Source: Mencius' Dedicated Mencius during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Mencius said, "He who does his best knows his nature. If you know its nature, you will know its nature. Keep your heart and cultivate your nature, then things will be natural. If you don't live long enough, you will cultivate yourself, so you will achieve life. "
Mencius said: "If people can do their best, they will know their nature. If you know nature, you will know the sky. Save your initial heart and cultivate your own nature, and you can serve heaven. There are no long and short ways to live. Cultivate yourself to wait, that is, stand on your own destiny. "
Extended data:
Anecdotal allusions:
Mencius saw clearly that Teng Guo's own life was at stake, and it was impossible to carry out his political ideas. In the fifteenth year of Liang Huiwang (320 BC), he left Tengguo for Wei. At this time, Mencius was 53 years old. King Hui met Mencius and asked, "Hey, is it good for the country to come from afar?" Mencius was most opposed to the monarch saying "profit", so he replied, "King, why talk about profit? Only benevolence and righteousness. "
In 353 BC, Wei was defeated by Qi in the Battle of Guiling. In 34 1 year BC, in the battle of Maling, Wang Wei Shen Wei was captured by the Qi army and died. In 340 BC, Qin Shangyang led an army to attack Wei and captured the son of Mao, a general of Wei. In 330 BC, Wei cut the land on the west of the river to Qin, and in 328 BC, he cut fifteen counties to Qin.
In 323 BC, Zhao Yang, the State of Chu Lingzhu, led the troops to break Wei Jun in Xiangling and gain the land of Wei Bacheng. Therefore, King Hui of Liang said to Mencius, "The State of Jin and Mo Qiang know everything in the world. And my body, the East was defeated by Qi, and my eldest son died; West, lost seven hundred miles in Qin; The south is a disgrace to Chu. I'm ashamed of it, and I'm more willing to pour it than the dead. If so, what can I do? "
Mencius told Liang a set of methods of benevolent governance for the people. In this way, he said, even with sticks, Qin Chu's army can fight with powerful soldiers. Liang asked how to retaliate against Chyi Chin Chu, and Mencius answered the vague truth, which was of course ignored by Liang.
In the second year of Mencius' arrival in Wei, Liang died and his son Liang Xiang succeeded him. Mencius met King Liang Xiang and had a bad impression on him, saying that he didn't look like a monarch. At this time, he died and inherited the throne. Mencius left Wei for Qi.