Mencius

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Mencius ( MEN -shee-? s ) or Mengzi (372-289 BC or 385-303 or 302 Ã, BC) is a Chinese philosopher often described as the "Second Wise Man", ie only after Confucius himself.

Video Mencius

Kehidupan

Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke (??), born in the State of Zou, now forms the Zoucheng county (Zouxian) district of Shandong province only thirty kilometers (eighteen miles ) south of Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius.

He was a traveling Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the major interpreters of Confucianism. Supposedly, he is the disciple of Confucius's grandson, Zisi. Like Confucius, according to legend, he traveled throughout China for forty years to offer advice to the ruler for reform. During the Warring States period (403-221 BC), Mencius served as an official and scholar at the Jixia Academy in Country Qi (1046 BC to 221 BC) from 319 to 312 BC. He expressed his devotion when he took a three-year sabbatical absence from his official duty to Qi mourn his mother's death. Disappointed by his failure to change his contemporary world, he retired from public life.

Mencius is buried in "Mencius Cemetery" (???, Mengzi Lin , also known as ???, Yasheng Lin ), located 12 km to the northeast of the downtown area Zoucheng. An inscription carried by a giant stone turtle and crowned with a dragon standing in front of his grave.

Mencius's mother

Mencius's mother is often raised as an exemplary female figure in Chinese culture. One of the most famous idioms of four Chinese traditional characters is ???? (Pinyin: span lang = "zh-Latn-pinyin"> mÃÆ'¨ngm? -s? Nqi? N ; literally: "Mencius mother, three movements"); This adage refers to the legend that Mencius's mother moved home three times before finding a location she felt was suitable for parenting. As an expression, idiom refers to the importance of finding the right environment to raise children.

Mencius's father died when Mencius was very young. His mother Zh? Ng (?) Raising his own son. They are very poor. Initially they lived in the cemetery, where the mother found her son imitating the maids who were paid in the funeral procession. Therefore, the mother decided to move. The next house is near the market in town. There the boy begins to imitate the cries of the merchant (the insulted merchant in early China). So the mother moved to the house next to the school. Inspired by scholars and students, Mencius began to study. His mother decided to stay, and Mencius became a scholar.

Another story further illustrates the emphasis that Mencius's mother placed on his son's education. Like the story, once when Mencius was young, he skipped school. Her mother responded clearly to her neglect by taking scissors and cutting the cloth she had woven in front of her. This is meant to illustrate that one can not stop a task on the way, and his example inspires Mencius to be diligent in his studies.

There are other legends about his mother and his wife, involving a time when his wife was home alone and discovered by Mencius not to sit properly. Mencius thought his wife had broken the rite, and demanded divorce. His mother claims that it was written in The Book of Rites that before anyone enters a room, he must announce his close presence hard to let others prepare for his arrival; because he did not do that in this case, the person who had broken the rite was Mensius himself. Finally Mencius admits his mistake.

He is one of the 125 biography women has been included in LienÃÆ'¼ zhuan, written by Liu Xiang.

Descendants

Duke Huan son Lu through Qingfu (??) is the ancestor of Mencius. He was descended from the Duke of the Country of Lu (???). Duke Yang is the son of Bo Qin, who was the son of the Zhou Dynasty royal family of the Zhou Dynasty. The pedigree is found in the family tree Mencius (????????).

Mencius's descendants lived in Zoucheng at the Mencius Family Mansion, where the Mencius Temple was built as well as a cemetery for Mencius descent.

Meng Haoran and Meng Jiao are descendants of Mencius who lived during the Tang dynasty.

During the Ming dynasty, one of the descendants of Mencius was given a hereditary title at the Hanlin Academy by the Emperor. The title they hold is Wujing Boshi (????; ????; W? J? Ng BÃÆ'³shÃÆ'¬). In 1452 Wujing Boshi was conferred on the offspring of the 56th generation of Mengzi-Meng Xiwen (???) and the 59th generation of Yan Hui-Yan Xihui (???), who was equally awarded to the descendants of Zhou Dunyi-Zhou Mian (? ) The 12th generation, the two brothers Cheng (Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi-Chen Keren (???) of the 17th generation), 9th Generation Zhu Xi-Zhu Ting (??), in 1456-1457, at the same year 1539 was awarded for the offspring of the 60th-generation Zeng Can-Zeng Zhicui (???), in 1622 the descendant of Zhang Zai received the title and in 1630 the offspring of Shao Yong.

One of Mencius's direct descendants is Dr. Meng Chih (Anglicised as Dr. Paul Chih Meng) former director of China House, and director of the Chinese Institute in 1944. Time magazine reported Dr. Meng that year. 44. Dr. Meng died in Arizona in 1990 at the age of 90. North Carolina's Davidson College and Columbia University are the alma mater. He attended a speech along with the descendants of Confucius H. H. Kung.

In the Republic of China there is an office called the "Victim Officers for Mencius" held by Mencius's descendants, such as the "Victim Officers for Zengzi" for Zengzi's offspring, "Rulers of Yan Hui" for Yan Hui's offspring, and "Confucius Victim, held by the descendants of Confucius.

Descendants of Mencius still use generation poems for their names given to them by the Emperor Ming and Qing along with the descendants of the other Four Wise People (Confucius, Zengzi, and Yan Hui.

Historical sites related to his descendants include the family home of Meng (??), Temple of Mencius (??), and Cemetery of Mencius (??).

One of Mencius's descendants moved to Korea and founded the Sinchang Maeng clan.

Maps Mencius

Main concept

Human nature

While Confucius himself does not explicitly focus on the subject of human nature, Mencius affirms the innate goodness of the individual, believing that it is the influence of society - the lack of positive cultivation influence - which causes a bad moral character. "He who exerts his mind to fully know his nature" and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind."

