Selected Annotations on the Mencius

Author: Yao Mei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-03
Features:
Mencius, named Ke, was a mid-Zhou period figure from Zou (now Zoucheng, Shandong). His birth and death years are approximately 390-305 BC. The ancestors of Mencius were nobles of the Mengsun family from the state of Lu, but by Mencius's time, they had lost their noble status. Mencius grew up in poverty during his childhood. Mencius was a great thinker, educator, and statesman of the Warring States period, as well as a master of rhetoric. He was the most authoritative representative of the Confucian school after Confucius, considered a master of Confucianism and ranked second only to Confucius, earning the title "Second Sage." His success was closely tied to the education he received in his youth, with the most important factor being the education and influence of his mother. In a sense, without Mencius's mother's enlightenment and guidance, there would have been no Mencius later in life.
The book Mencius is, in terms of style and address, compiled based on the records of Mencius's speeches taken down by his students Wan Zhang and Gongsun Dao in their daily notes. The entire book has a grand and consistent literary style, which was refined by Mencius himself. The practice of referring to the feudal lords Mencius met solely by their posthumous titles (which are given only after death) should be a later convention to avoid taboo.