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战国战国 · 文 Prose

寡人之于国也

On the King and His State

孟轲

Mencius

名篇masterpiece 论辩debate 仁政benevolent governance 战国散文Warring States prose

梁惠王曰：寡人之于国也，尽心焉耳矣。
河内凶，则移其民于河东，移其粟于河内；
河东凶亦然。
察邻国之政，无如寡人之用心者。
邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也？

King Hui of Liang said, “In my governance of the state, I have devoted my whole heart to it, indeed.”
“When Henei suffered famine, I moved its people to Hedong and transported grain from Hedong to Henei; when Hedong suffered famine, I did the same.”
“Upon examining the governance of neighboring states, none matches the devotion I have shown.”
“Yet the people of neighboring states have not diminished, nor have my own people increased—why is this so?”

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Meaning

King Hui of Liang opens by declaring that he has exerted his utmost devotion to governing the realm. To prove this, he cites his relief measures: when Henei suffered famine, he relocated its people to Hedong and shipped grain from Hedong to Henei; when Hedong faced the same calamity, he responded in kind. Surveying the administration of neighboring states, he finds none whose ruler labors as diligently as he. Yet, to his bewilderment, the populations of those states have neither shrunk nor swollen his own—his subjects have not multiplied. He poses this puzzle to Mencius, betraying both self-satisfaction in his perceived benevolence and genuine confusion at its inefficacy.

梁惠王说：「我对于国家，可算是尽心尽力了啊。河内遇到饥荒，就把那里的百姓迁移到河东去，把河东的粮食运到河内来；河东遇到饥荒也是这样办理。考察邻国的政事，没有哪一个能像我这样用心。可是邻国的百姓并不因此减少，我的百姓也并不因此增多，这是为什么呢？」

Appreciation

【Plain narration】King Hui of Liang begins by declaring, “In my governance of the state, I have devoted my whole heart”—boasting of his diligence: in Henei’s famine he moved people and grain, and did the same in Hedong, believing such compassion surpassed all neighboring rulers. Yet the neighbors’ people did not decrease nor his own increase, and perplexed, he asks Mencius “why.” Within this single question lie both self-satisfaction and confusion, preparing the ground for Mencius’s “fifty paces laugh at a hundred” allegory. 【Artistic features】This is a model of dialogic argument: it opens with the king’s self-praise, elaborates the relief measures, juxtaposes “neighbors’ people not fewer / my people not more,” and closes with the rhetorical “why”—building tension layer by layer and thrusting the contradiction before Mencius. The stacked final particles 焉耳矣 and the echoes of 也, 矣, 何也 vividly capture the king’s mingled pride and puzzlement. 【Emotion and theme】The excerpt exposes the Warring States rulers’ utilitarian “relief-as-benevolence”—treating symptoms, not root causes. Mencius later shows that moving people and grain differs from neighbors’ inaction only as fifty paces differ from a hundred; true kingship was never practiced. The work urges humane governance and education so that the people’s livelihood and burial are without regret, thereby winning the realm. 【Famous lines】Examiners often test the stacked mood of 尽心焉耳矣 and the antithetical query 邻国之民不加少…何也: the former shows the king’s complacency, the latter his perplexity; between sigh and question lies the strongest foundation for Mencius’s celebrated argument.

【白话串讲】孟子写《寡人之于国也》：梁惠王说：“寡人之于国也，尽心焉耳矣”——为什么邻国百姓不加少，我的百姓不加多？孟子说：“王好战，请以战喻”——“五十步笑百步”——他劝梁惠王“不违农时”、“数罟不入洿池”、“养生丧死无憾”——“王道之始也”。【意象与手法】本文为对话体论辩的典范：以梁惠王自夸「尽心」开篇，铺陈移民移粟之事，再以「邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多」对举，末以「何也」设问收束，层层蓄势，把矛盾推到孟子面前。句末语气词「焉耳矣」连用，「也」「矣」「何也」呼应，口吻宛然，活画出梁惠王自矜与不解交织的神态。【情感与主旨】节选部分以梁惠王之问，暴露了战国诸侯以「移民移粟」为仁政的功利治术——治标而不治本。孟子随后以「五十步笑百步」点破：移民移粟与邻国之政不过五十步与百步之差，皆未行王道。全文主旨在于劝梁惠王行仁政、施教化、使民养生丧死无憾，方能王天下。【名句点睛】常考「尽心焉耳矣」的连用语气与「邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也」的反诘：前者见梁惠王的自得，后者见其困惑，一问一叹之间，为孟子「五十步笑百步」的著名论辩作了最有力的铺垫。

