Meng Ke
in the Warring States period was one of the main representatives of Confucianism. According to legend, Mencius is a descendant of Meng Sun Shi, an aristocrat of Lu State. He lost his father at an early age, his family was poor, and he was a student of Zisi. After finishing his studies, he lobbied the vassals as scholars in an attempt to promote his own political opinions, and went to Liang (Wei), Qi, Song, Teng and Lu. At that time, several great powers were committed to Qiang Bing, a rich country, and strived for reunification through violent means. Mencius' theory of benevolent governance is considered to be "circuitous and broader than things" and has no chance to be implemented. His works include Mencius. It is regarded as the successor of Confucius' theory and is called "Shengya".
Life profile
Mencius' distant ancestor was Meng Sun Shi, an aristocrat of Lu, and later his family declined, and he moved from Lu to Zou (now southeast of Zoucheng, Shandong). He lost his father at the age of three, and Meng Mu brought him up. When Mencius was young, his mother moved three times to give him a good learning environment. Later people called it the Three Movements of Meng Mu. Meng Mu's godson is very strict, and his "moving to another place to teach his son" and "cutting off the loom" have become a beautiful talk throughout the ages. There is a saying in San Zi Jing that "Meng Mu used to choose a neighbor".
In the era when Mencius lived, a hundred schools of thought contended, "The words of Yang Zhu and Mo Zhai are the best in the world." Mencius fiercely criticized it from the standpoint of Confucianism. Mencius inherited and developed Confucius' thought and put forward a complete ideological system. Mencius traveled around Qi, Jin, Song, Xue, Lu, Teng and Liang countries to lobby his thoughts of "benevolent governance" and "kingliness". However, because the vassal countries were busy with the war at that time, his theory of benevolent governance was considered as "circuitous and broader than things," and almost no one adopted his thought of governing the country. He returned to give lectures and write books with his disciples, and wrote 7 pieces of Mencius. Mencius maintained and developed Confucianism, put forward the theory of "benevolent government" and "good nature", and insisted on "people-oriented".
Mencius and his hometown
His thoughts have a great influence on later generations. But his position was not very high before the Song Dynasty. Since Han Yu's Original Tao listed Mencius as the only figure in pre-Qin Confucianism who inherited Confucius' "orthodoxy", a "upgrading movement" of Mencius appeared, and Mencius' status was gradually improved. His theory had a great influence on the Song Dynasty. In the fourth year of Xining in northern Song Shenzong (171), Mencius was listed as one of the subjects of imperial examinations for the first time, and then it was upgraded to a Confucian classic. Zhu Xi in the Southern Song Dynasty combined it with The Analects of Confucius, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean into four books. From the Yuan Dynasty to the first year of Shun Dynasty (133), Mencius was named "Asian Saint" and later called "Asian Saint", ranking second only to Confucius. His thoughts and Confucius' thoughts are collectively called "The Way of Confucius and Mencius".
personal influence
Mencius visited Qi when he was in Qi Weiwang. As if he had been to Wei at the same time, he had seen Wei Huiwang and Wei Xiangwang successively. Here again when I was in Qi Xuanwang. He has also been to Teng, Xue, Song, Zou, Liang and other countries. When Mencius was mentioned in Historical Records, the Qin and Qi countries used Shang Yang, Tian Ji and others to enrich Qiang Bing and attack, but what Mencius said was "the virtue of Tang Yu's three generations", and the monarchs of various countries could not use it because they were "circuitous and broader than things", so Mencius and his disciples Zhang Wan and others wrote books and made statements. However, according to Mencius, when Mencius came to Wei, he was treated with courtesy by Wei Huiwang and asked Mencius for advice on how to govern the country. Mencius was in Qi, and Xuanwang appointed him as Shangqing. "There are dozens of cars behind, and hundreds of followers, in order to spread food to the princes." Qi will be able to adopt some of his theories and propositions, so he can be prominent for a while.
