All poems

战国战国 · 文 Prose

得道多助，失道寡助

The Virtuous Have Many Helpers, the Unvirtuous Few (Dedao Duozhu, Shidao Guazhu)

孟子

Mencius

议论Discourse 治国Governance 哲理Philosophy 名篇Masterpiece

天时不如地利，地利不如人和。
三里之城，七里之郭，环而攻之而不胜。
夫环而攻之，必有得天时者矣，然而不胜者，是天时不如地利也。

The heavenly time is not as good as the earthly advantage, and the earthly advantage is not as good as the harmony of men.
With the city of three li, and the outer wall of seven li, one surrounds and attacks it and cannot conquer it.
Now, surrounding and attacking it, there must be the one who has the heavenly time, yet not conquering, this is the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage.

Listen

Meaning

Selected from the 'Gongsun Chou II' of the Mencius, the famous passage of Mencius's discussion of the relationship of the 'heavenly time, the earthly advantage, and the harmony of men.' 'The heavenly time is not as good as the earthly advantage, and the earthly advantage is not as good as the harmony of men'—the opening statement, the three conditions of the victory of the war advanced layer on layer, the harmony of men the highest; 'with the city of three li, and the outer wall of seven li, one surrounds and attacks it and cannot conquer it'—the example of the siege, the small city of three li and the outer wall of seven li, surrounded and attacked yet not conquered; 'now, surrounding and attacking it, there must be the one who has the heavenly time, yet not conquering, this is the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage'—the deduction, the siege with the heavenly time yet not conquering, the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage. The passage, with the example of the war, advances the three conditions layer on layer, and the 'the harmony of men' the core of the thought of Mencius, the crystallization of the people-based thought.

有利的天时不如有利的地势，有利的地势不如人心的团结。方圆三里的内城、方圆七里的外城，包围着攻打它却不能取胜。包围着攻打它，必定是得到了天时的，然而却不能取胜，这就是有利的天时不如有利的地势。

Appreciation

The style of the piece is the argumentative prose of the recorded-saying genre, with both the presence of the dialogue and the rigor of the discourse. In the composition, it adopts the classic structure of the 'the statement of the thesis, the argument with the example, and the deduction of the conclusion': the opening 'the heavenly time is not as good as the earthly advantage, and the earthly advantage is not as good as the harmony of men' with the thimble-like parallelism establishes the thesis, the three conditions advanced layer on layer, the one word fixing the tone; then the example of the siege, with the specific battle of the 'city of three li and the outer wall of seven li' arguing the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage; then the example of the defense deduced to the earthly advantage not as good as the harmony of men (the full text, though the excerpt stops at the siege, the structure of the whole piece the classic). The art of the argument of Mencius: the metaphor apt, the example vivid, the language majestic and the momentum grand, the 'the harmony of men' established as the highest, the power of the argument of the pre-Qin prose.

【白话串讲】孟子写《得道多助，失道寡助》：“天时不如地利，地利不如人和”。“三里之城，七里之郭”——“得道者多助，失道者寡助”——“寡助之至，亲戚畔之；多助之至，天下顺之”——他讲仁政。【意象与手法】论说层层递进、环环相扣，以排比、对比、反问强化论证，语言简练雄辩，是战国孟子式论辩文的典范【情感与主旨】孟子以「人和」为决胜之本，把民心向背提升到治国安邦的最高位置，主张国君行仁政、得民心则天下归之，充分体现儒家「民贵君轻」的民本思想【名句点睛】常考「天时不如地利，地利不如人和」的递进论证与「得道多助，失道寡助」的治国箴言——「人和」二字至今仍是理解中华治理智慧的关键词

