Mencius plays an important role in the history of Chinese thought and is known as the Lesser Sage, second only to Confucius, who is called the eternal teacher by future generations.

"Mencius" is a classic work of Confucianism and an important source of information for studying Mencius' life story and his theories. Many inspiring and wise sayings that have been passed down through the ages are derived from it, such as "If you are successful, you can help the world, and if you are poor, you can only benefit yourself." "Might cannot bend, poverty cannot move" and so on.

Recently, I read the book "Mencius Bypass" by Nanjing Normal University, and gained a deep understanding of Mencius himself and his thoughts.

This book is Mr. Nan Huaijin's notes on a chapter of King Hui of Liang in "Mencius". The author adopts the method of "joint reference to classics and history", taking the original text of "Mencius" as the "classic", the social background and character activities of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods as the "history", and combining it with various other historical stories and social phenomena to analyze Mencius's personality in life. and its ideological influence were thoroughly described. It enables readers to easily and profoundly absorb traditional Chinese culture in an atmosphere of laughter and conversation, increase their knowledge of literature and history, and acquire the wisdom of life.

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were a turbulent period in the history of our country. Confucius wrote about the unjust wars in the Spring and Autumn Period. For more than two hundred years, the society at that time was in turmoil, wars between countries continued, and social morals declined. "Thirty-six are those who kill the king, and fifty-two are those who subjugate the country."

During the Warring States Period, the entire social atmosphere was worse than in the Spring and Autumn Period of Confucius. Mencius was in such an era background.

1. Saints and Heroes

The Spring and Autumn Period was mainly a battle for hegemony between various princes, and the scale of the war was relatively small. During the Warring States Period, the country's political power increased, and wars escalated into wars of national annihilation. Conflicts between countries intensified, the weak preyed on the strong, and attacks continued. Countries all followed the path of enriching the country and strengthening its military, and adopted realistic hegemony.

It was against this background that Mencius promoted his own royal government and advocated benevolence and righteousness, which was incompatible with the mainstream of society at that time. Therefore, Mencius's experience was not taken seriously by the princes, just like Confucius.

At that time, Zou Yan of the Yin and Yang family was respected and welcomed by all countries. The kings of various countries personally welcomed him. The king of Yan even asked to be Zou Yan's student and built him a palace to support him.

There were also other famous figures of the same period, such as Su Qin, who was famous for his hanging beams on his head and thorns on his buttocks. He used the doctrine of vertical and horizontal eloquence to cater to the needs of various countries at that time, and admired the relationship between the six countries. "From", it can be said that he has become famous and has unlimited glory.

They can assess the situation, be flexible, weigh the pros and cons, and quickly achieve success and fame. They can be described as heroes.

When Mencius saw what happened to King Hui of Liang, he said, "Sou, you have come a thousand miles away to benefit our country?" He was very disrespectful and indifferent, and he could not get a king in Qi. of attention.

Sima Qian said that Mencius’ behavior at that time was like putting a square plug into a round hole. It was out of place. It was because Mencius didn’t know how to adapt and how to cater to the king. No, he was a saint. An important reason why he is a saint.

The so-called saints are those who face reality, can firmly believe in their beliefs and truth, and take it as their own duty to solicit the world. "Open the balance", they ignore reality, regardless of personal gains and losses, and do what they know they can't do.

Heroes and saints have different intentions and encounter different experiences.

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For example, Confucius and Mencius were neglected during their lifetimes, but because of their persistence and implementation of the Tao, they later became saints respected by all generations, and their fame lasted forever. This is the difference between saints and ordinary people.

2. Mencius’ core proposition - benevolent government

Mencius met King Hui of Liang for the first time. King Hui of Liang asked Mencius, "Sou, you have come thousands of miles away to benefit the people." My country calls? "Mencius replied, Why does the king need to say "profit"? Is it just benevolence and righteousness?

King Hui of Meng Liang asked Mencius how to benefit his country, and Mencius replied, King, why do you always talk about profits? There is still benevolence, righteousness and morality. If the monarch, ministers, and people of a country put their own interests first, compete for profits from above and below, and are only interested in profit, then the country will be in danger.

Mencius's answer was exactly what the society at that time was. The real situation in reality is that the king puts his own interests first, regardless of the life and death of the people, and the ministers fight for power and gain, but the safety of the country is in danger; the weak and the strong compete with each other, regardless of the life and death of the people, which leads to social unrest. Moral decay.

So Mencius suggested that the monarch should implement benevolent government. The core of benevolent government is to require the monarch to put the people's lives and interests first, focus on agriculture, light taxes, save penalties, and allow business freedom to make the people Live and work in peace and contentment, and at the same time improve the people's education level, be kind to fathers and filial to sons, love brothers and be honest, then a country of filial piety, brotherhood and loyalty will be formed. In this way, the people will respect and love the monarch, the country will be prosperous and strong, and the people of the world will naturally want to command the world, and the benevolent will be invincible.

Therefore, Confucianism does not only talk about morality and oppose interests. Confucianism attaches great importance to long-term interests and has the common people in mind for the future.

At that time, countries focused on self-interest. , attacking each other and repaying each other with grievances can only bring huge disasters to the people and the entire society. The rulers are also walking on thin ice and are trembling with fear.

If the country adopts benevolent governance, it can fundamentally solve social unrest and ensure that the people live and work in peace and contentment. Facts have also proved that the later society based on Confucianism was far better than the situation during the Warring States Period.

The Qin State, which adopted Legalism to establish hegemony, was so powerful that it swallowed up the six countries and established a great empire. The huge unified empire fell apart within a few decades, and all descendants of the Ying family were killed.

The later Han Dynasty gradually adopted Confucianism as its orthodox ideology, but it lasted for four hundred years. Later in Chinese history, as long as Confucianism dominated, the country could basically maintain unity and stability.

3. Did Mencius oppose war?

Many people think that Confucianism means benevolent government. It is against all violence. In fact, the Confucianism of Confucius and Mencius is not completely opposed to war. Otherwise, we often mention Emperors Tang, Wen, and Wu. You must know that they all rebelled against the founding of the country. /p>

When Yan was in civil strife and Qi wanted to conquer Yan, Mencius expressed his support. The reason was that Yan was unfair, the country was in chaos, and the people were in dire straits. If the conquest could help relieve the suffering of the people of Yan, then War is allowed. In short, if the purpose of war is justice and the starting point is benevolence and righteousness, then war is allowed.

The reason why Shang Tang and King Wen of Zhou were cruel. , the people are in dire straits, so they punish the people and attack crimes. Where they attack, the people rejoice and welcome them. Their troops are the king's division and the justice division. Such a war is worthy of praise.

At that time, the goals between countries were all for the benefit of their respective countries. It was only the personal ambitions of the rulers. They continued to fight without considering the life and death of the people, which brought heavy burdens to all countries. As the saying goes, "the prosperity of the people is painful, and the destruction of the people is painful." Mencius was opposed to these wars.

It can be seen that as long as the purpose of war is benevolence and justice, Confucianism supports it.

Summary

Through reading this book, you can not only understand Mencius’ core political philosophy, but also understand the background of the times and some historical figures at that time. After reading Mencius I have a fuller understanding of the era I live in.

By understanding Mencius’ thoughts and principles of dealing with people, it is very inspiring for our current life and work.

The way of governing a country is the way of management. For example, in today’s business, Zhongshang proposes concepts such as customer center, employee first in management, and all-employee shareholding. The shadow of Mencius’ thought on benevolent government can be seen.

Studying classics and talking to sages across time and space can make us wiser and better able to face life and work.