Mencius
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chinese philosophy Ancient philosophy |
|
 Mencius, from Myths and Legends of China, 1922 by E. T. C. Werner |
|
| Full name | Mencius 孟子 |
|---|---|
| Birth | 372 BC |
| Death | 289 BC |
| School/tradition | Confucianism |
| Main interests | Ethics, Social philosophy, Political philosophy |
| Notable ideas | Confucianism |
|
Influenced by
|
|
|
Influenced
|
|
| Ancestral name (姓): | Ji (Chinese: 姬; Pinyin: Jī) |
| Clan name (氏): | Meng (Ch: 孟; Py: Mèng)[1] |
| Given name (名): | Ke (Ch: 軻; Py: Kē) |
| Courtesy name (字): | Unknown[2] |
| Posthumous name (謚): | Master Meng the Second Sage[3] (Ch: 亞聖孟子; Py: Yàshèng Mèngzǐ) |
| Styled: | Master Meng[4] (Ch: 孟子; Py: Mèngzǐ) |
Mencius (Chinese: 孟子; Zhuyin/Bopomofo: ㄇㄥˋ ㄗ˙; pinyin: Mèng Zǐ; Wade-Giles: Meng Tzu), 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.
Contents |
[edit] 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.[5] 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.
[edit] Mencius' mother
The traditional Chinese four-character idiom 孟母三遷 (pinyin: mèng mǔ sān qiān; Zhuyin/Bopomofo: ㄇㄥˋ ㄇㄨˇ 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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"[6] and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind".[7]
His translator James Legge finds a close similarity between Mencius' views on human nature and those in Bishop Butler's Sermons on Human Nature.
[edit] 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.[8] |
” |
Human nature is innately good because 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. The object of education is the cultivation of benevolence.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 forseen. Destiny is shown when a path arises that is both unforseen 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.
[edit] 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."[9].
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. Otheriwse, 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.
[edit] Comparisons to contemporaries
His alleged years make him contemporary with Xun Zi, Zhuangzi, Gaozi, and Plato.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Plato
Mencius' argument that unjust rulers may be overthrown is reminiscent of Socrates' argument in Book I of Plato's Republic.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ The original clan name was Mengsun (孟孫), and was shortened into Meng (孟). It is unknown whether this occurred before or after Mencius's death.
- ^ Traditionally, his courtesy name was assumed to be Ziche (子車), sometimes incorrectly written as Ziyu (子輿) or Ziju (子居), but recent scholarly works show that these courtesy names appeared in the 3rd century CE and apply to another historical figure named Meng Ke who also lived in Chinese antiquity and was mistaken for Mencius.
- ^ That is, the second sage after Confucius. Name given in 1530 by Emperor Jiajing. In the two centuries before 1530, the posthumous name was "The Second Sage Duke of Zou" (鄒國亞聖公) which is still the name that can be seen carved in the Mencius ancestral temple in Zoucheng.
- ^ Romanized as Mencius.
- ^ Chan 1963: 49.
- ^ The Mencius 7:A1 in Chan 1963: 78.
- ^ The Mencius 6:A11 in Chan 1963: 58.
- ^ The Mencius 2A:6 in Chan 1963: 65. Formatting has been applied to ease readability.
- ^ The Mencius 1B:8 in Chan 1963: 62.
- 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
[edit] External links
 |
This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. |
- 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
- Mengzi Chinese text with English translation
|
||||||||
