Righteousness Over Profit / 义利之辨

Righteousness over profit / 义利之辨 is 30.孟子：战国愤青的赤子之心’s frame for [[Mengzi|孟子 / Mencius]]’s answer to [[LiangHuiWang|梁惠王]]: a state cannot be stabilized if everyone from ruler to ministers to commoners treats private advantage as the first question. The episode reads “何必曰利？亦有仁义而已矣” as a political diagnosis rather than as anti-practical moralism.

The concept becomes plausible only inside the [[WarringStatesPeriod|战国时期]] setting. When states compete for people, resources, and legitimacy, renyi is not merely personal virtue; it is a way to prevent predatory logic from dissolving the bonds that keep a polity viable.

Key Claims

• Asking first about profit teaches every rank to imitate self-interest downward.
• Renyi is presented as a practical foundation for order, not as refusal to govern.
• The source contrasts Mencius’s position with the broader Warring States atmosphere of usefulness, gain, and rivalry.
• The concept supports but does not exhaust Mencian Benevolent Government / 孟子仁政.

Connections

• [[Mengzi|孟子 / Mencius]], [[MenciusText|《孟子》]], and [[LiangHuiWang|梁惠王]] - central dialogue.
• [[WarringStatesPeriod|战国时期]], [[Mozi|墨子]], and [[YangZhu|杨朱]] - competitive thought background.
• Mencian Benevolent Government / 孟子仁政 and 王道 versus 霸道 / Kingly Way Over Hegemony - political extensions.
• Good Intentions Political Limits - adjacent caution about moral ideals needing practical execution.