Mencius Selected Translation — Language and Literature New Curriculum Standard Required Reading Series

Author: Bai Xiaosong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: The prose of Mencius has had a profound influence on later literature. It skillfully employs literary techniques to achieve the practical purpose of promoting political doctrines, advocating the idea of using literature to convey truth while not neglecting the aesthetic beauty of literature. In the logical reasoning process, it contains rich emotional elements, making it a model work for later literature, particularly having a significant impact on the creative activities of ancient literature in the Tang and Song dynasties. The literary insights in Mencius, such as "understanding a person by their times" (ru ren lun shi) and "inferring the author's intention" (yi yi ni zhi), are unique and incisive, becoming important principles in later literary criticism.