The first four (or sprouts)

To show the innate goodness, Mencius uses the example of a child falling into a well. Witnesses from this event felt instantly

Human nature has an innate tendency toward goodness, but moral truth can not be instructed down to the final details. This is why only external controls always fail in improving society. The result of true improvement of the cultivation of education in a favorable environment. Likewise, bad environments tend to undermine human will. This, however, is not evidence of innate evil because a clear-minded person will avoid causing harm to others. This Mencius position placed him among Confucians like Xunzi who regarded evil people, and the Tao who believe humans do not need cultivation, they just need to accept innate, natural, and easy kindness. The four beginnings/sprouts can grow and develop, or they can fail. In this way, Mencius synthesizes the integral parts of Taoism into Confucianism. It takes an individual effort to nurture oneself, but a person's natural tendency is a good start. The object of education is the planting of virtue, otherwise known as Ren.

Education

According to Mencius, education must awaken the innate ability of the human mind. He denounced the recitation and advocated the active interrogation of the text, saying, "People who believe all books will be better without books" (???, ?????, dari ??. ???). One must check internal consistency by comparing the part and debating the probabilities of the factual account by comparing it to the experience.

Destiny

Mencius also believed in the power of Fate in shaping the role of man in society. What is destined can not be made by human reason or foretold. Fate is shown when unexpected and constructive paths arise. Fate should not be confused with Fate. Mencius denied that Heaven would protect a person regardless of his actions, saying, "One who understands Takdir will not stand under a wobbly wall". The right path is a natural and non-coercive path. This line should also be maintained because, "Unused paths are covered with weeds." People who follow Fate will live a long and successful life. The man who rebels against Destiny will die prematurely.

Views on politics and economy

Mencius emphasizes the importance of ordinary citizens in the state. While Confucianism generally regarded the ruler as very high, he argued that it is acceptable for subjects to overthrow or even kill a ruler who ignores the needs and rules of the people harshly. This is because a ruling ruler with justice is no longer a true ruler. Speaking of the overthrow of the evil King Zhou from Shang, Mencius said, "I just heard about killing a criminal Zhou, but I have never heard of killing [him as] a ruler."

This proverb should not be regarded as incitement to violence against the authorities but as an application of Confucian philosophy to society. Confucianism requires clarification of what might be expected in a particular relationship. All relationships must be useful, but each has its own principle or logic. The ruler must justify his position by acting benevolently before he can expect gratitude from the people. In this view, a king is like a servant. Although Confucius admired the kings of great achievement, Mencius clarified the proper hierarchy of human society. Although a king has a higher status than an ordinary person, he is actually inferior to the mass of people and the resources of society. Otherwise, there will be an implied omission about the potential of human society towards the future. One is only significant for what people give, not for what one takes.

Mencius distinguishes between superior men who recognize and follow the virtues of virtue and virtue and inferior men who do not. He suggested that superior men consider only the truth, not the benefits. It assumes a "permanent property" to enforce common morality. To secure benefits for the less fortunate and the elderly, he advocated free trade, lower tax rates, and a more equal share of the tax burden.

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Comparison with contemporaries

The years allegedly made him contemporary with Xun Zi, Zhuangzi, Gaozi, and Plato.

Xun Zi

Xun Zi is a Confucian who believes that human nature is centered on self-interest and greed, and the purpose of moral cultivation is to develop our nature into goodness. This makes it at odds with Mencius. Later, Zhu Xi's thinker expressed Xun Zi's unorthodox view, instead supporting Mencius's position.

Plato

The Mencius argument that unjust rulers can be overthrown is a reminder of Socrates' argument in Book I of Plato's Republic .

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Influence

Berius's interpretation of Confucianism is generally regarded as an orthodox version by the next Chinese philosopher, especially by the Song Dynasty Neo-Confucian. The Mencius disciples included a large number of feudal lords, and he was said to be more influential than Confucius.

The Mencius (also spelled Mengzi or Meng-tzu ), his conversation with the kings at the time, is one of the Four Books that Zhu Xi is categorized as the core of Neo-Confucian orthodox thought. In contrast to Confucian, short and autonomous speech, the Mencius consists of long dialogues, including arguments, with broad prose. It was largely ignored by the Jesuit missionaries who first translated the Confucian canon into Latin and other European languages, because they felt that the Neo-Confucian school was largely composed of contamination of Buddhism and Confucianism Taoism. Matteo Ricci also strongly disliked Mencius's strong defilement against celibacy as unfilial. FranÃÆ'§ois NoÃÆ'Â l½, who felt that Zhu's idea of ​​representing the natural and original development of Confucian thought, was the first to publish the full edition of Mencius in Prague in 1711; However, when the recent Chinese controversy rite was decided against the Jesuits, its edition had little influence outside of central and eastern Europe.

In 1978 the book confessed to estimate the one hundred most influential people in history to that point, Mencius is ranked 92th.

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See also

• Cheng Yi (philosopher)
• Lu Jiuyuan
• Wang Yangming
• David Hume, whose ethical naturalism echoes Mencius
• Sinchang Maeng clan, Mencius is the founder of one of the Korean clans, the Sinchang Maeng clan
• Curtis Yarvin, Penius Mencius Moldbug pen name

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Note

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References

Quote

Bibliography

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External links

• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entries
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
• Mengzi: Chinese text with English translation and links to Zhuxi comments
• English translation by A. Charles Muller Scientific translation annotated with Chinese subtitles
• An article that addresses the ethical view of Mencius from The Philosopher
• Works by Mencius in Project Gutenberg
• Works based on or about Mencius on the Internet Archive

Source of the article : Wikipedia