Readings in classical chinese philosopher mencius biography youtube

He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting his ideology and developing it further. 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.

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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. He was an itinerant philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. He was supposedly a pupil of Confucius's grandson Zisi c. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled throughout China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform.

He expressed his filial piety when he took three years leave of absence from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life. A stele carried by a giant stone tortoise and crowned with dragons stands in front of his grave.

Mencius's mother is often held up as an exemplary female figure in Chinese culture. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of finding the proper environment for raising children. They were very poor. At first they lived by a cemetery, where the mother found her son imitating the paid mourners in funeral processions.