According to Historical Records, Mencius wrote seven works that have been handed down for generations, while according to Records of Han Arts and Literature, there are eleven. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhao Qi said that Mencius had four foreign books, namely, Sexuality, Essay, Filial Piety, and Politics, while eleven books were added to seven. Zhao Qi thinks that the contents of the four foreign books are superficial and inconsistent with the internal ones, which should be made by later generations. Mencius, which has been handed down to this day, is what Zhao Qi said. Although the book was not written by Mencius, it was recorded by Mencius' disciples, all of which were undoubtedly Mencius' words and deeds. It can be seen from the book that Mencius has the following remarks and thoughts: in terms of human nature, he advocates the theory of goodness. I think that people are born with four virtues: benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. People can maintain and expand it through internal omission, otherwise they will lose these good qualities. So he asked people to pay attention to the role of introspection. In terms of social and political views, Mencius highlighted the theory of benevolent governance and kingliness. Benevolence is to "save punishment and collect taxes" for the people. He summed up from historical experience that "if you violently attack your people, you will die with your body," and said that all three generations of people won the world because of benevolence and lost the world because of unkindness. He also put forward the idea that the people should be valued and the monarch should pay attention to the people. "The treasure of princes is the land, the people and the political affairs." If the monarch is more serious, his lieutenants will remonstrate him, and if he remonstrates but doesn't listen, he can change his position. As for tyrants like Jie and Zhou, subjects can rise up and destroy them. He is opposed to hegemonism, that is, to conquer other countries by merger war; Instead, we should be benevolent, strive for the submission of the people's hearts, and serve without fighting, that is, what he called "the benevolent is invincible", and the king can be invincible in the world.
ideological position
political thought
political thought Mencius inherited and developed Confucius' thought of ruling by virtue, developed into the theory of benevolent governance, and became the core of his political thought. He applied the principles of "kissing" and "growing" to politics to ease class contradictions and safeguard the long-term interests of the feudal ruling class. On the one hand, Mencius strictly distinguished the class status of the ruler and the ruled, thinking that "those who work hard govern others, and those who work hard govern others", and imitated the Zhou system to draw up a hierarchy from the Emperor to Shu Ren; On the other hand, the relationship between the ruler and the ruled is compared to the relationship between parents and children, and it is advocated that the ruler should care about the sufferings of the people like parents, and the people should be close to and serve the ruler like parents.
Mencius believes that this is the most ideal politics, and if the rulers implement benevolent policies, they can win the heartfelt support of the people; On the other hand, if the people's lives are ignored, they will lose the hearts of the people and become a lone thief, which will be overthrown by the people. The specific content of benevolent government is very extensive, including economy, politics, education and ways to unify the world, among which there is a clue of people-oriented thought. This thought developed from the idea of valuing the people over the gods in the Spring and Autumn Period. Based on the experience of the Warring States period, Mencius summed up the laws governing the rise and fall of chaos in various countries and put forward a famous proposition rich in democratic essence: "People are more important, the country is second, and the monarch is lighter." It is considered that how to treat the people is extremely important for the rise and fall of the country. Mencius attached great importance to the opposition of people's hearts, and repeatedly expounded through a large number of historical examples that this is a key issue related to winning and losing the world. Mencius said: "A benevolent government must begin with the classics". The so-called "Jing Jie" means dividing and sorting out the field boundaries and implementing the well field system. The well field system envisaged by Mencius is a kind of feudal natural economy, which is based on small farmers in one household and takes the form of exploitation of labor rent. Each farmer has a five-acre house and a hundred-acre field, and is self-sufficient in food and clothing.
