Content-Over-Motive Remonstrance / 只问对错不问动机的纳谏

Content-over-motive remonstrance / 只问对错不问动机的纳谏 is the advice-taking principle 《资治通鉴·周纪》42丨给孟尝君提意见的后果 draws from 孟尝君 / 田文. The principle is that a ruler or patron should test a corrective claim by whether it identifies a real fault and prevents a real mistake, not only by whether the speaker’s motives are pure.

The episode’s case is 公孙须. He advises Mengchang Jun to refuse the Chu king’s ivory bed after 邓图直 privately asks him for help and offers a reward. Mengchang Jun accepts the advice, learns about the private bargain, and still posts a notice encouraging anyone who can promote his reputation and stop his errors to speak up.

This differs from 隐语进谏. Gongsun Xu does not mainly hide a criticism inside coded speech; he gives a practical reputation-and-precedent argument. It also differs from ordinary court feedback collapse repair because the barrier is not fear alone but moral screening: if leaders require spotless motives before hearing correction, they may reject usable information.

Key Claims

• Advice quality and adviser purity are related but separable.
• A mixed motive can still carry a correct diagnosis.
• Screening advice only by the speaker’s private interest can reproduce feedback failure.
• The listener still has to judge content; motive-blind listening is not automatic acceptance.
• In this source, Mengchang Jun’s strength lies in extracting use from flawed people, which partly offsets but does not erase 司马光’s criticism of indiscriminate retainer patronage.

Connections

• 孟尝君 / 田文 - example of the principle.
• 公孙须 and 邓图直 - adviser and interested requester.
• 楚怀王, 楚国, and 时绌举赢 - luxury-gift setting.
• 君臣反馈失灵 - failure mode this principle helps avoid.
• 隐语进谏 - adjacent but distinct remonstrance pattern.
• 战国养士 - broader patronage system whose mixed personnel make the principle useful and risky.