Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional culture - In Mencius' view what is the relationship between man and man between nations?

In Mencius' view what is the relationship between man and man between nations?

The relationship of peaceful coexistence. Mencius firmly believed that those who practiced benevolence and won the hearts of the people were invincible to the world, and the phrase "those who are benevolent are invincible" was often on his lips. He said to King Xuan of Qi, "Now the king has adopted a benevolent policy, so that all the people in the world will want to stand in the king's court, all the cultivators will want to cultivate in the king's field, all the merchants will want to hide in the king's place, all the travelers will want to travel out of the king's place, and all the people in the world will want to go to the king if they want to suffer from their king. If they do, who can defend them?" ("Mencius - Liang Hui Wang Shang") The effectiveness of benevolent rule is also shown in the comparison with hegemony. He says: "He who pretends to benevolence by force is a hegemon, and the hegemon must have a great power; he who practises benevolence by virtue is a king, and the king does not need to be great; Tang by seventy miles, and King Wen by a hundred miles." (Mencius - Gongsun Chou) To take the world by hegemony, there must be a big country as the foundation, while to take the world by benevolence, even a very small country can be practiced. Shang Tang and Wen Wang both started from small countries and gained the world by practicing benevolence. Mencius was extremely disdainful of Guan Zhong's way of enriching the country. In the opening chapter of Mencius, he proposed that righteousness should be emphasized rather than profit, and opposed to making profit the goal of the state. He criticized King Hui of Liang, who asked him, "Will there be a way to benefit my country?", and told him, "The king also says that benevolence and righteousness are enough, why should he say that profit is necessary?" ("Mengzi - King Hui of Liang") Once Gongsun Chou compared him with Guan Zhong, he was greatly annoyed, said: "Guan Zhong, Zeng Xi's not also, and Zi for me would like it?" (Mencius - Gongsun Chou) Similarly, Mencius disdained relying on the military for unification. He believed that as long as the king's government was practiced and the people's hearts were won, it would be easy to take over the world. The idealized description of Shang Tang's "conquests in the east were met with resentment from the western barbarians; conquests in the south were met with resentment from the northern diaspora" was often used by Mencius to justify his claim that "the benevolent are invincible". In the face of benevolence, military power, especially military power without moral support, is insignificant. To unify the world by means of war is neither supported by morality nor practically effective, so he was clearly against war and considered those who were good at war to be sinners: Source: GuoXue