Personality assessment
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' articles are eloquent, magnificent, good at argumentation, rigorous in logic and sharp in wit, which represents the highest level 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".
think
According to historical records, Mencius has seven masterpieces handed down from generation to generation, while according to Han Art and literature, there are eleven. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhao Qi said that Mencius had four foreign books: Sexual Argumentation, Wen Shuo, Xiao Jing and Kevin·Z, while eleven books were regarded as four foreign books except seven. Zhao Qi thinks that the contents of the four foreign books are superficial and inconsistent with the internal books, which should be written by future generations. Mencius, which has been handed down to this day, was said by Zhao Qi. Although this book was not written by Mencius, it was recorded by Mencius' disciples, and all this is undoubtedly Mencius' words and deeds. As can be seen from the book, Mencius has the following remarks and thoughts: in terms of human nature, he advocates the theory of goodness. I think people are born with four virtues: benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. People can maintain and expand it through internal ellipsis, otherwise they will lose these good qualities. So he asked people to pay attention to the role of introspection. In terms of social and political views, Mencius highlighted the king of benevolent governance. Benevolence means "saving punishment and collecting taxes" for the people. He summed up from historical experience that "violence against its people will lead to physical death", and said that all three generations won the world because of benevolence and lost the world because of benevolence. Emphasizing the development of agriculture, caring for the people and people's livelihood, he said in "On My Country": "Seventy people are clothed with meat, and the people are neither hungry nor cold, but they are not kings and have nothing." [13] He also proposed that we should attach importance to the people, and you should mainly attach importance to the people's thoughts. "Three treasures of princes, land, people and politics." If the monarch is serious, his deputies will admonish him. If he admonishes but doesn't listen, he can change his position. As for tyrants like Jie and Zhou, subjects can rise up and destroy them. He opposes hegemonism, that is, conquering other countries through merger wars; It is to be benevolent, win the obedience of the people's hearts, and defeat the soldiers without fighting, which is what he called "the benevolent is invincible", and the king can be invincible in the world. In terms of values, he emphasized that giving oneself up for righteousness, "life is also what I want;" Righteousness is also what I want. You can't have both, and you have to sacrifice your life for righteousness. "Emphasize that you should use' ceremony' to restrain your words and deeds, and you can't give up the ceremony for superior material conditions." It doesn't matter to me if I accept it for ten thousand minutes without distinguishing propriety! "
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.
"The people are precious, the country is second, and the monarch is light." It means the people first, the country second, and the monarch last. Mencius believed that the monarch should take care of the people first, and politicians should protect the rights of the people. Mencius agreed that the monarch has no way and the people have the right to overthrow the regime. For this reason, Hanshu and Yiwenzhi only regard Mencius as a sub-book, without giving it its due status. In the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of Houshu, Meng Changjun, the master of Houshu, ordered people to carve stones in eleven classics such as Mencius, which may be the beginning of Mencius' being included in the classics. By the time of filial piety in the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu called Mencius, The Analects of Confucius, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean as four books, which became one of the thirteen classics, and Mencius' position was pushed to a higher level. Legend has it that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was dissatisfied with Mencius' people-oriented thought and ordered people to abridge the relevant contents in Mencius.
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 politics, eased class contradictions and safeguarded the long-term interests of the feudal ruling class.
On the one hand, Mencius strictly distinguished the class status of the ruler and the ruled, and thought that "those who do things rule their people, and those who do things rule their people", and imitated the Zhou system to draw up a hierarchy from emperor to ruler; On the other hand, the relationship between the ruler and the ruled is compared to the relationship between parents and children, and it is advocated that the ruler should care about the sufferings of the people like parents, and the people should be close to and serve the ruler like parents.
Mencius believes that this is the most ideal politics, and the rulers can win the heartfelt support of the people if they implement benevolent policies; On the contrary, regardless of people's life and death, people will lose their hearts, become thieves and be overthrown by the people. The specific content of benevolent government is very extensive, including economy, politics, education and ways to unify the world, among which there is a clue of people-oriented thought. This thought developed from the idea of valuing the people over the gods in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Mencius said: "Benevolence must go through first". The so-called "well boundary" means dividing and sorting out the field boundary and implementing the well field system. The well-field system conceived by Mencius is a feudal natural economy, which is based on small farmers of one household and takes the form of exploiting labor force for rent. Every farmer has a five-acre house and a hundred-acre field and is self-sufficient. Mencius believes that "people are the way, those who have constant production have perseverance, and those who have no constant production have no perseverance." Only when people have "permanent property" and settle down on the land can they not violate the criminal law and do evil. Mencius believes that when people's material life is guaranteed, rulers can re-establish schools, educate them on the principle of filial piety and guide them to be kind, which can create a good moral trend of "kissing" and "growing up", that is, "everyone kisses and grows up, and the world is peaceful." Mencius believed that the benevolent government of the ruler could win the heartfelt support of the people all over the world, thus being invincible. Mencius' benevolent policy should be based on the ruler's "unbearable heart". Mencius said: "The former king had an unbearable heart and Sri Lanka had an unbearable policy." "Unable to bear the heart of others" is a kind of pity and kindness. But this kind of sympathy and kindness is different from Mozi's "universal love", but comes from the feelings of blood. Mencius advocated that "Kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss is the political embodiment of this unbearable heart.
