How do you understand the sentence "Those who have permanent property have perseverance, and those who have no permanent property have no perseverance. If you don't have perseverance, you will indulge

How do you understand the sentence "Those who have permanent property have perseverance, and those who have no permanent property have no perseverance. If you don't have perseverance, you will indulge in eccentricities and extravagance, and you will do everything for yourself."

It means: Only people with a certain amount of property income have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct. People without a certain amount of property income will not have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct. If you don't have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct, you will act recklessly, break laws and disciplines, and do all kinds of bad things.

From "Mencius Teng Wengong" by Mencius during the Warring States Period, selected from Volume 5 of "Mencius".

Excerpt from the original text:

The people are the way, those who have permanent property have perseverance, and those who do not have perseverance. If you don't have perseverance and indulge in eccentricities and extravagance, you will do everything for your own sake. To commit a crime and then punish him accordingly is to neglect the people. How can a benevolent person be in office and ignore the people? Therefore, a virtuous king must be respectful, frugal, courteous, and take control of the people.

Translation:

There is a basic truth among people: Only people with a certain amount of property income have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct. People without a certain amount of property income will not There are certain moral concepts and codes of conduct. If you don't have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct, you will act recklessly, break laws and disciplines, and do all kinds of bad things.

Waiting until they commit a crime and then punishing them is tantamount to framing the people. How can a kind-hearted person sit in court and do things that harm the people? Therefore, a wise monarch must handle affairs seriously, save expenses, and treat his subordinates politely. In particular, there must be a certain system for collecting taxes.

Extended information

The book "Mencius" has seven chapters. It is a collection of Mencius' remarks during the Warring States Period. It records Mencius' debate with other schools of thought, his words and deeds to his disciples, and his lobbying of the princes. etc. content.

"Mencius" records Mencius's thoughts on governing the country, political views (benevolent government, the distinction between kings and hegemons, people-centeredness, caring about the king's wrong intentions, and the people are noble and the country is inferior to the king) and political actions. It was written around the middle of the Warring States Period and is a Confucian classic. The starting point of his theory is the theory of human nature and goodness, and he advocates the rule of virtue.

This sentence reflects Mencius’ people-centered thought. Mencius believed that the foundation of a country lies in its people, so treating the people respectfully and frugally must "take the system from the people."

Mencius’ people-centered thought is deeply rooted in the background of the times.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, social problems were serious, and successive wars caused great damage to productivity. In the late Warring States period, the scale of the war continued to escalate, and the majority of civilians suffered from the war.

Although Mencius was a descendant of a noble family, he was also a commoner. He had truly experienced the trauma caused by war and separatism to the people, and he had a heart of benevolence and righteousness in his heart since he was a child.

Mencius got acquainted with Confucianism during his study tour, became a disciple of Zengzi, and devoted himself to the study of Confucianism. Confucianism's "Government by virtue" proposition coincided with Mencius's ideas, which made him study more intensively.

Based on the experience of the Warring States Period, Mencius summarized the laws of the rise and fall of various countries in governing chaos, and put forward a famous proposition rich in the essence of democracy: "The people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least." He believes that the issue of how to treat the people is of extreme importance to the success and failure of the country.

“The people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important.” It means that the people are the first, the country is second, and the king is last. Mencius believed that a monarch should care for the people first, and that politicians should protect the people's rights. Mencius agreed that if the monarch is immoral, the people have the right to overthrow the regime.

Afterwards, Mencius put forward the theory of "benevolent government" on this basis. This theory fully implemented the "people-oriented" that Mencius longed for and was more complete.

Mencius also traveled between countries with his teachings, lobbying the monarchs of various countries, hoping to use his teachings to govern this troubled world. Many people say that Mencius was an outstanding lobbyist. In his many lobbyings, he used his eloquence to win praise from kings. The most famous one was his many debates with King Hui of Liang.

Baidu Encyclopedia--Mencius Teng Wengong