Life

Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke (孟軻), was born in the State of Zou. His birthplace is now within the county-level city of Zoucheng, Shandong Province, only thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south of Confucius's birthplace in Qufu.

He was an itinerant Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. Supposedly, he was a pupil of Confucius's grandson, Zisi. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled throughout China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. During the Warring States period (403–221 BC), Mencius served as an official and scholar at the Jixia Academy in the State of Qi (1046 BC to 221 BC) from 319 to 312 BC. He expressed his filial devotion when he took three years leave of absence 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.

Mencius is buried in the "Mencius Cemetery" (孟子林, Mengzi Lin, also known as 亞聖林, Yasheng Lin), which is located 12 km to the northeast of Zoucheng's central urban area. A stele carried by a giant stone tortoise and crowned with dragons stands in front of his grave.

Mother

Mencius's mother is often held up as an exemplary female figure in Chinese culture. One of the most famous traditional Chinese four-character idioms is 孟母三遷 ( mèngmǔ-sānqiān, literally Mencius's mother moves three times); this saying refers to the legend that Mencius's mother moved houses three times before finding a location that she felt was suitable for the child's upbringing. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of finding the proper environment for raising children.

Mencius's father died when Mencius was very young. His mother Zhǎng (仉) raised her son alone. They were very poor. At first they lived by a cemetery, where the mother found her son imitating the paid mourners in funeral processions. Therefore, the mother decided to move. The next house was near a market in the town. There the boy began to imitate the cries of merchants (merchants were despised in early China). So the mother moved to a house next to a school. Inspired by the scholars and students, Mencius began to study. His mother decided to remain, and Mencius became a scholar.

Another story further illustrates the emphasis that Mencius's mother placed on her son's education. As the story goes, once when Mencius was young, he was truant from school. His mother responded to his apparent disregard for his education by taking up a pair of scissors and cutting the cloth she had been weaving in front of him. This was intended to illustrate that one cannot stop a task midway, and her example inspired Mencius to diligence in his studies.

There is another legend about his mother and his wife, involving a time when his wife was at home alone and was discovered by Mencius not to be sitting properly. Mencius thought his wife had violated a rite, and demanded a divorce. His mother claimed that it was written in The Book of Rites that before a person entered a room, he should announce his imminent presence loudly to let others prepare for his arrival; as he had not done that in this case, the person who had violated the rite was Mencius himself. Eventually Mencius admitted his fault.

She is one of 125 women of which biographies have been included in the Lienü zhuan ('Biographies of Exemplary Women'), written by Liu Xiang.

Lineage

Duke Huan of Lu's son through Qingfu (慶父) was the ancestor of Mencius. He was descended from Duke Yang of the State of Lu (魯煬公). Duke Yang was the son of Bo Qin, who was the son of the Duke of Zhou of the Zhou dynasty royal family. The genealogy is found in the Mencius family tree (孟子世家大宗世系).

Mencius's descendants lived in Zoucheng in the Mencius Family Mansion, where the Mencius Temple was also built and also a cemetery for Mencius's descendants.

Meng Haoran and Meng Jiao were descendants of Mencius who lived during the Tang dynasty.

During the Ming dynasty, one of Mencius's descendants was given a hereditary title at the Hanlin Academy by the Emperor. The title they held was Wujing Boshi (五經博士; 五經博士; Wǔjīng Bóshì). In 1452 Wujing Boshi was bestowed upon the offspring of Mengzi-Meng Xiwen (孟希文) 56th generation and Yan Hui-Yan Xihui (顔希惠) 59th generation, the same was bestowed on the offspring of Zhou Dunyi-Zhou Mian (週冕) 12th generation, the two Cheng brothers (Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi-Chen Keren (程克仁) 17th generation), Zhu Xi-Zhu Ting (朱梴) 9th generation, in 1456–1457, in 1539 the same was awarded to Zeng Can's offspring-Zeng Zhicui (曾質粹) 60th generation, in 1622 the offspring of Zhang Zai received the title and in 1630 the offspring of Shao Yong.

One of Mencius's direct descendants was Dr. Meng Chih (Anglicised as Dr. Paul Chih Meng) former director of China House, and director of the China Institute in 1944. Time magazine reported Dr. Meng's age that year as 44. Dr. Meng died in Arizona in 1990 at the age of 90. North Carolina's Davidson College and Columbia University were his alma mater. He was attending a speech along with Confucius descendant H. H. Kung.

