Mencius, surnamed Ke, was born in Xiafu Village, Maanshan (now Zoucheng City, Shandong Province), and the site of his former residence still exists. There are many inferences about the birth and death of Mencius. What is more credible is that he was born in the fourth year of the reign of King Zhou (372 BC) and died in the twenty-sixth year (289 BC) at the age of 84, which is basically consistent with the stories of the characters in the book Mencius.
Mencius is a descendant of the nobility of Lu. He lost his father at the age of 3, and his family was poor, relying entirely on his mother's upbringing. Meng Mu's "three moves to his residence" and "breaking the machine to teach his son" made Mencius determined to learn Confucianism and etiquette from an early age, and "set up a cowpea and let him advance and retreat". From then on, the "Zisi disciple" who inherited the learning of Zisi and Confucius became the representative figure of Confucian orthodoxy. With the political ambition of "benevolent governance", Mencius lobbied governors and went through Zou, Ren, Qi, Lu, Song, Teng and Liang (Wei) and other countries. He lived in Qi for several years and was well received and respected in Liang. However, at that time, the political ideas of "it is wise to take the alliance of Lian Heng as the strategy of attack and attack", "Qi is not available" and "Liang is not as good as his words" were not adopted by other countries.
Mencius lobbied until he was 65 years old, and his political ideal could not be realized. Just like Confucius in his later years, he retired to other places to engage in teaching writing and hoped for the future. Together with his disciples Gong Sunchou and Zhang Wan, he compiled seven pieces of Mencius, which became important materials for later generations to study Mencius' thoughts.
"Benevolence is king" is the core content of Mencius' political thought. Mencius advocated that through the new "well-field system" he envisioned, the people should have a certain amount of cultivated land-private fields, and at the same time plant a part of land for the country, that is, public fields, so as to "support the public privately" and make the people "adopt their parents and wives, live happily all their lives and not die in hard years." He attaches great importance to agricultural production and thinks that "people (agriculture) can't delay" and "five grains can't beat grain unless they go against the farming season." He advocated "saving punishment, collecting thin taxes" and "taking from the people", and warned feudal rulers that exploitation and oppression should have a certain limit.
Politically, Mencius advocated "convincing people with virtue". He said, "Those who are persuaded by strength will not be persuaded." It is pointed out that the use of violence cannot convince people, and only the use of "virtue" can convince people. Oppose the use of violence to govern the country, advocate the implementation of probation education policy, and emphasize spiritual rule.
Paying attention to people's thoughts is also an important part of Mencius' theory of "benevolent government". He believes: "If you lose the world, you will lose the hearts of the people. If you lose the people, you lose your heart. Get the way of the world, win the hearts of the people and win the world. Get the people to know the Tao, win the hearts of the people, and win the people. "
He drew the conclusion from historical experience that "those who win the hearts of the people win the world, and those who lose the hearts of the people lose the world", so he put the people in a very important position. He said: "Governors have three treasures: land, people and government", and listed people as one of the three treasures. He also said: "The people are the most valuable, the country is the second, and the monarch is the least", putting the people in the first key position. His people-oriented thought was very progressive at that time.
However, the essence of Mencius' theory of "benevolent government" is only to ease the contradiction between the feudal ruling class and the peasants, so that the feudal regime will not be destroyed by tyranny, and finally achieve the purpose of maintaining and prolonging the feudal rule.
In philosophy, Mencius was an idealist. He believes that people are born with "conscience" and "goodness", and moral norms such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom are also born. In Mencius' view, benevolence is the most important, and benevolence is fundamental relative to righteousness, so he summarized his political thought as "benevolent politics". The theoretical basis of the theory of "benevolent government" is the theory of good nature.
Mencius also inherited Confucius' theory of destiny, believing that everything is decided by heaven and asking people to act according to "destiny". He advocated the theory of "genius" and divided people into "foresight" and "hindsight", saying that the former was a "saint" and "adult", while the latter was the masses of the people, and the latter was naturally dominated by the former.
Mencius regarded Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Zhou Gong as "geniuses" and "saints". Confucius was even regarded as a "super genius" and thought that history was created and promoted by these "geniuses". This fully embodies his historical idealism.
Mencius traveled abroad for more than 20 years, mainly engaged in education, and thought that "teaching talents in the world" was the happiest thing. Although his students are not as many as Confucius, there are more than a dozen recorded in Mencius, among which Gong Sunchou and Zhang Wan are his favorite students. The articles written by Mencius make good use of metaphors and fables, which are concise, clear and sharp, inspiring and magnificent, and occupy an important position in the history of China's prose development.
Mencius learned from Confucius' grandson Zi Si and got the true biography of Confucianism. But in the Warring States period, Confucianism was one of the schools of thought. There are eight schools of Confucianism, and Mencius is just one of them. Qin Shihuang "killed Confucian scholars, Mencius did everything." In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Mencius was only regarded as a "biography" and established a "doctor" study.
In the second year of Baoying in Tang Daizong, Mencius was regarded as a classic. After the admiration and publicity of Han Yu, Wang Anshi, Zhu and others, Mencius' status is getting higher and higher. In the first year from Yuan Wenzong to Shun (1330), Mencius was named as "the sage of Zou Guo", ranking second only to Confucius. Emperors in Ming and Qing dynasties also sought after each other, making Mencius an idol worshipped by feudal rulers.
Mencius was buried at the foot of Four Seasons Mountain, 25 miles northeast of Zoucheng, which is now Menglin. There are temples and houses in the county. Mencius' thought occupies an important position in the history of China's thought.