Mengzi (Mencius)
People are good by nature – everyone is born with the seeds of compassion and justice, which only need the right conditions to grow.
Placement
Human nature is good: within everyone lie four sprouts of virtue.
Key ideas
- Goodness of human nature
- Four sprouts
- Mandate of Heaven
Influence
Influenced by 1
Confucius
influenced by ✓
Mencius, said to have studied with followers of Confucius’ grandson Zisi, wished above all to learn from Confucius and developed his humaneness (ren) into humane government (Mengzi). Mengzi; Sima Qian, Shiji, biography of Mencius and Xunzi; SEP “Mencius”
Confucius › traditionally 551–479 BCE
Influenced 14
Zhang Zai
influenced
Zhang Zai kept Mencius’ good nature as the nature of Heaven and Earth, distinguishing it from the physical nature formed by each person’s endowment of qi (Zhengmeng, 1076). Zhang Zai, Zhengmeng (1076); W.-t. Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963)
Evidence: AI draft
Zhang Zai › 1020–1077
Cheng Hao
influenced
Cheng Hao’s ‘On Understanding Humaneness’ (Shi ren pian) draws on Mencius: all things are complete in me, and cultivation must neither forget nor forcibly help growth. Cheng Hao, Shi ren pian, in Er Cheng yishu; W.-t. Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963)
Evidence: AI draft
Cheng Hao › 1032–1085
Cheng Yi
influenced
Cheng Yi upheld Mencius’ thesis that human nature is good by identifying the nature with principle and tracing evil to the endowment of material force (qi). Er Cheng yishu; W.-t. Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963)
Evidence: AI draft
Cheng Yi › 1033–1107
Zhu Xi
influenced
Zhu Xi made the Mencius one of the Four Books and, in his Collected Commentaries (1190), read its good nature and four sprouts through his theory of principle. Zhu Xi, Mengzi jizhu, in Sishu zhangju jizhu (1190); SEP “Zhu Xi”
Evidence: AI draft
Zhu Xi › 1130–1200
Lu Jiuyuan (Lu Xiangshan)
influenced
Lu Jiuyuan said he learned the Way by reading the Mencius on his own, taking from it the original mind (benxin) and the rule of securing first what is greater in us. Lu Jiuyuan, Xiangshan quanji, recorded sayings; W.-t. Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963)
Evidence: AI draft
Lu Jiuyuan (Lu Xiangshan) › 1139–1193
Wang Yangming
influenced
Wang Yangming took his central term, innate knowing (liangzhi), from Mencius and made its extension the core of moral cultivation (Instructions for Practical Living). Wang Yangming, Chuanxi lu, tr. W.-t. Chan, Instructions for Practical Living (1963); SEP “Wang Yangming”
Evidence: AI draft
Wang Yangming › 1472–1529
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Han Yu
influenced
Han Yu made Mencius the last bearer of the Way and in ‘Reading Xunzi’ judged him wholly pure, Xunzi and Yang Xiong pure with small flaws. Han Yu, Yuan Dao; Du Xunzi; C. Hartman, Han Yü and the T’ang Search for Unity (1986)
Evidence: AI draft
Han Yu › 768–824
Yi Hwang
influenced
In the Four–Seven Debate with Gi Daeseung (1559–66) Yi Hwang set Mencius’ four sprouts, issued by principle, apart from the seven feelings issued by material force. M. C. Kalton et al., The Four-Seven Debate (1994); E. Y. J. Chung, The Korean Neo-Confucianism of Yi T’oegye and Yi Yulgok (1995)
Evidence: AI draft
Yi Hwang › 1501–1570
Huang Zongxi
influenced
Huang Zongxi’s Waiting for the Dawn (Mingyi daifang lu, 1663) drew on Mencius’ priority of the people to argue that the ruler exists for the realm. Huang Zongxi, Mingyi daifang lu (1663), tr. W. T. de Bary, Waiting for the Dawn (1993)
Evidence: AI draft
Huang Zongxi › 1610–1695
Itō Jinsai
influenced
