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Mencius in the Han Dynasty

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Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Mencius

Part of the book series: Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy ((DCCP,volume 18))

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Abstract

This chapter reviews the aspects of Mencius that did and did not interest Han-dynasty writers. With the help of digital concordances, it is easy to discover that many of the passages considered crucial today were rarely, if ever, cited in the Han. These include the parable of the infant about to fall into a well (2A.6), the debate with a Mohist named Yi Zhi 夷之 (3A.5), and the concept of liangzhi 良知 (7A.15), which, since Wang Yangming 王陽明 (1472–1528), has been considered a cornerstone of Mencian ethics. The chapter discusses other key passages that are never mentioned in Han sources. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, and thus one cannot simply infer that these passages were unknown in the Han dynasty, but it remains significant that they were not regarded as essential to understanding Mencius’s philosophy. The conclusion will explore the differences between Mencius’s reception in the Han dynasty and his Neo-Confucianized reception today.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    One comment by Sima implies that he possessed some kind of written text: “Whenever I read Mencius’s book and come to [the passage where] King Hui of Liang asks, ‘By what means can I benefit my state?’ I set down the book and sigh” 余讀孟子書，至梁惠王問「何以利吾國」，未嘗不廢書而嘆也 (Sima 1959: 74.2343). Cf. Hunter 2014: 38. The wording in the received Mencius is slightly different: “Surely you have some means to profit my state” 亦將有以利吾國乎 (Jiao 1987: 2.35).

  2. 2.

    Zhao stated that the book was composed by Mencius (Mengzi zhi suo zuo 孟子之所作; Jiao 1987: 1.3), though later he complicated the picture by explaining that it was patterned after the model of the Analects, which, in his view, was compiled by Confucius’s disciples rather than by Confucius himself (1.14). He also asserted that Emperor Wen 文帝 (r. 180–157 B.C.) sponsored an Erudite (boshi 博士) specializing in the Mencius, though the position was later abolished (1.17). The last claim, which cannot be corroborated by any other source, has been questioned since the Song 宋 dynasty (Hunter 2014: 70).

  3. 3.

    As does the bibliographical chapter of the History of the Han 漢書 (Ban 1962: 30.1725). Ying Shao’s testimony is often overlooked in recent treatments of the problem, such as Van Ess 2015b: 288.

  4. 4.

    These four so-called “Outer Books” (waishu 外書) did not survive, and mischief-makers throughout the centuries preyed on credulous literati by producing “rediscovered” forgeries (Deng and Wang 1998: 216–17).

  5. 5.

    In addition to the examples below, one passage that is never cited in Han texts is 7B21: “Narrow footpaths in the hills become roads when they are used steadily” 山徑之蹊間，介然用之而成路 (Jiao 1987: 28.982). This has been made famous in modern times by allusions by Lu Xun 魯迅 (1881–1936) and Barack Obama (Lu 1976: 94; Ho 2010: 223n.1).

  6. 6.

    齊宣王問曰:「湯放桀，武王伐紂，有諸?」孟子對曰:「於傳有之。」曰:「臣弒其君可乎?」曰:「賊仁者謂之賊，賊義者謂之殘，殘賊之人謂之一夫。聞誅一夫紂矣，未聞弒君也。」

  7. 7.

    Compare the Gongyang Commentary: “There may be no plots against lords or parents; if someone should plot [against them], he must be executed for it” 君親無將，將而必誅焉 (Liu 2010: 506).

  8. 8.

    Compare Mencius 7B3, where Mencius states that he does not believe the account of the Zhou conquest of Shang in the Documents (Shu 書), presumably because it depicts more bloodshed than his philosophy can readily accommodate.

  9. 9.

    The idea is reminiscent of Analects 12.11: “Let the lord act as a lord” 君君 (cf. Goldin 2020: 48).

  10. 10.

    I am grateful to Yuri Pines for this and other references. For a survey of pre-imperial and early imperial opinions of Tang and Wu, see Cao 2017: 58–62.

  11. 11.

    湯放桀，武王伐紂，以為天下去殘除賊。

  12. 12.

    可謂惠君，而未可謂忠臣矣。

  13. 13.

    Compare the opinion of Lu Jia 陸賈 (ca. 228–140 B.C.): “Tang and Wu seized [power] by rebelling but maintained it by complying [with morality]” 湯武逆取而以順守之 (Sima 1959: 97.2699; Ban 1962: 43.2113).

  14. 14.

    殷湯放桀，武王弒紂，此天下之所同聞也。為人臣而放其君，為人下而弒其上，天下之至逆也。而所以有天下者，以為天下開利除害，以義繼之也，故聲名稱於天下而傳於後世。隱其惡而揚其德美，立其功烈而傳之於久遠，故天下皆稱聖帝至治。

  15. 15.

    The name means “Destroy It.” Perhaps the idea is that Yizhi’s ideology would destroy his inherent humanity? Such meaningful epithets are not uncommon in classical Chinese prose (Goldin 2005a: 6–11).

  16. 16.

    For more on the use of slogans like jian’ai as abbreviated references to Mohist positions, see Defoort 2014.

  17. 17.

    That is to say, what Zhou 1996: 289–90 called “the movement of elevating Mencius” 孟子的「升格運動」had not yet commenced.

  18. 18.

