By 'n' by hard times comes a-knocking at the door ! (49)

孟子藉王道的宣揚，以實現孔子的大同理想世界。所謂王道，並非天命，而是建立普世有恆產則有恆心的小康社會(附註)。知天命，學而優則仕的讀書人，當效法君子"謀道不謀食、憂道不憂食"的原則，秉持 : 無恆產而有恆心者，唯士為能。用以完成自主性的天命，成就個人終極目的。
故謂 : 無恆產而有恆心者，唯士為能。若民則無恆產，因(而)無恆心。
Mencius replied : They are only men of education, who, without a certain livelihood, are able to maintain a fixed heart. As to the people, if they have not a certain livelihood, it follows that they will not have a fixed heart. ( The work of Mencius, English translation by James Legge, D. D., LL. D., BK. I )
唯，無論是孔子的大同理想世界，或孟子王道說的小康社會，其基礎乃機械論宇宙觀，而非有機體論宇宙觀。
附註 :
「五畝之宅，樹之以桑，五十者可以衣帛矣 ; 雞豚狗彘之畜，無失其時，七十者可以食肉矣 ; 百畝之田，勿奪其時，八口之家，可以無飢矣。謹庠序之教，申之以孝悌之義，頒白者不負戴於道路矣。老者衣帛食肉，黎民不飢不寒，然而不王者，未之有也。」(孟子梁惠王上)
「Let mulberry-tree be planted about the homesteads with their five mau, and persons of fifty years may be clothed with silk. In keeping fowls, pigs, dogs, and swine, let not their times of breeding be neglected, and persons of seventy years may eat flesh. Let there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of the farm with its hundren mau, and the family of eight mouths that is supported by it shall not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to education in schools,---the incalcation in it especially of the filial and fraternal duties, and grey-haired men will not be seen upon the roads, carrying burdens on their backs or on their heads. It never has been that the ruler of a State, where such results were seen,---the old wearing silk and eating flesh, and the black-haired people suffering neither from hunger nor cold,---did not attain the royal dignity. 」( The work of Mencius, English translation by James Legge, D. D., LL. D., BK. I )
(取材自Alex Pan's Digest)
Alex Pan TheWalker