Mencius in 30 Pages
Rightness Pleases the Heart
Where does that satisfying feeling come from when you hear someone say something truly fair?
Original
口之於味也，有同耆焉；耳之於聲也，有同聽焉；目之於色也，有同美焉。至於心，獨無所同然乎？心之所同然者何也？謂理也，義也。聖人先得我心之所同然耳。故理義之悅我心，猶芻豢之悅我口。In plain words
Mouths share a taste for flavours; ears share a liking for sounds; eyes share a sense of beauty. Are hearts alone without anything they all affirm? What do hearts all affirm? Reason and rightness. The sages simply got first to what our hearts all affirm. So reason and rightness please my heart just as fine meat pleases my mouth.
Key words
- 芻豢chú huànGrass-fed and grain-fed livestock; fine meat dishes.
- 理義lǐ yìReason in what is said; rightness in what is done.
- 同然tóng ránWhat everyone alike affirms as right.
Reading it step by step
The Ox Mountain page said the heart needs nourishing. But why would the heart want that? Is leaning toward good just a chore? Here Mencius gives a very down-to-earth answer: the heart likes reason and rightness the way the mouth likes good food.
First: our senses share tastes, and so does the heart. Good food tastes good to everyone; good music pleases almost every ear. Mencius asks: is the heart the one exception, with nothing all hearts agree is right? No. It has reason and rightness. When someone speaks fairly, people are won over. When someone acts rightly, people are glad to see it.
Second: this is the strongest evidence that human nature leans toward good. The mouth doesn't contain the feast; it just loves the feast. Likewise the heart doesn't contain reason and rightness; it loves them. Try this: straight after a big meal, even a royal banquet won't go down. The appetite is in you; the dishes are on the plate. If the heart simply were reason and rightness, there would be nothing to be "pleased" about. Being pleased describes a relationship: the heart moves toward rightness and is glad when it meets it. That is a leaning, not a possession.
The mouth isn't the meal; the heart isn't rightness. It loves and leans toward it.
Third: the sages just got there first. Mencius says the sages simply found earlier what all our hearts affirm. That's a relief. A sage is not another species; the road they took is open to us. Centuries later Lu Xiangshan put it this way: if a sage appears by the eastern sea, the heart and its reasoning are the same; by the western sea, the same again. You read about someone who returns a lost wallet untouched and feel a warmth in your chest. A friend says the fair thing in the middle of an argument and something in you clicks. In that moment your heart is tasting its favourite dish.
So cultivating yourself need not be grim. Someone used to good home cooking loses interest in junk food. Someone used to fair words and decent deeds slowly loses their appetite for twisted arguments and small tricks. The reverse is true too. Live on junk and your taste changes; live on spin and small advantages and the heart's taste changes as well. So it's worth noticing what you feed it each day.
Feed your heart more of what it loves.
The heart loves what is right, as the mouth loves good food.
Today's question
What recent word or deed made your heart say “yes, that's how it should be”? What does it make you want to do more of?
Quick check
Why does “rightness pleases my heart as fine meat pleases my mouth” show that we lean toward good?
To be pleased is to lean toward: the heart moves toward rightness rather than being it.
II · Goodness Is No Fantasy — Human nature leans toward good; sincerity sets it moving
Notes from the Margin
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