Continuation Of Mencius

The Continuation of Confucian Thought Through Mencius

The Confucian tradition, despite diversifying interpretations and developments from generation to generation, remains an influential set of teachings to this date. This profound impact, in part, can be owed to Mencius, who, as a self-proclaimed disciple of Confucius, played an important role in upholding and passing on the Master’s teachings. Mencius’s own ideas built upon the Confucian ideal of moral development and its direct relation to social and political order. His thoughts on the moral improvement and sophistication of individuals through guidance from the government are comparable to Confucius’s promotion of a virtuous government. However, despite the common belief that Mencius’s

In the Analects 16/9, Confucius states that “Those who are born understanding it are the best; those who come to understand it through learning are second. Those who find it difficult to understand and yet persist in their studies come next. People who find it difficult to understand but do not even try to learn are the worst of all” (Hutton 175). Many scholars have interpreted “understanding” in the Confucian context as the attainment of moral knowledge. Thus, Confucius implies that people are endowed innately with differing levels of goodness and “moral knowledge.” This seems to err slightly from Mencius’s interpretation of human nature. Mencius, who believes in the innate goodness of all individuals, seems to “assume a broad uniformity or homogeneity among people’s innate endowments” (Hutton 175). Hutton implies that Confucius viewed people as autonomous in that the development of their innate tendencies follows differing paths. This is exemplified in Confucius’s belief that an individual’s own improvement can encourage the improvement of others: “It is incumbent on everyone who is capable of developing themselves morally to do so, for an individual’s moral improvement increases good order in society, due both to the individual’s own conduct that results from it, and the way good conduct encourages the moral improvement of others” (Hutton 167). This idea also ties back to Confucius’s belief that improvement of people’s innate but unrefined tendencies should not be the responsibility of the government alone. However, Mencius’s view on government differs. Mencius imparts the belief that the responsibility is fully on the government to provide “the right environment for the people” and to encourage “them so that people will follow out their