Background

Mencius (c. 372–c. 289 BC), name Ke, courtesy name Ziyu, a native of Zou (present-day Zoucheng, Shandong), the representative of the Confucianism of the Warring States, honored by the later ages as the 'Second Sage.' He studied under the disciple of Zisi, traveled all his life persuading the feudal lords, going successively to Qi, Song, Teng, Wei and other states, preaching the 'benevolent government' and the 'kingly way,' yet 'circuitous and far from the practical,' not employed by the age, and in his later years retired with his disciples Wan Zhang and Gongsun Chou to edit the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents, and to continue the meaning of Confucius, writing the Mencius in seven books. This passage is selected from the 'Gongsun Chou II' of the Mencius, the famous passage of Mencius's discussion of the relationship of the 'heavenly time, the earthly advantage, and the harmony of men' with his disciples. In the Warring States, the feudal lords contended for the hegemony, attacking the cities and the lands, and the military thinking prevailed, and this passage of Mencius, discussing the war yet elevating the 'harmony of men' to the highest, is the criticism and the reconstruction of the military thinking of the age: the victory of the war in the last analysis lies in the hearts of the people, the people-based thought of Mencius.

孟子（约前372—前289），名轲，字子舆，邹（今山东邹城）人，战国时期儒家代表人物，被后世尊为「亚圣」。他受业于子思之门人，一生游说诸侯，先后到过齐、宋、滕、魏等国，宣扬「仁政」「王道」，却「迂远而阔于事情」，不见用于当世，晚年退而与弟子万章、公孙丑等序《诗》《书》，述仲尼之意，作《孟子》七篇。《得道多助，失道寡助》选自《孟子·公孙丑下》，是孟子与弟子讨论「天时、地利、人和」关系的著名段落。战国之际，诸侯争霸，攻城略地成为常态，《孙子兵法》等兵家著作亦多论天时地利；孟子独标「人和」，以民心为本，把军事胜负问题转化为政治问题，主张「域民不以封疆之界，固国不以山溪之险，威天下不以兵革之利」，为「仁政」学说提供论证。此文本是公孙丑问「夫子当路于齐，管仲、晏子之功可复许乎」引发的大段议论中的核心论题，孟子借论战之机系统阐发「得道者多助，失道者寡助」的民本思想，其精神与《孟子·尽心下》「民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻」一脉相承。

Art

The art is the classic structure of the 'the statement of the thesis, the argument with the example, and the deduction of the conclusion': the thimble-like parallelism of the three conditions advancing layer on layer, the example of the siege of the city of three li, and the deduction of the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage—the metaphor apt, the momentum grand, the 'the harmony of men' established as the highest, the power of the argument of the pre-Qin prose.

此文体裁为语录体散文中的论辩文，兼具对话的现场感与论文的严密性。章法上采用「提出论点—举例论证—推演结论」的经典结构：首句「天时不如地利，地利不如人和」以顶针式排比立论，将三重条件逐层递进，一语定音；继而举攻城战例，以「三里之城，七里之郭」的具体战况论证天时不如地利；后文更以守城之例推演地利不如人和，最后由「域民」「固国」「威天下」三句反向立论，归结到「得道多助，失道寡助」的主旨。论证方法上，对比论证贯穿始终（天时对地利、地利对人和、得道对失道、助之者对畔之者），举例论证以攻城守城之战实证，层层递进如剥笋。语言上极简练雄辩：三字成组（「三里之城，七里之郭」）、四字成句（「环而攻之」「得道多助」），节奏铿锵；「夫环而攻之，必有得天时者矣，然而不胜者」以因果推理环环相扣，「是……也」的判断句式斩截有力，尽显孟子「好辩」而「不得已也」的论辩锋芒。

Allusions

Though the piece is argumentative prose, its thought and cultural import are deep. First, the three categories of the 'heavenly time, the earthly advantage, and the harmony of men': the heavenly time refers to the advantage of the celestial phenomena and the seasons, from the theory of the Yin-Yang school of the military of the antiquity; the earthly advantage refers to the danger of the mountains and the rivers, especially valued by the military; and Mencius placing the 'harmony of men' above the two is in fact the reconstruction of the popular military thinking of the age—the heavenly time and the earthly advantage are both external, only the hearts of the people the decisive, the thought from the 'the people are the root of the state' of the Book of Documents. Second, the 'the one who has the heavenly time' of the siege, 'the attack with the heavenly time' the thinking of the timing of the attack of the military, and Mencius arguing with it that the heavenly time is not as good as the earthly advantage, the argument of the logic.

