Mencius: "Today's kindness is as great as that of animals, but if the merit does not go to the people, how can we do it alone? But if a feather is not lifted, it is a lack of effort; if the public support is not seen, it is a lack of understanding; the people If there is no protection, there is no need for kindness. Therefore, if the king is not a king, he does not do it, but he cannot do it.” ("Mencius: King Hui of Liang") It can be seen that Mencius believed that it was necessary to extend grace to animals and people. In terms of order, the people have priority. If a king can care for animals but cannot care for people, it is not because of his inability but because of his unwillingness. Mencius also said: "If there is fat meat in the kitchen, fat horses in the stables, hungry people, and hungry scavengers in the wild, they will lead the beasts and eat people." ("Mencius: Teng Wen Gong") If dignitaries take good care of animals, And letting the people starve to death in the wild is like leading wild beasts to eat people. On the other hand, if he led people to eat wild animals, Mencius would not object. Therefore, we must not only have compassion for animals, but also respect human existence. As Professor Chen Wangheng said: "Absolute opposition to killing also harms human beings. Except for a few people, the vast majority of human beings cannot abstain from eating animals. Absolutely not to kill, doesn't it deprive humans of their right to survive? Therefore, , Our respect for the individual rights of animals and plants is limited.” ① Mencius said: “A gentleman loves things without being benevolent; towards the people, he is benevolent without being kind to the people. Love things." ("Mencius: Devoting the Heart") "Eating without loving is like a pig. Loving without respect is like a beast." ("Mencius: Devoting the Heart") For animals, we need to love them. Need to deal with different situations. Love for all things in nature is the lowest level, which means cherishing; for the people, it is the middle level, which means benevolence; for relatives, it is the highest level, which means love. Mencius also believed that love for animals should be based on satisfying their survival needs, and they can be pampered further, but they must not rise to the level of humans and treat animals with human dignity. All these tell us that when caring for animals, we need to pay attention to methods and grasp the scale.

Source: Poyang Lake Journal