Plain Mencius

Author: Chen Honghai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-02
Features: A classic reading of traditional culture. China is a world-renowned ancient civilization, and its splendid traditional culture has become a common spiritual wealth for all of humanity. With the progress of the times and the ever-deepening exploration of nature and understanding of society, people are more urgently than ever before in need of discovering the treasures of traditional culture, absorbing more wisdom and spiritual strength to achieve self-improvement and self-enhancement, thereby gaining success. There are many classic works of traditional culture, which raises the issue of priorities and selection. It is not advisable to promote something like "100 Must-Read Classics" or "50 Must-Read Classics," arbitrarily creating a closed system. The treasure trove of Chinese traditional culture classics should be open, with a rich variety of gems hidden within. This series of books selects 20 classics, which can only be said to offer readers the basic and essential works that should be understood first. This book is a compilation of the sayings of the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius, known as the foundational classic of traditional Chinese culture. It has influenced people's thoughts for over two thousand years and has been integrated into daily life. Mencius (c. 372–289 BC) was a thinker, statesman, and educator during the Warring States period. His name was Ke, and his courtesy name was Ziyu. He was from Zou (now Zoucheng, Shandong). Orphaned in childhood, he was raised by his mother. In his youth, he studied under Zisi, a disciple of Confucius's grandson. He diligently researched Confucianism and later became the second master of Confucianism, known as the "Second Sage." To promote his political ideas, he traveled to and persuaded the states of Qi, Song, Teng, and Wei, but was not accepted. In his sixties, he returned to his hometown, gathered people to teach, and wrote books. The book Mencius is a compilation of the sayings of the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius, known as the foundational classic of traditional Chinese culture. It has influenced people's thoughts for over two thousand years and has been integrated into daily life. Stories like "Chasing fish up a tree" and "Helping plants grow faster" are widely known, and famous quotes such as "You can't have both the fish and the bear's paws" and "Being muddled oneself, yet trying to enlighten others" all originate from the book Mencius. In the annotations and translations of this book, references were made to works such as Zhu Xi's Collected Annotations on the Four Books, Zhao Ji's Annotations, and Yang Bojun's Translation and Notes.