in the tradition of Confucianism, Confucius and Mencius always go hand in hand, with great achievements and sub-saints. There are both The Analects of Confucius and Mencius. Confucius said "to be benevolent" and Mencius said "to take justice", and their purposes always matched. "Historical Records" said: "Mencius prefaces the book of poems and states the meaning of Zhong Ni." Today, Feng Youlan also compares Confucius to Socrates and Mencius to Plato.
But when we compare them carefully, we also find many differences. Most obviously, Confucius, described in The Analects of Confucius, has a relaxed and happy feeling, not as nervous as Mencius. Therefore, Dacheng Zhisheng can keep his leisure with the style of "an upright man is open and poised" and avoid the attitude of "a petty man is anxious and worried.". Confucius made his disciples express their aspirations, and only Zeng Xi won his approval the most. What Zeng Xi said is roughly equal to our outing and picnic today. "Those who are in late spring, who have already taken their spring clothes, have won five or six titles, and have six or seven boys, who have bathed in interpretation, danced in the wind and returned with singing." Contrary to this attitude, Mencius advocated "born in sorrow and died in happiness". Confucius also said that if the food is not cooked well, if you don't eat it this way, you won't eat it that way, and the clothes should be cut in all colors. Mencius did not hesitate to put forward that "there is fat meat in the barn, fat horses in the stables, hungry people and hungry wild people". Moreover, the words "the old man turns to the ravine, and the strong man is scattered in all directions" often appear in his mouth.
Confucius did not directly mention human nature's goodness or evil. In the Analects of Confucius, the word "benevolence" appeared 66 times, and no two places have the same explanation. However, since he said that although he is a sage, he should always be vigilant to guard against cruelty, which shows that he believes that sexual evil comes from nature. He also said, "If you have seen it, you will know benevolence", as if this ability to correct mistakes and promote yourself to be good, although it is active, will still be produced by internal and external observation. Mencius was not so hesitant. He once said categorically: "the goodness of human nature is also good, and it is still under the water; There is nothing wrong with people and there is nothing wrong with water. " By his own admission, Confucius studied all his life, and it was not until he was 7 years old that he could do whatever he wanted. Mencius' self-confidence can be seen in a sentence he said, "I am good at nurturing my noble spirit." This kind of moral power, as he explained, is purely internal and self-generated. Therefore, he said: "Whoever is suitable, Anato is also, and those who are promising are also." That is to say, everyone can be a sage.
Confucius attached great importance to "ceremony". Although Confucius praised Guan Zhong for his contribution to state affairs, he did not hesitate to attack others for exceeding the limits of people and ministers. Yan Yuan was a proud disciple of Confucius. When he died, Confucius cried bitterly. However, Confucius opposed the burial of Yan Yuan according to the principle of "courtesy". Because of the need of "courtesy", Confucius saw Nanzi, which made Zilu feel very unhappy. Although Confucius was unworthy of Yang Huo, he still wanted to pay a return visit to Yang Huo while he was away for the sake of reciprocity. Mencius did not have such patience. Qi Xuanwang said he was sick, and he also said he was sick. When he met King Liang Xiang, he came out and said, "I don't look like a gentleman." Lu Pinggong didn't visit him, and he didn't go to see Lu Pinggong. His gifts to monarchs of various countries, whether accepted or not, were all his own. He made a mourning ambassador to the state of Qi and sent an envoy to Tengguo, but he never talked about the envoy.
This difference cannot be said to have nothing to do with the personality of Confucius and Mencius. Perhaps the two books "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius" have different materials and records, which also have influence. However, there is a gap of about two hundred years between the most holy and the most holy, and the situation in China has changed a lot. Mencius said that "this time is also the same, and the other time is also the same". These eight words can just be used to explain the distance between them.
Confucius was born in 551 BC and died in 479 BC, which was the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. Although the date of Mencius' birth and death is uncertain, his most active time is also in the first and middle period of the Warring States Period. At the beginning of Mencius, it was mentioned that he met King Hui Liang, which was in 336 BC, 67 years after the Warring States, and 115 years later, the Qin Dynasty destroyed the six countries and unified China. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty could not be maintained, but it was not completely corrupted. In the past, the small countries were divided into their own ways. The ministers and doctors who presided over the state affairs and the soil who served as junior officers were all hereditary, and everything was in accordance with the rules. Now the principle that everything is bound by "courtesy" is no longer applicable, but the mutual conquest of men and women is still in the name of morality. Even if you rebel and usurp the throne, you should invite all parties concerned to support you. But the most important thing is that the war at this time has not spread to the whole people, and it will not cause parents, brothers and wives to be separated.
