Mencius (Mengzi)

Also known as Meng Ke · Zi Yu · Ya Sheng

Mencius, personal name Ke, came from the small state of Zou (modern Zoucheng, Shandong). The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) says he studied under the followers of Zisi, the grandson of Confucius. He put his case to King Xuan of Qi and to King Hui of Liang (Wei), urging government by benevolence and the kingly way, but rulers busy with alliances and war found his advice impractical. In old age he withdrew with disciples such as Wan Zhang and composed the seven books of the Mencius (Mengzi), which hold that human nature is good and that the people matter more than the ruler. His birth and death years are not securely recorded. Zhu Xi grouped the Mencius with the Analects, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean in his commentary on the Four Books, and in 1330 the Yuan court titled him Second Sage, Duke of Zou.