CHAPTER XXVII
1. Mencius said, 'The richest fruit of benevolence is this,—the service of one's parents. The richest fruit of righteousness is this,—the obeying one's elder brothers.
2. 'The richest fruit of wisdom is this,—the knowing those two things,
CHAPTER 26. SHUN'S EXTRAORDINARY WAY OF CONTRACTING MARRIAGE JUSTIFIED BY THE MOTIVE.
1. The other two things which are unfilial are,according to ChaoCh'?, first, by a flattering assent to encourage parents in unrighteousness; and secondly,not to succourtheir poverty and old age by engaging in official service. To be without posterity is greater than those faults, because it is an offence against the whole line of ancestors, and terminates the sacrifices to them.—In Pt. II. xxx, Mencius specifies five things which were commonly deemed unfilial, and not one of these three is among them. It is to be understood that here 不孝有三 is spoken from the point of view of the superior man, and, moreover, that the first paragraph simply lays down the ground for the vindication of Shun.