Background

“On the King and His State” is excerpted from “King Hui of Liang, Part One” in the Mencius, a famous dialogue between the Confucian master Mencius (c. 372–289 BCE) and King Hui of Liang during the mid-Warring States period. Mencius, named Ke, styled Ziyu, of Zou (present-day Zoucheng, Shandong), studied under a disciple of Zisi and was later honored as the “Second Sage,” paired with Confucius as “Confucius and Mencius.” His era saw the seven contending powers locked in ever-escalating wars—“contending for land they slaughtered across the fields; contending for cities they filled the towns with corpses.” Each ruler coveted wealth, strength, and population as the foundations of power, which is why King Hui opens by asking why his people have not increased. King Hui of Liang, originally Lord of Wei named Ying, reigned 369–319 BCE; pressed by Qin in the east, he moved his capital to Daliang (present-day Kaifeng, Henan) in 340 BCE, hence his title. Having suffered defeats—at Maling against Sun Bin of Qi, where his heir was captured and the west-bank lands were lost to Qin—he grew eager for worthy counsel late in life, and the Mencius opens with this very audience. The recorded question is the引子 of the debate: its complacency and perplexity set the target for Mencius’s ensuing rebuttals—“fifty paces laugh at a hundred,” “the beginning of the kingly way,” “the king blames not the harvest”—making this passage, read with the reply, a classic of polemical strategy.

《寡人之于国也》节选自《孟子·梁惠王上》，是战国中期儒家大师孟子（约前372—前289）与梁惠王的一段著名对话。孟子名轲，字子舆，邹（今山东邹城）人，受业于子思门人，被后世尊为「亚圣」，与孔子并称「孔孟」。他生活的战国中期，七雄并立，兼并战争愈演愈烈，「争地以战，杀人盈野；争城以战，杀人盈城」，各国君主汲汲于富国强兵，视人口、土地、兵源为立国根本——人口多寡直接关系赋税与兵员，故梁惠王开口便问「邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多」。梁惠王即魏惠王，名罃，公元前369年至前319年在位，因秦兵东逼，于前340年迁都大梁（今河南开封），故称梁惠王。他一生屡遭败绩：马陵之战为齐将孙膑所破，太子申被俘，河西之地渐失于秦，晚年颇有思贤图治之心，遂有「礼贤下士」之举，《孟子》开篇即载他与孟子的这次会见。对话发生之时，魏国已由战国初期的霸主地位跌落，梁惠王急切寻求富国强兵之策，然其思路仍停留在「移民移粟」式的功利补救，与孟子「王道仁政」的主张相去甚远。本文所录正是梁惠王的发问，是这场著名论辩的引子，其自矜自满与百思不解，恰为孟子下文「五十步笑百步」「王道之始」「王无罪岁」的层层批驳立下靶子，故历来选本多以此段与孟子答语合观，以见论辩之机锋。

Art

This opening exemplifies the art of “building tension” in dialogic argument. It proceeds in four tightening rings: first the king states his thesis—“In my governance, I have devoted my whole heart”; then substantiates it with concrete merit—“when Henei suffered famine… when Hedong suffered, likewise”; then compares—“none of the neighboring states matches my devotion”; and finally forces the theme with a rhetorical question—“why have the people not increased?” The logic moves from general to particular, from self to others, from cause to query, the momentum rising until it delivers the contradiction squarely to Mencius. In language, parallel and loose styles interweave: the matching clauses of “Henei… Hedong…” create a circling rhythm, while final particles 焉耳矣, 也, 何也 saturate the lines with oral color—the triple stacking of 焉耳矣 renders the king’s self-satisfaction unmistakably alive. This use of particles to convey spirit is the concrete embodiment of the Mencius’s “full-blooded, apt utterance,” and a direct source of the later “question-and-answer” form in argumentative prose.

