Information about Confucius and Mencius

1. Confucius (September 28, 551 B.C.-April 11, 479 B.C.), Confucius was a great thinker and a great educator in ancient China, and had a far-reaching influence and an important position in Chinese history and even in the world's cultural history. Confucius is the founder of Confucianism. He advocated "benevolence" and "propriety", i.e., "the benevolent loves others" and "restoring one's self to propriety", and to realize benevolence and propriety. In order to realize benevolence and propriety, it is necessary to follow the Middle Way.

Writings: Organized the Six Classics, a cultural canon, and his disciples organized the major sayings of his life into the book The Analects of Confucius, which became a classic of the Confucian school.

2. Mencius (ca. 372 BC-289 BC), Mencius was a famous thinker, educator and statesman in ancient China. He was a representative figure of Confucianism in the Warring States period, belonging to the fourth generation of disciples of Confucius, and was a further disciple of Zeng Zi. He inherited and developed the ideas of Confucius. Confucius was the Greatest Sage, and Mencius was known as the Sub-Sage.

Writings: "Mencius", "Mencius" book **** seven, is a compilation of the speech of Mencius during the Warring States period, recorded the debate with other schools of thought, the words of Mencius to his disciples, lobbying the vassals, etc., by Mencius and his disciples (Wan Zhang, etc.) **** compiled together.

Mengzi records Mengzi's ideas of governance, political strategies (benevolent rule, the discernment of the king and the hegemony of the king, the principle of the people, the non-sense of the heart of the ruler, the people being the most important, the altars of the earth and grain being second to the ruler, and the ruler being the least important), and political actions, and it was written around the middle of the Warring States period.

1. Confucius started the trend of private lectures, advocating benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith. He led some of his disciples to travel around the world for thirteen years, and in his later years, he revised the six sutras, namely, Poetry, Calligraphy, Rites, Music, Yi, and Spring and Autumn.

It is rumored that Confucius once asked Laozi for advice, and had three thousand disciples, seventy-two of whom were wise men. After the death of Confucius, his disciples and their re-transmitted disciples recorded the words, deeds, quotations and thoughts of Confucius and his disciples, and organized and compiled them into the Confucian classic "The Analects of Confucius."?

Confucius was honored in ancient times as the "Sage of Heavenly Indulgence," the "Mudo of Heaven," one of the most learned men in society at that time, and was revered by later rulers as the Sage of Confucius, the Most Sage, the Most Sacred Ancestor, the Most Sacred Teacher, the Most Sacred Master of the Great Successor, the Ancestor of King Wenshan, and the Teacher of All Worlds.

His ideas have had a profound impact on China and the world, and he has been listed as one of the world's top ten cultural celebrities. With the expansion of the influence of Confucius, the "Confucius Ceremony" has become the "Great Ceremony" on the same level as that of the Chinese ancestor gods.

2. Based on the experience of the Warring States period, Mencius summarized the laws of governance and the rise and fall of various countries, and put forward a famous proposition rich in the essence of democracy: "The people are the most important thing, the gods of earth and grain are second, and the ruler is the least important thing". He believed that how to treat the people is of extreme importance to the rise and fall of a country. Mencius attached great importance to the people's hearts and minds, and through a large number of historical examples repeatedly elaborated that this is the key issue of winning the world and losing the world.

"The people are the most important thing, the gods of earth and grain come second, and the ruler is the least important thing." It means that the people come first, the state second, and the ruler last. Mencius believed that the monarch should love and care for the people first, and that those who govern should safeguard the rights of the people. Mencius agreed that if the monarch was immoral, the people had the right to overthrow the regime.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Confucius

Baidu Encyclopedia - Mencius