In the Republic of China there is an office called the "Sacrificial Official to Mencius" which is held by a descendant of Mencius, like the post of "Sacrificial Official to Zengzi" for a descendant of Zengzi, "Sacrificial Official to Yan Hui" for a descendant of Yan Hui, and the post of "Sacrificial Official to Confucius, held by a descendant of Confucius.

The descendants of Mencius still use generation poems for their names given to them by the Ming and Qing Emperors along with the descendants of the other Four Sages (四氏): Confucius, Zengzi, and Yan Hui.

Historical sites related to his descendants include the Meng family mansion (孟府), Temple of Mencius (孟廟), and Cemetery of Mencius (孟林).

One of Mencius's descendants moved to Korea and founded the Sinchang Maeng clan.

Main concepts

Human nature

While Confucius himself did not explicitly focus on the subject of human nature, Mencius asserted the innate goodness of the individual, believing that it was society's influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – that caused bad moral character. "He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature" and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind."

The four beginnings (or sprouts)

To show innate goodness, Mencius used the example of a child falling down a well. Witnesses of this event immediately feel

Human nature has an innate tendency towards goodness, but moral rightness cannot be instructed down to the last detail. This is why merely external controls always fail in improving society. True improvement results from educational cultivation in favorable environments. Likewise, bad environments tend to corrupt the human will. This, however, is not proof of innate evil because a clear thinking person would avoid causing harm to others. This position of Mencius puts him between Confucians such as Xunzi who thought people were innately bad, and Taoists who believed humans did not need cultivation, they just needed to accept their innate, natural, and effortless goodness. The four beginnings/sprouts could grow and develop, or they could fail. In this way Mencius synthesized integral parts of Taoism into Confucianism. Individual effort was needed to cultivate oneself, but one's natural tendencies were good to begin with. The object of education is the cultivation of benevolence, otherwise known as Ren.

Education

According to Mencius, education must awaken the innate abilities of the human mind. He denounced memorization and advocated active interrogation of the text, saying, "One who believes all of a book would be better off without books" (盡信書，則不如無書, from 孟子.盡心下). One should check for internal consistency by comparing sections and debate the probability of factual accounts by comparing them with experience.

Destiny

Mencius also believed in the power of Destiny in shaping the roles of human beings in society. What is destined cannot be contrived by the human intellect or foreseen. Destiny is shown when a path arises that is both unforeseen and constructive. Destiny should not be confused with Fate. Mencius denied that Heaven would protect a person regardless of his actions, saying, "One who understands Destiny will not stand beneath a tottering wall". The proper path is one which is natural and unforced. This path must also be maintained because, "Unused pathways are covered with weeds." One who follows Destiny will live a long and successful life. One who rebels against Destiny will die before his time.

Views on politics and economics

Mencius emphasized the significance of the common citizens in the state. While Confucianism generally regards rulers highly, he argued that it is acceptable for the subjects to overthrow or even kill a ruler who ignores the people's needs and rules harshly. This is because a ruler who does not rule justly is no longer a true ruler. Speaking of the overthrow of the wicked King Zhou of Shang, Mencius said, "I have merely heard of killing a villain Zhou, but I have not heard of murdering as the ruler."

This saying should not be taken as an instigation to violence against authorities but as an application of Confucian philosophy to society. Confucianism requires a clarification of what may be reasonably expected in any given relationship. All relationships should be beneficial, but each has its own principle or inner logic. A Ruler must justify his position by acting benevolently before he can expect reciprocation from the people. In this view, a King is like a steward. Although Confucius admired Kings of great accomplishment, Mencius is clarifying the proper hierarchy of human society. Although a King has presumably higher status than a commoner, he is actually subordinate to the masses of people and the resources of society. Otherwise, there would be an implied disregard of the potential of human society heading into the future. One is significant only for what one gives, not for what one takes.

Mencius distinguished between superior men who recognize and follow the virtues of righteousness and benevolence and inferior men who do not. He suggested that superior men considered only righteousness, not benefits. That assumes "permanent property" to uphold common morality. To secure benefits for the disadvantaged and the aged, he advocated free trade, low tax rates, and a more equal sharing of the tax burden.