此段为对话体议论文的开篇，其章法之妙在一个「蓄」字。全文以梁惠王自述起笔：「寡人之于国也，尽心焉耳矣」先亮观点、定基调；继而以具体政绩佐证——「河内凶，则移其民于河东，移其粟于河内；河东凶亦然」，用移民移粟的对举铺陈其「尽心」；再以比较收束前文——「察邻国之政，无如寡人之用心者」，自许为邻国之冠；最后以反诘逼出主旨——「邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也」，把求教之意与困惑之情和盘托出。四层环环相扣，由总到分、由己及人、由因及问，语势层层高涨，恰为孟子雷霆般的批驳蓄足声势。语言上骈散相济：「河内凶……河东凶亦然」以对举句式造成回环往复的节奏，移民移粟四字两两相对，读来如行云流水；「焉耳矣」「也」「何也」等语气词密布句末，赋予问话以强烈的口吻色彩——「焉耳矣」三字叠用，把梁惠王的自得之情写得活灵活现，一开口便觉其人声口宛在目前。这种以语气词传神的写法，是《孟子》散文「气盛言宜」特色的具体体现，也是后世论说文中「问答体」的直接源头。

Allusions

Though a record of dialogue, this passage is rich in cultural meaning. First, the phrase “devotion of heart” (尽心): “I have devoted my whole heart to it” is a source of the idiom 尽心竭力, yet Mencius deems mere devotion insufficient—he shows relief measures are but “fifty paces laughing at a hundred,” and true devotion lies in the kingly way. Second, the ancient sense of 凶: here “famine,” not “ferocious,” as in the Rites “in years of famine the grain does not ripen”—essential to understanding the relief acts. Third, the reflected Warring States reality: moving people and shipping grain in disaster was standard policy, also seen in the Rites’ “move the people to the grain”; the king’s “devotion” was merely customary, hence Mencius’s scorn. Fourth, the people-centered political concept: the king worries “my people do not increase,” while Mencius urges “protect the people to win the realm”—one contends for people to strengthen the state, the other nurtures them to practice humanity, opening the fundamental divide between “hegemony” and “kingship” in Chinese political thought.

此段虽为对话实录，却蕴含丰富的文化内涵。其一是「尽心」一词的文化积淀：「尽心焉耳矣」是「尽心」成语的源头之一，梁惠王以「尽心」自诩，后人遂以「尽心竭力」形容办事用尽心思，然孟子并不以「尽心」为足——他随后指出移民移粟只是「以五十步笑百步」，真正的「尽心」在于行王道、施仁政，一词之间见出两种政治观的交锋。其二是「凶」字的古义：此处「凶」指荒年歉收，非凶恶之义，乃上古常用义，《礼记·曲礼》「岁凶，年谷不登」即是此解，理解此义方能读懂「河内凶则移民移粟」的救荒之举。其三是移民移粟所反映的战国政治现实：遇灾移民、调粟赈济，是先秦各国通行的救荒政策，亦见《周礼·大司徒》「移民就谷」之制，梁惠王自谓「尽心」，所行实为旧制常法，故孟子讥其与邻国无别。其四是以「民」为中心的政治观念：梁惠王关心「民不加多」，孟子则主张「保民而王」，虽然都在「民」字上做文章，一为争民以强国，一为养民以行仁，由此引出中国政治思想史上「霸道」与「王道」的根本分野，这一对话遂成为后世讨论仁政的经典文本。