Benevolence, according to Mencius' explanation, is "human heart" What is benevolence? According to Mencius, it can be summarized as follows: First, be close to the people. Mencius advocated that rulers should "share with the people" and "have fun with the people". Second, use virtuous people. "Those who win the world are called benevolence." ("On Teng Wengong") "Respect the sages and enable them, and Jie Jun is in office." ("Gong Sunchou") "When a saint is in office, an able person is in office; Ming's political punishment. " Third, respect human rights. Mencius publicly preached the slogan of "people value the monarch but despise him", and advocated reconciling the relationship between rulers and working people within a certain range. Fourth, compassion. The rulers are required to adopt the method of "old people and old people, young people and young people" to govern the people. I believe that this will be welcomed and supported by the people, so as to achieve "invincible in the world." Fifth, killing people who have no choice is also benevolence, which is the greatest benevolence. Mencius called for a solemn condemnation of all tyrants and corrupt officials who were arrogant by the disabled people, and tried to develop the real society into a political track of "protecting the people as kings".
Mencius established an ideal economic plan based on "minefield" with "benevolent government" as the fundamental starting point. Advocate the idea of "saving punishment, collecting thin taxes" and "not violating the farming season" It is required that feudal countries should attach importance to and develop production while collecting taxes, so as to make the people rich, so as to have sufficient sources of fiscal revenue. This kind of thinking should be affirmed. As a thinker of the new landlord class, Mencius also put forward the theory of emphasizing agriculture but not restraining commerce, which improved the traditional concept of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce", which was progressive at that time. Mencius' ideal of "well-field system" has far-reaching influence and guiding significance for later generations to establish a theory of governing the country to limit land annexation and ease class contradictions.
Exchange children for education.
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. "Ren Jun, ruthless; Junyi, all righteousness; Jun Zheng, Zheng Mo. " Educate the people with the power of example. The purpose of education is to make people "understand human relations", so as to establish an ideal society with harmonious and orderly human relations, and "human relations are on the top, and people are dating each other" (Teng Wengong chapter).
Mencius has always regarded himself as the orthodox successor of Confucius, and his educational contribution is unparalleled. He not only taught and educated people, but also trained outstanding students such as Le Zhengzi, Gong Sunchou and Zhang Wan. He also wrote seven books with his disciples for future generations. Like a continuous spring rain, it falls in the long river of history and culture.
For the improvement of educational methods, Mencius highly praised the traditional educational method of "teaching by changing children". When his favorite pupil, Gong Sunchou, asked why some gentlemen didn't personally educate their sons, Mencius replied, "Impossible. Teachers must be honest; Whether you are doing it right or not is followed by being angry. If you continue to be angry, you will be defeated. ..... The ancients changed to teach it, and the father and son did not blame goodness. If you complain about goodness, you will leave, and if you leave, it will be ominous. " Because of the deep affection between father and son, the father's education for his son is often lax, and some mistakes and faults of his son are indulgent and arrogant, which makes the correct education unsustainable. Therefore, "father and son don't complain about others", Ziyi let others educate them, which can be strict and maintain the intimate relationship between father and son without hurting feelings.
Moral ethics
Mencius summarized moral norms into four categories, namely, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. He believes that "benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom" are inherent things of human beings and are not obtained from the external world that exists objectively. 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. He believes that if every member of society uses benevolence and righteousness to deal with all kinds of interpersonal relationships, the stability of feudal order and the unity of the world will be reliably guaranteed.
"Benevolence and righteousness" is the core idea of Mencius' moral theory. Mencius' "benevolence and righteousness" has a class nature and is based on the feudal hierarchical society. However, he opposed the exploitation of the people by the rulers and the war between the state and the family.
Benevolence is an ancient category of political thought. The interpretation of the word "benevolence" in Shuowen is: "Benevolence is also near. From the second person. " With the development of society, its meaning has also evolved. Confucius' theory of benevolence has given more enrichment and play. Benevolence is the highest moral ideal of Confucius: Confucius uses the concept of benevolence in various senses, which reflects that Confucius' theory is not complete and rigorous.