Comparisons to contemporaries

His alleged years make him contemporary with Xun Zi, Zhuangzi, Gaozi, and Plato.

Xun Zi

Xun Zi was a Confucian who believed that human nature is centered on self-interest and greed, and the purpose of moral cultivation is to develop our nature into goodness. This put him at odds with Mencius. Later, the thinker Zhu Xi declared the views of Xun Zi to be unorthodox, instead supporting the position of Mencius.

Plato

Mencius's argument that unjust rulers may be overthrown is reminiscent of Socrates's argument in Book I of Plato's Republic.

Influence

Mencius's interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially by the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty. Mencius's disciples included a large number of feudal lords, and he is said to have been more influential than Confucius had been.

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 Zhu Xi grouped as the core of orthodox Neo-Confucian thought. In contrast to the sayings of Confucius, which are short and self-contained, the Mencius consists of long dialogues, including arguments, with extensive prose. It was generally neglected by the Jesuit missionaries who first translated the Confucian canon into Latin and other European languages, as they felt that the Neo-Confucian school largely consisted of Buddhist and Taoist contamination of Confucianism. Matteo Ricci also particularly disliked what they had believed to be condemnation of celibacy as unfilial, which is rather a mistranslation of a similar word referring more to aspects of personality. François Noël, who felt that Zhu's ideas represented a natural and native development of Confucius's thought, was the first to publish a full edition of the Mencius at Prague in 1711; as the Chinese rites controversy had been recently decided against the Jesuits, however, his edition attained little influence outside central and eastern Europe.

In a 1978 book that estimated the hundred most influential persons in history to that point, Mencius was ranked at 92.

Mencius Institute

The first Mencius Institute was established in Xuzhou, China in 2008 under a collaboration between Jiangsu Normal University, China Zoucheng Heritage Tourism Bureau, and Xuzhou Mengshi Clan Friendship Network.

First Mencius Institute outside of China is located at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Kampar Campus.

生平

據說孟子是魯桓公的庶長子孟慶父的後代，孟慶父之子孟孫敖另立一族，為孟孫氏，或稱仲孫氏、孟氏。魯穆公八年（公元前408年），齊國攻破了孟孫氏的食邑郕城，孟孫氏子孫遂分散開來。孟子的祖先就從魯國遷居到鄒國（今山東省鄒城市），於是孟子自此成了鄒國人。相傳其父名為激，字公宜；其母親的姓氏也有仉氏與李氏之說。據說，孟子三歲喪父，孟母艱辛地將他撫養成人，孟母管束甚嚴，其「孟母三遷」、「斷機教子」等故事，成為千古美談，是後世母教之典範。

子思為師，但根據史書考證發現子思去世時離孟子出生還早幾十年，所以還是如《史記》中所記載的受業於子思的門人的說法比較可信。

孟子曾仿效孔子，帶領門徒遊說各國。但是不被當時各國所接受，退隱與弟子一起著述。有《孟子》七篇傳世，篇目為：《梁惠王》上、下；《公孫丑》上、下；《滕文公》上、下；《離婁》；《萬章》上、下；《告子》上、下；《盡心》上、下。其學說出發點為性善論，提出「仁政」、「王道」，主張德治。

南宋時朱熹將《孟子》與《論語》、《大學》、《中庸》合在一起稱「四書」。從此直到清末，「四書」一直是科舉必考內容。孟子的文章說理暢達，發揮詳盡氣勢充沛並長于辯論。

思想

孟子思想主要分為政治哲學，即仁愛，以及人生哲學，即性善（人性善）以及重義輕利。

性善論與性惡論

先秦儒家對於人性善惡問題給予了極大的關注。在中國人性論史上，第一個提出性善論的是孟子。他認為，人性是善的，就像水往低處流一樣，這是一個不爭的事實。孟子認為，人生來都有最基本的共同的天賦本性，這就是「性善」或「不忍人之心」，或者說對別人的憐憫之心、同情心。他舉例說，人突然看到小孩要掉到井裡去(「乍見孺子將入於井」)，都會有驚懼和同情的心理。這種同情心，並不是為了討好這小孩子的父母，也不是要在鄉親朋友中獲得好名聲，也不是厭惡見死不救的名聲，而完全是從人天生的本性中發出來的，這就是「不忍人之心」。