Commentary

“On the King and His State” is among the most beloved chapters of the Mencius and a long-standing text in secondary curricula. Its value is threefold. First, as a model of polemical art: the king’s self-praise and puzzlement meet Mencius’s “fifty paces,” “blame not the harvest,” and “the aged clothed in silk and fed with meat”—layered, metaphorical, turning abstract kingship into felt experience, a norm for later essayists such as Su Xun and Jia Yi. Second, as a high mark of humane-governance thought: “no regret in life and death is the beginning of the kingly way” grounds politics in the people’s bare survival, its “people precious, ruler light” becoming the bedrock of Chinese political tradition, while the king’s relief serves as the negative example of “treating symptoms, not root.” Third, in literary history: its lifelike dialogue inaugurated the question-and-answer essay; its dense final particles lend argument the flavor of lyric prose. From the Shiji to the Tang-Song masters, Mencius’s eloquence and metaphor remain the core bloodline of Chinese argumentative writing, and this passage is its most accessible entry.

《寡人之于国也》是《孟子》中最脍炙人口的篇章之一，长期入选中学语文教材，其价值可从三方面论之。其一，论辩艺术的典范：梁惠王此问自矜自惑，孟子答以「五十步笑百步」「王无罪岁」「七十者衣帛食肉，黎民不饥不寒」等，层层逼进，步步设喻，将抽象的王道政治化为可感的日常经验，被历代文章家推为论说文的圭臬——苏洵《六国论》、贾谊《过秦论》等雄辩之文，皆可见孟子气脉的滋养。其二，仁政思想的高标：孟子提出「养生丧死无憾，王道之始」，把政治落脚于百姓的温饱与生死，其「民贵君轻」「得民心者得天下」的主张，经两千年而成为中国传统政治思想的底色，梁惠王的移民移粟恰作为「治标不治本」的反面教材而流传。其三，文学史地位：本文以对话记事，声口毕肖，开后世问答体论说文之先河；句末语气词的密集使用，使议论文兼具抒情散文的韵味。从《史记》到唐宋八大家，从桐城派到现代杂文，孟子式的雄辩与设喻始终是中国论说文的核心血脉，而本文正是这一血脉最直观的入门篇目。

Prosody

Form Warring States philosophical prose (dialogic argumentative essay; the sayings style of the Mencius)战国诸子散文（对话体议论文，《孟子》语录体）

Rhyme This passage is prosaic argument, unrhymed, its rhythm arising from varied sentence lengths and stacked final particles: the opening “in my governance… devoted my whole heart” rests on 也 and 矣 with stately ease; “Henei… Hedong…” circles through parallel clauses with even beats; “none matches my devotion” relaxes into a long sentence; the closing “not fewer… not more… why” contrasts 少 and 多 and ends on the abrupt 何也, like a string suddenly taut, its resonance lingering.本段为散体论辩，不押韵，而以句式的长短参差与语气词的连用构成节奏：开篇「寡人之于国也，尽心焉耳矣」以「也」「矣」缓顿，语势雍容；「河内凶……河东凶亦然」以对偶句回环往复，节拍齐整；「察邻国之政，无如寡人之用心者」转以长句舒卷；末句「邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也」以「少」「多」对举、以短促的「何也」收束，如琴弦骤紧，余韵悠长。

Tone pattern Parallel and loose interweave, long and short alternate: four-character (“Henei famine,” “Hedong likewise”) and seven-character (“moved its people to Hedong”) clauses produce cadence and dip; particles 焉耳矣, 也, 何也 crowd the line-ends, letting the tone flow through self-satisfaction, elaboration, comparison, and perplexity, vividly voicing a proud yet bewildered ruler. Recite from slow to urgent, from rising to falling, with a sharp check at “why” to reveal the built tension.句式骈散相济、长短互见：四字句（河内凶、河东凶亦然）与七字句（移其民于河东、移其粟于河内）交错，造成顿挫起伏；「焉耳矣」「也」「何也」等语气词密布句末，使语调在自得、铺陈、比较、困惑之间流转，活画出一位自矜而又迷惘的君主的声口。诵读时宜由缓而急、由扬而抑，于「何也」处骤然提顿，方见论辩蓄势之妙。

