Portrait of Mencius
First, make people rich. Mencius' theory also played a positive role in the economy of feudal period. He inherited Confucius' thought of "supporting the people and benefiting the people" and thought that the monarch should give the people a fixed industry, similar to houses and fields. In this way, people will not be displaced and have no food and clothes. Only in this way can people live and work in peace and contentment. In the harvest year, people can have plenty of food and clothing, even in the poor harvest year, they will not starve to death, and they can also support their parents and raise their wives and children. This is the most basic element of social stability.
Second, be generous and love the people. Before Mencius, Confucius thought that the rule of virtue was superior to the rule of law. They believe that although the rule of law can make people feel scared and make people afraid to resist. But this is not their heart. If the law loses its binding force, the king will be ruined. Only by moral education can they feel that they are law-abiding. Mencius believed that only by implementing benevolent policies in politics can the people be convinced, and the people will abide by state regulations and pay taxes on time, thus achieving the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the people.
Third, the role of moral education. The political thought of Confucianism is to educate the people morally. Mencius said: good governance gains people's wealth, and good education wins people's hearts. Mencius believes that on the basis of people living and working in peace and contentment, people can be educated and respected from the heart, thus achieving the goal of Confucian spiritual rule.
On the basis of Confucius, Mencius inherited and carried forward the Confucian political thought of "ruling the country by virtue". Mencius' political core theory is based on Wang Zhiguo, but in essence it still serves the feudal landlord class.
Portrait of Mencius
Mencius compared the relationship between monarch, people and people to that between parents and children. He believes that kings and nobles should care about their people as much as their children, and people should respect their kings as children treat their parents. But at the same time, Mencius also made a strict hierarchy by imitating the weekly system. He believes that "those who work hard govern others, and those who work hard govern others". Mencius' thought of benevolent governance was gradually improved and developed from the Spring and Autumn Period. Including politics, economy and many other aspects. He believes that if a ruler practices benevolent policies, he will gain the users of the people, and if he practices tyranny, the king will be overthrown by the people. The core of his political thought is "saving punishment, paying light taxes and not going against the farming season". Only when the people are rich can the country collect considerable taxes and ensure the country's fiscal revenue and daily income and expenditure.
Mencius asked the rulers to practice benevolent government. "The former king had a heart that could not bear others, and Sri Lanka had a policy that could not bear others." He believes that rulers should be compassionate and kind to the people, which is essentially different from Mohism's "universal love"
Mencius' thought is advanced and positive for the Warring States period of more than two thousand years. His theory of "emphasizing agriculture but not restraining business" was also of positive significance to the economic development at that time. His theory of "well-field system" has far-reaching significance in limiting land annexation and alleviating class contradictions.
Mencius' political proposition Mencius' political proposition is his people-oriented thought. He believes that the people are the foundation of the country, so he says: the people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light. Mencius' political thoughts and ideas were greatly developed by Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period, which made his thoughts more in line with the needs of feudal society at that time.
Mencius' Political Thought
Mencius saw that Qi was fighting for hegemony, so he suggested that the King of Qi should implement benevolent policies to bring the people back to life. In his view, the king should reduce punishment and taxes, let the people farm with peace of mind and safeguard the prosperity and stability of the country. He opposed the war of land annexation, believing that the war displaced people.
Mencius felt that the monarch should try his best to meet the needs of the people's lives and improve their quality of life, so as to make them rich. To achieve this goal, we must ensure the production and development of agriculture, and the people can be hungry and cold. This is the beginning of kingliness.
In addition, Mencius believed that people should be educated. Although strict laws can temporarily stabilize the order of the country, the people are not willing to be sent. Only by letting them feel the meaning of the king from the heart can they wholeheartedly support the status of the ruler and the stability and unity of the country.
Politically, Mencius believed that kings should pursue kingliness. The so-called kingly way is the correspondence of overbearing. The core idea of kingly way is "serving people with virtue". It is a set of political theories that rely on developing agriculture, ensuring people's lives and educating people.
However, Mencius' political thought theory was too idealistic, so it was not adopted by the kings of other countries at that time. Therefore, after failing to realize his political ambition, he returned to his hometown and wrote a book with his disciples. From a considerable point of view, his theory was of positive significance in the feudal society at that time.
What's Mencius' name? Mencius was a great thinker in the Warring States period and one of the representatives of Confucian school. Today, Zou Guoren of Shandong. He grew up in a poor family and was a disciple of Confucius' grandson Zisi, the fourth generation of Confucius' disciples. Because he inherited and carried forward Confucius' Confucianism, his achievements were second only to those of Confucius, so he was called "elegant sage" by later generations. And their theory is also called "Confucius and Mencius".
