According to the inscriptions in Zhao Qi's Biography of Lienv and Mencius, Mencius was taught by Kong Ji, the grandson of Confucius. Historical records. The Biography of Mencius and Xunqing said that he was a "disciple of Kong Ji". There is a saying that when Mencius arrived in Shandong at the age of fifteen or sixteen, he worshipped Confucius' grandson as a teacher. However, according to historical research, when Mencius was born, Kong Ji had been dead for thirty years. Therefore, as recorded in Historical Records, the story of a master employed by Kong Ji is more credible. Even Mencius himself once said, "Don't be a disciple of Confucius, you can only be a private scholar." Whether Mencius was educated in Kong Ji or not, his theory was really influenced by Kong Ji. Therefore, Xunzi listed Kong Ji and Mencius as one school, which is what later generations called the Meng Si School.
Mencius is a collection of Mencius' speeches by Mencius and his disciples. It records Mencius' language, political opinions (benevolent politics, Wang Ba's debate, people-oriented, respecting the right and wrong of the monarch, and valuing the people over the monarch) and political actions. It is a Confucian classic. His theoretical starting point is the theory of good nature, which puts forward "benevolent governance" and "kingly governance" and advocates rule by virtue. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu called Mencius, The Analects of Confucius, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean the Four Books. Since the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has been regarded as a family heirloom. Mencius is the longest and heaviest of the four books, with more than 35 thousand words. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, "Four Books" had been a compulsory part of the imperial examination.
Mencius is not only an important Confucian academic work, but also a special collection of essays in ancient China. His writing style is magnificent, full of emotion and strict logic; It is eloquent and carefree. Illustrate complex truths with visual things and language. It had a great influence on later essayists Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan and Su Shi.
People-oriented thought
Based on the experience of the Warring States period, Mencius summed up the laws governing the rise and fall of chaos in various countries and put forward a famous proposition rich in the essence of democracy: "The people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light." People think that how to treat people is extremely important to the rise and fall of a country. Mencius attached great importance to the opposition between people's hearts, and repeatedly expounded through a large number of historical examples that this is a key issue related to winning or losing in the world.
Benevolent policy theory
Mencius inherited and developed Confucius' thought of ruling by virtue, and developed it into the theory of benevolent governance, which became the core of his political thought. Mencius' political theory is king with benevolent governance as its content, and its essence is to serve the feudal ruling class. He applied the principles of "pro" and "long" to the introduction of Political Mencius in order to ease class contradictions and safeguard the long-term interests of the feudal ruling class.
Educational thought
Mencius' educational thought is also the inheritance and development of Confucius' educational thought of "teaching without class" (The Analects of Wei Linggong). They all regard education for all as the means and purpose of benevolent governance. On the one hand, it advocates "setting up a school to teach it in an emergency" (in Teng Wengong's chapter) to strengthen school education; On the other hand, those in power need to set an example.
Moral ethics
Mencius summarized moral norms into four categories, namely, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. He believes that "benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom" is something that people are born with, not obtained from the outside world, and "benevolence" is the core idea of Mencius' moral theory. . At the same time, the human relations are summarized into five kinds, namely, "father and son are close, monarch and minister are righteous, husband and wife are different, old and young are orderly, and friends are trustworthy". Mencius believed that benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom were the most important. Benevolence is based on filial piety and filial piety, and it is the basic moral standard to deal with the blood relationship between father and son.
Philosophical thinking
The highest category of Mencius' philosophical thought is heaven. Mencius inherited Confucius' thought of destiny, removed the residual meaning of personality god, and imagined heaven as a spiritual entity with moral attributes. He said: "Honest people, heaven is also." Mencius defined the moral concept of honesty as the essential attribute of heaven, and believed that heaven was the origin of the inherent moral concept of human nature. Mencius' ideological system, including his political thoughts and ethical thoughts, takes heaven as the category.
Mencius' main philosophical thought is his theory of good nature, which is opposite to Xunzi's theory of evil nature (Liang Qichao thinks that Mencius' theory of good nature emphasizes the possibility of education and Xunzi's theory of evil nature emphasizes the necessity of education). The theory of "good nature" is the theoretical basis for Mencius to talk about life and politics, and it is the central link in his ideological system.
Mencius' mother moved three times
In the past, when Mencius was a child, his father died young and his mother kept a festival. Mencius lived beside the tomb and studied funeral, vagrancy and crying. Mother said, "This is not the reason why I have a house." But when he left, he moved to the edge of the city, and Mencius laughed and Jia Ren sold it. His mother said, "That's not why I have a house." She's near slaughter, learning to slaughter business. Mother added, "Yes or no, that's why I live in the house." And then moved to Gong Xue. On the first day of each month (the first day of each month in the summer calendar), officials enter the Confucian Temple, bow down and bow with their hands. Mencius saw it and learned it one by one. Meng Mu said, "This is really a place to live." So I live here.
Mencius was taught.