Reading note This is Warring States saying-style prose; its beauty lies not in tonal meter but in the management of particles and syntax. Mencius is famed for “full-blooded” writing, and here in a few lines we see his method: final particles 也, 矣, 耳, 何也 appear six times at extraordinary density, each bearing a mood—the complacency of “devoted my whole heart,” the composure of “Hedong likewise,” the self-assurance of “none matches,” the perplexity of “why”—rendering the speaker’s voice alive. Syntactically, parallel and loose alternate: “moved its people to Hedong, transported its grain to Henei” is a wrought couplet, while “none of the neighboring states matches my devotion” flows loose, the transition seamless. This rhythm—particles conveying feeling, parallelism adding force—accords with the Mencius’s “generous and vast” style and prefigures later argumentative prose (Han Yu’s “On Teachers,” Su Xun’s “On the Six Kingdoms”) that uses particles to build momentum. Reciting it, one learns that Warring States prose’s musicality resides not in rhyme but in sentence-breath—where the breath turns, there the rhetorical force turns too.本文为战国语录体散文，音节之美不在声韵格律，而在语气词与句式的调度。孟子散文素以「气盛」著称，此段虽只短短数句，已见其法：句末语气词「也」「矣」「耳」「何也」凡六见，密度极高，每一处都承担着传达情态的任务——「尽心焉耳矣」的自得、「河东凶亦然」的从容、「无如寡人之用心者」的自负、「何也」的困惑，皆赖虚词传神，读来声口毕肖，如见其人。句式上以对偶与散句相间：「移其民于河东，移其粟于河内」工对如铸，「察邻国之政，无如寡人之用心者」散行如流，工散之间自然转换，毫无斧凿之痕。这种以虚词传情、以对偶增势的散文节奏，与《孟子》全书「宽厚弘博」的文风一致，亦开后世论说文（如韩愈《师说》、苏洵《六国论》）以语气助词蓄势的先声。诵之可知：战国散文的音乐性不在韵脚，而在句气——句气流转处，即是文势起伏处，亦是论辩机锋所在处。

Line by line

梁惠王曰：寡人之于国也，尽心焉耳矣。

King Hui of Liang said, “In my governance of the state, I have devoted my whole heart to it, indeed.”

梁惠王说：「我对于国家政事的治理，可算是尽心尽力了啊。」——一开口便以「尽心」自居，自诩为政无有不周，为后文的自夸与困惑定下基调。

King Hui of Liang said: As for my government of the state, I have indeed exhausted my heart to the utmost.

开篇一句立定全段基调，是梁惠王的自述与自评。「寡人」为诸侯谦称，「之于国也」以「也」字提顿，郑重其事；「尽心焉耳矣」五字连用三个语气词——「焉」表已然，「耳」表不过如此，「矣」表感叹，层层加重，把梁惠王自诩为国事殚精竭虑、劳苦功高的心态写得声口毕肖。此句妙在以语气词传神：若作「寡人尽心于国」，则平板无味；加「焉耳矣」三字，一个自得自夸、急于邀功的君主形象便跃然纸上。同时「尽心」二字又为全篇立下靶子——梁惠王以「尽心」自居，孟子下文却要指出其「尽心」不过是五十步笑百步，同是「尽心」，一虚一实，一功利一王道，开篇二字已埋下整个论辩的机锋，是典型的「一石数鸟」之笔。

The opening fixes the tone of the passage, the King's self-description and self-assessment. 'Your servant I,' the ruler's humble name, 'as for the state' pausing on 'as for,' with ceremony; 'have done my utmost, indeed' five characters with three modal particles - 'indeed' the achieved, 'only' the merely, 'ah' the exclamation, layer on layer, writing to the life the King's self-praise of his devotion to the state's toil and merit. The line's genius lies in the particles: without them, 'I have done my utmost for the state' is flat; with 'indeed, only, ah,' a self-satisfied, merit-craving king springs to life. At the same time the words 'done my utmost' set the target of the whole - the King resting on 'utmost,' yet Mencius below will show his 'utmost' no better than 'fifty paces laughing at a hundred'; same 'utmost,' one hollow one solid, one utility one kingly way, the opening's two characters already planting the whole debate's wit - the typical stone that kills several birds.

