{"id":13526,"date":"2019-11-22T00:19:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T00:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-culture\/mencius-meng-zi\/"},"modified":"2019-11-22T00:19:42","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T00:19:42","slug":"mencius-meng-zi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/fr\/mencius-meng-zi\/","title":{"rendered":"Mencius\u5b5f\u5b50"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mencius<\/strong>\uff08\u5b5f\u5b50<\/span>Mèngz\u01d0)<\/span>, also known by his birth name <\/span><\/span>Meng Ke <\/strong>(\u5b5f\u8f72<\/span>Mèngk\u0113\uff09<\/span>or Ko, was born in <\/span><\/span>the State of Zou <\/strong>(\u90b9\u56fdZ<\/span>\u014duguó), <\/span>now forming the territory of the county-level city of <\/span><\/span>Zoucheng<\/strong> (\u90b9\u57cez<\/span>\u014duchéng) <\/span><\/span>(originally <\/span><\/span>Zouxian<\/strong>) <\/span>(<\/span>\u90b9<\/span>\u53bfZ<\/span>\u014duxiàn<\/span>), <\/span>Shandong province <\/strong>(\u5c71\u4e1c\u7701<\/span>Sh\u0101nd\u014dng Sh\u011bng)<\/span>, o<\/em>nly thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south ofQufu <\/strong>(\u66f2\u961cQ<\/span>\u016bfù) <\/span>, Confucius’ birthplace. <\/span><\/p>\n

He was an itinerant Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of<\/span>Confucianism <\/strong>(\u5112\u5bb6r<\/span>úji\u0101)<\/span>. Supposedly, he was a pupil of <\/span><\/span>Confucius <\/strong>(\u5b54\u5b50<\/span>K\u01d2ngz\u01d0)<\/span>‘ grandson,<\/span> <\/span>Zisi <\/strong>(<\/span>\u5b50\u601d<\/span>Z\u01d0s\u012b)<\/span>. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. During <\/span><\/span>the Warring States Period <\/strong>(\u6218\u56fd\u65f6\u671f<\/span>Zhànguó Shíq\u012b)  <\/span>(403–221 BCE), Mencius served as an official and scholar at the <\/span><\/span>Jixia Academy <\/strong>(\u7a37\u4e0b\u5b66\u5babj<\/span>ìxià xuég\u014dng) <\/span>in <\/span><\/span>the State of Qi <\/strong>(<\/span>\u9f50\u56fd<\/span>Qíguó) <\/span>(1046 BCE to 221 BCE) from 319 to 312 BCE. He expressed his filial devotion when he took an absence of three years from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother’s death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his co<\/em>ntemporary world, he retired from public life. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mencius is buried in the "<\/span>Mencius Cemetery<\/strong>", (\u5b5f\u5b50\u6797<\/span>Mèngz\u01d0 Lín) (<\/span>also known as<\/span>Yasheng Lin<\/strong>), (<\/span>\u4e9a\u5723\u6797<\/span>Yàshèng Lín) <\/span>which is located 12 km to the northeast of Zoucheng’s central urban area. A stele carried by a giant stone tortoise and crowned with dragons stands in front of his grave. <\/span><\/p>\n

View on human nature <\/strong><\/p>\n

While Co<\/em>nfucius himself did not explicitly focus on the subject of human nature, Mencius asserted the innate goodness of the individual, believing that it was society’s influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – that caused bad moral character. "He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature" and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind".<\/p>\n<\/div>\n