「不忍人之心」也叫「惻隱之心」。此外還有「羞惡之心」、「辭讓之心」、「是非之心」。這四種心﹙也叫「四端」或「四德」﹚，就是孟子論述人性本善的根據。孟子認為，人與禽獸的差別很微小，僅僅在於人有這些「心」。如果沒有這些「心」，就不能算作是人。在他看來，如果為人而不善，那不是本性的問題，而是由於捨棄了本性，沒有很好地保持住它，絕不能說他本來就沒有這些「善」的本性。因此，人如果有了不善的思想和行為，就應閉門思過，檢查自己是否放棄了那些天賦的「心」，努力把這些「心」找回來，以恢復人的本性。這就是孟子所說的「求其放心」，後世稱為「復性」。如果反省自己，一切都合乎天賦的道德觀念，那就是最大的快樂，這就是孟子所說的「反身而誠，樂莫大焉」。

孟子的性善論對傳統思想影響很大，宋代以後流傳的《三字經》第一句話就是「人之初，性本善。」性善論也成為後來儒家的正統觀念。

在先秦儒家中，有一派反對孟子的性善論，而主張性惡論。這一派的代表就是荀子。荀子提出「人之性惡，其善者偽也」的著名論點。他認為，人生來的本性是：餓了就想吃飽，冷了就想穿暖，累了就想休息，這是人之本性的真實表露。在他看來，「好利」、「疾惡」、「好聲色」等，都是人的自然情慾，也是人的性惡的表現。而善的道德意識是後天人為加工的結果。這種後天人為的加工就叫「偽」。

荀子針對孟子的性善論，第一次運用「性」與「偽」的範疇來說明人的自然本性和社會道德的關係，反對把人的自然屬性道德化，強調「性偽之分」，認為人的自然本性是基於生理機能而產生的物質生活的欲求，而社會道德規範是對這種欲求的限制和調節，二者是對立的。同時，二者又是統一的，「無性，則偽之無所加；無偽，則性不能自美。性偽合，然後聖人之名一」。意思是說，沒有自然本性，社會道德的人為加工就無從施加；沒有人為加工，人性就不能由惡變善。聖人的作用就在於把「性」和「偽」很好的結合起來、統一起來。

荀子較全面的論述了「性」與「偽」的對立統一關係，並著重強調對人性的改造，提出了「化性起偽」、「塗之人可以為禹」等觀點，認為人都有改變本性，成為聖人的可能。荀子性惡論的觀點對法家影響甚大，。傅斯年認為荀子的說法與孔子相近，反而孔子與孟子對性的看法迥不相同，而這點差異「宋儒明知之，而非宋儒所敢明言也」。

政治思想

民本思想

「民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕。」意思是說，人民放在第一位，國家其次，君在最後。孟子認為君主應以愛護人民為先，為政者要保障人民權利，這就是孟子的民本思想(部份人以為孟子是民主的先驅)。孟子贊同若君主無道，人民有權推翻政權。孟子認為取得政權要有愛民之心，還要有合法的手段。而且政權還要有取決于民意，若上位者的德行和為政不為百姓所接受，那上位者就要喪失繼續執政的資格了。孟子並引用尚書太誓篇的：「天視自我民視，天聽自我民聽」告誡人君重視民心。正因此原因，《漢書》「藝文志」僅僅把《孟子》放在「諸子略」中，視為子書，沒有得到應有的地位。

到五代十國的後蜀時，後蜀主孟昶命令人楷書十一經刻石，其中包括了《孟子》，這可能是《孟子》列入「經書」的開始。到南宋的孝宗時，朱熹將《孟子》與《論語》、《大學》、《中庸》合在一起稱「四書」，並成為「十三經」之一，《孟子》的地位才被推到了高峰。

傳說明太祖朱元璋因不滿孟子的民本思想，曾命劉三吾等人刪節《孟子》中的有關內容。如《盡心篇》，刪「民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕。」十字。又《盡心篇》，刪「吾今而後知殺人親之重也：殺人之父，人亦殺其父；殺人之兄，人亦殺其兄。然則非自殺之也，一間耳。」七句。又《離婁篇》，刪「君之視臣如手足，則臣視君如腹心；君之視臣如犬馬，則臣視君如國人；君之視臣如土芥，則臣視君如寇讎。」六句。

