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Mencius, from Myths and Legends of China, 1922 by E. Chinese philosophy is Philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought This page lists some links to ancient philosophy. In Western philosophy, the spread of Christianity through the Roman Empire marked the end of Hellenistic Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. T. C. Werner
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| Name | |
| Birth | 372 BCE |
| Death | 289 BCE |
| School/tradition | Confucianism |
| Main interests | Ethics, Social philosophy, Political philosophy |
| Notable ideas | Confucianism |
| Influenced by | Confucius |
| Influenced | Nearly every Eastern philosopher |
| Ancestral name (姓): | Ji (Chinese: 姬; Pinyin: Jī) |
| Clan name (氏): | Meng (Ch: 孟; Py: Mèng)[1] |
| Given name (名): | Ke (Ch: 軻; Py: Kē) |
| Courtesy name (字): | Unknown[2] |
| Posthumous name (謚): | Master Meng the Second Sage[3] (Ch: 亞聖孟子; Py: Yàshèng Mèngzǐ) |
| Styled: | Master Meng[4] (Ch: 孟子; Py: Mèngzǐ) |
Mencius (Chinese: 孟子; pinyin: Mèng Zǐ; Wade-Giles: Meng Tzu), most accepted dates: 372 – 289 BCE; other possible dates: 385 – 303/302 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself. Events By place Greece Jason of Pherae, the ruler of Thessaly, allies himself first with Athens and then with Events By place Sicily The Tyrant of Syracuse, Agathocles, dies after restoring the Syracusan democracy on his death Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Social philosophy is the philosophical study of questions about social Behavior (typically of Humans. Political philosophy is the study of questions about the City, Government, Politics, Liberty, Justice, Property, Rights Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B Confucius ( lit " Master Kung " September 28, 551 BC - 479 BC) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher Chinese philosophers Ancient Chinese philosophers Before 256 BCE (until the end of the Zhou Dynasty) Personal Names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Ji (姬 jī in Chinese is the family name of the family in control of the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 late 10th century BC to late 9th century - 256 BC Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Chinese family name is one of the hundreds or thousands of Family names that have been historically used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic Chinese given names ( Chinese: 名字 Pinyin: míngzì are often made up of one or two characters Unlike Western personal names there is great variety A Chinese style name, sometimes also known as a courtesy name ( zì) is a given name to be used later in life A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty nobles and sometimes others in some cultures after the person's death Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Wade-Giles (ˌweɪdˈʤaɪlz) sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization system (phonetic notation and Transcription) for the Mandarin Events By place Greece Jason of Pherae, the ruler of Thessaly, allies himself first with Athens and then with Events By place Sicily The Tyrant of Syracuse, Agathocles, dies after restoring the Syracusan democracy on his death Events By place Greece Jason of Pherae becomes tyrant of Thessaly. Events By place Seleucid Empire Seleucus I Nicator expands his kingdom throughout Persia as far east as India, but Events By place Asia Minor Following their agreement to work together to defeat Antigonus, Seleucus invades Asia Minor Chinese philosophy is Philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B Confucius ( lit " Master Kung " September 28, 551 BC - 479 BC) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher
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Life
Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zhou (周朝; pinyin: zhōu cháo; Wade-Giles: chou ch`ao; 372BC to 289BC), now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng (邹城; originally Zouxian), Shandong province, only thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south of Qufu, Confucius' birthplace. The Zhou Dynasty ( POJ: Chiu Tiau 1122 BC to 256 BC was preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. A county-level city ( is a county-level administrative division of Mainland China. ( is a coastal province of eastern People's Republic of China. Qufu ( is a city in Shandong Province, China. It is located at 35 ° 36 ′ northern latitude and 117 °, 02 ′ Confucius ( lit " Master Kung " September 28, 551 BC - 479 BC) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher
He was an itinerant Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B Supposedly, he was a pupil of Confucius' grandson, Zisi. Zisi ( ca 481–402 BCE born Kong Ji ( 孔[[wikt 伋|伋]] was a Chinese philosopher. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. [5] He served as an official during the Warring States Period (403–221 BCE) in the State of Qi (齊; pinyin: qí; 1046 BC to 221 BC) from 319 to 312 BCE. The Warring States Period ( also known as the Era of Warring States covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the Events By place Greece Thrasybulus leads the democratic resistance to the new oligarchic government known as the Thirty Events By place Carthage The Carthaginian general Hasdrubal is murdered by a Celtic assassin while campaigning to increase Qi ( 齊; Pinyin: Qí was a powerful state during the Spring and Autumn Period and Period of the Warring States. Events By place Macedonian Empire The Athenian orator and diplomat Demades, is sent to the Macedonian court but either Events By place Seleucid Empire Ptolemy and Seleucus, the Satrap of Babylonia, invade the satrapy of 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. In Confucian thought filial piety ( is one of the Virtues to be cultivated a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.
Mencius' mother
The traditional Chinese four-character idiom 孟母三遷 (pinyin: mèng mǔ sān qiān; Zhuyin/Bopomofo: ㄇㄥ ㄇㄨ ㄙㄢ ㄑ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 upbringing. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Kana is a general term for the syllabic Japanese scripts Hiragana (ひらがな and Katakana (カタカナ as well as the old system The is named after James Curtis Hepburn, who used it to transcribe the sounds of the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet in the third edition of his Japanese–English As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of a proper environment for the proper upbringing of children.
