Mencius was born about 100 years before the death of Confucius. Mencius' life is very similar to Confucius'. They are all descendants of nobles. They came from common people and lost their father when they were young. They have been studying, teaching and traveling around the world all their lives. The font size of Mencius was not recorded in ancient books before Han Dynasty, but many different font sizes appeared after Wei and Jin Dynasties, such as Ziche, Ziju and Yu Zi. This font size may be attached by later generations, which is not necessarily credible.
Confucius' grandson, Confucius' master, was called Zeng when he was a teacher, and later changed his name to Zou Ke. Born in Zhou about four years, died in Zhou about twenty-six years. According to legend, Mencius is a descendant of a famous family in Lu. He lost his father in his early years and his family was poor. After studying, he lobbied the governor as a scholar and promoted his political ideas. He went to Liang, Qi, Song, Teng and Lu. At that time, several great powers devoted themselves to enriching Qiang Bing by violent means and striving for reunification. Mencius' theory of benevolent governance is considered to be "far superior to things" and has no chance to put it into practice. Finally, he retired to give lectures. Together with his students "Preface to Poetry" and "Book", he described Zhong Ni's meaning as seven pieces of Mencius. Mencius advocated people-oriented, benevolent governance and lobbying governors, but he was always quick-talking and arrogant, which can also be seen in his works. This may also be the main reason why his lobbying failed.
The highest category of Mencius' philosophical thought is heaven. Mencius inherited Confucius' thought of destiny, eliminated the residual meaning of personality, and imagined heaven as a spiritual entity with moral attributes. He said, "If you are honest, then the road to heaven is also honest." Mencius defined the moral view of honesty as the essential attribute of heaven, and thought that heaven was the origin of the inner moral view of human nature. Mencius' ideological system, including his political thoughts and ethical thoughts, is based on heaven.
After Mencius' real name was "Lu Sanhuan", his father's name was Ji and his mother's name was Su. Mencius' distant ancestor was a noble family of Lu, and later his family declined, so he moved from Lu to Zou.
According to Biography of Women and Mencius by Zhao Qi, Mencius was taught by Confucius, the grandson of Confucius. But in terms of age, it seems unreliable. Historical records. It can be said that he is the master of "Kong _". In other words, Mencius worshipped Confucius' grandson when he was fifteen or sixteen years old. However, according to historical research, when Mencius was born, Kong had been dead for 30 years. Therefore, as recorded in the Biography of Mencius and Xunqing, the statement of this master who once worked under Confucius is more credible. Even Mencius himself said, "If it's not Confucius, give it; Private, give. " Mencius' theory was really influenced by Confucius, whether he was born in Confucius or not. Therefore, Xunzi listed Confucius and Mencius as a family, which became the Meng Si School.