Mencius
Sign in to saveMencius (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.
AI overview
Mencius was a Chinese philosopher of the 4th century BCE who inherited and expanded upon the teachings of Confucius, spending much of his life traveling to different rulers to offer political and moral advice. The book "Mencius," compiled from his conversations with various rulers, became one of the most important texts in Confucianism and remains influential in East Asian thought.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- ca 372 BCE
- Died
- 389 BCE
- Works
- 146
via Open Library + Wikidata
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 14
- Total plays
- 87
<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Mencius">Read more on Last.fm</a>
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
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]](https://api.europeana.eu/thumbnail/v2/url.json?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bsb-muenchen-digital.de%2Fweb1047%2Fbsb10477788%2Fimages%2Fbsb10477788_00003.jpg&type=IMAGE)
Article
18 sectionsContents
- 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.