Book description
Mencius was one of the great philosophers of ancient China, second only
in influence to Confucius, whose teachings he defended and expanded. The
Mencius, in which he recounts his dialogues with kings, dukes and
military men, as well as other philosophers, is one of the Four Books
that make up the essential Confucian corpus. It takes up Confucius's
theories of jen, or goodness and yi, righteousness, explaining that the
individual can achieve harmony with mankind and the universe by
perfecting his innate moral nature and acting with benevolence and
justice. Mencius' strikingly modern views on the duties of subjects and
their rulers or the evils of war, created a Confucian orthodoxy that has
remained intact since the third century BCE.
Mencius (372-298 BC) was one of the greatest Chinese philosophers,
focusing on political theory and practice. Mencius, like Confucius,
believed that rulers were divinely placed in order to guarantee peace
and order among the people they rule. Unlike Confucius, Mencius
believed that if a ruler failed to bring peace and order about, then
the people could be absolved of all loyalty to that ruler and were
justified to revolt.
D. C. Lau is a Professor at the University of Hong Kong.