仁政與王道

孟子主張君主行仁政，承接性善論，孟子認為「人有不忍人之心」，乃有「不忍人之政」，君主只要將自己的仁德推廣，所謂「幼吾幼以及人之幼，老吾老以及人之老」，由愛護自己的家人，到愛護國民，就是仁政。

推行仁政的具體措施是行「王道」，要使人民富足，百姓安樂，即「保民而王」，人民自然擁戴君主，國家自然富強安定。

關于孟子究竟是主張王道還是德道學術界意見不一。從馬王堆帛書和郭店簡思孟學派代表作《五行》看，孟子主張的是善道和德道。《五行》講：仁義禮智四行全，善道也；仁義禮智聖五行全，德道也。善道，人道也；德道，天道也。《童子問易》總結由《易經》而來的德道說：所謂德道，就是博愛、厚生，公平、正義，誠實、守信、文明、和諧，革故、鼎新，民主、法治之德性與德行。

身後

地位變遷

孟子是儒家最主要的代表人物之一，《漢書·楚元王傳贊》說：「自孔子歿，綴文之士眾矣。唯孟軻……博物洽聞，通達古今，其言有補于世。」但孟子的地位在宋代以前並不很高，甚至有一首諷刺孟子的打油詩：「乞丐何曾有二妻？鄰家焉有許多雞？當時尚有周天子，何事紛紛說魏齊？」。自中唐的韓愈著《原道》，把孟子列為先秦儒家中唯一繼承孔子「道統」的人物開始，出現了一個孟子的「升格運動」，孟子其人其書的地位逐漸上升，取代了顏回成為「亞聖」。宋神宗熙寧四年（1071年），《孟子》一書首次被列入科舉考試科目之中。元豐六年（1083年），孟子首次被官方追封，為「鄒國公」，翌年被批准配享孔廟。以後《孟子》一書升格為儒家經典，南宋朱熹又把《孟子》與《論語》、《大學》、《中庸》合為「四書」，其實際地位更在「五經」之上。元朝至順元年（1330年），孟子被加封為「亞聖公」，以後就稱為「亞聖」，地位僅次于孔子。明朝朱元璋輯有《孟子節文》，刪掉《孟子》裡的章句，如「民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕」、「殘賊之人謂之一夫，聞誅一夫紂矣，未聞弒君也」等。朱元璋曾說「使此老在今日寧得免耶！」越南學者張漢超在文章中說：「為士大夫者，非堯舜之道不陳前，非孔孟之道不著述。」

紀念

歷代追封追諡

• 齊宣王封孟子為稷下學宮第一任上大夫。

• 1083年（宋元豐六年），升鄒國公。

• 1330年（元至順元年），加贈為鄒國亞聖公。

• 1452年（明景泰二年），孟子嫡派後裔被封為翰林院五經博士，子孫世襲。

• 1530年（明嘉靖九年），奉為亞聖，罷公爵。

• 1914年（民國三年），第73代翰林院五經博士孟慶棠改封奉祀官。

• 1935年（民國二十四年），改稱亞聖奉祀官。

海外影響

孟子對日本明治維新發起人吉田松陰等人有一定影響。因發起第二次世界大戰而作為戰犯被判處絞刑的東條英機在監獄中也曾引用孟子的話「誠者，天之道也；思誠者，人之道也；至誠者而不動者，未之有也」(《孟子·離婁上》)。

孟子後代

評價

• 唐宋八大家之首的韓愈評價孟子：把孟子說成孔子的繼承人，並認為聖人之道在孟子以後失傳，使孟子在道統中具有了與孔子同等的地位。

• 北宋蘇洵著有《蘇評孟子》二卷（兵部侍郎紀昀家藏本）

• 南宋陸象山認為:孟子以先立其大而盡心知天，所謂「大」字，即指「本心」（本體之心）或理。

• 明王陽明:心學高峰。

• 傅斯年認為孟子的邏輯功夫遠不如荀子，其討論性善的言論「放而無律」，「孟子之詞宜在淳于髡之上，荀卿之下也。」

流行文化

• 金庸小說《射鵰英雄傳》中黃蓉曾說道：「孟夫子最愛胡說八道，他的話怎麼能信 ？」

• 小說《大秦帝國》虛構了張儀與孟子的兩次論戰。