Constant Property, Constant Heart / 有恒产者有恒心

Constant property, constant heart / 有恒产者有恒心 is 30.孟子：战国愤青的赤子之心’s frame for [[Mengzi|孟子 / Mencius]]’s claim that ordinary people need stable livelihood before moral steadiness can be expected of them. The episode connects this to private property, secure living conditions, and the idea that people cannot be asked to act responsibly when survival is constantly unstable.

The source treats this as part of Mencian Benevolent Government / 孟子仁政, not as a modern property-rights doctrine. Mencius’s interest in the well-field ideal and household sufficiency shows that political morality depends on material arrangements, even when the proposed institutional form may be historically difficult.

Key Claims

• Moral exhortation is unfair if basic livelihood is insecure.
• Stable property and predictable life conditions allow people to develop “恒心.”
• The source connects Mencius’s idea to dignity and productivity, not only subsistence.
• The well-field ideal also shows the risk of ancient-model solutions under changed conditions.

Connections

• [[Mengzi|孟子 / Mencius]] and [[MenciusText|《孟子》]] - central source.
• Mencian Benevolent Government / 孟子仁政 - broader governing program.
• Mencian People-Based Legitimacy / 孟子的民本合法性 - people’s welfare as legitimacy basis.
• Confucian Ideal Governance / 儒家理想治理 and Good Intentions Political Limits - adjacent questions about ancient models and practical limits.