King Hui ruled Wei state from 369 BC to 319 BC. He liked to discuss current affairs with Mencius. Wei state is also called the Liang state as it capital was at Great Liang, northwest of Kaifeng, Henan.
King Hui said to Mencius: ‘I have spent a lot of time and effort on governing my country. When the harvest is bad in Henei, east of Yellow River, I evacuate the people to Hedong, east of the Yellow River and move grain of Hedong to Henei. When it is bad in Hedong, I would do the same for them. As far as I could see, none of the rulers of the neighbouring states are as diligent as I. But the number of people in neighbouring states does not decrease and the number of my subjects does not increase. Why is this so?’
Mencius replied, ‘Let me explain this by using an analogy from war, since my lord likes fighting battles. Let’s imagine the fight is vigorous with the battle drums thundering and weapons clashing. At this time some soldiers abandon their armour and run away, dragging the weapons behind them. Some stop after running one hundred steps. Others halt after fifty steps. Those who ran only fifty steps laughed at those who ran a hundred. What do you think?’
‘That is not right. It is just that they didn’t manage to run hundred steps, but they did run away all the same.’
‘My lord, if you understand this, then you should not expect having more subjects than your neighbours.’
What Mencius meant was that King Hui needed to do much more before he can claim to be a better ruler than the kings of neighbouring states. Otherwise, he is just like one that retreats fifty steps laughs at one who does a hundred.
This expression refers to two persons who both have made mistakes, though the mistakes of one may be less serious than the other's. The pot calls the kettle black.
.
战国魏惠王于公元前369-前319年在位。他喜欢与孟子谈时事。魏国迁都今河南开封西北之大梁，故又称梁惠王。‘孟子’一书记载：
梁惠王曰：‘寡人之于国也，尽心焉耳矣。河内凶，则移其民于河东，移其粟于河内。河东凶亦然。察邻国之政，无如寡人之用心者。邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也？’
King Hui said to Mencius: ‘I have spent a lot of time and effort on governing my country. When the harvest is bad in Henei, east of Yellow River, I evacuate the people to Hedong, east of the Yellow River and move grain of Hedong to Henei. When it is bad in Hedong, I would do the same for them. As far as I could see, none of the rulers of the neighbouring states are as diligent as I. But the number of people in neighbouring states does not decrease and the number of my subjects does not increase. Why is this so?’
Mencius replied, ‘Let me explain this by using an analogy from war, since my lord likes fighting battles. Let’s imagine the fight is vigorous with the battle drums thundering and weapons clashing. At this time some soldiers abandon their armour and run away, dragging the weapons behind them. Some stop after running one hundred steps. Others halt after fifty steps. Those who ran only fifty steps laughed at those who ran a hundred. What do you think?’
‘That is not right. It is just that they didn’t manage to run hundred steps, but they did run away all the same.’
‘My lord, if you understand this, then you should not expect having more subjects than your neighbours.’
What Mencius meant was that King Hui needed to do much more before he can claim to be a better ruler than the kings of neighbouring states. Otherwise, he is just like one that retreats fifty steps laughs at one who does a hundred.
This expression refers to two persons who both have made mistakes, though the mistakes of one may be less serious than the other's. The pot calls the kettle black.
.
战国魏惠王于公元前369-前319年在位。他喜欢与孟子谈时事。魏国迁都今河南开封西北之大梁，故又称梁惠王。‘孟子’一书记载：
梁惠王曰：‘寡人之于国也，尽心焉耳矣。河内凶，则移其民于河东，移其粟于河内。河东凶亦然。察邻国之政，无如寡人之用心者。邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也？’
孟子对曰：‘王好战，请以战喻。填然鼓之，兵刃既接，弃甲曳兵而走，或百步而后止，或五十步而后止。以五十步笑百步，则何如？’
曰：‘不可。直不百步耳，是亦走也。’
曰：‘王如知此，则无望民之多于邻国也。’
就是说，惠王还要做更多才能说得上比邻国的国君更好。不然，他只是五十步笑百步。
曰：‘不可。直不百步耳，是亦走也。’
曰：‘王如知此，则无望民之多于邻国也。’
就是说，惠王还要做更多才能说得上比邻国的国君更好。不然，他只是五十步笑百步。
这句话指两个人都做得不好，只是一个错误较少。就是西方人所谓的锅嫌壶黑。
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