Mencius

Mencius

Mencius is a classic of Confucianism, which was written by Mencius and his disciples Wan Zhang, Gongsun Chou, etc. It was first seen in Zhao Qi's Mencius Inscriptions: "this book is also written by Mencius, so it is always called Mencius.". Mencius was listed as "four books" by Zhu Xi of Southern Song Dynasty (the other three books are "great learning", "doctrine of the mean" and "Analects of Confucius").

Han Shu

·

Eleven chapters of Mencius are recorded in Yiwenzhi, and there are seven chapters and fourteen volumes. The total number of words is more than 35000, 260 chapters. It is said that there are four other "Mencius waishu", which have been lost. The book records the political, educational, philosophical and ethical ideas and political activities of Mencius and his disciples. In ancient times, four books and five classics were examined.

About the author

Mencius (about 372 BC - 289 BC), whose name is Ke and whose characters are unknown (Ziyu, Ziju, etc. are all from fake books or made up by later generations), was born in the state of Lu in the middle Warring States period (now from the southeast of Zoucheng City in Shandong Province), not far from Confucius' hometown Qufu. Mencius is a famous thinker, statesman, educator, inheritor of Confucius theory and an important representative of Confucianism. It is said that Mencius is a descendant of Mencius, a noble of Lu state. He lost his father when he was young and had a poor family. He was once a disciple of Zisi (Confucius' grandson). After he became a scholar, he lobbied the vassals and tried to carry out his own political ideas to Guoliang (Wei), Qi, song, Teng and Lu. at that time, several big powers were committed to enriching the country and strengthening the army, striving for reunification by means of force. He inherited Confucius' thought of "benevolence" and developed it into the thought of "benevolent government", known as "Yasheng".

Inscription of Mencius

The birth of Mencius is about one hundred years from the death of Confucius (479 BC). There are very few stories about his life experience. Han Shi waizhuan contains the story of his mother's "breaking" and lie Nu Zhuan contains the story of his mother's "three migrations" and "going to Qi". It can be seen that he benefited a lot from his mother's education. According to the biography of lienvzhuan and Zhao Qi's Mencius inscription, Mencius was taught by Confucius' grandson Zisi. But it doesn't seem credible to date. It is possible that the biography of Mencius and Xunqing in the historical records said that he was "the disciple of Zisi". Whether it is from Zisi or the disciples of Zisi, Mencius' theory is influenced by Confucius' thought. Therefore, Xunzi classified Zisi and Mencius as the same school, which is later known as the school of thinking about Mencius in Confucianism. Like Confucius, Mencius also led his students to travel Wei, Qi, song, Lu, Teng, Xue and other countries, and once served as guest Minister of King Xuan of Qi. Because his political ideas were not as important as Confucius's, he went back to his hometown to give lectures, and wrote books with his student Wan Zhang and others, "preface to the poem and the book, describe the meaning of Zhong Ni, and write seven chapters of Mencius." (biographies of Mencius and Xunqing in historical records) we have seen seven chapters of Mencius, each of which is divided into three parts, about 35000 words, with a total of 260 chapters.

To imitate the saint

However, there are four more records of Mencius in Hanshu Yiwenzhi. When he annotated Mencius, Zhao Qi identified eleven chapters and thought that seven chapters were true and four chapters were false. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, these articles were lost one after another. Zhao Qi compared Mencius with the Analects in Mencius inscriptions, and thought that Mencius was "made by imitating saints". Therefore, although Mencius is only regarded as a Book of Confucius in the history of literature and art of Han Dynasty, it has been regarded as a Book of biography in the eyes of the people of Han Dynasty. Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty established the Analects of Confucius, the book of filial piety, Mencius and Erya as doctors respectively, which is called "biography doctor". By the time of late Shu in the Five Dynasties, Meng Chang, the leader of late Shu, ordered people to carve stones in regular script, including Mencius, which may be the beginning of Mencius being included in the "classics". Later, Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty reprinted the eleven classics. By the time of Xiaozong in the Southern Song Dynasty, the four books compiled by Zhu Xi had been listed in Mencius, and Mencius had been formally elevated to a very high position. After yuan and Ming Dynasty, it became the content of imperial examination, and it was also a must read book for scholars.

Major gifts

Mencius was the first "Shangfu" canonized by King Xuan of Qi in the Warring States period. In 1083 (the 6th year of Yuanfeng in Song Dynasty), he was promoted to Duke Zou. In 1330 (the first year of yuanzhishun), he was given to Zou guoya. In 1530 (the 9th year of Jiajing reign of Ming Dynasty), he was honored as the second saint and the Duke. In the second year of Jingtai reign of Ming Dynasty, the descendants of Mencius were granted the title of doctor of five classics of Hanlin academy, which was inherited by their descendants. Until the third year of the Republic of China, Meng Qingtang, the 73 generation doctor of five classics of Hanlin academy, was renamed as a sacrificial officer, and in the 24th year of the Republic of China, he was renamed as Yasheng sacrificial officer. Li Xueqin, the chief scientist and expert group leader of the national "Xia Shang Zhou dating project" and "Chinese civilization exploration project", pointed out that a large number of lost books appeared in Guodian bamboo slips unearthed in 1993 and Shangbo bamboo slips acquired in Tibet in 1994, "which forced people to put forward the requirement of rewriting the history of academic thinking. In the 20th century, some viewpoints that have long been popular and seem to have become the final conclusion are being shaken, and even lead to fundamental changes. " Si Meng school. In modern times, some scholars doubted the context of Zeng Zisi and Meng school. "After the discovery of the lost bamboo slips from tomb 1 of Guodian, there is a new basis for the study of the seventy disciples of Confucius and their generation."

