Mencius

Mencius, Mandarin Meng-tzu, 371?-288? B.C., Chinese Confucian philosopher. The principal source for Mencius' life is his own writings. He was born in the ancient state of Ch'ao, in modern Shandong prov. He lost his father as a child and was reared by his mother, who, in Chinese folklore, is synonymous with maternal devotion. Appalled at the anarchic condition of society, he traveled through several petty states urging the rulers to practice the doctrines of Confucius. Central to the philosophy of Mencius was the belief that man is by nature good. His innate moral sense can be developed by cultivation or perverted by an unfavorable environment. The duty of the ruler is to ensure the prosperous livelihood of his subjects. He should particularly eschew warfare except for defense. If the ruler's conduct reduces his subjects to penury and self-seeking, he must be deposed. Many of the specific reforms in landholding and other economic relations that Mencius proposed are difficult to understand from the sole text of his works, The Book of Mencius, which is one of the Shih Shu [four books] (see Chinese literature). Not until the late 11th cent. A.D. was Mencius regarded with veneration. Since then his image has been placed in temples dedicated to Confucius, and his work is considered second only to that of Confucius. The complete text of Mencius was translated by James Legge (1861; 2d ed. 1895, repr. 1970), L. A. Lyall (1935), Lionel Giles (1942), and D. C. Lau (1970). Excerpts were translated by Arthur Waley in Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China (1939).

or Mengzi or Meng-tzu

Chinese Confucian text concerning government, written by Mencius. The book maintains that the welfare of the common people comes before every other consideration. When a ruler no longer practices benevolence and righteousness, the mandate of heaven (his right to rule) is withdrawn and he should be removed. Mencius did not become a classic until the 12th century, when it was published by Zhu Xi together with Daxue, Zhongyong, and Lunyu (Analects) as the Four Books. Seealso Confucianism.

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

Mencius 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.

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. 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 (Zhuyin/Bopomofo: ㄇㄥ ㄇㄨ ㄙㄢ ㄑ一ㄢ; 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.

Influence

Mencius' interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty. 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 and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind".

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.

View on politics

Mencius spoke frequently and highly of the well-field system.

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..

View on wars

He said during the Spring and Autumn Period, there's no Just war.

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

• 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

• English Translation of the Mencius with comments by James Legge
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
• Works by Mencius at Project Gutenberg
• Article discussing the view of ethics of Mencius from The Philosopher