Mencius

A great man is he who has not lost the heart of a child.

The way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind.

Mencius [孟子; Mèng Zǐ; Meng Tzu; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄇㄥˋ ㄗˇ] (372 – 289 BC, or perhaps 385 – 303/302 BC) is one of the most famous Confucian philosophers.

Quotes

• If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land.
  • Discourses, as quoted in "I Want to Know!" by Ivan Gogol Esipoff, The Etude, Vol. LXIII, No. 9 (September 1945), p. 496

The Mencius

He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature.

• Mencius went to see King Huei of Liang. The king said, "Venerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand li, may I presume that you are provided with counsels to profit my kingdom?" Mencius replied, "Why must your Majesty use that word "profit"? What I am provided with, are counsels to benevolence and righteousness, and these are my only topics."
  • Book 1, part 1, as translated by James Legge in The Life and Works of Mencius (1875), p. 124

• He who outrages benevolence is called a ruffian: he who outrages righteousness is called a villain. I have heard of the cutting off of the villain Chow, but I have not heard of the putting of a ruler to death.
  • 1B:8, In relation to righteousness and the overthrow of the tyrannous King Zhou of Shang, as translated by Sir Robert Kennaway Douglas, China (1904), p. 8
  • Variant translations:
    • The ruffian and the villain we call a mere fellow. I have heard of killing the fellow Chou; I have not heard of killing a king.
      • In Free China Review, Vol. 5 (1955)
    • I have merely heard of killing a villain Zhou, but I have not heard of murdering the ruler.
      • Wing-tsit Chan, in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), p. 78

• Those who are humane achieve glory. Those who are inhumane suffer disgrace.
  • 2A:4

• The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of humanity; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety; and the feeling of right or wrong is the beginning of wisdom.
  Men have these Four Beginnings just as they have their four limbs. Having these Four Beginnings, but saying that they cannot develop them is to destroy themselves.
  • 2A:6, as translated by Wing-tsit Chan in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), p. 65
  • Variant translation:
    • The sense of compassion is the beginning of benevolence; the sense of shame the beginning of righteousness; the sense of modesty the beginning of decorum; the sense of right and wrong the beginning of wisdom. Man possesses these four beginnings just as he possesses four limbs. Anyone possessing these four and saying that he can not do what is required of him is abasing himself.
      • Yao Dan, translated by Li Ziliang, Li Guoqing and Zhao Feifei, Chinese Literature: From 'The Book of Songs' to 'A Dream of Red Mansions' (Beijing: China Intercontinental Press, 2006), p. 24

• They who accord with Heaven are preserved, and they who rebel against Heaven perish.
  • Book 4, part 1, ch. 7

• 是故誠者，天之道也
  • Sincerity is the way of Heaven
  • Book 4, part 1, 12

• Before a man can do things there must be things he will not do.
  • Book 4, part 2, v. 8, as translated by John T. McNeill, A History of the Cure of Souls (New York: Harper & Bros, 1951), p. 59
  • Translated by D. C. Lau, Mencius, rev. ed. (Penguin Books, 2004), p. 90:
    • Only when there are things a man will not do is he capable of doing great things.

• 大人者，不失其赤子之心者也
  • The great man is the one who does not lose his child's heart.
  • Book 4, pt. 2, v. 12
  • Translations by Lin Yutang:
    • A great man is one who has not lost the child's heart.
    • A great man is he who has not lost the heart of a child.

• If you let people follow their feelings, they will be able to do good. This is what is meant by saying that human nature is good.
  • Book 6, pt. 1, v. 6

The sense of mercy is found in all men; the sense of right and wrong is found in all men.

• The sense of mercy is found in all men; the sense of shame is found in all men; the sense of respect is found in all men; the sense of right and wrong is found in all men.
  • 6A:6

• The way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind.
  • 6A:11, as translated by Wing-tsit Chan in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), p. 58

• He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature.
  • 7A:1, as translated by Wing-tsit Chan in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), p. 62

• The superior man has three things in which he delights, and to be ruler over the kingdom is not one of them. That his father and mother are both alive, and that the condition of his brothers affords no cause for anxiety;—this is one delight. That, when looking up, he has no occasion for shame before Heaven, and, below, he has no occasion to blush before men;—this is a second delight. That he can get from the whole kingdom the most talented individuals, and teach and nourish them;—this is the third delight.
  • 7A:20, as translated by James Legge in The Chinese Classics, Vol. II (1861), p. 335

• 民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕。
  • Most precious are the people; next come the spirits of land and grain; and last, the kings.
  • 7B:14. Variant translations:
    • The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain come next; the sovereign counts for the least.
    • Of the first importance are the people, next comes the good of land and grains, and of the least importance is the ruler.
    • The people are the most important ... and the ruler is the least important.