此篇虽为论说文，其思想渊源与文化内涵却极深。其一是「天时、地利、人和」三重范畴：天时指天象时令之利，源出上古兵阴阳家之说；地利指山川形势之险，兵家尤重；而孟子将「人和」置于二者之上，实为对当时流行的兵家观念的重构——天时地利皆外在于人，唯「人和」系于人心向背，孟子的民本立场由此凸显。其二是「道」的儒家含义：孟子所谓「道」即仁义王道，得道即行仁政、得民心，与《孟子》全书「仁者无敌」「保民而王」之说互为表里。其三是「助」与「畔」的对举：得道者「天下顺之」，失道者「亲戚畔之」，暗承《尚书·泰誓》「天视自我民视，天听自我民听」的天命民本观——民心即天命，民意即天意。后世此篇思想化为《三国演义》隆中对策「天时不如地利，地利不如人和」的引用，又沉淀为「天时地利人和」这一成语，成为中国人在机遇、条件与人心之间权衡的智慧结晶，其影响早已超出政治军事领域，深入民间日用。

Commentary

The passage is one of the most condensed declarations of the people-based thought of Mencius and the model of the Chinese argumentative prose of the 'the small seeing the great and the few controlling the many.' In thought, the passage establishes the 'harmony of men' as the highest condition of the victory, reducing the military victory to the political gain and loss, and the political gain and loss to the hearts of the people, the direct lineage of the 'the people are the root of the state' of the Book of Documents; and the whole piece, with the thimble-like parallelism and the example of the siege, argues the famous proposition in a few strokes, the classic of the argumentative prose, and the 'the heavenly time is not as good as the earthly advantage, and the earthly advantage is not as good as the harmony of men' has become the eternal famous saying of the Chinese political thought.

《得道多助，失道寡助》是孟子民本思想最凝练的宣言之一，也是中国论说文「以小见大、以简驭繁」的典范。思想上，此篇把「人和」确立为决胜的最高条件，将军事胜负归结为政治得失、政治得失归结为民心向背，逻辑链条完整而气势磅礴，是「仁政」学说最锋利的论证；「得道多助，失道寡助」更成为汉语中概括人心向背与事业成败关系的经典格言，历代治国理政者莫不引以为鉴。文学上，此文以其层递的章法、雄辩的语言被历代文选收录，成为后世论说文（如贾谊《过秦论》、欧阳修《朋党论》）的范本；「三里之城，七里之郭」等句式的节奏感，亦为骈文与后世古文所取法。现代语境中，「人和」被广泛引申为企业管理、团队建设、国际合作中的共识与凝聚之力，「天时地利人和」更是民间常用的成功要素论。这篇不足百字的短文，以其跨越两千余年的生命力，印证了孟子思想的普世价值与汉语表达的恒久魅力。

Prosody

Form Warring States recorded-saying argumentative prose, the sentence-forms uneven with the short sentences as the bone战国语录体论说文，句式参差、以短句为骨

Rhyme This piece is not rhymed, the beauty of the rhythm in the long and short sentence-forms and the pauses of the particles: 'the heavenly time is not as good as the earthly advantage, and the earthly advantage is not as good as the harmony of men'此文不押韵，节奏之美在句式的长短搭配与虚词的顿挫：「天时不如地利，地利不如人和」以五字顶针排比，音节紧凑铿锵；「三里之城，七里之郭」以三字词组两两相对，短促有力；「环而攻之而不胜」「是天时不如地利也」则以长句舒缓收束，短长相间、张弛有度，读来如战鼓急擂后的一声长鸣。

