A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy

by Wing-Tsit Chan

  19:13. Tzu-hsia said, “A man who has energy to spare after studying should serve his state. A man who has energy to spare after serving his state should study.”178

  19:24. Shu-sun Wu-shu179 slandered Chung-ni (Confucius). Tzu-kung said, “It is no use. Chung-ni cannot be slandered. Other worthies are like mounds or small hills. You can still climb over them. Chung-ni, however, is like the sun and the moon that cannot be climbed over. Although a man may want to shut his eyes to the sun and the moon, what harm does it do to them? It would only show in large measure that he does not know his own limitations.”

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  IDEALISTIC CONFUCIANISM: MENCIUS

  The career of Mencius (371–289 b.c.?) was amazingly similar to that of Confucius, whom he proclaimed the greatest sage.1 Like Confucius, he was born in what is modern Shantung province. Like Confucius, he was a professional teacher, having studied under the pupils of the grandson of Confucius. Like Confucius, he idolized the legendary sage-emperors.2 Like Confucius, he lived in a period of political struggle, moral chaos, and intellectual conflicts. Like Confucius, he had a sense of mission, if only to suppress “perversive doctrines.”3 To this end he debated with scholars and attacked his opponents, especially the followers of Mo Tzu (fl. 479–438 b.c.) and Yang Chu (440–360 b.c.?).4 Like Confucius, he traveled for forty years from about 354 b.c. or earlier, to offer advice to rulers for reform.5 Like Confucius, he once served as an official, in Ch’i from 319 to 312 b.c. Like Confucius, he was a filial son, for while serving in Ch’i, he took three years out to mourn the death of his mother. And like Confucius, he was eventually disappointed, and retired.

  One contrast between the two, however, is that we know practically nothing about Mencius’ family or his private life. He was a pupil of Confucius’ grandson Tzu-ssu’s pupil. His dates are uncertain. The most scholars can say is that he lived between 370 and 290 b.c., thus making him contemporaneous with Hsün Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and Plato, with whom he is often compared.

  The greatest difference between Mencius and Confucius, however, is in their doctrines. Basically, Mencius’ teachings were derived from Confucius. But in the central doctrine of the Confucian school, that of human nature, Mencius took a big step forward, and his new theory colored his other doctrines. While Confucius no more than implied that human nature is good, Mencius declared definitely that it is originally good. Moreover, he built his entire philosophy on this tenet, and was the first to do so. Since man is originally good, it logically follows (1) that he possesses the innate knowledge of the good and “innate ability” to do good;6 (2) that if one “develops his mind to the utmost,” he can “serve Heaven” and “fulfill his destiny”;7 (3) that evil is not inborn but due to man’s own failures and his inability to avoid evil external influences;8 (4) that serious efforts must be made to recover our original nature; and (5) that the end of learning is none other than to “seek for the lost mind.”9 His doctrine of the recovery of original nature formed the basis of the philosophy of Li Ao (fl. 798).10 His doctrine of innate knowledge and ability became the backbone of the idealistic philosophy of Wang Yang-ming (Wang Shou-jen, 1472-1529)11 and those who followed him for two hundred years. His general theory of the goodness of human nature exercised a tremendous influence on the whole movement of Confucianism in the last millennium, especially on Tai Chen (Tai Tung-yüan, 1723-1777).12

  Since human nature is good, love is therefore an inborn moral quality. But Mencius insisted that the practice of love must start with the family, and he bitterly opposed the Moist doctrine of universal love without distinctions. For this reason he often advocated humanity (jen, love) and righteousness (i) together,13 for to him humanity was necessary to bind people together and righteousness was necessary to make distinctions. In Mencius the ideal of righteousness assumed unprecedented importance. He was the first one to raise righteousness to the highest level in moral values.

  In government, too, he felt, humanity and righteousness must be the guiding principles. He strongly advocated “humane government.”14 In fact, he was the first one to use the term. He vigorously opposed righteousness to utility, advantages, and profit. He wanted to overcome the “way of a despot,” or the way of force, by the “kingly way,” or the way of moral power.

  As moral power is inherent in everyone’s nature, therefore every individual is “complete in himself”; every individual can become a sage; and everyone is equal to everyone else. For Mencius, people are the most important factor in government, and they have the right to revolt. This idea of revolution was not only novel in Mencius, but it also made him the greatest advocate of political democracy in Chinese history.