The car war in the Spring and Autumn Period is a kind of aristocratic war. Sometimes they all look at each other in a competitive way. There are certain procedures for disposal, and there are also recognized principles for engagement: that is, they still do not leave the constraints of "ceremony". "Not too much" was the general trend at that time. According to the principle, under certain circumstances, do not pursue the enemy. Under certain circumstances, do not shoot at the main enemy, do not set risks to win by fraud. Since the enemy soldiers have been wounded for the first time, they will not take advantage of the situation to make a second stab. People with gray hair are not prisoners. These attitudes are very similar to the chivalry in medieval Europe. Although it is impossible to abide by all these principles, the engagement time is short and the number of people participating in the war is limited by the number of cars. In a word, the war in the Spring and Autumn Period showed social instability. But the war itself is not enough to cause comprehensive social unrest.
in view of these conditions, Confucius was not completely disappointed with the situation at that time. His leisure and elegance represented the society at that time, which was quite quiet compared with the riots in the Warring States period. Therefore, he still advocates "self-denial and self-respect", which shows that the social order in the past can still be restored. He sometimes grumbles, saying, "If you can't do anything, you can float on the sea by fork" and "If the phoenix bird doesn't arrive, the river won't draw a picture, I'm a dead man", but when he is asked to express his policy, his way is to "correct the name", that is, to restore the original birthright of everything. "If you are useful to me, I am the Eastern Zhou Dynasty?" It also shows a retro enthusiasm.
Mencius is sometimes called "revolutionary" because of the turmoil in the Warring States period, which made him know that it is not helpful to just restore the old state without changing its course. Qi people are going to cut Yan, and he says Yan can be cut. Qi Xuanwang asked him what his wife should do, and he said, "If you are too big, you should remonstrate, and if you don't listen repeatedly, you will be translocated." That is to say, it is allowed to abolish the monarch and set up another sage in the family. King Xiang of Liang asked him, "Is the world evil?" He replied, "It's scheduled for one." King Xiang chased after him and asked, "Who can be one?" Mencius said, "Those who are not addicted to killing can be killed." He once told Liang Huiwang that "the land is a hundred miles away, but it can be king." This is no longer the strict rule that Confucius said, "see no evil, don't listen to evil, don't say evil, and don't move until evil."
When Mencius began to lobby, it was also when Shang Yang was punished, and Su Qin and Zhang Yi advocated the unification of the Lian Heng season. The Seven Heroes of the Warring States are ready to fight for a long time. Although the fighting at this time was not as fierce as in the last season of the Warring States Period-anyone over the age of 15 had to report to the garrison, and 4, or 45, soldiers were buried together-it was no longer a competitive war in the Spring and Autumn Period. The first thing for Shang Yang to associate with Qin Dynasty is to "make the people do what they do", that is, to combine the principle of a military organization with the whole people. On the battlefield, cavalry has appeared, and the number of infantry has also increased greatly. "6, beheadings" and "7, beheadings" have begun to appear in the records of various countries. Mencius said: "There is no one who is not addicted to killing people." This sentence may reflect the situation of countries preparing for war at that time, or it can be said that he was an indictment of the monarch's careless life at that time. What he said "the people are hungry and the wild are hungry" can't be aimless.
After the Song Dynasty, Mencius became one of the Four Books. In fact, it accounted for more than half of the length of the Four Books. It was not only used for explaining the banquets of various dynasties, but also the standard for selecting scholars in the imperial examinations, which had an inestimable influence on the history of China's thoughts. And Yasheng, with a compassionate heart, pleaded for the people. His words were sometimes emotional and sometimes intuitive, such as "seeing the cow but not the sheep" and "a gentleman is far away from cooking". His theory of good nature must have a compulsive inference. Since people are good by nature, it is not too much to force people to keep this nature. This key point is like Rousseau's theory of freedom. His low-level equality thoughts, such as "Happy life is full, and death is inevitable in hard years" and "saving punishment and collecting taxes lightly", are regarded as classics in a simple agricultural society, and also meet the needs of the facts. But today, when we read all of Mencius and Four Books, we can't regard them as political philosophy as a whole. We must also study their historical background, and sometimes, as Mencius himself said, "It is better to believe in books than to have no books."
Why is there such a distance between Confucius and Mencius? Why is there such a huge difference between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period? Why is China so precocious-when paper was not invented and documents were copied with bamboo slips, the most holy sage appeared, and the first Qin Emperor appeared in the same century as Mencius, which had a decisive influence on China?
as for the background of the above-mentioned problems, predecessors have said: it is because of the yellow soil belt in North China, which is easy to cultivate, prosperous in agriculture, increasing in population, convenient in transportation, the exchange of needed goods in commerce and great in social mobility. Cast iron technology appeared between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, affecting farm tools and weapons and so on. These answers are well-founded, but they don't hit the nail on the head to point out the characteristics of China's historical geography. The drastic changes during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with a hundred schools of thought contending and finally achieving reunification by violence, are unique in the history of the world.