Mengzi

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Mencius, detail, ink and colour on silk; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (credit: Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China)

(born c. 372 — died c. 289 BC) Chinese philosopher. The book Mencius contains statements on innate human goodness, a topic warmly debated by followers of Confucius up to modern times. That the four principles (si duan) — the feelings of commiseration, shame, courtesy, and right and wrong — are all inborn in humans was a self-evident truth to Mencius; the four principles, when properly cultivated, will develop into the four cardinal virtues of ren (benevolence), righteousness, decorum, and wisdom. His development of orthodox Confucianism earned him the title "second sage."

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Mencius (ca. 371-ca. 289 B.C.) was a Chinese philosopher and one of the most important early Confucian thinkers. His philosophy is characterized by its idealism and the assertion that man's nature is basically good.

Confucius, the great Chinese teacher and thinker, died in 479 B.C., and on the eastern seaboard of China his disciples established schools which carried on the teachings of the master. By the end of the 4th century a number of important Confucian philosophers emerged, and the most brilliant of these philosophers was Mencius. Mencius elaborated on and refined many of the ideas of Confucius, and his interpretations became as influential in the Chinese tradition as the ideas of the master himself.

Mencius, which is the Latinized form of Meng-tzu (Master Meng), was born in Tsou, a small state south of Lu, the home state of Confucius. Lu lay in what is now the southern part of Shantung Province and had been an important political and cultural center for much of the Chou dynasty (1122-256 B.C.). Mencius's full name was Meng K'o, and he was the descendant of the Meng, or Meng-sun, clan, one of the three ruling families in Lu.

Almost nothing is known about his early life. Like Confucius, Mencius apparently lost his father at an early age, and he was raised by his mother, who did not remarry. There are several amusing but apocryphal stories about his mother and Mencius's childhood, and these are the only pieces of information about his early life.

Mencius may have studied in one of the Confucian schools established in the Lu area, perhaps the school created by Confucius's grandson Tzu-ssu. Mencius was trained as a scholar and teacher and received instruction in the standard Confucian texts such as the Book of Odes (Shih ching) and the Book of Documents (Shu ching).

Political Career

Mencius seems to have established a reputation in Tsou as a teacher, but nothing is recorded of his activities until his arrival in Ch'i, north of Lu, and one of the most powerful states of that period. Mencius must have arrived in Ch'i during the reign of King Wei (357-320 B.C.), perhaps as early as 335. We do not know if Mencius held any position in the Ch'i government at this time or even how long he remained in Ch'i.

Mencius left Ch'i about 324 and traveled south through the states of Sung and Hsüeh, where he received travel funds from the rulers of these states, finally arriving in his home state of Tsou. At once he was invited to serve as an adviser at the court of Duke Wen of T'eng, a small state south of Tsou. Mencius went to T'eng, where he advised the duke on mourning ritual for his recently deceased father. He also held several long discussions on statecraft with Duke Wen, who was greatly impressed by Mencius's learning.

Mencius did not remain long in T'eng and most likely was forced to leave because he had incurred the animosity of some of the duke's advisers, who resented the stranger's influence. Mencius then went to Liang, the capital of Wei, a state to the west of Ch'i and Sung. He was well received by the aged King Hui, with whom he had several satisfying interviews. Mencius had a less amiable relationship with Hui's successor, Hsiang, who became king in 319, and Mencius decided to return to Ch'i.

The previous year King Wei of Ch'i had died and was succeeded by his son, King Hsüan (reigned 319-310 B.C.). King Hsüan was an extremely ambitious and energetic ruler who hoped to make Ch'i the leader of the entire Chinese state system. In order to enhance Ch'i's prestige the Ch'i rulers had built in the Ch'i capital an academy called Chihsia, where scholars from all parts of China were invited to study and exchange ideas. Members of the academy included some of the most important thinkers of the time. It is not certain whether Mencius was an actual participant at the Chi-hsia discussions, although he certainly must have been acquainted with many of the scholars who were there. Mencius was given an honorary position in the Ch'i government but does not seem to have held a policy-making post.