  Revolutionary as he was, Mencius did not deviate from the general direction determined by Confucius. What we have in Mencius is therefore orthodox Confucianism, developed along idealistic lines.

  The following selections from the Book of Mencius consist of Book Six, part 1, in full, which is the most important portion of the book, and selected chapters from other books. Their major topics and references are:

  Benevolent government: 1A:1, 5, 7; 1B:5, 7; 2A:5; 3A:3; 4A:14; 5A:5

  Equality: 6A:7; 3A:1; 4B:28, 32

  Great man: 6A:14, 15; 4B:11, 12

  Human relations: 3A:4; 3B:2, 9; 4A:17, 18, 26; 4B:30

  Humanity (jen) and Righteousness: 6A:1, 4, 8, 10, 11, 18, 19; 1A:1; 2A:2; 4A: 10, 20, 27

  Nature, human, and Innate virtue: 6A:1-6; 2A:6; 4B:26

  People and Revolution: 1B:7, 8; 4B:3

  Social classes: 3A:3, 4

  Unbearing mind: 1A:7; 2A:6

  Undisturbed mind: 2A:2

  Yang and Mo: 3A:5; 3B:9; 7A:26

  THE BOOK OF MENCIUS15

  Book Six, Part I

  6A:1. Kao Tzu16 said, “Human nature is like the willow tree, and righteousness is like a cup or a bowl. To turn human nature into humanity and righteousness is like turning the willow into cups and bowls.” Mencius said, “Sir, can you follow the nature of the willow tree and make the cups and bowls, or must you violate the nature of the willow tree before you can make the cups and bowls? If you are going to violate the nature of the willow tree in order to make cups and bowls, then must you also violate human nature in order to make it into humanity and righteousness? Your words, alas! would lead all people in the world to consider humanity and righteousness as calamity [because they required the violation of human nature]!”

  6A:2. Kao Tzu said, “Man’s nature is like whirling water. If a breach in the pool is made to the east it will flow to the east. If a breach is made to the west it will flow to the west. Man’s nature is indifferent to good and evil, just as water is indifferent to east and west.” Mencius said, “Water, indeed, is indifferent to the east and west, but is it indifferent to high and low? Man’s nature is naturally good just as water naturally flows downward. There is no man without this good nature; neither is there water that does not flow downward. Now you can strike water and cause it to splash upward over your forehead, and by damming and leading it, you can force it uphill. Is this the nature of water? It is the forced circumstance that makes it do so. Man can be made to do evil, for his nature can be treated in the same way.”

  6A:3. Kao Tzu said, “What is inborn17 is called nature.” Mencius said, “When you say that what is inborn is called nature, is that like saying that white is white?” “Yes.” “Then is the whiteness of the white feather the same as the whiteness of snow? Or, again, is the whiteness of snow the same as the whiteness of white jade?” “Yes.” “Then is the nature of a dog the same as the nature of an ox, and is the nature of an ox the same as the nature of a man?”

  6A:4. Kao Tzu said, “By nature we desire food and sex. Humanity is internal and not external, whereas righteousness is external and not internal.” Mencius said, “Why do you say that humanity is internal and righteousness external?” “When I see an old man and respect him for his age, it is not that the oldness is within me, just as, when something is white and I call it white, I
am merely observing its external appearance. I therefore say that righteousness is external.” Mencius said, “There is no difference between our considering a white horse to be white and a white man to be white. But is there no difference between acknowledging the age of an old horse and the age of an old man? And what is it that we call righteousness, the fact that a man is old or the fact that we honor his old age?” Kao Tzu said, “I love my own younger brother but do not love the younger brother of, say, a man from the state of Ch’in. This is because I am the one to determine that pleasant feeling. I therefore say that humanity comes from within. On the other hand, I respect the old men of the state of Ch’u as well as my own elders. What determines my pleasant feeling is age itself. Therefore I say that righteousness is external.” Mencius said, “We love the roast meat of Ch’in as much as we love our own. This is even so with respect to material things. Then are you going to say that our love of roast meat is also external?”

