In the tradition of Confucianism, Confucius and Mencius always go hand in hand, and there are great saints and inferior saints.If there is, there is "Mencius".Confucius said "to achieve benevolence" and Meng said "to obtain righteousness", and their purposes have always matched. "Historical Records" said: "Mencius prefaced the poems and books, describing the meaning of Zhongni." Feng Youlan, a modern person, also compares Confucius to Socrates, but Mencius can be compared to Plato. But when we compared them carefully, we also found many differences.Most obviously, Confucius described in the book has a relaxed and happy feeling, not as tense as Mencius.Therefore, Dacheng Zhisheng can maintain his leisure with the style of "gentleman is open and frank" and avoids the attitude of "little man always caresses".Confucius made his disciples express their aspirations, and only Zeng Xi received his approval the most.What Zeng Xi said is roughly equivalent to our outings and picnics today.Contrary to this attitude is Mencius's proposition that "we are born in adversity and die in peace".Confucius also said that if the food is not cooked well, you should not eat this way or that, and your clothes should be well-colored and tailored.Mencius said without hesitation that "there are fat meat in the kitchen, fat horses in the stables, hungry people in the people, and hungry horses in the wild".Moreover, phrases such as "the old ones turn into ravines, and the strong ones scatter everywhere" often appear in his mouth.

Confucius did not directly mention that human nature is good or evil.Among them, the word "ren" appears 66 times, and no two places have exactly the same interpretation.But since he said that although he is a sage, he still needs to be vigilant to guard against inhumanity, which shows that he believes that evil nature comes from innate.He also said, "After watching, I know benevolence." It seems that the ability to correct mistakes and promote one's own goodness is active, but it still has to be produced by internal and external observation.Mencius did not hesitate.He once said categorically: "The goodness of human nature is like the water that falls; there is nothing bad about people, and there is nothing that cannot flow." Confucius himself admitted that he studied all his life, and he could do whatever he wanted without breaking the rules when he was 70 years old.Mencius' self-confidence can be seen from his own sentence: "I am good at cultivating my noble spirit".This moral force, he explained, is purely intrinsically generated by the self.So he said: "Whoever is Shun, whoever I am, is also the one who is capable." That is to say that everyone can be a sage.

Confucius respected "Li" very much.Although Confucius praised Guan Zhong for his contribution to state affairs, he still attacked him without hesitation for using pomp and pomp beyond the limits of being a minister.Yan Yuan was the favorite disciple of Confucius. When he died, Confucius wept bitterly, but Confucius opposed Yan Yuan's generous burial according to the principle of "rituals". And because of the needs of "rituals", Confucius saw Nanzi, which made Zilu very unhappy.Although Confucius was not worthy of Yang Huo, he still wanted to pay homage to him when Yang Huo was not at home for the sake of reciprocity.Mencius did not have such patience.King Xuan of Qi called it sick, and he called it sick too.When he saw King Liang Xiang, he came out and said, "I don't look like a king." Lu Pinggong didn't come to visit him, and he didn't go to see Lu Pinggong either.Whether he accepts or rejects the gifts from the monarchs of various countries is completely out of his own will.He served as the mourning envoy of the state of Qi and went to the state of Teng, but he never talked about the matter of the envoy to the deputy envoy.

This difference cannot be said to have nothing to do with the personalities of Confucius and Mencius.Perhaps it is different from the records of the two books of "Mencius", which also has influence.But Zhisheng and Yasheng are about two hundred years apart, and the situation in China has undergone great changes.Mencius said "this time is also, that time is also", these eight characters can be used to describe the distance between them. Confucius was born in 551 BC and died in 479 BC, which was the end of the Spring and Autumn Period.Although the dates of Mencius' birth and death are uncertain, the time when he was most active was also in the early and middle period of the Warring States Period. At the beginning of the book "Mencius", it is mentioned that he met King Hui of Liang. It was in 336 BC, 67 years after the Warring States Period, and it took another 115 years for Qin to destroy the six kingdoms and unify China.In the Spring and Autumn Period, the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty could no longer be maintained, but it had not yet completely collapsed.In the past, each small country governed independently, and the ministers and officials who presided over state affairs, as well as the soldiers who served as junior officers, were all hereditary, and everything was governed by conventions, that is to say, the principle that everything was bound by "rituals" no longer applies.However, the conquests between the dukes and uncles were still done in the name of morality.Even if you rebel and usurp the throne, you still need to invite the support of all parties related to your own interests.But the most important thing is that the war at this time has not yet spread to the whole people, and will not cause parents, brothers and wives to be separated.

