Mencius

Mencius
Ancestral name (姓):	Ji (Chinese: 姬 ; Pinyin: Jī)
Clan name (氏):	Meng¹ (Ch: 孟 ; Py: Mèng)
Given name (名):	Ke (Ch: 軻 ; Py: Kē)
Courtesy name (字):	Unknown²
Posthumous name (謚):	Master Meng the Second Sage³
	(Ch: 亞聖孟子 ; Py: Yàshèng Mèngzǐ)
Styled:	Master Meng 4
	(Ch: 孟子; Py: Mèngzǐ)
1 The original clan name was Mengsun (孟孫), but was shortened into Meng (孟), before or after Mencius's life, it is not possible to say.
2 Traditionally, his courtesy name was assumed to be Ziche (子車), sometimes incorrectly written as Ziyu (子輿) or Ziju (子居), but recent scholarly works show that these courtesy names appeared in the 3rd century CE and apply to another historical figure named Meng Ke who also lived in Chinese antiquity and was mistaken for Mencius.
3 That is, the second sage after Confucius. Name given in 1530 by Emperor Jiajing. In the two centuries before 1530, the posthumous name was "The Second Sage Duke of Zou" (鄒國亞聖公) which is still the name that can be seen carved in the Mencius ancestral temple in Zoucheng.
4Romanized as Mencius.

Mencius (Chinese 孟子, transliterated Meng Zi, most accepted dates: 372–289 B.C.E.; other possible dates: 385–303/302 B.C.E.) was a Chinese philosopher and follower of Confucianism who argued that humans are naturally moral beings but are corrupted by society.

Life and Philosophy

Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou (鄒國), now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng (邹城市), Shandong province, only thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south of Qufu, Confucius' birthplace. He was an itinerant Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. He served as an official during the Warring States Period (403–221 B.C.E.) in the State of Qi (齊 qì) from 319 to 312 B.C.E. He expressed his filial devotion when he took an absence of three years from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.

A follower of Confucianism, Mencius argued for the infinite goodness of the individual, believing that it was society's influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – which caused bad character. He even argued that it was acceptable for people to overthrow or even kill a ruler who ignored the people's needs and ruled harshly. Mencius argued that human beings are born with an innate moral sense which society has corrupted, and that the goal of moral cultivation is to return to one's innate morality.

Mencius' interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty. The Mencius (also spelled Mengzi or Meng-tzu), a book of his conversations with kings of the time, is one of the four books that form the core of orthodox Confucian thinking. In contrast to the sayings of Confucius which are short and self-contained, the Mencius consists of long dialogues, with extensive prose.

Mencius spoke frequently and highly of the well-field system.

Four-Character Idiom

The traditional Chinese four-character idiom 孟母三遷 (Py: mèng mǔ sān qiān; Zhuyin/Bopomofo: ㄇㄥㄇㄨㄙㄢㄑ一ㄢ; Kana: もうぼさんせん; Romaji: mou bo san sen; literal translation: Mencius' mother, three moves) refers to the legend that Mencius' mother moved their house three times—from beside a cemetery to beside a marketplace, to finally beside a school—before finding a location that she felt was suitable for his up-bringing. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of a proper environment for the proper up-bringing of children.

Reference

• Graham, A.C., Disputers of the TAO: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China (Open Court 1993). ISBN 0812690877

See also

• Chinese philosophy

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Mencius (in Chinese)

• English translation of the Mencius by Charles Muller
• English Translation of the Mencius with comments by James Legge
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
• Works by Mencius. Project Gutenberg

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