If we say that "Guan Zhongshi's so-called virtuous officials, but Mencius is small", it may be more accurate.
Mencius had a dialogue with his student Gongsun Chou. Gongsun Chou said: Guan Zhong helped the monarch to seek hegemony, and Yanzi helped the monarch to become famous. Can't Guan Zhong and Yanzi follow suit? Mencius said with disapproval: "you are really a Qi man, you only know Guan Zhong and Yanzi.". He said such a thing to Gongsun Chou: someone once asked Zeng Xi, Zeng Shen's grandson (and some scholars thought it was his son), "which one of you and Zilu has virtue?" Zeng Xi said anxiously: "Zilu is the man revered by his former grandfather." The man said, "which one of you and Guanzhong has virtue?" Zeng Xi was not happy. He said, "how can you compare me with Guanzhong?" Mencius asked Gongsun Chou, "Guanzhong is the object that Zeng Xi does not want to follow. Do you think I will?" this is the example of Mencius' "small" Guanzhong.
It seems that Guan Zhong inherited a tradition of Confucius. Among the descendants of Confucius, Guan Zhong's "Xiaozhi" began at least from Zeng Xi, Zeng Shen's grandson. In Zeng Xi's eyes, not to mention Guan Zhong and Confucius, even Guan Zhong and Zilu are so different that they don't even want to be compared. Mencius, of course, did not want to follow Guan Zhong's example. King Xuan of Qi called on Mencius, who refused to go on the pretext of illness. A man named Jing Chou said, it seems that it's not polite for you to do so. Mencius said: "Cheng Tang did not dare to summon Yi Yin, Duke Huan of Qi did not dare to summon Guan Zhong. Even though Guan Zhong can't be summoned, what's more, he doesn't want to be Guan Zhong's man? "
Mencius is a man of thought. Of course, it's not because of his predecessors' "small" Guan Zhong but "small" Guan Zhong. However, he recognized Zeng Xi's "small" Guan Zhong's reason. When he talked with Gongsun Chou, he said Zeng Xi's words: Duke Huan of Qi trusted Guan Zhong so much, Guan Zhong had been in power for so long, but his achievements were so humble. This is probably not only Zeng Xi, but also Mencius' "small" Guan Zhong's reason. However, according to Confucius, after 170 years, Confucius will benefit from Guan Zhong's achievements. How can he be humble? Is it true that only when he can't show his ambition all his life, even if he can't stand on his own feet, can he be regarded as a man of complete merit?
Zeng Xi and Mencius thought that Guan Zhong's achievements were humble, mainly because Guan Zhong only helped Duke Huan of Qi to seek hegemony, but failed to assist Duke Huan of Qi to become king. Mencius emphasized the difference between kingly and overbearing. In his eyes, the "five tyrants" of the spring and Autumn period were all "the sinners of the three kings". Guan Zhong An Neng, who helped Duke Huan of Qi to seek hegemony, was not "small"? However, this was also contrary to Confucius' relevant judgment. As mentioned earlier, Confucius attributed Guan Zhong to the fact that the Duke of Huan had nine princes and not used military chariots. How many people were saved from the suffering of war by "not using military chariots"? I'm afraid that's why Confucius repeatedly said "just like benevolence! Just like benevolence". He didn't think there was anything wrong with Guan Zhong's doing so.
As for the saying "Confucius is small", the book of historical records Justice says: "it is said that Guan Zhongshi is called a virtuous minister. Confucius is so small that he thinks that Zhou Dao is weak. Duke Huan is a virtuous leader. Why don't Guan Zhong persuade his prime minister to be emperor, but he is dominating himself?" from this point of view, "Confucius is small" should be rewritten as "Mencius is small".
Mencius does not deny that Guan Zhong is an outstanding person. He is saying that "the great responsibility of heaven lies with the people". One of the examples cited by Mencius is that "Guan Yiwu is superior to the scholars". He said, "the sage governs the world, so that there are people like water and fire. Shu Su is like water and fire, but there are no people who are not benevolent. "It is also similar to Guan Zhong's saying that" if you have enough food and clothing, you know etiquette; if you have enough food and clothing, you know honor and disgrace. ". It can be seen that Sima Qian's use of the word "Xiaozhi" is very accurate - "Xiaozhi" is not equal to "Feizhi", but he misused the word "Xiaozhi" to Confucius.
"At the gate of Zhongni, wuchitong is ashamed to be called Wuba", and the tendency of "small" Guanzhong has been followed.
As I have said before, Confucius did say that Guan Zhong was narrow-minded, not thrifty, and even less polite. Perhaps Confucius disciples and their descendants adopted a pragmatic attitude towards Confucius' theory, emphasizing only these words without considering Confucius' positive evaluation of Guan Zhong. Therefore, Confucius' words became the source of the "little Guan Zhong" of Confucianism.
But I also think of such a joke very strangely: there are two Bodhisattvas, each with its own believers. The believers of a think that a is better than B, and move a to the right side of B. the believers of B think that B is better than a, and then move B to the right side of a. the toss of moving around makes the mud fall off.
That night, the Bodhisattva said: we were good, but they moved us around and damaged us.
