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Mencius
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Better known in China as “Master Meng” (Chinese: Mengzi), Mencius was a fourth-century BCE Chinese thinker whose importance in the Confucian tradition is second only to that of Confucius himself. In many ways, he played the role of St. Paul to Confucius’ Jesus, interpreting the thought of the master for subsequent ages while simultaneously impressing Confucius’ ideas with his own philosophical stamp. He is most famous for his theory of human nature, according to which all human beings share an innate goodness that either can be cultivated through education and self-discipline or squandered through neglect and negative influences, but never lost altogether. While it is not clear that Mencius’ views prevailed in early Chinese philosophical circles, they eventually won out after gaining the support of influential medieval commentators and thinkers such as Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi, 1130-1200 CE) and Wang Yangming (1472-1529 CE). (See Romanization systems for Chinese terms.) Today contemporary philosophical interest in evolutionary psychology and sociobiology has inspired fresh appraisals of Mencius, while recent philological studies question the coherence and authenticity of the text that bears his name. Mencius remains a perennially attractive figure for those intrigued by moral psychology, of which he was the foremost practitioner in early China.
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Mencius could be a great man, because he had a great mother. Mencius inherited the Confucianism, and developed it with prominent humanistic thoughts. Confucius was regarded as the first sage of the Confucian school, and Mencius was regarded as the second sage of the Confucian school. However, many rulers hated Mencius because of his people-based thoughts. Zhu Yuanzhang（朱元璋）, the first emperor of the Ming（æ˜ï¼‰ Dynasty, actually professed that, if Mencius lived in his times, he would kill the old man.
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D.C. Lau's translations of The Mencius and The Anaclects have both undergone extensive revision. The exhibits here show the corrections he made on The Mencius for the Chinese University Press edition of 1984 based on the text of his first Penguin edition (1970). Since then he has further revised this work. A new revised edition of The Anaclect has just been published (2001) and the new edition of The Mencius will be available soon from the Chinese University Press (2001).
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Despite the level of example Mencius has to offer in Ch'an Chung, he does raise the issue of complicity. Complicity has always been an underlying issue among moral questions concerning eremitism. In the issue of complicity, Mencius was evoking a criterion of Confucius and striking for a compromise with the world that was acceptable for the scholar-gentleman who found livelihood becoming extremely problematic. But Mencius and the Confucian school was not able to achieve a breakthrough on this issue.
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Besides using yi to refer to the propriety of conduct, Mencius ... used it to refer to an ethical attribute that has to do with a proper regard for oneself and distancing oneself from disgrace. However, disgrace is no longer measured by ordinary social standards but has to do with one's falling below certain ethical standards. As an ethical attribute, yi has to do with a firm commitment to such standards. One regards what falls below such standards as potentially tainting oneself, and insists on distancing oneself from such occurrences even at the expense of death. One example is that of a beggar, who is starving to death, being given food in an abusive manner. The beggar would reject the food despite the resulting loss of life; according to Mencius, everyone shares responses of this kind, which provide the starting point for cultivating yi.
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Mencius said: "If you realize this, then you shouldn't expect people to move to your kingdom. If you don't interfere with the timing of the farmers, there will be more grain than can be eaten. If fine-mesh nets are kept out of the ponds and lakes, there will be more fish and turtles than you can eat. If loggers are regulated in their woodcutting, there will be more wood than can be used. When there is more grain, more fish and turtles than can be eaten, and more wood than can be used, the people will nourish the living and mourn the dead without resentment. Nourishing the living and mourning the dead without resentment is the beginning of the road to true kingship."
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Mencius