This is what Mencius used to compare "life" and "righteousness". "I want fish, and I want bear's paw. I want bear's paw instead of fish." "Life, I want it; Righteousness is also what I want, and I give up my life to take justice. " It's about the Confucian interpretation of righteousness.

The former's comparison between fish and bear's paw is actually of little practical significance, just stating that when making necessary choices, we should choose the most practical and moral one!

I want what I want, which is a masterpiece of Mencius' in-depth discussion on human life and death based on his theory of good nature. Emphasize that "justice" is more important than "life" and advocate giving up life for justice.

Mencius thought that "everyone has a heart of shame and evil", so people should maintain their kind nature, strengthen their usual cultivation and education, and not do anything against etiquette. Mencius regarded this thought as the essence of Chinese traditional moral cultivation and a far-reaching thing.

Extended information:

Fish What I Want is selected from Mencius Gaozi Shang, and an important proposition of Mencius is discussed: righteousness is more important than life, and when righteousness and life cannot be balanced, we should give up life for righteousness.

Mencius said, "Being ashamed of evil is also righteous." ("Mencius Gaozi Shang") and said: "Righteousness, road also. ..... Only a gentleman can follow the right path. " (Under Zhang Wan) Mencius thinks that he is ashamed of doing bad things, and others are disgusted with doing bad things. This is righteousness; Righteousness is the right path that a moral gentleman must follow.

Mencius first made an analogy with specific things that people are familiar with in their lives: fish is what I want, and bear's paw is what I want. If I can't get both at the same time, I would rather give up fish and want bear's paw; Life is what I cherish, and righteousness is what I cherish. In the case that I can't get both at the same time, I would rather give up my life and get the essence.

Mencius compared life to a fish, and righteousness to a bear's paw. He thought that righteousness was more precious than life, just as bear's paw was more precious than fish, which naturally led to the idea of "giving up life for righteousness". This proposition is the central argument of the whole article.

Baidu encyclopedia-I want fish.