Attributed

• How lamentable is it to neglect the path and not pursue it, to lose the mind and not know to seek it again! When men’s fowls and dogs are lost, they know to seek for them again, but they lose their mind and do not know to seek for it.
  • Nitobe Inazō, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, 13th ed. (1908), p. 21

• Benevolence brings under its sway whatever hinders its power, just as water subdues fire: they only doubt the power of water to quench flames who try to extinguish with a cupful a whole burning wagon-load of fagots.
  • Nitobe Inazō, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, 13th ed. (1908), pp. 38–39

• The feeling of distress is the root of benevolence, therefore a benevolent man is ever mindful of those who are suffering and in distress.
  • Nitobe Inazō, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, 13th ed. (1908), p. 39

Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient (1882)

Quotes reported in Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient, ed. Charles D. B. Mills (Boston, MA: George H. Ellis, 1882)

• The virtues are not poured into us, they are natural. Seek, and you will find them: neglect, and you will lose them.
  • "Uses and Sanctions", no. 22

• The great end of learning is nothing else but to seek for the lost mind.
  • "Uses and Sanctions", no. 32

• At forty, I had attained the unperturbed mind.
  • "Discipline and Character", no. 41

• A real man is he whose goodness is a part of himself.
  • "Discipline and Character", no. 45

• The principles of great men illuminate the universe.
  • "Discipline and Character", no. 50

• Never has there been one possessed of complete sincerity who did not move others. Never has there been one who had not sincerity who was able to move others.
  • "Discipline and Character", no. 55

• Benevolence is the tranquil habitation of man, and righteousness is his straight path.
  • "Justice and Truth", no. 100

• It would be better to be without the Shu-King than to believe every word of it.
  • "Knowledge and Wisdom", no. 131 · "Celebration and Worship", no. 587

• Tsze-Kung asked Confucius, saying, "Master, are you a sage?" Confucius answered him: "A sage is what I cannot rise to. I learn without satiety, and teach without being tired." Tsze-Kung said: "You learn without satiety: that shows your wisdom. You teach without being tired: that shows your benevolence. Benevolent and wise:— Master, you are a sage."
  • "Humility", no. 139

• The great man is he who does not lose his child-heart.
  • "Strength", no. 142

• A man with definite aims to be accomplished may be compared to one digging a well. To dig the well to the depth of seventy-two cubits and stop without reachin the spring is, after all, throwing away the well.
  • "Miscellaneous", no. 293
    • Compare:

      Oh, Soul, remember howe’er small the scope
         Of thought or action that around thee lies,
      It is the finished task alone can ope
         The gates of paradise. — Anon.

• There are many services, but the service of parents is the root of all others. There are many charges, but charge of one’s self is the root of all others.
  • "Miscellaneous", no. 468

Quotes about Mencius

• The most important development of the Confucian School was in the teachings of Mencius (372–289 B.C.). After the death of Confucius, the teachings were divided into two schools, one of Hsuntse and one of Mencius, the former believing in the wickedness of human nature and the necessity of restraint, and the latter believing in the sheer expansiveness of the good heart of man. Mencius said, "The great man is one who has not lost the heart of a child." He started out from the assumption that man has the innate capacity for good and loves what is good, that it is through corruption that man deteriorates, and that therefore the essence of self-cultivation, of preserving one's moral character, consists merely in "finding the lost heart of the child." This has become the orthodox school. Mencius has been given a place next only to Confucius, and it is common to speak of Confucian doctrines as "the teachings of Kung-Meng," meaning Confucius (Kung) and Mencius (Meng).
  • Lin Yutang, From Pagan to Christian (1959), Ch. 3: "The Mansion of Confucius", IV. 'Mencius: Finding the Lost Heart', pp. 86–87

External links

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
• Works by Mencius at Project Gutenberg
• Article discussing the view of ethics of Mencius from The Philosopher
• Family Background and Life of Mencius
• English Translation of the Mencius with comments by James Legge
• Mengzi - Chinese text with English translation
• Mencius (Selections), translated by A. Charles Muller