MENCIUS

MENCIUS Translated by D.C. Lau; Penguin Classics London 2004



An author completely unknown to me, Mencius lived in China in the 4^th century BCE.  He followed the teachings of Confucius who lived about a century earlier.  There was much change going on in China at the time with feudal states being expanded and annexed, government becoming centralized and individual ownership of the land permitted.  One interesting event that Mencius refers back to a few times was the Great Flood during the time of Yao, where Yü dredged “the Nine Rivers” forming the Yangtse, the Yellow River, the Huai and the Han.  Lucretius in De Rerum Natura, mentions Deucalion (the Greek Noah) and the Great Flood and of course the story of Noah and his ark is prominent in the 1^st book of old Testament of the bible (Genesis).

 I found much of what Mencius wrote (based on Confucius’ teachings) to be of interest and still useful today.  The text was a tough slog at times partly because of the plethora of Chinese names, nicknames or honorifics and partly because, mixed in with advice and observations that still resonate, was a lot of  analogy and advice about observing the rites, about the duties of the “higher” and “lower” members of society, about archaic very formalized courtesies etc.

 Mencius writes about ming: the moral commands or moral mandate from heaven which apply to both rulers and individuals.  There is much discussion of this mandate from Heaven in Mencius.  During his time the Yin dynasty was overthrown and I’m sure that the people and philosophers had to reconcile the divine right of the emperors and other rulers with the legitimacy of overthrowing of tyrants.  They seem to have accomplished this by concluding that mandates from Heaven can be bestowed and can be taken away, they aren’t forever. 

III.A.4

There are those who use their minds and those who use their muscle.  The former rule, the latter are ruled.

 Two central qualities or virtues valued by Mencius were:

Jen  = benevolence

Yi  = righteousness, duty

Mencius acknowledges that desires and appetites are part of human nature but because these are also part of animal nature, these aren’t the distinguishing components of human beings.  He felt that the distinguishing component or trait of humans was ‘heart’ or hsin.  The heart for Mencius was the thinking, moral part of man.  For Mencius it wasn’t wrong to enjoy pleasures etc but it came down to how you obtained the pleasures, what priority you assigned to the pleasure, how you lived your life.

Mencius describes 4 types of heart:

Heart of compassion                         =          benevolence

Heart of shame                                   =          dutifulness

Heart of Courtesy & Modesty         =          observance of rites

Heart of Right & Wrong                   =          wisdom

In Book IV.B.8

“Only when there are things a man will not do is he capable of doing great things”

Mencius felt that people were innately capable of good, of compassion.  He considers that we are all born with a good heart but we inevitably stray from this.

VI.A.11

The sole concern of learning is to go after this strayed heart.  That is all.

Mencius feels that most people don’t even realize their heart has strayed and that this is due to “ignorance of priorities”.  It’s not wrong to enjoy pleasures but if we put desire and pleasure above leading a moral life and following the Way, then our heart stays astray.  In this matter of priorities he is like the Epicureans.  The Epicureans would not have been in agreement about the importance of observing the rites and formalities but they felt that we should not be governed by our desires.

Whether people realize their potential depends mainly on their will/commitment to follow the Way, as well as on external circumstances.  Mencius has a great analogy about this.  He describes how lush and heavily treed Ox Mountain was in ancient times but because it was near a city, men kept cutting down the trees.  The forest might have been able to survive this over-harvesting because the environment (cool night air and morning dew) provided support and nurturing but it couldn’t survive the additional daily onslaught of the pigs and deer eating all the new young shoots of trees.  Similarly a person may be able to withstand much of what drains them by resting and replenishing their resources (mental, spiritual, moral) but if they are faced with a daily grinding away at them, their good qualities can’t survive.

The text is full of basic maxims about life.  One section quotes a saying of the people of Ch’i

You may be clever

But it is better to make use of circumstances

You may have a hoe

But it is better to wait for the right season

 VII.A.29

To achieve anything is like digging a well. You can dig a hole 9 fathoms deep, but if you fail to reach the source of water, it is just an abandoned well.

While many of these were apt, they weren’t as interesting as the sections where Mencius sets out what he thinks living a “good” life is.  Many of the precepts are quite austere. 

III.B.1

There has never been a man who can straighten others by bending himself

 III.B.8

When one realizes that something is morally wrong, one should stop it as soon as possible.

Mencius also had some interesting ideas on the value of adversity.  In Book VI.B.15

[…] As a rule, a man can mend his ways only after he has made mistakes.  It is only when a man is frustrated in mind and in his deliberations that he is able to innovate […] Only then do we learn the lesson that we survive in adversity and perish in ease and comfort.

 I am sure that there are many entrepreneours today that would find alot of wisdom in this.

One aspect of Mencius’ advice that I’ll be thinking about and trying to put into practice myself is his advice not to always look to others or be affected by others or blame others but to look to yourself.  It’s usually easier to blame someone or something else when you run into problems but your 1st step should be looking into yourself. 

IV.A.4

If others do not respond to your love with love, look to your benevolence;
If others fail to respond to your attempts to govern them with order, look into your own wisdom;
if others do not return your courtesy, look into your own respect. 
In other words, look into yourself whenever you fail to achieve your purpose.

In Book IV.A.8 he also offers some reassurance from the T’ai chia, albeit some tough love, putting the onus back on the individual:

When heaven sends down calamities,

There is hope of weathering them;

When man brings them on himself,

There is no hope of escape.

Once again, this entire text is written for men.  Women are assumed not to be part of any higher purpose.  It would be wonderful if we could discover ancient hidden texts written by women that let us know what their discussions were, something similar to the Nushu script that women in China used to learn and communicate with each other.

Mencius describes (Book III. B. 2) the way of women:

When a girl marries, her mother gives her advice […] “you must be respectful and circumspect.  Do not disobey your husband.” It is the way of a wife or concubine to consider obedience and docility the norm.

 Ultimately, Mencius' advice about personal integrity, self-reliance and self-analysis and about the value of reason and passion (priorities) hold true and have value to this day.