The first of seven

The book of changes. Mencius is a Yi scholar who is well versed in Yi Dao. Hang Xinzhai, a great Confucianist in the late Qing Dynasty, revealed this point for a long time. Hang believes that understanding Yi learning does not lie in the separation of heaven and earth, but in the heart of heaven, morality and justice: "Mencius, after Confucius, is the first of the seven chapters, which is to reveal the general purpose of benevolence and justice, and return to the body of good nature and classics. Confucius's way of establishing human beings is to say benevolence and righteousness, and to inherit the good and become the natural lineage. Seeing Mencius, Ann didn't know the book of changes "Five elements theory". the appearance of bamboo and silk books "five elements" re highlighted the spread clues of Si Meng School of Confucianism, which was admired by the Confucians of Song Dynasty "Tong Zi Wen Yi" published by people's publishing house holds that the efforts of Si Meng school to introduce numerology into Confucianism and to hold high the banner of "Humanitarianism" are evidence of the attempt to turn Confucian moral items into natural philosophy and life philosophy. Its theoretical courage is huge, and it has a profound impact on the way of thinking of Chinese people. It can even be said that it has a profound impact on the process of social development in ancient China. Since then, Yi ology has really embarked on the glorious course of treating the country, people and diseases. Mencius once said that "in five hundred years, there will be the prosperity of the king", which implies the meaning of alternation from beginning to end. From this point of view, it should be the beginning of the "five virtues theory" of the Si Meng school

Book Introduction

Mencius, a Book of seven chapters, is a collection of Mencius' comments during the Warring States period. It records Mencius' arguments with other schools of thought, his words and deeds to his disciples, and his lobbying for princes. It was compiled by Mencius and his disciples (WAN Zhang, etc.). Mencius records Mencius' thoughts of governing the country, political strategies (benevolent government, the distinction between the king and the overlord, people-oriented, the difference between the monarch's heart, the people being the most important, the country being the second, the monarch being the least) and political actions. It was written about the middle period of the Warring States period and belongs to the classic works of Confucianism. The starting point of his theory is the theory of good nature, which advocates the rule of virtue. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi combined Mencius with the Analects, the great learning and the doctrine of the mean and called them "four books". Since the song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has been regarded as a family book. Just like our textbooks. Mencius is the longest and heaviest of the four books, with more than 35000 words. It was a compulsory part of the imperial examination until the end of the Qing Dynasty. The theory of Mencius is not only pure and profound, but also vigorous and beautiful. (Five Classics: poems, books, rites, changes, spring and Autumn Annals) Mencius is a book recording Mencius' words and deeds, and also one of the important Confucian classics. The contents are: (1) king Hui of Liang (upper and lower), (2) Gongsun Chou (upper and lower), (3) Teng Wengong (upper and lower), (4) Lilou (upper and lower), (5) wanzhang (upper and lower), (6) Gaozi (upper and lower), (7) Jinxin (upper and lower).

Mencius' works

Mencius is one of the classics of Confucianism. It is full of momentum, emotion, eloquence and appeal. It has spread to later generations and has far-reaching influence. In the biography of Mencius and Xunzi in historical records: "if Mencius and Xunzi didn't agree with each other, he withdrew from the preface of wanzhang's disciples, poetry and book, and wrote seven chapters of Mencius It is said that the seven chapters of Mencius were written by Mencius himself. Zhao Qi's Mencius inscriptions said: "this book is also written by Mencius, so it is always called Mencius." He also said: "so he retreated to the collection of essays, and his disciples Gongsun Chou and wanzhang were difficult to answer questions. He wrote his own Dharma and wrote seven books." This is also written by Mencius himself. Yan ruoxian of the Qing Dynasty also took Mencius as his own example in his research on the date of birth and death of Mencius, and said: "the Analects of Confucius was written by the disciples, so I know the appearance of the sage very well. The seven chapters are written in one's own hands, so you can remember the words or the source of the ear. " However, in Mencius, the posthumous titles of Shijun, such as king Hui of Liang, King Xiang of Liang, King Xuan of Qi, Duke mu of Zou, Duke Wen of Teng and Duke Ping of Lu, are not what Mencius did when he wrote them. In addition, the names of Mencius' younger brothers lezhengzi, gongduzi and wuluzi are not what Mencius did. The book was completed around the middle of the Warring States period. The main annotated versions of Mencius include 14 volumes of Mencius annotations, 14 volumes of sibubeyao, 7 volumes of Mencius annotations, 7 volumes of sibubeyao, 30 volumes of Mencius justice and sibubeyao. In addition, Yang Bojun's translation and annotation of Mencius (Zhonghua Book Company Edition).

King Liang Hui

When Mencius saw King Hui of Liang, he said, "old man, you've come a long way,

Chinese PinYin : Meng Zi