The state of Qi went on a punitive expedition against the State of Yan and triumphed* over it.
King Xuan of the State of Qi asked Mencius, “Some have advised me not to annex Yan while others have insisted that I should. Consider now, it took a state with 10,000 chariots** like ours only 50 days to beat another with the same number of chariots. This was something that could never have been achieved by human strength, it must have been the divine will. If I don’t annihilate Yan this time, there will certainly be punishment frim Heaven. What is your opinion?”
“If you carry out the annexation and the people of Yan are glad of it, then proceed,” replied Mencius.”There was one among the ancients who did the same thing and that was Emperor Wen***. On the other hand, if you carry it out and they are not happy about it, then you’d better not. There was a similar case in ancient times and that was in Emperor Wen. When a powerful state has overwhelmed another one of the same strength, and the conquered people come out to welcome the conquering army with food baskets and wine pots, it shows nothing but their eagerness to be relieved of the miseries they have long suffered under their own ruler, but, if stead you are going to plunge them deeper into the water and scorch them in a yet fiercer fire, it will only make the people turn away from you and look for help elsewhere.”
*meaning "to plunge people in an abyss of suffering"
** In ancient times, a state with 10,000 chariots was a powerful one: the strength of a state was measured by its number of chariots
*** Emperor Wen is known for his justice and benignity during the early Western Zhou Days
--
Literally refers to living in great misery. Often used to describe great misery, between a rock and a hard place. We in life are often caught in such situations. It is how we make of it and handle such situations which allows us to grow as humans.
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