Mencius

     (Meng K'o, 372-289 BCE) 

handout i:

 

 1.  Mencius stands to Confucius as Plato stands to Socrates:

      foremost follower and greatest developer of the orthodox teaching of the master.

 2.  Mencius explicitly refutes Yang Chu and Mo Tzu in detail.

 3.  Mencius holds that man’s original nature (hsing) is good (shan).

 4.  Mencius argues that man differs from all other animals

      in his possession of a “Thinking Heart” (hsin).

 5.  Mencius teaches that the “Thinking Heart” possesses innately

      the “Four Beginnings”, the potentialities for all morality, namely:

         a) “Compassion” as the seed of Jen (Shared Humanity)

         b) “Shame” as the seed of Yi (Social Righteousness)

         c) “Deference” as the seed of Li (Ritual Propriety)

         d) “Discrimination of Good from Bad” as the seed of Chih (Wisdom)

 6.  Mencius holds that the purpose of all learning (Philosophy)

      is to call the “Strayed Heart” back to its original “Child’s” state.

 7.  Mencius endorses “Quiet-Sitting” as a means of cleansing

      the Thinking Heart and Restoring its balance.

 8.  Mencius teaches Moral Egalitarianism: “Any man can be a Yao or Shun

      (the greatest of the ancient Sage-Kings).”