MENCIUS said, 'All men have this heart that, when they see another man suffer, they suffer, too. The ancient kings had this heart: when they saw men suffer, they suffered, too. Therefore the former kings ran a government that, when it saw men suffer, it suffered, too. With a heart such as that... they could rule the empire as if it were something they turned in the palm of their hand.

'What is the foundation of natural human feeling for others (jen): The heart that sympathizes with pain. What is the foundation of a commitment to the common good (i)? The heart that is repelled by vice. What is the foundation of respect for social and religious forms (li)? The heart that is willing to defer. And what is the foundation for a liberal education (chih)? The heart that can tell true from false.

'People have these four foundations like they have four limbs. A man who says he cannot practise them is calling himself a criminal. A man who says the ruler cannot practise that is calling the ruler a criminal.

'Everybody has these four foundations in himself. If these four foundations can be filled in on a broad scale, it will be like a fire starting up, it will be like a spring bursting through. If they can be filled in, it will be enough to create and preserve the world order. Leave them unfilled, it will be impossible for a man to take care of his father and mother.'

Mencius II. A. 6