Mencius was a Chinese philosopher who is 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, now
forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng, Shandong province, only
thirty kilometres 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 throughout China for forty years to offer advice to rulers
for reform. During the Warring States period, Mencius served as an official and scholar
at the Jixia Academy in the State of Qi from 319 to 312 BC. He expressed his filial devotion
when he took three years leave of absence 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 is buried in the "Mencius Cemetery",
which is located 12 km to the northeast of Zoucheng's central urban area. A stele carried
by a giant stone tortoise and crowned with dragons stands in front of his grave.
Mencius's mother Mencius's mother is often held up as an exemplary
female figure in Chinese culture. One of the most famous traditional Chinese four-character
idioms is 孟母三遷. This saying refers to the legend that Mencius's
mother moved house three times before finding a location that she felt was suitable for
the child's upbringing. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of finding
the proper environment for raising children. Mencius's father died when he was very young.
His mother Zhǎng raised her son alone. They were very poor. At first they lived by a cemetery,
where the mother found her son imitating the paid mourners in funeral processions. Therefore
the mother decided to move. The next house was near a market in the town. There the boy
began to imitate the cries of merchants. So the mother moved to a house next to a school.
Inspired by the scholars and students, Mencius began to study. His mother decided to remain,
and Mencius became a scholar. Another story further illustrates the emphasis
that Mencius's mother placed on her son's education. As the story goes, once when Mencius
was young, he was truant from school. His mother responded to his apparent disregard
for his education by taking up a pair of scissors and cutting the cloth she had been weaving
in front of him. This was intended to illustrate that one cannot stop a task midway, and her
example inspired Mencius to diligence in his studies.
She is one of 125 women of which biographies have been included in the Lienü zhuan, written
by Liu Xiang. Descendants
One of Mencius's direct descendants was Dr. Meng Chih former director of China House,
and director of the China Institute in 1944. Time magazine reported Dr. Meng's age that
year as 44. Dr. Meng died in Arizona in 1990 at the age of 90. North Carolina's Davidson
College and Columbia University were his alma mater. He was attending a speech along with
Confucius descendant H. H. Kung. Influence
Mencius's interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version
by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially by the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty.
Mencius's disciples included a large number of feudal lords, and he was actually more
influential than Confucius had been. The Mencius, 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.
Main concepts 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's 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 Human nature has an innate tendency towards
goodness, but 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. This position of Mencius puts him between Confucians such
as Xunzi who thought people were innately bad, and Taoists who believed humans did not
need cultivation, they just needed to accept their innate, natural, and effortless goodness.
The four beginnings/sprouts could grow and develop, or they could fail. In this way Mencius
integral parts of Taoism into Confucianism. Individual effort was needed to cultivate
oneself, but one's natural tendencies were good to begin with. The object of education
is the cultivation of benevolence, otherwise known as Ren.
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
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."
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 centered on self-interest and greed,
and the purpose of moral cultivation is to develop our nature into goodness. This put
him at odds with Mencius. Later, the thinker Zhu Xi declared the views of Xun Zi to be
unorthodox, instead supporting the position of Mencius.
Plato Mencius's argument that unjust rulers may
be overthrown is reminiscent of Socrates' argument in Book I of Plato's Republic.
See also
Confucianism Four Books
Confucius Xun Zi
Neo-Confucianism Cheng Yi
Zhu Xi Lu Jiuyuan
Wang Yangming Socrates, whose views on the inner truth and
education closely resemble Mencius's David Hume, whose ethical naturalism echoes
Mencius Footnotes
References Chan, Alan K. L., 2002, Mencius: Contexts
and Interpretations, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Chan, Wing-tsit, 1963, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press. Graham, A.C., 1993, Disputers of the Tao:
Philosophical Argument in Ancient China, Chicago: Open Court Press. ISBN 0-8126-9087-7
Ivanhoe, Philip J., 2002, Ethics in the Confucian Tradition: The Thought of Mencius and Wang
Yangming, 2nd edition, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Liu, Xiusheng and Philip J. Ivanhoe, 2002, Essays on the Moral Philosophy of Mengzi,
Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. Nivison, David S., 1996, The Ways of Confucianism:
Investigations in Chinese Philosophy, La Salle, Illinois: Open Court.
Shun, Kwong-loi, 1997, Mencius and Early Chinese Thought, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Van Norden, Bryan W., 2008, Mengzi: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries, Indianapolis:
Hackett Publishing. Van Norden, Bryan W., 2007, Virtue Ethics
and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wang, Robin R., 2003, Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre–Qin
Period through the Song Dynasty, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Yearley, Lee H., 1990, Mencius and Aquinas: Theories of Virtue and Conceptions of Courage
Albany: State University of New York Press. External links
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
Mengzi: Chinese text with English translation and links to Zhuxi's commentary
English translation by A. Charles Muller Annotated scholarly translation with Chinese text
Works by Mencius at Project Gutenberg Article discussing the view of ethics of Mencius
from The Philosopher