Mencius was very good at using parallelism, because he would first overwhelm the other side in momentum because of the debate. For example, he said that "wealth cannot be lewd, poverty cannot be moved, and powerful people cannot be bent", "the weather is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as human harmony", "Your minister is like a brother, then I regard you as my heart; If you treat me like a dog or a horse, then I will treat you like a Chinese; You treat me like dirt, and I treat you like hatred. " Wait, it's all very imposing.
At the same time, he is also very good at using contrast. He believes that "the Tao helps more, the Tao helps less", "the people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the least", "I am old, I am young, I am young" and "being poor is immune to the world, and being up to speed is helpful to the world" have become famous sayings throughout the ages and are often quoted. Although Mencius was not a poet in the true sense, because in the pre-Qin era, poetry had not yet formed an independent literary genre, but Mencius used a lot of rhetorical devices in Judgment to make academic papers lively and interesting, and many short stories in it would not make people feel boring and obscure, and people often could not help clapping their hands and praising them. This is Mencius' kung fu. Confucius said that "review the past and learn the new", and Mencius is the best example. He often studies the sentences in The Book of Songs, The Book of Rites and The Spring and Autumn Annals, which shows that he reads well and uses them creatively, so he can produce so many classic poems.
Introduction to Mencius' Philosophical Thought
Mencius was not regarded as a philosopher in the strict sense in ancient times, which is also the same weakness of Confucianism, that is, he attached importance to thoughts and theories, but was not good at discussing human development and the relationship between man and nature. This achievement is not as good as Taoism. Laozi and Zhuangzi, the representatives of Taoism, are both famous philosophers, which are not inferior to Socrates and Aristotle in the same period of ancient Greece in the west.
Mencius just happened to talk about his philosophical views in his speech.
Mencius believes that human nature is good, and everyone has compassion, unbearable heart, right and wrong heart, and resigned heart, which is the theoretical basis of his four-terminal theory. But Mencius' point of view is not to discuss why people are born to be good, but to make theoretical preparations for his political view-benevolent government, which serves politics. Therefore, the philosophy of Mencius' thought is much weaker.
Mencius was also the earliest people-oriented thinker in China. He said that "the people are the most important, the monarch is the least, and the country is the second." This is a great idea, but it is not a very strict logical point of view. Mencius often puts forward his own views directly, but does not explain why this is the case and why it is not. Philosophy is the most logical.
Mencius is good at arguing, and he can easily refute the other side's point of view. He can quickly find each other's thinking loopholes and start a debate. However, when reading Mencius carefully, it is often achieved through fables or powerful rhetoric, and there are few rigorous arguments, even sophistry like the famous Hui Shi is rare. This point seems to be deliberately ignored by Mencius, or his weakness, so he deliberately avoided it. Therefore, Confucianism laid the philosophical foundation of ancient China society, but Confucianism was better in education and thought.
What are Mencius' stories?
The name Mencius has an extraordinary significance in the long history of China. His most prominent influence is his thoughts of benevolence, righteousness and goodness. Mencius was a great saint, and many extraordinary stories happened in his life. Of course, the story that comes to mind most is "Meng Mu's Three Movements", which is also a story of far-reaching significance to Mencius' later achievements.
Meng Mu's Three Movements is a story about children's education. It mainly tells Meng Mu's attention to the study of Mencius. In order to educate Mencius well, Meng Mu moved to three places, provided a living environment suitable for learning for Mencius, and was strict with Mencius.
In addition, there are some stories, such as Mencius being taught, the central idea of which is to tell the story that Meng Mu taught Mencius to have the most basic etiquette in doing things, whether to outsiders or to his family; There is also a story with a paragraph metaphor. The main content is that you must persevere in your study and don't give up halfway. The story of this parable has an important influence on Mencius becoming a master of Confucianism in the future.
There are many stories about Mencius, such as killing dolphins and not deceiving children, which Mencius also recited when he was young. There are catchy idioms such as "the initiator", "one exposure to ten cold" and "pot calling the kettle black". These stories explain some principles of being a man and doing things from different aspects and angles, which are Mencius' educational thoughts and Mencius' personal words and deeds. He educated our descendants with words and deeds.
What do the four tails of Mencius mean?
Mencius was another Confucian master after Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. People often say that "Confucius said benevolence and Mencius said righteousness", which is the most refined summary of Confucius and Mencius' theory. It can be said that a word "righteousness" summarizes all the contents of Mencius' thought.
Mencius once put forward the famous Confucian four-terminal theory. The so-called four-terminal theory refers to compassion, shame, resignation and right and wrong. They are the beginning of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom, so they are called four ends. Mencius believes that these four aspects are the basis for a person to become a person, a saint and govern the country, and to stand on the world.
