 From other places in the text we can tell that Mencius (or his followers) knew and disapproved of the Mohists; this passage criticizes the Mohist practice of directly enforcing a standard of goodness through hierarchy. The Mencius contains numerous hierarchical ideas (see esp. MC 3A:4), but it has considerable faith in the people’s ability to do good if they are provided for, and not otherwise (see MC 1A7, 3A3).