Mencius is also the most benevolent. Mencius' development of Confucius' thought of benevolence is embodied in Mencius' theory of good nature. He put forward four virtues of benevolence, courtesy and wisdom, with benevolence as its central point. The relationship between benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom is further discussed. Secondly, based on the ethical thought of benevolence, Mencius put forward the theory of benevolent government. Mencius took benevolence as the starting point of his administration, asked the rulers to "govern the people with benevolence" (see King Hui of Liang), and also put forward specific economic and political measures of benevolent governance.
Mencius put forward the idea of good nature. He believes that although there are differences in division of labor and class among members of society, their human nature is the same. He said, "So, people of the same kind are all similar, so why doubt others?" A saint is like me. Here, Mencius put the ruler and the ruled in an equal position and discussed their universal humanity. This discussion adapted to the historical trend of slave liberation and social change at that time, marked the deepening of human understanding and greatly promoted the development of ethical thought.
Wang Faxian
The former king of France was based on his moral standards. Advocate the way of Yao and Shun. This is a typical Confucianism with certain historical limitations. The practice of the queen of France is the norm of the later kings, paying more attention to reality and not sticking to the past. Although Xunzi is also a representative figure of Confucianism, he has certain legalist thoughts. At this point, it is more progressive than Confucius and Mencius. Xunzi's so-called "queen king" is different from his so-called "former king" and Mencius' so-called "former king". The academic circles generally generalize Xunzi's historical thought as "after the law", which makes it opposite to Mencius' "before the law". In fact, Xunzi's attitude towards history is not only "the king after the law" but also "the king before the law". He is the king after the law and the king before the law. The formation of the concept of "former king" is based on historical figures, which concentrates all the wisdom and talents of historical figures, not on the realistic level but on the ideal level, which is the key to understand the characteristics of Xunzi's former king. Xunzi's so-called "queen king" is an idealized description of the ideal monarch at that time, which embodies all the requirements of the development of the new era. The "queen king" has become a symbol of etiquette, Wang Ba, justice and benefit. Like the "former king", Xunzi's "queen king" is also expressed at the ideal level rather than the realistic level. Compared with the former king, Xunzi paid more attention to the value and significance represented by the "later king". Xunzi absorbed the reasonable elements of pre-Qin philosophers and adapted to the development of social situation, and put forward a series of propositions, such as paying equal attention to justice and benefit, combining Wang Ba with practice, and respecting etiquette and law. Compared with Confucianism, business and Korean legalists, Xunzi is more conducive to safeguarding national unity, while the "queen king" as the embodiment of ideal personality is the concept of justice and benefit.
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' thought is complex, which is mainly composed of materialism: the epistemological viewpoint reflected in Mencius contains many simple materialistic thoughts. There is a saying in Mencius: "... Heaven will be a great power to the Sri Lankan people, so we must first torture their minds, work hard on their bones and muscles, starve their bodies and bodies, and confuse their actions, so we must be patient and have (increased) what they can't do ..." (Under a High Attitude) points out that many intellectuals must go through difficulties. The objective world has its own laws, and people can't violate them.
Mencius clearly saw that the development and change of everything has its own process. He told a story in the book as a metaphor: there was a man in the Song Dynasty who died his seedling and came home and said, "I am sick today!" " Help Miao Miao! "My son rushed to see that Miao was dying. The world can't help the Miao and the old! Those who give up because they feel useless don't raise seedlings. Those who help the elderly germinate are not only useless, but also harmful. ("Gong Sun Chou"))
Epistemological epistemological
To understand the world is to transform it. The most important thing is to master objective laws. Mencius used Xia to control water, and according to the law that the water potential drops, it can guide Fukashi, which shows that it is necessary for people to know the world and transform it.
Mencius inherited and developed the "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude" in Confucius' educational method. To be sure, in education, we must adopt various methods that vary from person to person. Moreover, Confucius' "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude" has also developed. People think that the education of students must have certain standards, so that students have clear goals. The learning method and educational method advocated by Mencius are the crystallization of ancient Chinese pedagogy, which still has certain reference value for our study and education today.
Mencius' Heaven holds that Heaven is the highest will, and the change of dynasties, the translocation of kings, the rise and fall, wealth and poverty in the world are all determined by destiny. People want to go with the weather, "those who go with the weather will prosper, those who go against the weather will die", and God's will is irresistible. He stood on the opposite side of materialist reflection theory, denied that human thought was a reflection of social existence, and believed that people were born with the seeds of goodness.
