Mencius

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Mencius, or Meng Zi, was a disciple of Confucius, who agreed with and taught most Confucianism ideals. However, he differed from Confucius on a few main points.

Though Confucius believed that man was not born good, and needed to be taught goodness, Mencius thought that man was, by nature, good.

Mencius added to Confucius' idea of power in the five relationships by stating that one has an obligation to others based on one's location in the social order. This idea can be compared to the idea of dharma in India.

Mencius was suspicious of government. Though Confucius said that one has to maintain civic piety (emperor to subject), Mencius believed that if a ruler failed to keep peace and order, or was unjust, he has lost the mandate of heaven and the people can reform the government or revolt. Interestingly, some have translated Mencius' words as, "they MUST revolt" or "they have a DUTY to revolt."

Mencius traveled around China in an attempt to convince the various princes to follow his ideals. Unfortunately, he lived during the second period of the Zhou Dynasty (also known as the Warring States period) in which many rival princes fought each other for land. These princes were not concerned with treating their people righteously; they just wanted power.

Sources: Manual page 183, class notes (4/25), and [1]

Picture of Mencius: [2]

-Courtney Jacobs