Mengzi's Minben Thought

Mengzi's people-centered thinking is:

In terms of human nature, he advocated the theory of sexual goodness. It is thought that man is born with the four virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. One can maintain and expand it through introspection, otherwise one will lose these good qualities. Thus he asked people to emphasize the role of introspection. In terms of socio-political views, Mencius emphasized the theory of benevolent government and the way of the king. Benevolent government means "saving punishment and taxes" for the people.

He put forward the idea that the people are precious and the ruler is light, arguing that the monarch must pay attention to the people, and that "the vassal's treasure is threefold: the land, the people, and the government." If the monarch has a great fault, the ministers will admonish him, and if he does not listen to the advice, he can change his position.

As for tyrants like Jie and Zhou, his subjects could rise up and put them to death. He opposed the practice of hegemony, i.e., the use of wars of annexation to conquer other countries; instead, he should carry out benevolent policies to win the people's support, so as to convince them without a fight, that is, as he said, "a benevolent person is invincible", and by practicing the way of the king, one will be invincible to the rest of the world.

Expanded Information:

Modern Value and Innovative Development of Minben Ideology:

I. The people are the foundation of the state: the traditional connotation of the people-oriented thought

The people-oriented thought is an important content of the ancient Chinese thought tradition represented by Confucianism. In the pseudo "ancient Shangshu - Song of the Five Sons", the phrase "the people are the foundation of the state, the foundation is solid and the state is peaceful" is a classic expression of the Chinese people-oriented thinking. The basic meaning of "the people are the foundation of the state" is to recognize "the people" as the foundation, source and main body of the state.

Confucius' "love of the benevolent" is the basis of ancient China's people-oriented thinking, while Mencius made a classic interpretation of Confucianism's "people-oriented" thinking in the pre-Qin period: "The people are the most important thing, the altars of the earth and grain are the second most important thing, and the ruler is the least important thing. The people are the foundation of the state. The people are the foundation of the state, and only when the monarch is supported by the people can he ensure political stability. Therefore, he emphasized that public opinion is the will of heaven, and advocated that public opinion should be the basis for judging state affairs.

Serving the people: the creative transformation of the people-oriented ideology

The Chinese ****productivity party is a proletarian political party with Marxism as its guiding ideology. The viewpoint of "the people are the creators of history" emphasized by the materialist concept of history has activated the traditional Chinese people-oriented ideology and promoted its creative transformation, and has also become the core ideological resource for the CPC's creative interpretation of the traditional people-oriented ideology.

Third, people-centered: the innovative development of people-centered thinking

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "the people are the driving force behind the creation of history, and we ****producers should never forget this most basic truth of historical materialism." Based on the new practice of reform and opening up and the fertile soil of excellent traditional Chinese culture,

the Chinese ****productivity party, guided by the Marxist concept of material history, inherited the essence of the traditional people-centered ideology and put forward the idea of "people-centered". This idea is not only the historical inheritance and innovative development of the materialist concept of history, but also the innovative development of traditional people-centered thinking in the new era.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Mengzi's Thought