Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy Part 12

2002 Ethics in the Confucian Tradition: The Thought of Mencius and w.a.n.g Yang-ming. Second edition. Indianapolis: Hackett. (A good examination of Mengzi and how he differs from one of his Neo-Confucian interpreters.) Lau, D. C.

1970 "On Mencius' Use of the Method of a.n.a.logy in Argument." Appendix 5 of Mencius, Lau, tr. (cited above). (On Mengzi 6A1 ff) Liu, Xiusheng, and Philip J. Ivanhoe, eds.

2002 Essays on the Moral Philosophy of Mengzi. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.

Nivison, David S.

1996 The Ways of Confucianism. Chicago, IL: Open Court Press. (Essays on a variety of pa.s.sages and topics relating to Mengzi.) Shun, Kwong-loi 1997 Mencius and Early Chinese Thought. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. (Provides a survey of the secondary literature on many pa.s.sages and problems in the Mengzi.) Van Norden, Bryan W.

1997 "Mengzi on Courage," in The Philosophy of Religion, vol. XXI of Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Peter A. French, Theodore E. Uehling, and Howard K. Wettstein, eds., pp. 23756. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. (On the virtue of courage in the Mengzi, particularly as dealt with in pa.s.sage 2A2.) 2000 "Mengzi and Xunzi: Two Views of Human Agency," in Virtue, Nature, and Moral Agency in the Xunzi, T C. Kline III, and Philip J. Ivanhoe, eds., pp. 10334. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. (Discussion of the role of desires and other motivations in Mengzi and some other early philosophers.) Wong, David 1991 "Is There a Distinction between Reason and Emotion in Mencius?" Philosophy East & West 41.1: 3144. (Discusses some of the issues raised by Mengzi 1A7. See also Ihara [1991], cited above.) Yearley, Lee H.

1990 Mencius and Aquinas: Theories of Virtue and Conceptions of Courage. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. (A comparative study with many insights into Mengzi's conception of the virtues.) 1Mengzi is not being truthful here. In Mengzi (not in this volume) Mengzi says there are historical records of Huan and Wen. See Mengzi 4B11 on honesty.

2Xuan is a king in name only. See Important Terms.

3Since ancient times in China, royal palaces have included halls raised above the ground, often looking out onto the courtyard below. See the web page for this volume for an image of such a hall. Cf. Zhuangzi, chapter 13, p. 244.

4"Feeling," xin, ii!, here and below, is literally "heart." See Important Terms.

5Mao # 198.

6An animal's hair is most fine (and hence thin) during the autumn.

7That is, "Treat your elders and young ones as elders and young ones should be treated."

8Mao # 240.

9That is, who could stop such a ruler from eventually becoming king of all the world?

10That is, the Chinese people.

11Duke Liu and King Tai (referred to below as Duke Danfu) are ancestors of the Zhou royal family, and are considered paradigms of virtuous rulers.

12Mao # 250.

13Mao # 237.

14The Qing dynasty commentator Jiao Xun reports that "Meng Ben, when traveling by water, did not avoid serpents, and, when traveling by land, did not avoid rhinoceroses and tigers."

15Gaozi is a rival philosopher whom Mengzi debates in Mengzi 6A1 ff.

16I borrow this well-turned phrase from D. C. Lau's translation.

17On Zengzi, see a.n.a.lects 8.7. On Zixia, see a.n.a.lects 3.8, 6.13, and 19.12.

18By "the Master" he means Kongzi. What follows may be intended as a direct quota-tion from Kongzi, but it may also be Zengzi paraphrasing the Master's teaching.

19Recall that, according to Mengzi, the heart (xin , see Important Terms) is the seat of our ethical inclinations (Mengzi 2A6 and 6A6). The zhi , "resolution," is not a separate faculty, but is simply the heart directed toward a certain goal or object. Contrast what Zhuangzi suggests in "The Human Realm," about the relationship of what one hears, one's heart, and the qi. See Zhuangzi, chapter 4, p. 228. (On qi, see Important Terms.) 20On the externality of righteousness, see Mengzi 6A45.

21The people of Song were the b.u.t.t of many jokes. Cf. Zhuangzi, chapter 1, p. 212, and Han Feizi, chapter 49, p. 340.

22Cf. a.n.a.lects 20.3.

23The notion that people can be deluded (or "fixated") by seeing only part of the Way also appears in a.n.a.lects 17.8, and becomes a central notion in Xunzi's thought. See Xunzi, chapter 21, "Undoing Fixation," pp. 28692.

24These people are disciples of Kongzi, as are the additional people in the next list below.

25Similar comments are attributed to Kongzi in a.n.a.lects 7.2 and 7.34.

26That is, the sage-kings of antiquity, such as Yao and Shun.

