Mencius

Mencius
As depicted in the album Half Portraits of the Great Sage and Virtuous Men of Old (至聖先賢半身像) – held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei
Born	Meng Ke c. 371 BC Zou, Zhou dynasty (modern Zoucheng, Shandong)
Died	c. 289 BC Zou, Zhou dynasty
Era	Ancient philosophy
Region	Chinese philosophy
School	Confucianism
Main interests	Ethics, social philosophy, political philosophy
Notable ideas	Right to revolution as an aspect of the Mandate of Heaven Goodness of human nature
Chinese name
Chinese	孟子
Literal meaning	"Master Meng"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Mèngzǐ Bopomofo ㄇㄥˋ ㄗˇ Wade–Giles Meng4-tzu3 Tongyong Pinyin Mèng-zǐh Yale Romanization Mèngdž IPA [mə̂ŋ.tsɹ̩̀] Wu Romanization Man-tsy Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Maahngjí Jyutping Maang6 zi2 IPA [maːŋ˨ tsiː˧˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Bēng-chú Tâi-lô Bīng-tsú Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Mæ̀ng-tzí Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *mˤraŋ-s tsəʔ
Birth name
Chinese	孟軻
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Mèng Kē

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Confucian texts Ruzang Five Classics Classic of Poetry Book of Documents Book of Rites Book of Changes Spring and Autumn Annals Four Books Analects Mencius Doctrine of the Mean Great Learning Other texts Three Commentaries Rites of Zhou Ceremonial Rites Classic of Filial Piety Erya
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Mencius^[a] (MEN-shee-əs; c. 371 – c. 289 BC) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage (亞聖) to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting his ideology and developing it further.^[1][2] Living during the Warring States period, he is said to have spent much of his life travelling around the states offering counsel to different rulers. Conversations with these rulers form the basis of the Mencius, which would later be canonised as a Confucian classic.

One primary principle of his work is that human nature is righteous and humane. The responses of citizens to the policies of rulers embodies this principle, and a state with righteous and humane policies will flourish by nature. The citizens, with freedom from good rule, will then allocate time to caring for their wives, brothers, elders, and children, and be educated with rites and naturally become better citizens. This placed him at odds with his near contemporary, Xunzi, who believed that human nature is evil by birth.^[3]

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