Influence
Mencius' interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty. Neo-Confucianism (/( is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 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. Distinguish from The Four Books, which are Shi`a Muslim collections of hadiths Zhu Xi or Chu Hsi (朱熹 born October 18, 1130, Yuxi, Fujian province China &ndash died April 23, 1200 Neo-Confucianism (/( is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li In contrast to the sayings of Confucius which are short and self-contained, the Mencius consists of long dialogues, including arguments, with extensive prose.
View on 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. Moral character or character is an evaluation of a particular individual's moral qualities "He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature"[6] and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind". [7]
His translator James Legge finds a close similarity between Mencius' views on human nature and those in Bishop Butler's Sermons on Human Nature. Life James Legge was born at Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and then Kings College Aberdeen. You might also be looking for Joseph G Butler Jr, a philanthropist and historian or Joseph Campbell Butler, founding member of The Lovin' Spoonful
The Four Beginnings
To show innate goodness, Mencius used the example of a child falling down a well. Witnesses of this event immediately feel
| “ | alarm and distress, not to gain friendship with the child's parents, nor to seek the praise of their neighbors and friends, nor because they dislike the reputation [of lack of humanity if they did not rescue the child]. . .
The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of humanity; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety; and the feeling of right and wrong is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is a concept of personal gaining of Knowledge, Understanding, Experience, discretion and intuitive understanding, along with a capacity Men have these Four Beginnings just as they have their four limbs. Having these Four Beginnings, but saying that they cannot develop them is to destroy themselves. [8] |
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View on politics
Mencius spoke frequently and highly of the well-field system. The well-field system ( was a Chinese land distribution method since at least 9th century BC (late Western Zhou Dynasty)
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 assassination of the wicked King Zhou of Shang, Mencius said, "I have merely heard of killing a dictator Zhou, but I have not heard of murdering [him as] the ruler. King Di Xin of Shang ( Chinese: 帝辛 born Zi Shou (Chinese 子受 was the last "[9].
View on wars
He said during the Spring and Autumn Period, there's no Just war. The Spring and Autumn Period ( was a period in Chinese history which roughly corresponds to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (from the second half of the 8th century BC Just War theory is a Doctrine of military ethics of Roman philosophical and Catholic origin studied by moral Theologians Ethicists and international
Comparisons to contemporaries
His alleged years make him contemporary with Xun Zi, Zhuangzi, Gaozi, and Plato. Xun Zi ( ca 300 – 230 BCE was a Chinese Confucian Philosopher who lived during the Warring States Period and contributed For the book with the same name see Zhuangzi (book Zhuangzi ( was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th Gaozi ( ca 420-350 BCE or Gao Buhai (告不害 was a Chinese philosopher during the Warring States Period. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece
Xun Zi
Xun Zi was a Confucian who believed that human nature is originally evil, and the purpose of moral cultivation is to develop our nature into goodness. Xun Zi ( ca 300 – 230 BCE was a Chinese Confucian Philosopher who lived during the Warring States Period and contributed Obviously, Mencius was at odds with him. His views were declared as unorthodox by Zhu Xi, and Mencius as orthodox. Zhu Xi or Chu Hsi (朱熹 born October 18, 1130, Yuxi, Fujian province China &ndash died April 23, 1200
Plato
Mencius is often compared to Plato for their theories on human nature. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Human nature is the concept that there are a set of logical characteristics including ways of thinking feeling and acting that all 'normal' human beings have in common Both were idealists in that they believed in the innate moral goodness of all human beings. In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called
Mencius' argument that unjust rulers may be overthrown is reminiscent of Socrates' argument in Book I of Plato's Republic. SOCRATES is the European Community action programme in the field of Education. The Republic ( Greek: / Politeía, meaning "political system" Latin: Res Publica, meaning "public business" or
Notes and references
- ^ The original clan name was Mengsun (孟孫), and was shortened into Meng (孟). It is unknown whether this occurred before or after Mencius's life.
- ^ 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.
- ^ That is, the second sage after Confucius. Confucius ( lit " Master Kung " September 28, 551 BC - 479 BC) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher Name given in 1530 by Emperor Jiajing. The Jiajing (or Chia-ching) Emperor ( September 16, 1507 &ndash January 23, 1567) was Emperor of China from 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.
- ^ Romanized as Mencius. In Linguistics, romanization (or latinization, also spelled romanisation or latinisation) is the representation of a Word or
- ^ Chan 1963: 49.
- ^ The Mencius 7:A1 in Chan 1963: 78.
- ^ The Mencius 6:A11 in Chan 1963: 58.
- ^ The Mencius 2A:6 in Chan 1963: 65. Formatting has been applied to ease readability.
- ^ The Mencius 1B:8 in Chan 1963: 62.
- Chan, Wing-tsit (translated and compiled). A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
- Graham, A. C. , Disputers of the TAO: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China (Open Court 1993). ISBN 0-8126-9087-7
External links
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- 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 at Project Gutenberg
Dictionary
Mencius
-proper noun
- Western name of 孟子 Meng Zi or Meng Tzu, also known as Meng Ko or Meng Ke, (dates uncertain, ?372 - 289 BCE or perhaps 385 - 303/302 BCE), Chinese philosopher, follower of Confucius.
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