Mencius was rather stuffy, terribly serious, and somewhat of a prude. To him principle was of paramount importance. Unlike King Hsüan, who was primarily interested in practical matters of government, Mencius was willing to discuss only theoretical matters. On one occasion King Hsüan asked Mencius about early Chinese rulers who had established hegemony over other Chinese states, expressing a wish to emulate them. Mencius arrogantly answered that the Confucian school had never professed interest in the hegemons, and thus he had nothing to say on the matter. He then proceeded to give a long, abstract discourse on what he termed true kingship, citing examples from remote antiquity to illustrate his argument.

Mencius's career in Ch'i was temporarily interrupted by the death of his mother. He returned to Lu, where he conducted an elaborate funeral for her and observed mourning for the prescribed period of 3 years.

In 315 Ch'i attacked the state of Yen in the northeast. Before sending out his expedition King Hsüan asked Mencius for advice. Mencius, not wishing to commit himself, gave an evasive answer which the King construed as approval. Actually, Mencius had reservations about this course of action and was disturbed that the King failed to understand his advice. In 312 Yen expelled the Ch'i army. Out of disgust with Ch'i's policies and irritated that King Hsüan so seldom consulted him, Mencius resolved to leave for his home.

Mencius remained in Tsou for the rest of his life. He was joined by a few loyal disciples, and they continued their study of the Confucian texts. The date of his death is uncertain, but it is traditionally given as 289 B.C. Some scholars think that he died as early as 305.

Mencius's Teachings

Mencius's teachings have been preserved in a book titled Meng-tzu, a seven-chapter work of anecdotes most likely collected by his disciples. Most of the anecdotes consist of conversations between Mencius and his disciples or, occasionally, a ruler. His basic philosophy, if it can be called that, is an extreme idealism which views human nature as basically good and evil as only an obfuscation of one's innate goodness. He placed great emphasis on the necessity for one to try to recover his original goodness and, through learning, to seek what he called the "lost mind" of benevolence. Mencius also believed that if the government fails to maintain benevolent rule and abuses the people, they have a right to revolt.

Further Reading

There are two acceptable English translations of the Meng-tzu: one by James Legge in his The Chinese Classics (5 vols. in 8, 1861-1872; 2d ed. rev. 1865-1895) and the other by W. A. Dobson in Mencius (1963). Both of these works contain valuable biographical information on Mencius. Also worth reading is I. A. Richards, Mencius on the Mind (1932).

(371-289 BC) (westernization of Meng Tzu). The greatest Confucian, Mencius was born in Shantung, and studied under the grandson of Confucius, Tzu Ssu. Like Confucius he travelled extensively, vainly trying to persuade rulers to improve their ways, before retiring to write the seven books that make up The Book of Mencius. He added to Confucianism the doctrine of the original goodness of human beings, so that the end of learning is to seek the lost state of virtue. The way of righteousness is opposed to utilitarian considerations of advantage and profit. Politically one consequence is that since goodness is inherent in people, they have the right to partake in government and to revolt against bad government.

Quotes:

"Friendship is one mind in two bodies."

"A Great man is he who does not lose his childlike heart."

"Charity is in the heart of man, and righteousness in the path of men. Pity the man who has lost his path and does not follow it and who has lost his heart and does not know how to recover it. When people's dogs and chicks are lost they go out and look for them and yet the people who have lost their hearts do not go out and look for them. The principle of self-cultivation consists in nothing but trying to look for the lost heart."

"Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness."

"There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination."

"Truth uttered before its time is dangerous."

See more famous quotes by Mencius (Mengzi Meng-tse)

For the book with the same name, see Mencius (book).

Mencius 孟子
Mencius, from Myths and Legends of China, 1922 by E. T. C. Werner
Full name	Mencius 孟子
Born	372 BC
Died	289 BC (aged 83)
Era	Ancient philosophy
Region	Chinese philosophy
School	Confucianism
Main interests	Ethics, Social philosophy, Political philosophy
Notable ideas	Confucianism
Influenced by Confucius
Influenced Nearly every Eastern philosopher

Ancestral name (姓):	Ji (Chinese: 姬; Pinyin: Jī)
Clan name (氏):	Meng (Ch: 孟; Py: Mèng)[1]
Given name (名):	Ke (Ch: 軻; Py: Kē)
Courtesy name (字):	Unknown[2]
Posthumous name (謚):	Master Meng the Second Sage[3] (Ch: 亞聖孟子; Py: Yàshèng Mèngzǐ)
Styled:	Master Meng[4] (Ch: 孟子; Py: Mèngzǐ)

Mencius (Chinese: 孟子; Zhuyin/Bopomofo: ㄇㄥˋ ㄗ˙; pinyin: Mèng Zǐ; Wade-Giles: Meng Tzu), most accepted dates: 372 – 289 BCE; other possible dates: 385 – 303/302 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.