河内凶，则移其民于河东，移其粟于河内；河东凶亦然。

When Henei suffered famine, I moved its people to Hedong and transported grain from Hedong to Henei; when Hedong suffered famine, I did the same.

河内遇到饥荒，就把那里的百姓迁移到河东去，把河东的粮食运到河内来；河东遇到饥荒，也照样这样办理。

When the Ho-nei has a famine, I move its people to Ho-tung, and transport the Ho-tung grain to Ho-nei; when Ho-tung has a famine, I do likewise.

此句是梁惠王「尽心」的具体证据，以两个对偶分句铺陈其救荒举措。「移其民于河东，移其粟于河内」民粟互移，两两相对，句式整齐而内容周详；「河东凶亦然」以「亦然」二字一笔带过，省去重复，章法疏密有致。其深意有二：一是写出战国救荒的实况——移民就谷、调粟赈济，乃当时通行之政，梁惠王自谓尽心，实为循例；二是为下文孟子之讥埋伏笔——遇灾方救，是头痛医头、脚痛医脚的被动补救，而非使民「养生丧死无憾」的根本之道。故孟子答语中以「五十步笑百步」点破：邻国「无如寡人之用心者」，然而移民移粟与邻国纵民自为，不过程度之差，本质上同属「未行王道」。此句表面是陈述政绩，骨子里却是论辩的伏线，越是详尽铺陈，越显得梁惠王的「尽心」格局之小。

This line is the concrete evidence of the King's 'utmost,' two paired clauses laying out his famine relief. 'Move its people to Ho-tung, bring its grain to Ho-nei' people and grain crossing, paired, the order neat, the content thorough; 'when Ho-tung suffers famine, I do the same' the words 'do the same' closing in one stroke, sparing the repetition, the measure of full and sparse. Its depth is two: first, the reality of Warring States famine relief - moving people to grain, shipping grain for relief, the common policy of the day, the King's 'utmost' in truth routine; second, the priming of Mencius' satire below - relief only at disaster, the passive patching of head and foot, not the root way of making the people 'no regret in living and dying.' Hence Mencius answers with 'fifty paces laughing at a hundred': neighboring states do no more than leave their people to themselves, yet the moving of people and grain differs from that only in degree, essentially all 'not practicing the kingly way.' The line's surface states achievement, its bone a debate's foreshadowing - the more fully it is spread, the smaller the King's 'utmost' shows.

察邻国之政，无如寡人之用心者。

Upon examining the governance of neighboring states, none matches the devotion I have shown.

考察邻国的政事，没有一个国家的君主能像我这样为政用心的——自以为勤政爱民、远过邻国，自负之情溢于言表。

Examining the government of the neighboring states, no ruler gives his heart as I do.

此句由自陈政绩转入横向比较，是梁惠王自我评价的高潮。「察」字见其自以为考察周全，「无如」二字以否定句式反衬自己的勤政，语气自负之极，恰与开篇「尽心焉耳矣」相呼应。然细味其意，梁惠王衡量政治的标准只是「用心」与否，而非「得民」与否——他认为只要自己比邻国国君更用心，百姓便当归附，故下文立即追问「邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也」。这种以「用心」代替「有效」、以比较代替自省的思维，正是孟子要批判的功利政治观：治国不是与邻国比谁更卖力，而是看是否行仁政、得民心。此句在章法上是转折的枢纽：前文自夸至此达到顶点，顶点之后便是急转直下的困惑之问，由扬而抑、由自信而茫然，论辩的张力由此而生。

This line turns from stating achievement to comparing sideways, the peak of the King's self-estimate. The word 'examining' shows his belief in his thorough survey; 'no ruler' the negative set-off of his own diligence, the tone supremely self-satisfied, answering the opening 'have done my utmost, indeed.' Yet savor the meaning: the King measures government only by 'care' or not, not by 'winning the people' or not - he thinks that if he cares more than the neighboring rulers, the people should flock, hence the next question 'the neighboring people not fewer, my people not more, why?' This thinking that substitutes 'care' for 'effect' and comparison for self-examination is precisely the utilitarian politics Mencius will critique: ruling the state is not competing with neighbors in zeal, but practicing benevolence and winning the people's hearts. Structurally the line is the turning hinge: the self-praise reaching its peak, after the peak the sharp turn to the puzzled question, from lift to fall, from confidence to blankness, the debate's tension born here.

邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也？

Yet the people of neighboring states have not diminished, nor have my own people increased—why is this so?

可是邻国的百姓并不因此减少，我的百姓也并不因此增多，这是为什么呢？

Yet the people of the neighboring states do not decrease, nor do mine increase - why is this?

末句是全段的落点与枢纽，以反诘收束，把全部困惑凝于「何也」二字。「邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多」两句对举，句式工整而语义相反，写出事与愿违的悖谬——尽心至此，民却不多，梁惠王的迷惘与不平跃然纸上；「何也」短促一问，既是请教，也是质问，把难题和盘托出，推到孟子面前。此句在结构上是全段由叙事、比较到设问的完成，更是孟子长篇大论的引信：若无此问，下文「五十步笑百步」「王道之始」便无从谈起。从修辞看，「不加少」「不加多」用双重否定与肯定对举，语气委婉而立场鲜明；「何也」以疑问收束，语势却不断，如巨石投潭，涟漪层叠，是论说文「引而不发」的经典笔法。梁惠王的困惑越深，孟子的批驳便越有力，一问之中，两相对照的论辩结构已然成形。

The last line is the landing and hinge of the passage, closing in a rhetorical question, gathering all the puzzlement into the two words 'why?' 'The neighboring people are no fewer, and my people are no more' the two clauses paired, the order neat, the meaning opposite, writing the reversal of expectation - utmost care to this point, yet the people not more, the King's bewilderment and grievance before the eyes; 'why is this?' the short question, at once a request for teaching and a challenge, laying the whole riddle before Mencius. Structurally the line completes the passage's turn from narrative and comparison to question, and is the fuse of Mencius' long argument: without this question, the later 'fifty paces laughing at a hundred' and 'the beginning of royal rule' could not begin. In rhetoric, 'no fewer' and 'no more' set double-negative against affirmative, the tone tactful, the stance clear; 'why is this?' closing in question, the force unbroken, like a great stone tossed into the pool, the ripples layer on layer - the classic debate art of 'holding back the arrow.' The deeper the King's puzzlement, the more forceful Mencius' refutation; in one question, the contrasted debate structure already formed.

Study

Word focus

尽心 The “devotion of heart” (尽心) in “I have devoted my whole heart to it” is the thematic key of both passage and essay. King Hui uses it to boast that he has exhausted his thoughts on state affairs; yet in Mencius’s system the phrase carries a deeper sense—“he who exhausts his heart knows his nature; knowing his nature, he knows Heaven.” Mencius’s 尽心 means expanding innate goodness toward humane governance, unlike the king’s mere “doing one’s best at administration.” The king’s 尽心 stops at moving people and grain—symptomatic relief; Mencius’s points to “protecting the people to win the realm” through institutional and moral reform. One word, two meanings, reveals the divide between “hegemony” and “true kingship”: the former uses the people’s welfare as means to power, the latter takes nurturing them as end and humane governance as means. The idiom 尽心竭力 derives from here, yet most later users keep only the king’s sense. Read against Mencius, this passage clarifies the full Confucian connotation and his central thesis: the root of government lies not in the diligence of effort but in the rectitude of intent. 「尽心焉耳矣」之「尽心」是本段乃至全文的题眼。梁惠王以「尽心」自诩，谓己于国事用尽心思；然「尽心」一词在孟子思想体系中另有深意——《孟子·尽心上》开篇即言「尽其心者，知其性也；知其性，则知天矣」，孟子所讲的「尽心」是扩充本心之善以达仁政，与梁惠王口中的「尽力办事」名同而实异。梁惠王的「尽心」止于移民移粟、赈灾济民，是事功层面的补救；孟子的「尽心」则指向「保民而王」「省刑罚、薄税敛、深耕易耨」，是制度与德治的根本改造。一词两义，正见「霸道」与「王道」的分野：前者以利民为手段、以强国为目的，后者以养民为目的、以仁政为手段。后世「尽心竭力」成语即从此出，然多数人只取梁惠王之义而遗孟子之义，此段对读，恰可辨明「尽心」在儒家语境中的完整内涵，也可见孟子借对话重申其核心命题——政治的根本不在用力之勤，而在用心之正。