Mencius believed that "people are the way, those who have permanent property have perseverance, and those who have no permanent property have no perseverance". Only when people have permanent property and live and work in peace and contentment can they not violate the criminal law and commit evil deeds. Mencius believed that when people's material life is guaranteed, the rulers can set up schools again, educate them with the principle of filial piety, and guide them to be good, which can create a good moral trend of "kissing" and "growing up", that is, "everyone kisses their relatives and grows up, and the world is peaceful." Mencius believed that the benevolent governance of rulers could win the heartfelt support of people all over the world, so that they could be invincible. Mencius' benevolent policy should be based on the ruler's "unbearable heart" Mencius said: "The first king had a heart that could not bear others, and Sri Lanka had a policy that could not bear others." "Unable to bear others' heart" is a kind of compassion and kindness. However, this kind of sympathy and kindness is different from Mozi's "universal love", but from the feelings of blood. Mencius advocated "being kind to the people by kissing", "being old and being old, being young and being young and being young". Benevolence is the political embodiment of this unbearable heart.
ethical thought
Mencius closely combined ethics with politics, emphasizing that moral cultivation is the foundation of doing a good job in politics. He said: "The foundation of the world is in the country, the foundation of the country is at home, and the foundation of the home is in the body. "Later, the idea of" cultivating Qi and leveling the peace "put forward by" University "was developed according to this idea of Mencius. Mencius summarized the moral norms into four categories, namely, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. At the same time, the human relations are summarized as five kinds, namely, "father and son are close, the monarch and the minister are righteous, the couple are different, the young and the old are orderly, and the friends are trustworthy". Mencius believes that benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom are the most important among them. Benevolence and righteousness are based on filial piety and filial piety, which are the basic moral norms to deal with the blood relationship between father and son and brothers. He believes that if every member of society uses benevolence and righteousness to deal with all kinds of interpersonal relationships, the stability of feudal order and the unity of the world will be reliably guaranteed. In order to explain the origin of these moral norms, Mencius put forward the idea that human nature is good. He believes that although there are differences in division of labor and class among members of society, their human nature is the same. He said: "Therefore, all people of the same kind are similar, so why should they be suspicious of others?" Saints are like me. " Here, Mencius put the ruler and the ruled in an equal position and explored their universal humanity. This kind of discussion was adapted to the historical trend of slave liberation and social change at that time, which marked the deepening of human understanding and greatly promoted the development of ethical thought. Mencius believes that the morality of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom is innate. It is inherent in the human heart, is the "conscience and good ability" of human beings, and is the essential feature that distinguishes human beings from animals. He said: "Benevolence, courtesy and wisdom are rooted in the heart", "Benevolence, courtesy and wisdom are not from the outside, but also from me", and the reason is that everyone has "kindness", that is, compassion, shame, resignation and right and wrong, which is called "four ends"; Some people can expand it and strengthen moral cultivation, while others give up on themselves and are drowned by the environment, which leads to the difference in personality. Therefore, Mencius attached great importance to the consciousness of moral cultivation.
Mencius was strict with the gentry, thinking that no matter how bad the environment was, he should strive for progress and take the bad environment as a means to hone himself. You should be a real gentleman by "wealth can't be lewd, poverty can't be moved, and power can't be bent". If you encounter a severe test, you should "sacrifice your life for righteousness", and you would rather sacrifice your life than give up moral principles. He believes that through long-term moral practice, a firm and fearless psychological state can be cultivated, which is the so-called "noble spirit". This kind of qi is "to the utmost", which can actively expand and fill between heaven and earth. Mencius' theory of good nature is a kind of moral transcendentalism. After the Song Dynasty, it was generally accepted by Neo-Confucianism and became an orthodox theory of human nature, with far-reaching influence.
philosophical thought
Mencius
The highest category of Mencius' philosophical thought is heaven. Mencius inherited Confucius' thought of destiny, removed the residual meaning of personality god, and imagined heaven as a spiritual entity with moral attributes. He said: "Honest people, the way of heaven is also." Mencius defined the moral concept of honesty as the essential attribute of heaven, and thought that heaven was the origin of the inherent moral concept of human nature. Mencius' ideological system, including his political thoughts and ethical thoughts, is based on the category of heaven. Regarding the relationship between heaven and man, Mencius believed that heaven and man are interlinked. From the aspect of heaven, heaven is the master of everything, and everything about personnel is decided by heaven. From the human aspect, not only human goodness comes from talent, but also the thinking function of human heart is given by heaven. The human heart has the essential attribute of heaven, so we can know heaven as long as we try our best to play and expand our original heart. Mencius tried his best to pursue the spiritual realm of dedication, intellectuality and knowledge of heaven. In order to achieve this state, he put forward a set of moral cultivation methods and epistemological thoughts, emphasizing the self-consciousness and inward pursuit of the subject, and believed that if this state was reached, a great spiritual power could be generated.