  6A:5. Meng Chi Tzu18 asked Kung-tu Tzu,19 “What does it mean to say that righteousness is internal?” Kung-tu Tzu said, “We practice reverence, and therefore it is called internal.” “Suppose a fellow villager is one year older than your older brother. Whom are you going to serve with reverence?” “I shall serve my brother with reverence.” “In offering wine at a feast, to whom will you offer first?” “I shall offer wine to the villager first.” Meng Chi Tzu said, “Now you show reverence to one but honor for age to the other. What determines your actions certainly lies without and not within.” Kung-tu Tzu could not reply and told Mencius about it. Mencius said, “If you ask him whether he will serve with reverence his uncle or his younger brother, he will say that he will serve with reverence his uncle. Then you ask him, in case his younger brother is acting at a sacrifice as the representative of the deceased, then to whom is he going to serve with reverence? He will say he will serve the younger brother with reverence. Then you ask him ‘Where is your reverence for your uncle?’ He will then say, ‘[I show reverence to my younger brother] because he represents the ancestral spirit in an official capacity.’ You can then likewise say, ‘[I show reverence to the villager] because of his position.’ Ordinarily, the reverence is due the elder brother, but on special occasions it is due the villager.” When Chi Tzu heard this, he said, “We show reverence to uncle when reverence is due him, and we show reverence to the younger brother when reverence is due him. Certainly what determines it lies without and does not come from within.” Kung-tu Tzu said, “In the winter we drink things hot. In the summer we drink things cold. Does it mean that what determines eating and drinking also lies outside?”

  6A:6. Kung-tu Tzu said, “Kao Tzu said that man’s nature is neither good nor evil. Some say that man’s nature may be made good or evil, therefore when King Wen and King Wu20 were in power the people loved virtue, and when Kings Yu and Li21 were in power people loved violence. Some say that some men’s nature is good and some men’s nature is evil. Therefore even under (sage-emperor) Yao22 there was Hsiang [who daily plotted to kill his brother], and even with a bad father Ku-sou, there was [a most filial] Shun23 (Hsiang’s brother who succeeded Yao), and even with (wicked king) Chou24 as nephew and ruler, there were Viscount Ch’i of Wei and Prince Pi-kan.25 Now you say that human nature is good. Then are those people wrong?”

  Mencius said, “If you let people follow their feelings (original nature),26 they will be able to do good. This is what is meant by saying that human nature is good. If man does evil, it is not the fault of his natural endowment.27 The feeling of commiseration is found in all men; the feeling of shame and dislike is found in all men; the feeling of respect and reverence is found in all men; and the feeling of right and wrong is found in all men. The feeling of commiseration is what we call humanity; the feeling of shame and dislike is what we call righteousness; the feeling of respect and reverence is what we call propriety (li);28 and the feeling of right and wrong is what we call wisdom. Humanity, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are not drilled into us from outside. We originally have them with us. Only we do not think [to find them]. Therefore it is said, ‘Seek and you will find it, neglect and you will lose it.’29 [Men differ in the development of their endowments], some twice as much as others, some five times, and some to an incalculable degree, because no one can develop his original endowment to the fullest extent. The Book of Odes says, ‘Heaven produces the teeming multitude. As there are things there are their specific principles. When the people keep their normal nature they will love excellent virtue.’30 Confucius said, ‘The writer of this poem indeed knew the Way (Tao). Therefore as there are things, there must be their specific principles, and since people keep to their normal nature, therefore they love excellent virtue.’ ”

  Comment. Mencius is the most important philosopher on the question of human nature, for he is the father of the theory of the original goodness of human nature. In spite of variations and modifications, this has remained the firm belief of the Chinese. Book Six, part 1, is almost entirely devoted to the subject. And of all the chapters, this is the most nearly central and the most comprehensive. It records the various theories on human nature in ancient China, except that of Hsün Tzu. It puts Mencius’ own theory in direct and simple form. And it also points out that evil or failure is not original but due to the underdevelopment of one’s original endowment. Later Confucianists, especially Neo-Confucianists, devoted much of their deliberations to these subjects, but they have never deviated from the general direction laid down by Mencius.