Tone pattern The 'the heavenly time is not as good as the earthly advantage' is even, the 'surrounds and attacks it and cannot conquer it' is steady, and the 'this is the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage' is decisive—the whole from the thesis to the example to the deduction, the rigor of the argument carried by the rhythm语气上以判断句、反问句、因果句交错推进：「……矣，然而……也」的推理句式从容不迫，「是……也」的判断句式斩钉截铁，「夫」字领起的议论语气庄重雄浑。全文由立论到举证到推理，声调层层升高、步步紧逼，尽显孟子「好辩」的凌厉与「不得已」的恳切。

Reading note The long and short sentence-forms and the particles carry the argument of the three conditions, the momentum of the prose of Mencius.《得道多助，失道寡助》虽为散文，声律经营却极讲究，其节奏之美源自三方面的配合。一是排比与顶针：开篇「天时不如地利，地利不如人和」以顶针连环递进，五字句一气流注，形成先声夺人的节奏；后文「域民不以封疆之界，固国不以山溪之险，威天下不以兵革之利」三句排比，句句五七字相间，如三叠浪涛次第拍岸。二是长短句交错：「三里之城，七里之郭」四字短句急促铿锵，摹写围城之势；「夫环而攻之，必有得天时者矣」长句舒徐，尽显推理的从容；「然而不胜者，是天时不如地利也」以「然而」「是……也」的虚词顿挫收束，如乐曲以重音定拍。三是虚词调度：「夫」「矣」「然而」「者」「也」等虚字分布于关键位置，或提领议论、或肯定前提、或转折递进、或判断收束，使论证的每一步都有声气可循。全文无韵而自有韵律，靠句式与虚词的节奏支撑起雄辩的气势，这正是战国散文「以气为主」的声律观——孟子之文的气盛，一半在义理，一半在音节。

Line by line

天时不如地利，地利不如人和。

The heavenly time is not as good as the earthly advantage, and the earthly advantage is not as good as the harmony of men. (The thesis: the thimble-like parallelism, the three conditions advanced layer on layer, the harmony of men the highest.)

有利的天时不如有利的地势，有利的地势不如人心的团结。

Opportune weather is not as good as advantageous terrain; advantageous terrain is not as good as the harmony of the people.

开篇两句以顶针格立论，是全文的总纲。「天时不如地利，地利不如人和」采用连环句式：上一句的宾语「地利」成为下一句的主语，两两相接、层层递进，如链环紧扣，把三重条件排出高低次序——天时、地利、人和，一个比一个根本，一个比一个重要。「不如」二字三次出现，斩钉截铁，不作任何游移；而最终落脚于「人和」，即民心团结，孟子民本思想的锋芒在此一语亮出。此句的价值有三：其一，逻辑上完成了从自然条件（天时）到地理条件（地利）再到人事条件（人和）的逐层提升，由外而内、由物及人；其二，思想上把人的因素置于最高位置，为后文「得道多助，失道寡助」的治国之论奠基；其三，语言上顶针与排比交融，音节铿锵，朗朗上口，两句即成一格言。后世治国者论胜败、企业家论成败，无不先引此句，正见其跨越时空的概括力。

The opening two lines argue in the chain-joint manner, the thesis of the whole. 'The timing of heaven is not as advantageous as the terrain of earth; the terrain of earth is not as advantageous as the unity of men,' the chained sentence: the object of the first line, 'terrain of earth,' becomes the subject of the second, the two joined, the ascent like linked rings, ranking the three conditions - timing, terrain, unity, each more fundamental than the last. The words 'not as' appear three times, clipped, no wavering; closing at last on 'unity of men,' the people's solidarity, Mencius' people-first edge flashing in one phrase. The line's worth is threefold: logic completing the rise from natural condition (timing) to geographic (terrain) to human (unity), from without to within, from thing to man; thought placing the human factor highest, founding the later rule of 'the one who gains the Way wins aid'; language fusing chain-joint and parallelism, the cadence ringing, two lines already a maxim. Later rulers debating victory, entrepreneurs debating success, all first cite this line - its span across time.

三里之城，七里之郭，环而攻之而不胜。

With the city of three li, and the outer wall of seven li, one surrounds and attacks it and cannot conquer it. (The example: the small city of three li and the outer wall of seven li, surrounded and attacked yet not conquered, the argument with the example.)

