Mencius | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() As depicted in the album Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old (至聖先賢半身像) – held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Meng Ke c. 371 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | c. 289 BC Zou, Zhou dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Era | Ancient philosophy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Region | Chinese philosophy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Confucianism | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Main interests | Ethics, social philosophy, political philosophy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable ideas |
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Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 孟子 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "Master Meng" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Birth name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 孟軻 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mencius[a] (MEN-shee-əs; c. 371 – c. 289 BC) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage (亞聖) to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting his ideology and developing it further.[1][2] Living during the Warring States period, he is said to have spent much of his life travelling around the states offering counsel to different rulers. Conversations with these rulers form the basis of the Mencius, which would later be canonised as a Confucian classic.
One primary principle of his work is that human nature is righteous and humane. The responses of citizens to the policies of rulers embodies this principle, and a state with righteous and humane policies will flourish by nature. The citizens, with freedom from good rule, will then allocate time to caring for their wives, brothers, elders, and children, and be educated with rites and naturally become better citizens. This placed him at odds with his near contemporary, Xunzi, who believed that human nature is evil by birth.[3]
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