焉耳矣 The triple final-particle stack “devoted my whole heart 焉耳矣” is a brilliant stroke of characterization in the Mencius. 焉 at line-end confirms a completed state; 耳 limits it to “that is all”; 矣 adds exclamation—together they dramatize a ruler’s self-satisfied, almost defensive tone: “I have truly done my utmost!” Stacking particles is not rare in classical Chinese, but three serving distinct functions is uncommon; Mencius uses them to voice King Hui so that the reader seems to hear him. Particles carry no lexical meaning, yet in argument they determine a sentence’s mood and tension: without 焉耳矣 the line is mere statement; with them, complacency, self-promotion, and urgency all appear, also paving the emotional ground for the later “why” and Mencius’s rebuke. Each character a mood, each sound in the ear—this is the “full-blooded” quality of Mencius’s prose made concrete. 「尽心焉耳矣」连用三个句末语气词，是《孟子》传神写态的绝妙一笔。「焉」用于句末，表已然之态，兼有确认语气；「耳」表限止，犹言「不过如此」；「矣」表感叹与已然，三者叠加，把一个自以为功高劳苦的君主的自得口气写得酣畅淋漓——「我已经尽心到顶了啊」。古汉语中语气词叠用并不罕见（如「也已矣」「而已矣」），但三字连用并各司其职者不多见，孟子以之写梁惠王之口吻，使读者如闻其声、如见其人，是「以虚词传神」的典范。虚词本无实义，然在论辩文中，恰是语气词决定句子的情态与张力：若无「焉耳矣」，此句只是陈述；有此三字，则自负、邀功、急切之情毕现，也为下文「何也」的困惑与孟子「王知如此，则无望民之多于邻国也」的当头棒喝作了情绪上的铺垫。一字一语气，声声入耳，正是《孟子》散文「气盛」的具体表现。

加 In “the people have not 加少, my people have not 加多,” 加 is the keyword. Here 加 is an adverb meaning “the more / further,” so 加少 is “the fewer,” 加多 “the more”—a frozen pattern of 加 plus adjective, as in other Mencius passages and the Analects’ “add me a few years.” King Hui uses 加 to speak of change before and after his policy: after relief, neighbors’ people are not the fewer, his own not the more—stressing a degree of increase or decrease, not absolute presence or absence—which is precisely the paradox of “devoted yet ineffective.” Taking it in the modern sense “add” would make nonsense, so commentators specially mark this gloss. Meanwhile “not fewer / not more” uses double negation against affirmation, neatly echoing the earlier parallel “moved its people / transported its grain.” The very interpretation of this one word bears on the whole argument’s premise: the king measures success by population gain, while Mencius will overthrow the measure itself. 「邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多」之「加」是理解全句的关键词。此处「加」作副词，义为「更加、益发」，「加少」即「更少」，「加多」即「更多」，句式是「加」加形容词的凝固用法，同于《孟子》他篇「加多」「加少」及《论语》「加我数年」之「加」。梁惠王用「加」字，是就移民移粟前后的变化立言：政策施行之后，邻国之民不见得更少，寡人之民不见得更多，强调的是一种「程度上的增减」，而非绝对的有无——这正是「尽心」却无实效的悖谬所在。若以今义「加上」解之则不通，故历来注家特标此训。同时「不加少」「不加多」以双重否定与肯定互文见义，句式整饬，语意周全，与上文「移其民」「移其粟」的对偶呼应，形成回环往复的节奏。一字之解，关乎全句之意，也关乎整个论辩的起点：梁惠王衡量政治成败的标尺是「民之多少」的增减，而孟子则要动摇这个标尺本身——治国之道不在比邻国多得民，而在行仁政以服民心。