方圆三里的内城、方圆七里的外城，包围着攻打它却不能取胜。

An inner wall three li around, an outer wall seven li around; they besiege it on all sides, yet cannot take it.

此句以具体战例论证「天时不如地利」。「三里之城，七里之郭」极言城池之小——内城方圆三里、外城方圆七里，是一座微不足道的小城，守城之力薄弱到极点；「环而攻之」写围攻之猛烈——四面八方团团包围，攻势凌厉；「而不胜」三字急转直下，写出意料之外的结局：如此小城，如此强攻，竟攻不下来。两相对照，反差强烈，论证之力全在这对比中。细味「环」字：包围本已是占尽地势优势的攻法，却仍不能胜，可见攻者所凭唯天时（如选择合宜的进攻时机），而守者据有城墙之利，天时遂败于地利。句式的处理也见匠心：两个四字短句排比而出（三里之城，七里之郭），紧接着一个长句「环而攻之而不胜」舒缓收束，短促与舒缓相间，如弓弦先紧后松，把「不胜」的结果沉重地抛出，为下文的推理蓄势。

This line proves 'the timing of heaven is not as advantageous as the terrain of earth' through a concrete battle. 'An inner wall of three li, an outer wall of seven li' the minuteness of the city - three li inner, seven li outer, a negligible little town, the defense at its weakest; 'besieged on all sides' the fierceness of the assault - ringed from every side, the attack sharp; 'yet it cannot be taken' three words turning sharply, the unexpected end: so small a town, so fierce an assault, and still it holds. The contrast strong, the proof's force all in the contrast. Savor the word 'besieged': the siege already the attack of greatest terrain advantage, yet still no victory, showing the attackers relying only on timing (a chosen hour), while the defenders hold the walls' advantage, timing losing to terrain. The syntax too is crafted: two four-character short lines in parallel (three-li wall, seven-li wall), then the long 'besieged on all sides, yet cannot be taken' closing in ease, short and easy alternating, like a bowstring first tight then loose, launching the result 'cannot be taken' with weight, priming the reasoning below.

夫环而攻之，必有得天时者矣，然而不胜者，是天时不如地利也。

Now, surrounding and attacking it, there must be the one who has the heavenly time, yet not conquering, this is the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage. (The deduction: the siege with the heavenly time yet not conquering, the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage, the deduction of the conclusion.)

既然包围着攻打它，必定是占了天时有利条件的，然而却不能取胜，这就是有利的天时不如有利的地势。

If one besieges it on all sides, one must surely have heaven's timing on one's side; yet it is not taken - this shows that heaven's timing is not as good as earth's terrain.

此句是论证的逻辑推进，由战例归纳出结论。「夫环而攻之，必有得天时者矣」以「夫」字领起推理——既然敢四面围攻，必定是掌握了天时之利的；「然而不胜者」一转，指出事实的反面；「是天时不如地利也」以判断句收束，得出「天时不如地利」的结论。全句是典型的因果推理与归谬论证：先承认攻方占天时，再以「不胜」的事实否定天时的决定性，从而反证地利的优先。句中的虚词极见功力：「夫」字提起议论，「矣」字肯定前提，「然而」表转折，「也」字断案，四个虚词撑起完整的逻辑骨架，语气从容而判断斩截，正是孟子「好辩」的典型风格。此句完成了论证的第一层推进，为后文「地利不如人和」的第二层论证提供了范式——同样的战例可以再演一次：守城者据地利而「委而去之」，便是地利不如人和的明证，层层递进的结构于此成形。

This line is the argument's logical advance, concluding from the battle. 'Now, to besiege on all sides, one must surely have the advantage of heaven's timing throughout,' the word 'now' leading the reasoning - since they dare the all-side siege, they must hold the advantage of timing; 'yet it is not taken' the turn to the fact's reverse; 'this is why heaven's timing is not as advantageous as earth's terrain,' the judgment closing, the conclusion. The whole line is typical causal reasoning and reduction to absurdity: granting the attackers their timing, then negating timing's decisiveness by the fact of 'not taken,' and so counter-proving terrain's priority. The particles show the craft: 'now' raising the argument, 'throughout' affirming the premise, 'yet' the turn, 'is why' the verdict, four particles holding the whole logical skeleton, the tone unhurried, the judgment decisive - the very manner of Mencius the debater. The line completes the first advance of the proof, modeling the second proof of 'terrain is not as good as human unity': the same battle replayed once more, the defenders holding the terrain yet 'abandoning and fleeing,' the proof of terrain less than unity, the ascending structure now formed.