In addition, Mencius also attached great importance to self-cultivation. In terms of spiritual cultivation, Mencius, starting from the fundamental idea of "the theory of good nature", believes that the most important motive force for implementing "benevolent government" depends entirely on the benevolence of a gentleman. This kind of "conscience", "virtue" and "code line, abandon or die" depends on the word "support". Based on Zi Si's way of sincere thinking, Mencius put forward such viewpoints as "one heart", "intellectuality" and "knowing heaven", thus forming a set of ideological system containing subjective idealism.
Theory of human nature being good
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.
"Everyone has compassion; Everyone has a heart of shame and evil; Everyone has a respectful heart; Everyone has a right and wrong heart. Compassion, benevolence; Shame and nausea, righteousness also; Respect and courtesy; The heart of right and wrong is also wise. Benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom are not foreign, but inherent to me. " ("Gao Zi Shang")
"People who can do things that they don't learn are good at things; Those who don't worry have a conscience. " ("Dedicated")
Mencius' theory of goodness of human nature only says that human nature is good, and Zhu in the Southern Song Dynasty added that "the beginning of life is good". In Ming Dynasty, Wang Ming inherited and developed the theory of conscience, and contemporary scholar Fu Peirong put forward the theory of good nature.
Mencius regards the theory of "goodness of human nature" as the theoretical basis of people's self-cultivation and benevolent governance, and holds that ethical requirements such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom are derived from human nature and have ethical significance. At the same time, the theory of "good nature" holds that everyone can become a gentleman like Yao Shun through study, and it is of great educational significance to emphasize the possibility of education.
Dietary viewpoint
Mencius put forward many opinions on diet, which was regarded as a classic by later generations. From the point of view of benevolence: "a gentleman is a beast, and he can't bear to see his life or his death;" Hearing its sound, I can't bear to eat its meat, so it's a gentleman who cooks far away. " Later generations interpreted "a gentleman is far from the kitchen" as not close to the kitchen, and took it as the theoretical basis for Mencius to despise cooking, which is not desirable.
The so-called "gentlemen are far away from the kitchen" is just a psychological state of reluctance to kill. That is Qi Xuanwang's psychology of "exchanging sheep for cattle", because he saw with his own eyes how the cattle were killed, but didn't see how the sheep were killed. "Out of sight is clean", a gentleman stays away from the kitchen where chickens and ducks are slaughtered. The Book of Rites Jade Algae: Selected translations
At that time, I saw cows with my own eyes, not sheep. A gentleman can't bear to die when he sees birds and beasts alive; I can't bear to eat their meat when I hear their whining. Therefore, gentlemen always stay away from the kitchen. "
Mencius believes that diagnosing diet is the most basic and important thing in life. This is in line with the Confucian concept of diet since Confucius.
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 handed down from ancient times has seven chapters and fourteen volumes: the first and second chapters of Liang Huiwang; "Gongsun Ugly" up and down; "Teng Wengong" up and down; "Li Lou" up and down; "Zhang Wan" up and down; "High posture" ups and downs; Up and down "dedication". [ 16]
However, when we study Mencius, we can see that the vassal States we saw, such as Liang, Liang, Zou Mugong and He Lu, were all called Rong Xin, and Mencius did not necessarily do it alone. I still remember that Mencius' disciples Le Zhengzi, Gong and Wu Luzi are all called Zi, which is definitely not Mencius' work, and its editor is probably Mencius' disciple. This book was written in the middle of the Warring States Period.
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.
"I want what I want" comes from Mencius Gao Zi, probably written by Mencius.
The Fish I Want is a masterpiece of Mencius' in-depth discussion on human life and death based on his theory of good nature. Emphasize that "justice" is more important than "life" and advocate giving up life for justice. Mencius believed that "everyone has a heart of shame and evil", so people should maintain a kind nature, strengthen their usual cultivation and education, and not do anything that violates etiquette. Mencius regarded this thought as the essence of China's traditional moral cultivation, which was a far-reaching thing.
Mencius' mother moved three times
In the past, when Mencius was a child, his father died young, and his mother kept a festival and did not remarry. Mencius' mother attached great importance to Mencius' education and strictly controlled it, hoping that one day Mencius would become a useful person. At first, they lived next to the cemetery. Mencius and his neighbor's children learned to bow down and cry like adults and played a funeral game. Mencius' mother looked at it and frowned: "No! I can't let my children live here! " Mencius' mother took Mencius to the fair, and when they arrived at the fair, Mencius and the children in the neighborhood began to learn the way businessmen did business and shouted. Mencius' mother said, "This place is not suitable for my children to live in!" "Mencius' mother took Mencius to live near the place where pigs and sheep were slaughtered. Mencius learned to buy and sell slaughtered pigs and sheep. Mencius' mother knew this and frowned: "This place is still not suitable for my children to live in! "So they moved again. This time, they moved near the school. At this time of the first day of the summer calendar every month, officials go to the Confucian Temple, bow down and treat each other politely. Mencius learned to remember what he saw. Mencius' mother nodded with satisfaction and said, "This is where my son should live!" " "So I live here.