Mencius' Thought
People-oriented thought: People are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the least. This means that the people should be put first, followed by the country, and the monarch should be the last. Mencius believed that the monarch should take care of the people first, and the politicians should protect the rights of the people.
The theory of benevolent government Mencius inherited and carried forward Confucius' thought of ruling by virtue, and developed it into the theory of benevolent government, which became the theory of his political thought. He applied the principle of "kissing" and "growing" to politics to ease class contradictions and safeguard the long-term interests of the ruling class.
the ideological position of education
Self-satisfaction in further study
Based on Mencius' thought of "wholeheartedly, intellectually and knowing the nature", he believed that the learning of knowledge did not come from outside, and it could only be thoroughly understood through his own active and conscious efforts. Since the truth of everything is in my heart, only by seeking self-satisfaction can I get in-depth understanding and gain something from my heart and reach the point of using it freely. Therefore, he said, "A gentleman should learn from the Tao and want to be complacent. If you are complacent, you will live in peace; If you live in peace, you will have deep capital; If the capital is deep, it will be taken from the left and right, so the gentleman wants to be complacent. " He believes that a gentleman's profound attainments should be achieved in the right way, which requires him to pursue them consciously. If you consciously pursue what you get, you can grasp it firmly, and if you firmly grasp it without wavering, you can save a lot, and if you save a lot, you can be inexhaustible, so a gentleman should consciously gain something. Mencius thought that we must pay attention to returning from Bo to his appointment for further study and self-satisfaction. He said, "if you are knowledgeable and elaborate, you will make an agreement with irony." Learn extensively, explain in detail, and after mastery, return to the point of briefly explaining the great righteousness. Mencius inherited Confucius' thought, and thought that we should pay attention to the comprehensive knowledge in order to achieve the goal of "agreement". This is an important way of thinking and learning, and also a teaching method. As a teacher, it is necessary to explain a truth clearly. Without extensive knowledge about this truth, it is difficult to explain the key points, difficulties and key points of this truth to students clearly. It is an important teaching and learning method left by the ancients to break the contract from Bo and control the complexity with simplicity.
enlightening thinking
Mencius, like Confucius, is good at enlightening thinking and using question-and-answer method to achieve his expected results. He is good at using metaphors to make students understand what he said easily. He asked students to be active and use their brains, and not to rush to make conclusions instead of students. He has a famous saying: "It is better to believe in the Book than to have no Book." Believe in the book completely, it is better to have no book. He asked the students to have the spirit of doubt. This is the development of Confucius' thoughts of "hearing more and being suspicious" and "seeing more and being suspicious". Only when there is doubt can you think, and doubt and evidence are the starting points for inspiring thinking. He also said: "The master will not change the waste rope ink for the clumsy work, and abandon it for the clumsy shooting to change its winning rate. A gentleman leads without sending, and jumps as well. Stand in the middle, and those who can follow it. " That is to say, clever craftsmen do not change or abandon the rules because of poor workers, and clever archers do not change the standard of drawing bows because of poor shooters. A gentleman teaches others just like a shooter with a bow full, but he doesn't shoot an arrow, so as to inspire and induce students and stimulate their enthusiasm for learning. Teachers can't lower their requirements. They should stay on the right path, and capable students will follow. This is the result of teachers' guidance.
step by step
Mencius attached importance to learning knowledge step by step, and he inherited Confucius' thought of "following the course is good and attractive", which means that Confucius is good at it.