  6A:7. Mencius said, “In good years most of the young people behave well.31 In bad years most of them abandon themselves to evil.32 This is not due to any difference in the natural capacity endowed by Heaven. The abandonment is due to the fact that the mind is allowed to fall into evil. Take for instance the growing of wheat. You sow the seeds and cover them with soil. The land is the same and the time of sowing is also the same. In time they all grow up luxuriantly. When the time of harvest comes, they are all ripe. Although there may be a difference between the different stalks of wheat, it is due to differences in the soil, as rich or poor, to the unequal nourishment obtained from the rain and the dew, and to differences in human effort. Therefore all things of the same kind are similar to one another. Why should there be any doubt about men? The sage and I are the same in kind. Therefore Lung Tzu33 said, ‘If a man makes shoes without knowing the size of people’s feet, I know that he will at least not make them to be like baskets.’ Shoes are alike because people’s feet are alike. There is a common taste for flavor in our mouths. I-ya34 was the first to know our common taste for food. Suppose one man’s taste for flavor is different from that of others, as dogs and horses differ from us in belonging to different species, then why should the world follow I-ya in regard to flavor? Since in the matter of flavor the whole world regards I-ya as the standard, it shows that our tastes for flavor are alike. The same is true of our ears. Since in the matter of sounds the whole world regards Shih-k’uang35 as the standard, it shows that our ears are alike. The same is true of our eyes. With regard to Tzu-tu,36 none in the world did not know that he was handsome. Any one who did not recognize his handsomeness must have no eyes. Therefore I say there is a common taste for flavor in our mouths, a common sense for sound in our ears, and a common sense for beauty in our eyes. Can it be that in our minds alone we are not alike? What is it that we have in common in our minds? It is the sense of principle and righteousness (i-li, moral principles). The sage is the first to possess what is common in our minds. Therefore moral principles please our minds as beef and mutton and pork please our mouths.”

  Comment. In saying that one is of the same kind as the sage, Mencius was pronouncing two principles of utmost significance. One is that every person can be perfect, and the other is that all people are basically equal.37 Also, in pointing to the moral principle which is common in our minds, he is pointing to what amounts to the Natural Law. Belief in the Natural Law has been persistent in Chinese history. It is called Principle of Natur
e (T’ien-li) by Neo-Confucianists. It is essentially the same as Mencius’ i-li.

  6A:8. Mencius said, “The trees of the Niu Mountain38 were once beautiful. But can the mountain be regarded any longer as beautiful since, being in the borders of a big state, the trees have been hewed down with axes and hatchets? Still with the rest given them by the days and nights and the nourishment provided them by the rains and the dew, they were not without buds and sprouts springing forth. But then the cattle and the sheep pastured upon them once and again. That is why the mountain looks so bald. When people see that it is so bald, they think that there was never any timber on the mountain. Is this the true nature of the mountain? Is there not [also] a heart of humanity and righteousness originally existing in man? The way in which he loses his originally good mind is like the way in which the trees are hewed down with axes and hatchets. As trees are cut down day after day, can a mountain retain its beauty? To be sure, the days and nights do the healing, and there is the nourishing air of the calm morning which keeps him normal in his likes and dislikes. But the effect is slight, and is disturbed and destroyed by what he does during the day. When there is repeated disturbance, the restorative influence of the night will not be sufficient to preserve (the proper goodness of the mind). When the influence of the night is not sufficient to preserve it, man becomes not much different from the beast. People see that he acts like an animal, and think that he never had the original endowment (for goodness). But is that his true character? Therefore with proper nourishment and care, everything grows, whereas without proper nourishment and care, everything decays. Confucius said, “Hold it fast and you preserve it. Let it go and you lose it. It comes in and goes out at no definite time and without anyone’s knowing its direction.’ He was talking about the human mind.”

  6A:9. Mencius said, “Don’t suspect that the king39 lacks wisdom. Even in the case of the things that grow most easily in the world, they would never grow up if they were exposed to sunshine for one day and then to cold for ten days. It is seldom that I have an audience with him, and when I leave, others who expose him to cold arrive. Even if what I say to him is taking root, what good does it do? Now chess playing is but a minor art. One cannot learn it unless he concentrates his mind and devotes his whole heart to it. Chess Expert Ch’iu is the best chess player in the whole country. Suppose he is teaching two men to play. One man will concentrate his mind and devote his whole heart to it, doing nothing but listening to Chess Expert Ch’iu’s instructions. Although the other man listens to him, his whole mind is thinking that a wild goose is about to pass by and he wants to bend his bow, adjust the string to the arrow, and shoot it. Although he is learning along with the other man, he will never be equal to him. Is that because his intelligence is inferior? No, it is not.”