Mencius (Shuyunlou Congkan)

Author: (Han) Zhao Qi Annotation
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
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Mencius (c. 372-289 BC), named Ke, styled Ziyou or Ziji (referred to as such by Wang Su in his KongCongzi and ShengZheng Lun during the Wei-Jin period), was a mid-Zhou period figure from Zou (present-day Zoucheng, Shandong). He was a renowned pre-Qin thinker. Regarding Mencius's birth month and year, one theory suggests c. 390-305 BC, but this view is not widely accepted among scholars. Mencius's distant ancestors were the noble Meng Kong family of Lu, but his family later declined and moved from Lu to Zou. It is said that Mencius lost his father at the age of three, and his mother painstakingly raised him. Mencius's mother was extremely strict in her discipline, and stories such as "moving to educate her son" and "cutting the warp three times" (though not necessarily reliable) became timeless legends and became a model for motherly education in later generations.
Regarding Mencius's teachers, he once stated, "I did not become a disciple of Confucius, but I privately learned from his followers" (Mencius, Liu Lou Xia). However, Sima Qian, in the Records of the Grand Historian's Biography of Mencius and Xun Qing, claimed that Mencius "studied under the disciples of Zisi." Mencius revered and studied Confucius throughout his life, believing that "since the beginning of humanity, no one has been greater than Confucius" and that his greatest wish was "to learn from Confucius" (Mencius, Gongzong Chou Shang). Mencius traveled to the states of Qi, Jin, Song, Xue, Teng, and Liang, promoting his ideas of the "Kingly Way" and "benevolent governance" for about two decades. He once served as a guest scholar in the court of King Xuan of Qi, but at the time, the feudal lords were busy with alliances and wars of conquest, and no one was willing to adopt his suggestions. Thus, Mencius retired to study and write, finding great solace in teaching. He once spoke of the "three joys of a gentleman": "Having both parents alive and no troubles among siblings is the first joy; being blameless before heaven and unashamed before people is the second joy; and nurturing talented individuals is the third joy" (Mencius, Jin Shang).
Mencius was one of the main representatives of Confucianism, but his status was not highly regarded before the Song Dynasty. It was not until the mid-Tang Dynasty when Han Yu wrote On the Way and listed Mencius as the only pre-Qin Confucian who inherited Confucius's "Way of the Masters" that a "promotion movement" for Mencius began, gradually elevating his status and that of his works. In the fourth year of Emperor Shenzong's Xining era (1071 AD), Mencius was first included as an examination subject in the imperial civil service exams. In the sixth year of the Yuanfeng era (1083 AD), Mencius was officially posthumously honored as "Duke of Zou," and the following year, he was permitted to be enshrined alongside Confucius in the Confucian Temple. Afterward, Mencius was elevated to the status of a Confucian classic. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi combined Mencius with The Analects, The Great Learning, and The Doctrine of the Mean into the "Four Books," which were actually considered more important than the "Five Classics." In the first year of the Zhishun era of the Yuan Dynasty (1330 AD), Mencius was further honored as "Vice Sage," and the title "Vice Sage" was used thereafter, placing him second only to Confucius in status.
Mencius's philosophical ideas had a profound influence on later generations, particularly on Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism. After the Song Dynasty, Mencius's thought was often referred to alongside Confucian thought as "the Way of Confucius and Mencius." The content of Mencius's thought is primarily found in Mencius, which is generally believed to have been written by Mencius himself, with contributions from his disciples, such as Wan Zhang and Gongzong Chou.