Mencius advocated people-oriented and adhered to simple people-oriented thought, which was a very advanced thought in the social background of the early feudal society more than two thousand years ago, and it was also the greatness of Mencius as a thinker.
At that time, people's thoughts were not very civilized, slave owners often abused slaves, and there were all kinds of torture in society to punish prisoners. Even the living were sacrificed and buried with them. At that time, the rulers thought that only by using harsh laws to suppress the people, make them feel scared and dare not make mistakes, would the rulers' ruling foundation be stable. However, Mencius pointed out that "the people are the foundation, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light". He believes that everyone has compassion and unbearable heart, and everyone has shame and humility. Otherwise, what's the difference between man and beast? If a monarch doesn't know how to care for his people and abuses the criminal law blindly, even if the people dare not show it on the surface, there will inevitably be resentment in their hearts. After a long time, they gradually accumulate, and the mountain of fire in their hearts will erupt one day, and the day of national subjugation is not far away.
Appreciation of Mencius' rejection of Xu Xing
Speaking of Mencius, as descendants of the Chinese people, China people know everything. Mencius' original name was Monk, and his word was Yu Zi. His birthplace was Zou Guo, a vassal state in the Warring States Period. His thoughts and theories were read and studied by later Confucian scholars. He is also a famous educator and master of Confucianism. So do you all know the story of Mencius reprimanding Xu Xing?
Mencius' rejection of Xu Xing is also Mencius' criticism of Xu Xing, and he disapproves of Xu Xing's proposition. Xu Xing was a representative of the agricultural school in the Warring States Period. He lived in the same era as Mencius. We mainly study an article by Mencius: Mencius? In Teng Wengong, we can learn about Xu Xing's deeds. There are sentences such as "Teng Li Chu" and "a man with a strange tongue", which shows that Xu Xing is a native of Chu. According to legend, Xu Hang has more than a dozen students. The clothes they wear are very shabby. They are all coarse clothes, and they all make a living by weaving mats and selling shoes. Xu Hang and his students came to a place called Tengguo. They don't want to be high officials. They just want to get a piece of land and an ordinary house, so that they can live in agriculture for a long time. At that time, Xu Xing's thought was still very influential, and some Confucian scholars turned to Xu Xingmen to study his theory.
From Mencius? As can be seen from the article "On Teng Wengong", Xu Xing's proposition has two main points. First, talented people should work and eat with ordinary people. Second, commodity prices in China should be unified, and we should not cheat each other. From this perspective, he admired Yao Shun, the ancient sage of the Duke of Zhou, and advocated imitating him. As we mentioned earlier, the story called Mencius reprimanded Xu Xing, so Mencius disagreed with Xu Xing's point of view. Mencius believes that everyone's identity is different and the division of labor is different. It is very reasonable for mental workers to lead and rule manual workers. Mencius also believed that academic thoughts of any school should be developed. It is better to retreat than to blindly respect the past. Mencius quoted many vivid metaphors as arguments to refute Xu Xing's point of view, which is wonderful.
Which family is Mencius a representative figure?
Mencius, Mingke, Zi Yuzi and Zou Guoren in the Warring States Period. He is a famous politician, thinker, educator and essayist, and one of the most representative figures of Confucianism. Mencius was a disciple of Kong Ji, the grandson of Confucius. He lost his father in his early years and lived alone with his mother. Because he and Confucius were both masters of Confucianism, later generations called Mencius and Confucius "Confucius and Mencius", and because he came from Kong Ji School, he and Kong Ji were called "Meng Si School".
Mencius advocated benevolent politics in politics. Like Confucius, he traveled around the world and put forward the people-oriented thought of "valuing the people but neglecting the monarch". Theoretically, he opposed Mozi and Taoism and praised Confucius. But in the end, his political thoughts were not adopted by the kings of other countries at that time. They think that his thoughts are "more profound and broader than things". After failing to realize his political ideal and ambition, Mencius returned to his hometown, wrote a book, made a preface to poems and books, and wrote seven pieces of Mencius.
According to textual research, Mencius was born in the fourth year of the reign of Zhou Dynasty and died in the twenty-sixth year. According to Biography of Women and other books, Mencius taught Kong Ji, the grandson of Confucius. But in fact, when Mencius was born, Kong Ji had been dead for more than 30 years, so he could not be directly employed by Kong Ji, but was most likely taught by a master in Kong Ji. But in any case, Mencius was deeply influenced by the thought of Kong Ji School all his life.
Mencius' book Mencius is one of the four books and five classics, and it is also the largest one among these Confucian classics, with about 35 thousand words. Mencius, with seven chapters and fourteen volumes, has a far-reaching influence on later generations, and is even one of the compulsory contents of the imperial examinations in Ming and Qing Dynasties.