Mencius' wife lives alone and lives in seclusion. Mencius visited her home and said to her mother, "Woman is rude, please go." Mother said, "Why?" Yue: "Ju." His mother said, "How do you know?" Mencius said, "I saw it with my own eyes." Mother said, "You are rude, not a woman." "Isn't there a cloud li? Will get started and ask which one to save. When you go to class, your voice will improve. Will come into the house, it depends. Don't hide anything, you are unprepared. Today, you went to a private place and entered the house without a sound. The introduction of Mencius is rude to you, not to women. " So Mencius blamed himself and dared not go to the woman. -Quoted from Biography of Korean Poetry
Broken weaving metaphor
Mencius was interested in learning at first, but after a long time he got bored and often played truant. Meng Mu was very angry when he learned about it. He picked up a knife and cut the warp on the loom. He said, "You give up studying like I cut the thread on the loom. This cloth is woven bit by bit. Now, if the thread is cut, the cloth cannot be woven. A gentleman studies to achieve fame, and he can increase his wisdom by asking questions. How can it be useful to play truant often? Instead of studying hard today, you are lazy to cultivate yourself. You can't stay away from disaster in the future. Don't be a robber in the future, be a servant! " Meng Mu used "breaking the weave" as a warning to "drop out of school", pointing out that you should be persistent in doing things, and once you have a clear goal, you will not be disturbed by the outside world. Giving up halfway will have serious consequences. The scene of "breaking the metaphor" left a distinct impression of surprise and fear in Mencius' mind. Since then, Mencius has been studying hard and finally became a master of Confucianism in the history of China.
Kill dolphins without cheating children.
When Mencius was young, his master killed dolphins. Mencius asked his mother, "What did the master kill dolphins for?" Mother said, "I want to love you (Dan)." His mother regretted it and said, "I am pregnant, so I don't sit on the table because I am not upright;" Don't eat it if it's not cut properly, and so is prenatal education. Got it. It's the adopted son who doesn't believe you. "It is to buy dolphin meat for the owner. Know not to bully people.
The first person to make tomb figures ―― the creator of a bad precedent.
This idiom comes from Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang: "Zhong Ni (Confucius) said: The initiator has no future! It is also used by its image. "
People who take fifty steps back are laughing at people who take a hundred steps back.
During the Warring States period, the vassal states all adopted the strategy of uniting the horizontal, making distant friends and attacking near.
This war has been going on for many years, and people all over the world have suffered greatly. Mencius saw it and decided to travel around the world to persuade the belligerent monarchs. Mencius came to Liang State to meet the belligerent Liang. Liang said to Mencius: "I tried my best to govern the country and care for the people, but I didn't see the increase of the people." What is the reason? "
Mencius replied: "I will take war as an analogy!" When the armies of the two sides meet on the battlefield, it is inevitable that there will be a war. As a result of the battle, the defeated party will inevitably abandon its helmet and armor and flee for life. If a soldier runs slowly and only runs 50 steps, he will laugh at the soldier who runs 100 step because he is afraid of death. "
Mencius finished the story and asked Liang, "Is this right?" Liang immediately said, "Of course not!" Mencius said, "Although they love the people and like to use troops, the people will suffer. This is the same as fifty steps. "
Idioms refer to people who laugh at a small defeat. However, "pot calling the kettle black" is used to describe different practices, but the essence is the same.
Mencius is one of the most important representatives of Confucianism.
Mencius was a famous thinker, educator and politician in ancient China. He was a representative of Confucianism in the Warring States Period, the fourth generation disciple of Confucius and the second generation disciple of Ceng Zi. He inherited and developed Confucius' thought. Confucius is the supreme saint and Mencius is the second saint. Mencius and Confucius are collectively called Confucius and Mencius, and most people call them Confucius and Mencius.
Mencius once followed the example of Confucius and led his disciples around the world, but it was not accepted by all countries at that time, and then he retired to write books with his disciples. Mencius' and his disciples' remarks were compiled into Mencius, which is one of the classic works of Confucianism.
Mencius' article is eloquent, magnificent, good at argumentation, rigorous in logic and sharp in wit, which represents the peak of traditional prose writing. Mencius put forward the theory that human nature is good, that is, human nature is good Mencius only said that human nature is good, and Zhu in the Southern Song Dynasty added that "at the beginning of life, human nature is good", and later scholars put forward "human nature is good".
Xianshimiao
According to legend, Mencius passed through Gancheng (now Mengke Village, Mengke Township, Hualong District, Puyang City, Henan Province) and was blocked by heavy rain. At that time, Mencius' reputation was quite high, and he rushed to tell stories and sensationalized the whole village. Mencius' residence is crowded, and people who ask for advice are in an endless stream. Mencius saw that this man was very good at giving lectures, so he decided to stay and give lectures for a few days. People in Gancheng are also proud of this, so they built the "Temple of the First Teacher" where Mencius gave lectures, and changed the name of the village to Monk to commemorate it. Shixian Temple, also known as Monk Temple, is located in Monk East Village.
Seven essays
In the middle of the eaves of the Mengfu lobby in Zoucheng, Shandong Province, there is a gold plaque with seven moments, which refers to seven Mencius, namely, Liang, Gong Sunchou,,, and Dedication. "Yi" means giving; "Yi Ke" refers to the rules for the Meng family.
Mengmiao
Meng Temple, also known as "Yasheng Temple", is the place where Mencius was worshipped in past dynasties. The worship of the Mencius Temple began in the fourth year of Song Jingyao (1037), and was founded in the northeast of Zou County12km south of the Four Seasons Mountain, in front of the Mengling Mountain. Later, he moved to Nanguan, Zouxian County.