Itō Jinsai read Mencius’ four sprouts as starting points to be extended into virtue in daily life, not as signs of an inner principle (Gomō jigi, 1683). Itō Jinsai, Gomō jigi (1683, publ. 1705), tr. J. A. Tucker (1998); Mōshi kogi
Evidence: AI draft
Itō Jinsai › 1627–1705
Dai Zhen
influenced
Dai Zhen’s Evidential Study of the Meaning of Terms in the Mencius (1777) recovered Mencius’ terms philologically to show that principle lies within feelings and desires. Dai Zhen, Mengzi ziyi shuzheng (1777), tr. A. Chin & M. Freeman, Tai Chen on Mencius (1990)
Evidence: AI draft
Dai Zhen › 1724–1777
Jeong Yak-yong (Dasan)
influenced
Jeong Yak-yong read Mencius’ four sprouts as beginnings of virtues completed only in action, so that humaneness exists only after it is practised (Maengja youi, 1814). Jeong Yak-yong, Maengja youi (1814); M. Setton, Chŏng Yagyong: Korea’s Challenge to Orthodox Neo-Confucianism (1997)
Evidence: AI draft
Jeong Yak-yong (Dasan) › 1762–1836
Kang Youwei
influenced
In The Subtle Meaning of the Mencius (Mengzi wei, 1901) Kang Youwei read Mencius’ priority of the people as an early statement of popular rights and constitutional government. Kang Youwei, Mengzi wei (1901); K.-c. Hsiao, A Modern China and a New World: K’ang Yu-wei, Reformer and Utopian (1975)
Evidence: AI draft
Kang Youwei › 1858–1927
Mou Zongsan
influenced
Mou Zongsan took Mencius’ original mind as the moral mind that is itself creative reality and opened On the Highest Good (1985) by commenting on the Mencius. Mou Zongsan, Xinti yu xingti (1968–69); Yuanshan lun (1985); IEP “Mou Zongsan”
Evidence: AI draft
Mou Zongsan › 1909–1995
Criticism
Criticized by 2
Xunzi
criticised by
Xunzi rejected Mencius’ view that human nature is good: goodness is the product of deliberate effort (wei), rites and teachers (Xunzi 23, ‘Xing e’). Xunzi, ch. 23 ‘Xing e’; SEP “Xunzi”
Evidence: AI draft
Xunzi › c. 310–235 BCE
Wang Chong
criticised by
Wang Chong criticised Mencius’ arguments as inconsistent and rejected his view that human nature is wholly good (Lunheng 13 ‘Benxing’, 30 ‘Ci Meng’). Wang Chong, Lunheng, chs. 13, 30, tr. A. Forke, Lun-hêng, 1907–11
Evidence: AI draft
Wang Chong › c. 27–100
Criticizes 1
Mozi
criticised
Mencius condemned Mozi’s impartial love as denying one’s father – no better than the beasts – and set out to refute the Mohists and Yang Zhu (Mengzi 3B9). Mengzi 3B9, 7A26; SEP “Mencius”
Evidence: AI draft
Mozi › c. 470–391 BCE
Works
- c. 300 BCEMengzi
Dialogues on the goodness of human nature and humane government.
Position
Mencius defended Confucianism with the thesis that human nature is good. Everyone has the “four sprouts” of virtue – compassion, shame, deference and a sense of right and wrong: anyone who suddenly sees a child about to fall into a well feels alarm and compassion. Virtue does not come from outside but grows from these beginnings if they are tended like young plants. Politically, he held that a ruler keeps the Mandate of Heaven only as long as he cares for the people; a tyrant may rightly be overthrown. Through Zhu Xi his book became one of the Four Books of the Confucian canon.
Life & context
Mengzi, latinised as Mencius, was born in the small state of Zou about a century after Confucius and is said to have studied with disciples of Confucius’ grandson Zisi. Like Confucius, he travelled for many years among the courts of the Warring States, advising rulers on humane government, mostly in vain. His conversations were collected in the book that bears his name.
Appears in
- Journey ‘The Chinese Conversation’ · Stop 4 of 9
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