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Mencius

File:Half_Portraits_of_the_Great_Sage_and_Virtuous_Men_of_Old_-_Meng_Ke_(孟軻).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Mencius

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Also known as Meng Ke, Meng-tze, Mengzi, Meng K'e, Meng-tzu, Meng Tzu

Mencius (孟子, Mèngzǐ, ; ), born Meng Ke (), was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting his ideology and developing it further. Living during the Warring States period, he is said to have spent much of his life travelling around the states offering counsel to different rulers. Conversations with these rulers form the basis of the Mencius, which would later be canonised as a Confucian classic.

OverviewAI-generated

Mencius, born Meng Ke in 372 BCE and died in 289 BCE, was a male philosopher and writer. He was a student of Zisi and was influenced by Confucius and Zisi. His native name was Mengzi, and he spoke Old Chinese. He was a citizen of Zhu and adhered to Confucianism.

His notable works include *Life and Works of Mencius*, *Works of Mencius*, *Mencius (Classics of Chinese Philosophy and Literature)*, *Collected Works of Confucius and Mencius : (Expanded Edition)*, and *The four books*. He is described in sources such as the *Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary*, *The Nuttall Encyclopædia*, *Records of the Grand Historian*, and the *Encyclopædia Britannica* 11th edition.

Quotes attributed to him include, "If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land," and "Those who are humane achieve glory. Those who are inhumane suffer disgrace." He is referenced by 1,109 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 36 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, Europeana Sparql, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
ca 372 BCE
Died
389 BCE
Works
146

Top works

  • Life and Works of Mencius
  • Works of Mencius
  • Mencius (Classics of Chinese Philosophy and Literature)
  • Collected Works of Confucius and Mencius : (Expanded Edition)
  • The four books

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
Seattle

Discography

Discogs

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
14
Total plays
87

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Mencius">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Mencius

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

  1. An enzyme-based biosensor for monitoring and engineering protein stability in vivo

    · 2021 · cited 37x

  2. Selection and screening strategies in directed evolution to improve protein stability

    · 2019 · cited 32x

  3. Structural basis for product specificities of MLL family methyltransferases

    · 2022 · cited 22x

  4. Molecular Characterization of an Intrinsically Disordered Chaperone Reveals Net-Charge Regulation in Chaperone Action

    · 2022 · cited 18x

  5. Insights into the client protein release mechanism of the ATP-independent chaperone Spy

    · 2022 · cited 13x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

  • “If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land.”
  • “Mencius went to see King Huei of Liang. The king said, "Venerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand li, may I presume that you are provided with counsels to profit my kingdom?" Mencius replied, "Why must your Majesty use that word "profit"? What I am provided with, are counsels to benevolence and righteousness, and these are my only topics."”
  • “He who outrages benevolence is called a ruffian: he who outrages righteousness is called a villain. I have heard of the cutting off of the villain Chow, but I have not heard of the putting of a ruler to death.”
  • “Those who are humane achieve glory. Those who are inhumane suffer disgrace.”
  • “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 or wrong is the beginning of wisdom. 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.”
  • “They who accord with Heaven are preserved, and they who rebel against Heaven perish.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Philosopher.image
Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old - Meng Ke (孟軻).jpg
Philosopher.caption
As depicted in the album Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old ()held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei
Philosopher.birth_name
Meng Ke
Philosopher.birth_place
Zou, Zhou dynasty
Philosopher.death_place
Zou, Zhou dynasty
Philosopher.region
Chinese philosophy
Philosopher.era
Ancient philosophy
Philosopher.school_tradition
Confucianism
Philosopher.main_interests
Ethics, social philosophy, political philosophy
Chinese.child
yes
Chinese.l
"Master Meng"
Chinese.bpmf
ㄇㄥˋ ㄗˇ
Chinese.p
Mèngzǐ
Chinese.j
maang6 zi2
Chinese.y
Maahngjí
Chinese.tl
Bīng-tsú
Chinese.poj
Bēng-chú
Chinese.wuu
Man-tsy

via Wikipedia infobox

Works in European collections

2 objects attributed to Mencius, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

Meng Tseu vel mencium inter Sinenses philosophos, ingenio, doctrina, nominisque claritate Confucio proximum. 2 [, 1]

Meng Tseu vel mencium inter Sinenses philosophos, ingenio, doctrina, nominisque claritate Confucio proximum. 2 [, 1]

Artwork

Untitled

~16 min read

Encyclopedic overview

18 sections
Contents
  • Life
  • Mother
  • Mencius' mother moves three times
  • Mencius' mother cuts her weaving
  • Mencius intends to divorce his wife
  • Key ideas
  • Human nature
  • The four beginnings
  • Education
  • Destiny
  • Politics and economics
  • Influence
  • Mencius Institute
  • See also
  • References
  • Citations
  • Bibliography
  • External links

Mencius (孟子, Mèngzǐ, ; ), born Meng Ke (), was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting his ideology and developing it further. Living during the Warring States period, he is said to have spent much of his life travelling around the states offering counsel to different rulers. Conversations with these rulers form the basis of the Mencius, which would later be canonised as a Confucian classic.

One primary principle of his work is that human nature is righteous and humane. The responses of citizens to the policies of rulers embodies this principle, and a state with righteous and humane policies will flourish by nature. The citizens, if they enjoy freedom under good rulers, will willingly take the time to care for their families, learn to perform proper rites, and become better citizens. This placed him at odds with his near contemporary, Xunzi, who believed that human nature is evil.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mencius” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (11)

Available in 76 languages

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via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0