the first part of Liang's question, Mencius did not directly answer the reason, but set a trap. Generally speaking, it is compared with governing the country by war, with the defeated party abandoning armor and fleeing, with the country that has not been well governed, with the hundred steps to flee, with neighboring countries, with the fifty steps to flee, and with Liang. Then ask a question: how about laughing at others for running a hundred steps just because they only ran fifty steps? Forced Liang to answer, Liang said no, but he didn't run a hundred steps. This is also an escape. In this way, Liang unconsciously jumped into the trap set by Mencius and admitted that there was no essential difference between himself and his neighbors, and neither of them practiced benevolent government. Therefore, we cannot hope that the number will increase.

The third part discusses the way to increase the number of people-implementing benevolent government. This part is divided into three levels to discuss the basic ways, fundamental ways and correct attitudes that should be adopted to promote the king and implement benevolent policies to increase the number of people.

The basic way: don't go against the farming season, develop production and solve the problem of food and clothing for the people. At this level, Mencius used the form of "chain reasoning". It is to introduce a new conclusion based on the previous conclusion, and then introduce an updated conclusion based on this new conclusion, and so on. Mencius first came to the conclusion that "five grains don't eat", "fish and turtles don't eat" and "wood and wood don't use" from "not going against the farming season", "counting crops doesn't enter the pool" and "axes don't enter the mountains at any time".

On the premise of the conclusion that "five grains can't eat", "fish and turtles can't eat" and "wood can't be used", this paper puts forward a new conclusion that "people can keep healthy and don't regret losing their lives", and introduces a newer conclusion "the beginning of kingliness". This form of "chain reasoning" emphasizes that the implementation of kingly way should start with the development of production and solve the most basic problem of food and clothing for the people without violating the farming season. During the discussion, one link after another, interlocking and impeccable, strengthened the persuasiveness and showed Mencius' eloquent art, which may be one of the reasons why Mencius' articles were praised and imitated by later generations.

The fundamental way: gradually improve people's material living standards, and then solve the problem of spiritual civilization. After solving the problem of people's basic food and clothing, we should gradually improve people's material living standards. Develop the silk industry and let people aged 50 wear silk clothes; Develop animal husbandry so that 70-year-old people can eat meat. We should also fundamentally solve problems, develop education, and make filial piety deeply rooted in people's hearts. Everyone is filial to their parents and loves their brothers, thus popularizing them. Isn't such a safe, simple and happy society a pure land and a paradise? It is bound to "make all the officials in the world want to stand in the dynasty, the tillers want to plow in the king's field, the merchants want to hide in the king's city, and they want to paint in the king's journey", but why worry about the people?

Correct attitude: Liang, your wish is to "increase the population", but what is the situation in your country? The following Mencius painted a contrasting picture for us: pigs and dogs in rich families eat people's food, and they are hungry on the road. It can be said that "Zhumen wine stinks, and the road has frozen bones"! When this happens, Liang doesn't open the granary to help the people, and the people starve to death, but say "it wasn't me, it's also years old", which is different from killing people with weapons and then saying that I didn't kill them! Here, Mencius criticized Liang for using metaphors to shirk responsibility. Finally, he earnestly pointed out the correct attitude of "making the people more": don't blame the years, but take concrete measures to implement benevolent government. In this way, people all over the world will come to you.

In a word, this paper uses the argument of "attracting the monarch into the country" to force Liang to admit that his "loyalty to the country" is only a temporary reaction, not a real love for the people, and there is no essential difference from neighboring politics; It is also emphasized in the form of "chain reasoning" that the implementation of kingly way should start with never violating the farming season, developing production and solving the most basic problem of food and clothing for the people; It is also pointed out that the people's material living standards should be gradually improved, and then they should be educated to understand the meaning of "filial piety" to solve the problem of spiritual civilization, so that the people can be connected and the country can prosper.