There are many "famous sayings" in the book "Mencius" that can be used as mottos, such as: If you gain the Tao, you will get many help, but if you lose the Tao, there will be little help; if you are poor, you will be good for yourself; if you are prosperous, you will benefit the world; etc. But this article is written specifically to discuss Mencius’ argumentation, that is, argumentation methods or techniques.

Mencius went to see King Hui of Liang. King Hui of Liang said: Old man, you have come all the way to see me. Is there any clever way to get my country out of trouble?

Original text: Will it also benefit our country? Note: King Hui of Liang asked about strategies that would benefit the country.

Mencius replied: Your Majesty, why bother talking about interests? The king says what can benefit the country, ministers say what can be done to benefit their own families, and civil servants say what can be done to benefit themselves. If everyone from top to bottom is striving for interests, then civil servants will have to think about ministers, and ministers will have to think about usurping the party and seizing power.

Note: Mencius changed the word "profit" in the original text into self-interest. This is a trick in Mencius's argument: secretly changing concepts.

Extended information:

Mencius pointed out that "the people are the most valuable, the country is second, and the king is the least important." He believed that the government should protect the interests of the people, and the monarch should take care of the people as a prerequisite. Therefore, destiny lies in the hearts of the people and not in the monarch. If the monarch is unjust, the people can overthrow him; but if the monarch has a purpose, the people should stick to their posts.

Mencius advocated that benevolent government must imitate the kingly governance of the previous kings (Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, Chengwang, and Zhou Gong), so that benevolent government can be implemented in the world.

Mencius also attached great importance to the learning environment. Only by placing students in a good environment and providing spontaneous education can they succeed. The influence of Mencius' theory on later generations inspired Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties. Mencius proposed the "study of inner sage" and pointed out that human nature is good, as long as everyone expands his good nature, suppresses his materialistic nature, and reflects on himself. This introspective cultivation method became the mainstream of Confucianism in later generations. Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Lu Jiuyuan, Wang Yangming and other Neo-Confucianists of the Song and Ming dynasties all inherited Mencius's teachings in this area.