| Lu's Question: |
Meng Shan praised Prince Ze Lu, saying: "Formerly, in the uprising of Bo Gong, Prince Ze Lu was held captive. With axes around his waist and spears pointing at his heart, Bo Gong told him to be Lord and live or refuse and die. Prince Ze Lu said to him, 'What an insult to me. You have killed my parents and now bait me with the state of Chu. If it is not righteous I would not even take the whole empire, to say nothing of the state of Chu.' Thus he refused. Wasn't Prince Ze Lu magnanimous?" Mozi said: What he did was indeed difficult, but hardly magnanimous. If he thought the Lord had gone astray from the Tao, why not accept the offer and undertake the government himself? If he thought Bo Gong was unrighteous, why not accept the Lordship also, execute Bo Gong, and then return the Lordship to the Lord? Therefore I say what he did was indeed difficult, but hardly magnanimous. |
