Mengzi Daoxian: (I) Qiyilu and Tahiti

Meng Zi's doctrine of the goodness of nature was always referred to as Yao Shun (尧舜). Since the Song Dynasty, Mencius's interpretation of "goodness of nature" has been interpreted as the inherent goodness of human nature. The Three Character Classic begins with the words, "In the beginning of man, nature is inherently good."

The idea that human nature is inherently good has had a huge impact in the minds of Chinese people, but if it is inherently good, where does the evil come from? Is it imposed from outside? If it is imposed from the outside, then where does the first evil come from, not everyone is good? It doesn't make sense. Qian Mu said, "The inherent goodness of human nature is a kind of faith." Since it is a belief, it is a religion, not a philosophy.

Prof. Fu Peirong, a renowned scholar who studies traditional culture, believes that human nature is good is the correct view.

The first book of Mencius, "The First Book of Mencius," focuses on Mencius's claim of "goodness of nature," and when analyzed carefully, it is true that Mencius is talking about "goodness of human nature," not "goodness of human nature".

This is the first time that I've ever seen a book like this.

(1) The Willow and the Restaurants

Guizi was a friend of Mencius. According to him, what is born is human nature, and there is no question of benevolence and righteousness, and he used the analogy of Qiyi Liu (杞柳) and Dahui (桮棬) as a means of illustrating his point of view.

The branches of Qiyi willow are so flexible that they can be woven into cups and plates to hold things, which is what Tahiti means by "cups and plates". The Chinese scholar said, "Human nature is like the willow, it has its own natural nature. Dining is like Renyi (仁义), which is the result of artificiality, and so is Renyi (仁義), which is the result of artificiality."

The meaning of Zhuo Zi is that the fact that the willow has become a part of the country is the result of external forces, and the fact that people are able to achieve benevolence and righteousness is also based on external forces, and has nothing to do with human nature.

Meng Zi refuted, "Do you follow the nature of the willow to become a restaurant? Or do you go against its natural nature to make it a restauration? If you harm the nature of the willow to make it into a restaurant, then do you also harm human nature to achieve benevolence and righteousness? The one who compels the people of the world to kill and injure benevolence and righteousness must be your kind of argument."

When we take any plant and weave baskets, dustpans, baskets, and other containers for holding things, we know that we should strive to follow the characteristics of the material itself, and if we don't, the material will be easily broken or ruptured. The reason why plants such as willow and bamboo can be woven into cups, plates and baskets is that they have the property of flexibility. Why not use wood to weave baskets? This head does not have such flexibility. People can be benevolent because there is an element of goodness in human nature. Mencius seized on this point and forcefully refuted Suzi.

Originally:

Guuzi said, "Nature is like the willow of wolfberry, and righteousness is like Tahiti; to take human nature as benevolence and righteousness is like taking the willow of wolfberry as Tahiti."

Meng Zi said, "Can you follow the nature of the willow and think of it as a country? The country's restauration is also a part of the country's national interest, which will be disbursed in the future. If you are going to kill and injure the willows, then you are also going to kill and injure people for the sake of benevolence and righteousness, right? If you want to lead the people of the world to the destruction of benevolence and righteousness, you have to do it according to the words of Zi!