Mencius was taught.
Mencius' wife was alone in the house, squatting on the ground.
When Mencius entered the room and saw his wife like this, he said to his mother, "This woman is rude. Please allow me to divorce her. " Meng Mu said, "What is the reason?" Mencius said, "She squatted on the ground." Meng Mu asked, "How do you know?" Mencius said, "I saw it with my own eyes." Meng Mu said, "This is because you are impolite, not because women are impolite. The Book of Rites doesn't say that when you want to enter the door, you should first ask who is in the room; When you are about to enter the hall, you should first announce it loudly to let the people inside know; When you enter the room, you must look down. "The Book of Rites" said this in order not to catch people off guard. Now you go to your wife's resting place, and there is no noise when you enter the house, and people don't know it, so you can see her squatting on the ground. This is because you are not polite, not because your wife is not polite. " After listening to Meng Mu's teaching, Mencius realized that he was wrong, and never dared to mention the divorce again.
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 the Meng family still lived next to the market in Miaohuying Village, Mencius saw his neighbor killing pigs and inexplicably asked his mother, "What is the neighbor killing pigs for?" Meng Mu was busy at that time, so he casually said, "I'll give you the meat when it's cooked!" Mencius was very happy, waiting for meat. Meng Mu knows that honesty is the so-called "keep your word", and she knows that example is more important than words. In order not to break his promise to his son, despite the difficulties at home, Meng Mu took money to buy a piece of pork from his neighbor in the east and let his son have a good time.
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. " During the Warring States Period, Mencius and Liang talked about the way of governing the country. Mencius asked Liang, "Is there a difference between killing with a stick and killing with a knife?" Liang replied, "There is no difference." Mencius asked again, "What is the difference between killing with a knife and killing with politics?" Liang said to him, "It's no different."
Mencius went on to say, "Now there is a lot of fat in Wang's kitchen, and there are strong horses in the stable, but the people are starving, and some people are lying in the wild." This is an organ that attracts animals to eat people! Think about it, king. Even if animals eat each other, it's disgusting. How can those in power lead wild animals to eat people be good parents of ordinary people? Confucius once said that those who first used figurines (ancient puppets or clay figurines that buried the dead) had no children and grandchildren! You see, you still can't bury it with a humanoid earth doll. How can people starve to death alive? "
People who take fifty steps back are laughing at people who take a hundred steps back.
During the Warring States period, wars continued year after year, which made people of all countries miserable. Mencius saw it and decided to travel around the world to persuade the belligerent monarchs. Mencius came to Liang and met the belligerent Liang Huiwang. 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.
One day in the sun and one day in the cold-work hard for one day and do nothing for ten days.
During the Warring States period, lobbying was very popular. The average lobbyist is not only knowledgeable, but also has profound and vivid metaphors to satirize and persuade the rulers, which is the most prominent. Mencius was also a famous debater at that time. It is recorded in Gao Zi Shang that:
Mencius was dissatisfied with Qi Wang's fatuity, lack of perseverance and credulity of slanders, so he said to him rudely, "Qi Wang is so unwise. Although there is a living creature in the world, you expose it to the sun for one day and freeze it in a cold place for ten days. It is still alive there! " "My time with the king is very short. Even if the king has a little determination to do good, as soon as I leave you, those traitors will come to trick you and you will listen to them. What should I do? " Based on this, he made a vivid analogy: "Playing chess seems trivial, but if you don't concentrate, you won't win if you don't learn well. Qiu Yi is the best chess player in the country. He taught two apprentices, one devoted himself to listening to Qiu Yi's guidance everywhere; The other is always afraid of the arrival of a big swan and prepares to shoot the goose with an arrow. Both apprentices were taught by a master and studied together, but the latter's grades were far from each other. It is not that their intelligence is different, but that their concentration is different. " This is a very instructive story. If we want to learn something and do it well, we must concentrate on it and work hard. If you do something today, forget it and do it for ten days the next day, how can you do it well? Success in learning and doing things is also one of the decisive factors, so later people simplified Mencius' saying "one day exposure, ten days cold" to the idiom "one day exposure, ten days cold", which was used to describe the lack of perseverance in learning and doing things and the impermanence of dropping out of school.