Mencius statue
Like Confucius, Mencius led his disciples to travel around the world to lobby. But his theory was not accepted by the monarchs of all countries at that time. After retirement, he co-wrote a book with his disciple Gong Sunchou and others. After his death, his disciples compiled his remarks into Mencius. Mencius is also known as one of the Confucian classics.
In fact, before the Song Dynasty, Mencius' position was not high. In the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu listed Mencius as the most authentic descendant of Confucius. Since then, Mencius' position has gradually improved. During the period of Northern Song Shenzong, the content of Mencius was first called one of the subjects of the imperial examination. In the sixth year of Yuanfeng, Mencius was named "Duke Zou" by the court at that time, and in the second year, he was named as the Duke of Confucius. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu, a great scholar, listed Mencius, The Analects of Confucius, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean as the "Four Books". Mencius was named "Asian Sage" for the first time from Yuan Dynasty to Shunyi Year. Since then, people began to call him an "Asian sage", and his position has surpassed the Confucian attempt to be a saint, second only to Confucius. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, according to official regulations, the content of Mencius also became one of the compulsory contents of the imperial examination. During the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty, the court named Mencius' descendants as Dr. imperial academy's Five Classics. It was not until the Republic of China that it was changed to worship officials.
Mencius' View of Righteousness and Benefit In Mencius, there is such a dialogue between Mencius and Liang. At first, Liang asked: This old gentleman has come to our country for thousands of miles. He must have some useful opinions for our country. Mencius replied: Why do kings have to talk about profit? Just say benevolence and righteousness.
Confucian view of justice and benefit
This is Mencius' most direct view of "benefit" and "righteousness". But does Mencius think that people should blindly take justice and abandon interests? The answer is no, first of all, no matter what era you live in or what living environment, interests are related to your immediate interests. Although Mencius mentioned that "righteousness is more important than profit", I think his original intention was to teach people to obtain "profit" on the premise of "righteousness". He believes that there are three aspects to the conflict between justice and benefit: First, in the aspect of national governance, when there is a conflict between justice and benefit, we must first "put justice first". The second is people's livelihood. He believes that only when the people get benefits can the country get benefits. The third is the conflict between life and death and interests. Mencius said, "Life is what I want, and righteousness is what I want. You can't have both, but you should give up your life for righteousness. " He believes that "righteousness" can override everything, including country, interests and even life and death.
In the social environment at that time, there was a war between the seven countries, and people often didn't have enough to eat because of the war. Although he believes that people should ensure basic living conditions before giving lectures, how can the small benefits of people's livelihood be compared with the big benefits? Only the king gives lectures to the people first, so that they can live and work in peace and contentment, and then educates them. In other words, righteousness is based on certain interests.
Mencius' thought of righteousness and benefit was progressive at that time, which influenced the culture of China for thousands of years.
Mencius' Theory of Interest "Mencius' Theory of Interest" is an enthusiast of contemporary Chinese studies. It explains Mencius' thoughts in simple terms with humorous language, many of which are critical. Moreover, the style of the article is deliberately commenting in a very unprincipled or fake way, deliberately keeping a distance from the traditional formal academic papers, with a little joke. Now several books have been published and become a series of books, which are highly sought after on the Internet.
Mencius' interest theory
On the surface, Mencius' theory of interest is about Mencius' life, stories and thoughts, as if it were a biography for Mencius, but Mencius is just an introduction written by the author. The author really wants to discuss the ancient political system of China with readers and try to think about the rationality and irrationality of the ancient political structure of China. This question is grand, but the author is good at telling grand historical topics in humorous language. He is good at starting from a small place and criticizing Mencius.
At that time, in order to publicize the new ideas of the new society, the traditional Confucianism, which had influenced China for thousands of years, was regarded as feudal dross and criticized as a symbol of backwardness, and the slogan "Down with Kongjiadian" was put forward. Even some radicals were ashamed to speak China's classical Chinese, engaged in the New Culture Movement and advocated vernacular Chinese, which was similar to the break of capitalism in the 1960s. However, the author is very clever. He did not fall into the stereotype of comprehensive criticism. He tried to discuss Mencius' theory in the form of jokes, and deliberately avoided going online in an amateur tone. Mencius is no longer the name of two thousand years ago in his works, but a living and vital person. This style of writing quickly became popular on the Internet and became a new way for people to explore Chinese studies.