Mencius' Thought of Benevolence and Its Modern Significance Abstract: As an extremely important representative of Confucianism, Mencius' thought, especially the theory of Benevolence, has exerted an inestimable influence on the development of the whole China society. Firstly, this paper expounds the theory of good nature, which is the theoretical basis of Mencius' thought of benevolent governance. Then, from the aspects of economy, politics and education, this paper analyzes Mencius' thought of benevolent governance, so as to see through its practical significance for China to build a harmonious socialist society. Key words: the modern significance of Mencius' thought of benevolent government Mencius, Mingke and Zou Ren were the main representatives of Confucianism in the middle of the Warring States Period. It is said that he is another great thinker after Lu and Lu. Mencius inherited Confucius through his own thoughts, and he highly praised Confucius. "You can learn from Confucius if you like." Therefore, Mencius' theory is the inheritance and development of Confucius' thought, thus becoming one of the main founders of Confucianism. First of all, the theory of good nature provides a theoretical basis for Mencius' thought of benevolent government. (Mencius on Teng Wengong) Good nature is the central idea of Mencius' theory and the theoretical basis of his theory of benevolent governance. Because Confucius and Mencius lived in different times, they faced and solved different problems. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius put forward: "Sex is similar, learning is far away." (The Analects of Confucius Yang Huo) On the issue of human nature, Confucius just pointed out that all people are similar in essence, and it is only the differences in learning and environment that make people different. In the Warring States period, due to the intensification of class struggle, the problem of human nature was particularly prominent, and people's ideological and moral differences were fully exposed. In order to solve this social problem, thinkers at that time began to explore human nature and investigate the relationship between human nature and reality. Therefore, the discussion of human nature has become an important content of a hundred schools of thought contend. Mencius believed that human nature was good, and he had a debate with Gao Zi. Gao Zi thinks that sex is neither good nor bad. He said: "Sex is still turbulent. The East will flow eastward and the West will flow westward. There is no distinction between human nature and water. " From Gao Zi's exposition, we can see that he compares human nature to water, and there is no distinction between good and bad. Mencius also compared human nature with water. He said: "human nature is good, even if it is still water, it will flow downwards." There is nothing wrong with people and there is nothing wrong with water. " Mencius not only believes that human nature is good, but also believes that people are born with a "good end", such as: "compassion, benevolence; The heart of shame and evil, the end of righteousness; The words of the heart are the end of the ceremony; The heart of right and wrong is also the end of wisdom. People have four ends, but they still have four bodies. " Mencius regarded this "four hearts" as the bud of "four ends". And expand the "four ends" to form a moral view of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. He thinks that "benevolence, propriety and wisdom are rooted in the heart" and "I am not external, I am inherent" (Mencius Gao Zi Shang) thinks that human goodness is internal and natural. Therefore, Mencius demonstrated this view with concrete examples. He said: "So, everyone has a heart that can't bear others. At first glance, people today are full of compassion. " (On Mencius' Gongsun Chou) Therefore, Mencius came to the conclusion that the first king had the intention to bear the suffering of others, and then he took care of the suffering of others, which led to Mencius' view of "benevolent government". To this end, he made a detailed explanation: "Everyone has a heart that can't bear others. The former king had a heart that can't bear others, and Sri Lanka had a policy that can't bear others. If you can't bear the hearts of others, you can't bear the politics of others, and you can hold the world in your hands. " ("Mencius gongsun Chou Shang") Source: cultural and educational materials