The chariot battles of the Spring and Autumn Period were a kind of aristocratic war, and sometimes they viewed each other as a competition. There were certain procedures for the deployment of formations, and there were generally recognized principles for the points of intersection, that is, they still did not depart from the constraints of "rituals". "Don't think too much of yourself" is the general trend of the day.According to the principle, under certain circumstances, do not pursue the enemy.Under certain circumstances, do not shoot at the main enemy, do not take risks and win by deceit.Now that the enemy has been wounded by the first blow, don't take advantage of the momentum to make a second stab.People with gray hair are not limited to prisoners.These attitudes are very similar to the chivalry in medieval Europe. Although it is impossible to abide by all these principles, the battle time is short, and the number of people participating in the battle is limited by the number of vehicles.In short, the wars in the Spring and Autumn Period showed the instability of society.But the war itself is not enough to cause comprehensive social turmoil.

In view of these conditions, Confucius was not completely disappointed with the situation that day.His leisurely elegance represented the society of that day, and compared to the riots of the Warring States Period, it was quite peaceful.Therefore, he still advocated "self-denial and restoration of rituals", which shows that the social order in the past can still be restored.He also complained sometimes, saying things like "the way is not right, let's float in the sea", and "if the phoenix and the bird don't come, and the river doesn't have a map, I'm dead!" But when he was asked to express his policy, his method was " "Rectification of names" means to restore the original names of all things. "If it's useful to me, would I be the Eastern Zhou Dynasty?" It also shows a retro enthusiasm.

Mencius is sometimes called "revolutionary" because the turmoil of the Warring States Period made him realize that it would not be helpful to simply restore the old ways without changing the course.The people of Qi were about to cut Yan, but he said that Yan could be cut.King Xuan of Qi asked him what his noble relatives should do. He said: "If the king has serious mistakes, he will be admonished, and if he does not listen repeatedly, he will change his position."King Xiang of Liang asked him, "Is the evil in the world determined?" He replied, "It is determined to be one." King Xiang followed up and asked, "Who can one?" Mencius said, "He who is not addicted to killing can be one. "He once said to King Liang Hui that "the place is hundreds of miles away, but you can be king."This is no longer the strict rule that Confucius said, "see nothing contrary to propriety, listen not to anything contrary to propriety, speak nothing contrary to propriety, and do not move anything contrary to propriety".

When Mencius began to lobby, it was also when Shang Yang was punished, and Su Qin and Zhang Yi advocated the season of combining vertical and horizontal.The Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period are already preparing for a long-term battle.Although the battle at this time was not as intense as it was in the last season of the Warring States Period—everyone over the age of 15 must report to the defense area, and 400,000 or 450,000 soldiers will be buried together, so this is no longer the Spring and Autumn Period The era of competitive warfare is over.When Shang Yang was in charge of Qin, the first thing he did was to "make the people into five", that is, to add the whole people to the principle of a military organization.On the battlefield, the cavalry has appeared, and the number of infantry has also increased significantly. "Beheading 60,000 people" and "Beheading 70,000 people" have begun to appear in the records of various countries.Mencius said, "There is no one in the world today who does not love to kill people." This passage may reflect the plots of the countries preparing for war that day, or it can be said to be his accusation against the monarch of that day for disregarding human life.What he said, "the people are hungry, and the wild are hungry" cannot be aimless.

After the Song Dynasty, "Mencius" became one of the "Four Books". In fact, it accounted for more than half of the "Four Books".It has an indescribable influence on the history of Chinese thought.But Yasheng pleaded for the people with a compassionate heart. Sometimes his words were full of emotion, and sometimes they were intuitive, such as "seeing the cow but not the sheep", "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen".His theory of the goodness of nature must have a compulsive inference.Since man is naturally good, it is not too much to force people to maintain this nature.This key point is like Rousseau's theory of freedom.His low-level equality thoughts—for example, "a happy year will lead to fullness, and an unlucky year will inevitably lead to death" and "saving penalties and reducing taxes" are regarded as classics in a simple agricultural society, and they are also in line with the facts. need.But today we read all of Mencius and Four Books, but we can’t treat them as political philosophy. We must also study their historical background, and sometimes we have to do the same as Mencius himself said, “It is better to have no books than to believe in books.” .

Why is there such a distance between Confucius and Mencius?Why is there such a huge difference between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period?Why did China mature so precociously—before paper was even invented, and when documents were still copied on bamboo slips and wood chips, the most holy and sub-sage appeared, and Qin Shihuang appeared in the same century as Mencius, and had a decisive influence on China after that? Regarding the background of the above-mentioned problems, the predecessors have said: it is because the loess belt of North China is easy to cultivate, the agriculture is flourishing, the population is increasing, the transportation is convenient, the business is beginning to flow, and the social mobility is great.In addition, cast iron technology appeared during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, affecting farm tools and weapons, etc.These answers are all based, but they do not point out the characteristics of China's historical geography.The drastic changes between the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States, the contention of a hundred schools of thought, and finally the unification by violence is a unique phenomenon in world history.Its course should be followed up when Qin Shihuang is mentioned in the next section.