Study

Word focus

天时、地利、人和 The heavenly time, the earthly advantage, the harmony of men. The three categories of the argument: the celestial phenomena and the seasons, the mountains and the rivers, and the hearts of the people, advanced layer on layer, the harmony of men the highest, the three pillars of the piece. 「天时不如地利，地利不如人和」中的「天时、地利、人和」三词，是孟子论辩的核心范畴，也是中国政治军事思想的经典概念。「天时」指天象时令的有利条件（如气象、季节、时辰），源于上古兵阴阳家与《孙子兵法》「天者，阴阳、寒暑、时制也」之说；「地利」指山川城池的形势之便（「地者，远近、险易、广狭、死生也」）；「人和」则指人心所向、内部团结，是孟子独创的范畴——兵家言天时地利而不言人和，孟子独标人心，正是儒家民本思想对兵家话语的改造。三词构成由外而内、由物及人的价值序列：「天时」是自然之恩赐，「地利」是地理之依托，皆非人力所能尽持，唯有「人和」系于人心向背，可由人主之德行直接决定。孟子以此三词确立「得民心者得天下」的逻辑前提，后世「天时地利人和」更凝固为成语，泛指成功所需的客观条件与主观因素，其影响从庙堂论政直落民间谚语，堪称汉语中最有生命力的思想词汇之一。

环而攻之 To surround and attack it. The phrase of the siege: 'one surrounds and attacks it'—the siege of the small city, the argument with the example, the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage. 「环而攻之而不胜」之「环而攻之」四字，写围攻之状，是论证中极有力的一笔。「环」字本义为玉璧，引申为环绕、围绕，此处作动词用，写军队四面合围、团团包抄之态——一个「环」字把攻方人海战术的声势、对城池的绝对包围写得如在目前，读之如见旌旗蔽空、战鼓震地的围城画面。而紧接的「而不胜」三字，恰与「环」的满围之势形成巨大反差：围得越满，败得越奇，论证的说服力正在这反差中。「环」字又暗含「周全」「占尽」之意——攻城者自恃天时，把能用的条件都用上了，结果依然铩羽，可见天时之不足恃。用一字而见全局，正是孟子炼字之精：不写攻城的刀光剑影，只以一个「环」字写尽围攻之状，笔墨之省俭、意蕴之丰厚，堪称论说文用字的典范。

是……也 This is... The pattern of the judgment: 'this is the heavenly time not as good as the earthly advantage'—the judgment pattern of the classical Chinese, the deduction of the conclusion, the rigor of the argument. 「是天时不如地利也」之「是……也」判断句式，是孟子论辩文最鲜明的语言标记。「是」为代词，指代前文所述事实（环而攻之而不胜）；「也」为语气助词，表确认与断定。全句结构为「是＋结论＋也」，把归纳推理的结果以斩截的判断语气说出，如法官断案、一锤定音，不容置疑。这种判断句式在《孟子》中反复出现（「是使民养生丧死无憾也」「是不为也，非不能也」），构成孟子雄辩风格的重要一面：先铺陈事实与推理，再以「是……也」句收束定案，逻辑严密而气势逼人。在此篇中，「是天时不如地利也」与后文「是地利不如人和也」相呼应，两次判断句式如两记重锤，将论点层层敲实。论说文以句式定声气，孟子此式开后世「夫……也」「是故……也」论证句式的先河，韩愈《原道》、欧阳修《朋党论》皆承其绪。