27The words here rendered "approval" and "disapproval" are shi. and fei , respectively. A common meaning of these terms is "right" and "wrong" but in this context Mengzi intends not only knowledge but approval of what is right and disapproval of what is wrong.

28Mengzi also discusses these four cardinal virtues in Mengzi 4A27 and 6A6. For more on ren , "benevolence," see Mengzi 1A7. For more on yi , "righteousness," see Mengzi 6A10. For more on zhi , "wisdom," see Mengzi 5A9. On Mengzi's general view of self-cultivation, see Mengzi 7A17 and 7B31. "Propriety" here is the same as the character for "ritual" elsewhere. Mengzi is suggesting that an inclination toward ritual activity is innate in us. See Mengzi 3A5 for a possible ill.u.s.tration of this.

29Mengzi left the state of Qi because his efforts to persuade the ruler to implement the "benevolent government" policies he advocated had failed. See Mengzi 1A7, 1B5, 1B6, and 1B8.

30Cf a.n.a.lects 14.35.

31The "well-field system" begins with the idea of taking a square region of land and subdividing it into nine equal fields. The boundaries between these regions would then look something like this: . This happens to be the character for "well" in Chinese, hence the expression "well-field."

32What follows in the original text is a historical narrative (similar to that in Mengzi 3B9) that explains the achievements of the sage-rulers of old in making civilization possible.

33Zhuangzi may be implicitly criticizing this pa.s.sage in "On Equalizing Things." See Zhuangzi, chapter 2, pp. 21324.

34For more on Mohism, see Mengzi 3B9 and 7A26, as well as Chapter 2 of this volume, pp. 59113.

35Notice that the conversation between Mengzi and Yi Zhi-who is referred to below as Yizi ("Master Yi")-is conducted using Xu Bi as an intermediary (presumably because Mengzi is ill). Cf. a.n.a.lects 10.19.

36This is a line from the History. See Legge, The Shoo King, p. 389.

37Nivison ("Two Roots or One?" in his 1996) argues that the two sources (ben , literally "roots") Yizi accepts are (1) our innate sense of benevolence, which is first directed at our parents (cf. Mengzi 7A15), and (2) a doctrine of universalization that instructs us to extend this innate feeling so that it applies to everyone equally.

38On the ethical status of women, see also Mengzi 4B33.

39See Legge, The Shoo King, p. 60.

40The ponds referred to in this line, and the parks referred to in the next, were for the use of the ruler only, and not for the benefit of the people.

41See Legge, The Shoo King, p. 581.

42The Chinese line here is ambiguous. It could mean that the Spring and Autumn Annals contains accounts of the activities of the ruler, or that composing it is the prerogative of the ruler.

43On the philosophy of Mo Di (Mozi), see also Mengzi 3A5 and 7A26, as well as chapter 2 of this volume, pp. 59113. On the philosophy of Yang Zhu, see Mengzi 7A26 and the Supplemental Text on Yangism ("Robber Zhi"), pp. 36975.

44Mao # 300. Jing is another name for the state of Chu. Shu was a small state located in what is now Anhui province.

45Cheng Zhongzi may be another follower of Xu Xing (see Mengzi 3A4).

46Compare the notion of "filling out" the sprouts in Mengzi 2A6.

47Chunyu Kun was a rival philosopher.

48Quan , "discretion," literally means "weighing," as on a balance. On "discretion," see also Mengzi 7A26.

49I owe the translation of these last lines to Philip J. Ivanhoe.

50The rivers have fords that are shallow enough to wade across on foot, or drive through on a carriage. The bridges are damaged each year by the heavy rains in the spring and summer. Consequently, they must be repaired in the autumn.

51Cf. Mengzi 7B37.

52To ill.u.s.trate a case in which a great person's words do not have to be trustworthy, the Han dynasty commentator Zhao Qi refers to a.n.a.lects 13.18 in which upright "sons cover up for their fathers." Compare also Mengzi 1A7, n. 1 and a.n.a.lects 13.20.

53I translate this line according to the interpretation of the Han dynasty commentator Zhao Qi, where "children" is a metaphor for the ruler's subjects. (Cf. 3A5, in which Mengzi says that good rulers treat their subjects like "children," using the same term as in this pa.s.sage.) However, many interpreters follow the reading of the Song dynasty commentator Zhu Xi: "Great people are those who do not lose their heart of a child," where "heart of a child" refers to one's innate good nature.

54 Cf. a.n.a.lects 6.23.

55On the notion of one's ben . ("source," or what is "fundamental"), see also Mengzi 3A5 and 6A10.

56Cf. a.n.a.lects 6.11.