    It is possible, however, that the discussions of quan in the Mohist Canons are older (Zhang 2005: 120 f.; Lu 2004: 229 f.).

  19. 19.

    淳于髡曰:「男女授受不親，禮與?」孟子曰:「禮也。」曰:「嫂溺，則援之以手乎?」曰:「嫂溺不援，是豺狼也。男女授受不親，禮也。嫂溺援之以手者，權也。」

  20. 20.

    人之所不學而能者，其良能也；所不慮而知者，其良知也。

  21. 21.

    道即是良知:真知原是完完全全。是的，還他是；非的，還他非。是非，只依著他，更無有不是處。這真知還是你的明師。

  22. 22.

    Fear of a child’s falling into a well is attested in other early sources (e.g., Analects 6.24; Mozi 墨子, Wu 2006: 1.5.35; and Mencius 3A5).

  23. 23.

    Or perhaps “… cannot abide the sound [of the wailing infant].”

  24. 24.

    今人乍見孺子將入於井，皆有怵惕惻隱之心。非所以內交於孺子之父母也，非所以要譽於鄉黨朋友也，非惡其聲而然也。

  25. 25.

    孟子作《性善》之篇，以為人性皆善，及其不善，物亂之也。謂人生於天地，皆稟善性，長大與物交接者，放縱悖亂，不善日以生矣。……告子與孟子同時，其論性無善惡之分，譬之湍水，決之東則東，決之西則西。夫水無分於東西，猶人無分於善惡也。

  26. 26.

    人性皆善，及其不善，物亂之也。

  27. 27.

    告子曰:「性猶湍水也，決諸東方則東流，決諸西方則西流。人性之無分於善不善也，猶水之無分於東西也。」

  28. 28.

    It is worth nothing that Wang Chong did not accept Mencius’s theory of human nature as completely correct; on his view, it is applicable only to those who are above average (Huang 1990: 3.13.142–43).

  29. 29.

    See the list at Chan and Ho 2007: 348. They seem to have been particularly fond of the conclusion that noble men must stay away from the kitchen (yuan paochu 遠庖廚).

  30. 30.

    The phrase “the beginnings of humanity and righteousness” (renyi zhi duan 仁義之端) appears in Zhuangzi 莊子 (Guo 1961: 1B.2.93), and makes sense in that context as a disapproving allusion to Mencian philosophy.

  31. 31.

    由是觀之，無惻隱之心，非人也；無羞惡之心，非人也；無辭讓之心，非人也；無是非之心，非人也。惻隱之心，仁之端也；羞惡之心，義之端也；辭讓之心，禮之端也；是非之心，智之端也。人之有是四端也，猶其有四體也。

  32. 32.

    孟軻譏無惻隱之心。

  33. 33.

    人無是非之心，非人也。

  34. 34.

    Chen 2000 emphasizes Mencius’s influence on Han-dynasty classical studies; for example, the claim in Mencius 3B9 that Confucius wrote the Springs and Autumns (Chunqiu 春秋) “immensely aroused later Confucians” 給儒家後學以無窮的啓發 (45), but his theory suffers from the difficulty that no Han text cites this passage (and Van Ess 2015a suggests that it is an interpolation). Sima Qian also attributed the Spring and Autumns to Confucius (Sima 1959: 47.1943), but did not state that he borrowed this theory from Mencius.

  35. 35.

    “Profit-seeking” was the dominant interpretation of li in this context, but not all readers agreed. Wang Chong complained that Mencius rashly took li to mean “profit pertaining to goods and wealth” 貨財之利, but it could also refer to “the profit of security and good fortune” 安吉之利 (Huang 1990: 10.30.450), in other words, “profit” of a less materialistic kind. He went on to criticize Mencius for not asking King Hui to specify.

  36. 36.

    苟先利而後義，取奪不厭。公卿積億萬，大夫積千金，士積百金。利己并財以聚；百姓寒苦，流離於路。儒獨何以完其衣冠也?

  37. 37.

    Like so much else from Wang Chong’s pen, this reference is sardonic. The text says: “When [Mencius’s] own fate did not permit him to bring peace and order to the world, he was not ‘flood-like’ and serene in Qi, but bore hatred in his breast and had a discontented complexion; it was a failing” 己命不當平治天下，不浩然安之於齊，懷恨有不豫之色，失之矣. That is to say, Mencius, who bragged of his ability to nourish his flood-like qi 氣, could not even accept his lot without pouting.

  38. 38.

    On the complex relationship between this text and Dong Zhongshu, see, most recently, Loewe 2011: 191–224.

  39. 39.

    Lewis 2012: 253ff. discusses later representations of the relationship between Master Zeng 曾子, a leading disciple of Confucius, and his mother. There are some comments about Confucius’s mother, Yan Zhengzai 顏徵在 (Eno 2003: 8–11), but she is not credited with decisive influence over his education. (It should also be noted that Zhengzai, meaning “The Manifestation Is Present,” is a highly suspicious name for the mother of a sage.) On the wisdom of mothers in classical Chinese texts generally, see, e.g., Goldin 2002: 53ff.

  40. 40.

    勇於義而果於德，不以貧富、貴賤、死生動其心，於勇也，其庶乎?

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    Paul R. Goldin

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Goldin, P.R. (2023). Mencius in the Han Dynasty. In: Xiao, Y., Chong, Kc. (eds) Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Mencius. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 18. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27620-0_3

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