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Mencius: Nature
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Mencius observed that once the trees had been luxuriant on Ox Mountain, but being near a city they were constantly chopped by axes. With rain and dew new shoots came out; but then cattle and sheep grazed upon the mountain, leaving it bald. Is this the nature of the mountain? Similarly humans lose their true hearts, just as the trees were lopped off day by day. Humans rest at night, but each day dissipates what has been gained. When what was original is no longer preserved, they become like animals.
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Mencius ... opposed Gaozi's view that there is neither good nor bad in the xing (nature) of human beings and that one should derive yi (propriety) from doctrines and reshape oneself accordingly. For Gaozi, xing has to do primarily with eating and having sex, the two activities that give life to human beings, both within the individual and from generation to generation. Mencius, on the other hand, characterized xing in terms of the ethical predispositions of the heart/mind, and for him xing is good as these predispositions already point in an ethical direction. The task of self-cultivation is not to reshape but to nourish one's predispositions.
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Mencius emphasized righteousness, and Hsun Tzu , propriety (rites and rules). Mencius' outlook is moralistic, while Hsun Tzu's is legalistic. Mencius considered the democracy to be the ideal form of and Hsun Tzu favoured the authoritarian approach. To Mencius', education was to strengthen the minds, but to Hsun Tzu it was to discipline the human nature. Therefore, Mencius warms one's heart and Hsun Tzu strengthens one's mind.
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Mencius inherits from Confucius a set of terms and a series of problems. In general, one can say that where Confucius saw a unity of inner and outer - in terms of li (ritual propriety), ren (co-humanity), and the junzi (profound person)-xiaoren (small person) distinction - Mencius tends to privilege the inner aspects of concepts, practices, and identities. For Mencius, the locus of philosophical activity and self-cultivation is the xin (hsin), a term that denotes both the chief organ of the circulatory system and the organ of thought, and hence is translated here and in many other sources as "heart-mind." Mencius' views of the divine, political organization, human nature, and the path toward personal development all start and end in the heart-mind.
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Mencius said, 'Man learns because his nature is good.' This is not true. He did not know the nature of man and did not understand the distinction between man's nature and his effort. Man's nature is the product of Nature; it cannot be learned and cannot be worked for. Propriety and righteousness are produced by the sage. They can be learned by men and can be accomplished through work. What is in him and can be learned or accomplished through work is what can be achieved through activity.
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Mencius is famous for claiming that human nature (renxing) is good. As with most reductions of philosophical positions to bumper-sticker slogans, this statement oversimplifies Mencius' position. In the text, Mencius takes a more careful route in order to arrive at this view. Following A. C. Graham, one can see his argument as having three elements: (1) a teleology, (2) a virtue theory, and (3) a moral psychology.
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