Philosophical Thought of Mencius

Abstract

Traditionally, Mencius (Mengzi孟子 371–289 B.C.) has been identified as the second major founder of Confucianism. His family was originally noble, though his parents were quite poor. It has been a famous legend that for the sake of a better education environment for him, his mother moved 3 times. Like Confucius (Kongzi孔子), during his earlier life Mencius travelled from one state to another to convince the lords to accept his political ideas. After several failed attempts, Mencius retreated to his home state of Lu 魯 and started to teach students. With the help of his disciples, he was able to complete a major work entitled the Mencius. This book, consisting of seven chapters, has been identified as the second cornerstone for the founding of Confucianism after the Analects. In Mencius’ time, both Mohism (Mojia 墨家) and Yangism (Yangzhu xuepai楊朱學派) were very popular and hence posed a threat to Confucianism. Mencius accordingly was determined to overcome these two opponents. Given his important contribution to the development of Confucianism, Mencius has been named “the second sage” (yasheng亞聖).