Contents 1 Life 1.1 Mencius' mother 2 Influence 3 View on human nature 3.1 The Four Beginnings 4 Education 5 Destiny 6 View on politics 7 Comparisons to contemporaries 7.1 Xun Zi 7.2 Plato 8 Notes and references 9 External links

Life

Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou (simp.:邹国; trad.: 鄒國; pinyin: zōu guó; Wade-Giles: tsou¹ kuo²), now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng (邹城; originally Zouxian), Shandong province, only thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south of Qufu, Confucius' birthplace.

He was an itinerant Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. Supposedly, he was a pupil of Confucius' grandson, Zisi. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform.^[5] He served as an official during the Warring States Period (403–221 BCE) in the State of Qi (齊; pinyin: qí; 1046 BC to 221 BC) from 319 to 312 BCE. He expressed his filial devotion when he took an absence of three years from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.

Mencius' mother

The traditional Chinese four-character idiom 孟母三遷 (pinyin: mèng mǔ sān qiān; Zhuyin/Bopomofo: ㄇㄥˋ ㄇㄨˇ ㄙㄢ ㄑ一ㄢ; Hangeul/Korean: 맹모삼천; Kana: もうぼさんせん; Romaji: mou bo san sen; literal translation: Mencius' mother, three moves) refers to the legend that Mencius' mother moved their house three times—from beside a cemetery to beside a marketplace (other versions of the story said the move was to a house beside an abattoir), to finally beside a school—before finding a location that she felt was suitable for his upbringing. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of a proper environment for the proper upbringing of children. Mencius ( 372 BC-289BC) was a great thinker during the Warring States period. According to historical records, the father of Mencius died when he was very young. In order to raise him appropriately, his mother Zhang(仉)moved their home three times. Originally they lived nearby a cemetery, where she found her son imitating the acts of mourning in the funeral processions or burial services for fun. She found it was not good for her son’s upbringing, and she moved the home to downtown nearby market. There, however, she found her son imitating the acts of killing pigs or cries of the merchants. It was also not a proper environment for her son to grow up. So she moved again. In the end she found a place nearby school, where young Mencius began to be influenced by the elegant people. Inspired by what he saw and heard, Mencius started to be interested into study. Observing this his mother finally decided to settle down there. This is the famous story of “ Three Moves by the mother of Mencius”.

Influence

Mencius' interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty. Mencius' disciples included a large number of feudal lords, and he was actually more influential than Confucius had been.^[6] The Mencius (also spelled Mengzi or Meng-tzu), a book of his conversations with kings of the time, is one of the Four Books that Zhu Xi grouped as the core of orthodox Neo-Confucian thought. In contrast to the sayings of Confucius which are short and self-contained, the Mencius consists of long dialogues, including arguments, with extensive prose.

View on human nature

While Confucius himself did not explicitly focus on the subject of human nature, Mencius asserted the innate goodness of the individual, believing that it was society's influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – that caused bad moral character. "He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature"^[7] and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind".^[8]

His translator James Legge finds a close similarity between Mencius' views on human nature and those in Bishop Butler's Sermons on Human Nature.

The Four Beginnings

To show innate goodness, Mencius used the example of a child falling down a well. Witnesses of this event immediately feel

“

alarm and distress, not to gain friendship with the child's parents, nor to seek the praise of their neighbors and friends, nor because they dislike the reputation [of lack of humanity if they did not rescue the child]... The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of humanity; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety; and the feeling of right and wrong is the beginning of wisdom. Men have these Four Beginnings just as they have their four limbs. Having these Four Beginnings, but saying that they cannot develop them is to destroy themselves.[9]

”

Human nature is innately good because moral rightness cannot be instructed down to the last detail. This is why merely external controls always fail in improving society. True improvement results from educational cultivation in favorable environments. Likewise, bad environments tend to corrupt the human will. This, however, is not proof of innate evil because a clear thinking person would avoid causing harm to others. The object of education is the cultivation of benevolence.

