Like a River Bursting Its Banks

When did a good word last make you want to act right away?

Original

孟子曰：「舜之居深山之中，與木石居，與鹿豕遊，其所以異於深山之野人者幾希；及其聞一善言，見一善行，若決江河，沛然莫之能禦也。」

In plain words

Mencius said, “When Shun lived deep in the mountains, he lived among trees and rocks and roamed with deer and wild pigs. There was very little to tell him apart from the other mountain folk. But the moment he heard one good word or saw one good deed, it was like a great river bursting its banks: a flood that nothing could hold back.”

Key words

幾希jī xīVery little; just a tiny bit.
決juéWater breaking through a dyke.
沛然pèi ránSurging, pouring out in full force.

Reading it step by step

On the last page Mencius listed four kinds of sage. Today he takes us back to an earlier time, before Shun became emperor, when he was living deep in the mountains.

First: his starting point was like everyone else's. Shun lived among trees and rocks and wandered with deer and wild pigs. Compared with the mountain folk around him, the difference was “very little,” almost nothing you could see. We met the same phrase on Day 8: the difference between humans and animals is also “very little.” Mencius says it on purpose. Great people don't start from somewhere magical. The difference is not birth or talent, but whether that tiny something is kept and woken up.

Second: one good word is enough. He hears one good word, sees one good deed, and it is like a river bursting its banks. Notice that the water was there before the bank broke. Human nature leans toward good: it is a force, like water flowing downhill. Most of the time it sits behind a dyke. But touch it sincerely, open even a small gap, and the whole river comes through. The word had no magic; Shun's water was full.

deep in the mountainsamong rocks, deer and pigs

one good word, one good deeda small gap in the dyke

a river bursting its banksnothing can hold it back

The water was there all along: the pull toward good is a force.

Third: Shun's gift was loving the good. Elsewhere Mencius says that from farming, making pots and fishing all the way to the throne, Shun had no strength he hadn't learned from someone else. He gladly took up other people's goodness: “doing good together with others.” In modern Chinese that phrase has slid toward “go easy on people, let it pass,” but it means something livelier: when you see something good in someone, you happily do it too, and they discover that the goodness was theirs.

Old stories about Shun show it. Where farmers crept out at night to push their field ridges outward, Shun gave up his own field and cleared new land by the hills. Where fishermen fought over the best spots, he invited others to fish with him. Where potters used cheap clay, he used good clay and made pots that lasted. Wherever he went, people began to yield to one another. If you love the good, it keeps flowing in, and on to others.

Bring it home. We actually meet plenty of good words every day: a line in an article, a thoughtful gesture from a colleague, something honest a child says without thinking. Most of the time we tap “like” and scroll on. The water isn't missing. The dyke is just thick: busyness, tiredness, not wanting the bother.

Try catching just one today. When you hear it, do one small thing connected to it. Today, not “someday.”

If there is water in your heart, one good word opens the gate.

One line to carry

If your heart holds water, one good word opens the gate.

Today's question

Write down one word or deed that moved you recently. What is the smallest thing you could do because of it?

Quick check

Why could one good word make Shun burst out like a river?

Next pageAnyone Can Become a SagePage 26

IV · Six Stages of Character — Good, true, beautiful, great, sage, divine

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