CHAPTER 1. BY THE STUDY OF OURSELVES WE COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF HEAVEN,AND HEAVEN IS SERVED BY OUR OBEYING OUR NATURE.
1. 尽其心 is, I conceive, to make one's self acquainted with all his mind, to arrest his consciousness, and ascertain what he is. This of course gives a man the knowledge of his nature, and as he is the creature of Heaven, its attributes must be corresponding. It is much to be wished that instead of the term Heaven, vague and indefinite, Mencius had simply said, "God". I can get no other meaning from this par. Choo He, however, and all his school,