57A sense of shame is probably related to the "sprout of disdain" (see Mengzi 7A7). Consequently, this pa.s.sage suggests that women, too, have the sprouts or hearts of virtue (see Mengzi 2A6). On the ethical status of women, see also Mengzi 3B2.

58Mao # 101.

59On the "human relations," see also Mengzi 3A4 and 4B19.

60A small state in which the ancestors of Shun were said to be enfeoffed. It was located in what is now the northeast part of Pinglu county in modern Shanxi province.

61A small state ruled by the descendants of King Wen's younger brother. It was located in what is now Pinglu county in modern Shanxi province.

62Gaozi was a rival philosopher (see also Mengzi 2A2). Compare his comment here (as well as his statement in 6A4 below that the desires for food and s.e.x are nature) with Xunzi's comments in "An Exhortation to Learning" and "Human Nature Is Bad." See Xunzi, chapter 1, pp. 25661, and chapter 23, pp. 298306, respectively.

63The Song dynasty commentator Zhu Xi remarks, " 'Life'refers to that by means of which humans and animals perceive and move." The Han dynasty commentator Zhao Qi suggests that Gaozi's comment means that, "In general, things that are the same in being alive will all be the same in nature."

64In ancient Chinese dialectic, "white" was the stock example of a term that functions the same way regardless of the context of its occurrence. See Graham (1989), pp. 15055.

65Cf. Gongduzi's explanation in Mengzi 6A5 of what it means for a virtue to be "internal."

66Because an elderly person deserves to be treated with deference and respect, while an elderly horse is, in Mengzi or Gaozi's view, almost worthless.

67The Song dynasty commentator Zhu Xi explains, "He means that the love is determined by me, hence benevolence is internal; respect is determined by elderliness, hence righteousness is external."

68Meng Jizi is a follower of Gaozi. Gongduzi is a follower of Mengzi.

69Because ritual dictates that the elder person be served first.

70See Mengzi 5A2 for a story ill.u.s.trative of the evil of Shun's brother Xiang and his father, the so-called "Blind Man."

71Mengzi also discusses these virtues in Mengzi 2A6 and 4A27. For more on ren, "benevolence," see Mengzi 1A7. For more on yi , "righteousness," see Mengzi 6A10. For more on zhi, "wisdom," see Mengzi 5A9. For more on si , "reflection" or "concentration," see Mengzi 6A15. For all four terms, also consult the appropriate entries under Important Terms. On Mengzi's general view of self-cultivation, see Mengzi 7A17 and 7B31.

72Mao # 260.

73No quotation such as this is found in the received text of the a.n.a.lects.

74On "the hearts of benevolence and righteousness," compare Mengzi 2A6 and 6A6.

75The phrase liang xin, "good heart," is reminiscent of the liang zhi , "best knowledge," and liang neng , "best capability," mentioned in Mengzi 7A15.

76No quotation like this is found in the received text of the a.n.a.lects.

77A culinary delicacy.

78Cf. Xunzi's "On Correct Naming." See Xunzi, chapter 22, p. 297.

79"Fundamental" is literally ben, "root." Cf. Mengzi 3A5.

80On si , "reflection" or "concentration," see also Mengzi 6A6 and Important Terms.

81This should be read in the light of Mengzi 6A6.

82Cf. Mengzi 6A6.

83The Song dynasty commentator Zhu Xi says, "'In oneself'means that benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are all things that my nature has. . . . 'Is external'means that riches, honor, profit, and success are all external things."

84Many other translators follow the reading of the Song dynasty commentator Zhu Xi, according to which the sentence means, "The ten thousand things are all complete within us."

85See a.n.a.lects 15.24 on "sympathetic understanding."

86The Song dynasty commentator Zhu Xi says, "A sense of shame is the heart of disdain that we have inherently" (cf. Mengzi 6A6 and 2A6).

87That is, as parents should be treated (including having the proper feelings toward them).

88Cf. Mengzi 7A17 and 7B31.

89This pa.s.sage should be read in the light of Mengzi 7B31.

90On Mozi, see Mengzi 3A5 and 3B9, as well as Chapter 2 of this volume. On Yangzi (Yang Zhu), see Mengzi 3B9 and the Supplemental Text on Yangism ("Robber Zhi"). We know nothing about Zimo beyond what this pa.s.sage tells us.

91On "discretion," see Mengzi 4A17 and n. 48.

92Tao Ying is a follower of Mengzi. On Shun's father, the "Blind Man," see Mengzi 5A2.

93Chinese commentators explain that the son's mother was a secondary wife of the king, and the king's primary wife opposed letting him mourn for the full three-year period. On the three-year mourning period, see a.n.a.lects 17.21.

94Cf. Mengzi 3A5 and 1A7.

95See Legge, The Shoo King, p. 315.