Mencius
Mencius is my name; I was born in the Zou state in about 372 BCE. In several respects my life was similar to that of Confucius. Zou and Lu (the state of Confucius’ origin) were adjacent states. Like Confucius, I was only three when I lost me my father. My mother paid special attention to my upbringing. A traditional story tells of her moving our home several times and finally settling near a school, so that I would have the right kind of environmental influence, and of her encouraging me to persevere in my studies. Among the Chinese, my mother has been for ages upheld as the model mother. As a young scholar I had for my mentor a pupil of Zisi, who was himself the grandson of Confucius. Thus, the continuity of the Confucian orthodoxy in all its purity was assured. In due time, I became a teacher myself and for a brief period served as an official in the state of Qi. I spent much time traveling, offering my advice and counsel to the various princes on government by ren (“human-heartedness”), or humane government. The effort was foredoomed because the times were chaotic, and the contending princes were interested not in humane government but in power. The Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE) was founded on the feudalistic principle of a sociopolitical hierarchy, with clearly defined privileges and responsibilities between those of high and low status. As time went on, however, ambition and intrigue resulted in usurpations and hassles, eroding the feudalistic system at the root and bringing on a condition of political and moral chaos. This trend continued to worsen at an accelerating rate, and the age in which I lived is known in Chinese history as the period of Warring States (475–221 BCE). Under such conditions, I preached to the princes on virtuous personal conduct and humane government but it all fell on deaf ears; yet I continued to speak my mind, even though I knew that he was championing an unpopular cause. On my part I believed that, the ruler was to provide for the welfare of the people in two respects: material conditions for their livelihood and moral and educational guidance for their edification; thus I, worked out a definite program to attain economic sufficiency for the common people. I also advocated light taxes, free, conservation of natural resources, welfare measures for the old and disadvantaged, and more nearly equal sharing of wealth. It was my fundamental belief that “only when the people had a steady livelihood would they have a steady heart.” While I patiently exhorted the princes to cultivate the way of moral power and to forsake the way of force and intrigue, I also reminded them of the responsibility that came to them with the mandate of Heaven to govern for the good of the people. With unusual courage, I declared: “The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain come next; the sovereign counts for the least.” He also quoted for all to hear from the Shujing (“Classic of History”), one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, the saying “Heaven sees as the people see; Heaven hears as the people hear.” The outspoken sympathies I received made me a champion of the common people and an advocate of democratic principles in government.
I went to several states, but nowhere did I find a prince willing to put his lofty principles of government into practice. My sense of disappointment grew with the years and finally brought me back to my native state of Zou, where I devoted the remaining years of my life to the instruction of my pupils.
My philosophic ideas might be regarded as an amplification of the teachings of Confucius. Confucius taught the concept of ren, love or human-heartedness, as the basic virtue of manhood. I made the original goodness of human nature (xing) the keynote to my system. That the four beginnings (siduan)—the feeling of commiseration, the feeling of shame, the feeling of courtesy, and the feeling of right and wrong—are all inborn in man was a self-evident truth to me; and the “four beginnings,” when properly cultivated, will develop into the four cardinal virtues of ren, righteousness (yi), decorum (li), and wisdom (zhi). This doctrine of the goodness of human nature has become an enduring topic for debate among the Chinese thinkers throughout the ages. I also had the conviction that man possessed intuitive knowledge and intuitive ability and that personal cultivation consisted in developing one’s mind. Thus: “Persons who have developed their hearts and minds to the utmost, know their nature. Knowing their nature, they know Heaven.” Hence, all people can become like the great sage-kings Yao and Shun, the legendary heroes of the archaic past. Since the time I earned the recognition as a major philosopher, special importance was attributed to me and my work by the neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty (960–1279). For the last 1,000 years, I have been revered among the Chinese people as the cofounder of Confucianism, second only to Confucius himself.
I Was born in the state of Zou in the year 372 BC. My mother though wasn't hapy with my current location. Infact we moved around quite allot
References: Powerpoint presentation
MENSIUS