Education

According to Mencius, education must awaken the innate abilities of the human mind. He denounced memorization and advocated active interrogation of the text, saying, "One who believes all of a book would be better off without books." One should check for internal consistency by comparing sections and debate the probability of factual accounts by comparing them with experience.

Destiny

Mencius also believed in the power of Destiny in shaping the roles of human beings in society. What is destined cannot be contrived by the human intellect or foreseen. Destiny is shown when a path arises that is both unforeseen and constructive. Destiny should not be confused with Fate. Mencius denied that Heaven would protect a person regardless of his actions, saying, "One who understands Destiny will not stand beneath a tottering wall". The proper path is one which is natural and unforced. This path must also be maintained because, "Unused pathways are covered with weeds." One who follows Destiny will live a long and successful life. One who rebels against Destiny will die before his time.

View on politics

"The Life of Mencius" pictures Mencius walking with the King of Teng, discussing his philosophy that all men have innate benevolence.

Mencius emphasized the significance of the common citizens in the state. While Confucianism generally regards rulers highly, he argued that it is acceptable for the subjects to overthrow or even kill a ruler who ignores the people's needs and rules harshly. This is because a ruler who does not rule justly is no longer a true ruler. Speaking of the overthrow of the wicked King Zhou of Shang, Mencius said, "I have merely heard of killing a villain Zhou, but I have not heard of murdering [him as] the ruler."^[10].

This saying should not be taken as an instigation to violence against authorities but as an application of Confucian philosophy to society. Confucianism requires a clarification of what may be reasonably expected in any given relationship. All relationships should be beneficial, but each has its own principle or inner logic. A Ruler must justify his position by acting benevolently before he can expect reciprocation from the people. In this view, a King is like a steward. Although Confucius admired Kings of great accomplishment, Mencius is clarifying the proper hierarchy of human society. Although a King has presumably higher status than a commoner, he is actually subordinate to the masses of people and the resources of society. Otherwise, there would be an implied disregard of the potential of human society heading into the future. One is significant only for what one gives, not for what one takes.

Comparisons to contemporaries

His alleged years make him contemporary with Xun Zi, Zhuangzi, Gaozi, and Plato.

Xun Zi

Xun Zi was a Confucian who believed that human nature is originally evil, and the purpose of moral cultivation is to develop our nature into goodness. Obviously, Mencius was at odds with him. His views were declared as unorthodox by Zhu Xi, and Mencius as orthodox.

Plato

Mencius' argument that unjust rulers may be overthrown is reminiscent of Socrates' argument in Book I of Plato's Republic.

Notes and references

1. ^ The original clan name was Mengsun (孟孫), and was shortened into Meng (孟). It is unknown whether this occurred before or after Mencius's death.
2. ^ Traditionally, his courtesy name was assumed to be Ziche (子車), sometimes incorrectly written as Ziyu (子輿) or Ziju (子居), but recent scholarly works show that these courtesy names appeared in the 3rd century CE and apply to another historical figure named Meng Ke who also lived in Chinese antiquity and was mistaken for Mencius.
3. ^ That is, the second sage after Confucius. Name given in 1530 by Emperor Jiajing. In the two centuries before 1530, the posthumous name was "The Second Sage Duke of Zou" (鄒國亞聖公) which is still the name that can be seen carved in the Mencius ancestral temple in Zoucheng.
4. ^ Romanized as Mencius.
5. ^ Chan 1963: 49.
6. ^ Charles O. Hucker, China to 1850: A Short History, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1978, p. 45
7. ^ The Mencius 7:A1 in Chan 1963: 78.
8. ^ The Mencius 6:A11 in Chan 1963: 58.
9. ^ The Mencius 2A:6 in Chan 1963: 65. Formatting has been applied to ease readability.
10. ^ The Mencius 1B:8 in Chan 1963: 62.

• Chan, Wing-tsit (translated and compiled). A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
• Graham, A.C., Disputers of the TAO: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China (Open Court 1993). ISBN 0-8126-9087-7

External links

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
• Works by Mencius at Project Gutenberg
• Article discussing the view of ethics of Mencius from The Philosopher

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