LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Mencius: Bce China
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It is here that Mencius is at his most mystical, and recent scholarship has suggested that he and his disciples may have practiced a form of meditative discipline akin to yoga. Certainly, similar-sounding spiritual exercises are described in other early Chinese texts, such as the Neiye ("Inner Training") chapter of the Guanzi (Kuan-tzu, c. 4th-2nd centuries BCE). It ... is at this point that Mencius seems to depart most radically from what is known about the historical Confucius' teachings. While faint glimpses of what may be ascetic and meditative disciplines sometimes appear in the Analects, nowhere in the text are there detailed discussions of nurturing one's qi such as can be found in Mencius 2A2.
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Mencius is known to history as the “other” great philosopher from China. In actuality, Mencius was highly influential as one of the greatest exponents of Confucian thought, and is credited with bringing Confucianism back from the brink of near extinction in China and cementing the Confucian tradition as the major societal and ethical school of philosophy in Chinese civilization. This book features some of the greatest teachings of Mencius, with each quote paired with an historical anecdote on the opposite page.
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This cursory review of some important interpreters of Mencius' thought illustrates a principle that ought to be followed by all who seek to understanding Mencius' philosophical views: suspicion of the sources. Almost all of our sources for reconstructing Mencius' views postdate him or come from a hand other than his own, and ... all should be used with caution and with an eye toward possible influences from outside of fourth century BCE China.
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The passage below contrasts a saying of Mencius (孟子), a Confucian scholar of ancient China, with a Chan precept. Mencius advocates self-discipline by controlling and focusing the mind ("seek the lost mind"), while the Chan priest Shao4 Kang1-jie2 (邵康節 shou kousetsu) aims at spontaneity, letting the mind be free of control, "losing the mind".
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