From Mencius, Gongsun Chou.
original text
Mencius said: "Everyone has a heart of forbearance. The first king had the heart to tolerate people, and then he had the strategy to tolerate people. With this heart, he implemented the policy of tolerance and ruled the world. Therefore, everyone has a heart of forbearance. At first glance, people nowadays have the heart to hit people-not to give people to their parents, but also to give them sympathy. " No shame, no humanity; It is inhuman to have no resignation; A heart without right and wrong is inhuman. A compassionate heart is also kind. The heart of shame and evil, the end of righteousness; The words of the heart are the end of the ceremony; The heart of right and wrong is also the end of wisdom. Man has four ends, but he still has four bodies. There are four ends, and those who claim to be incompetent are also thieves. He who says he can't be a king steals his king. Anyone who has just come to us will expand his knowledge and fill it up. If people start, spring will start. If you can fill it, it is enough to protect the whole world; If you don't fill it out, it's not enough for parents. "
translate
Mencius said: "Everyone has compassion and sympathy for others. Out of sympathy and pity for others, the former king had a politics of sympathy and pity for the people. Ruling the world is as easy as controlling everything. The reason why people have sympathy and compassion for others is that if someone suddenly sees a child fall into a well today, they will inevitably have sympathy. Psychology-this is not because you want to please your children's parents, because you want to gain fame among your neighbors and friends, or because you hate the fear of courtship caused by your children crying. From this point of view, without compassion, it is simply not human; Without shame, you are not human at all; Without humility, you are not human at all; There is no right or wrong, it is simply not human. Compassion is the beginning of benevolence; Shame is the beginning of justice; Modesty is the beginning of ceremony; Right and wrong are the origins of wisdom. People have these four origins, just like limbs. These four people who think that they are not born well are all giving up on themselves. He who thinks that his monarch can't do it is the one who abandons the monarch. Anyone who has these four sources should expand and enrich them, just as the fire has just started to burn and the spring water has just started to flow. If you can expand them, it will be enough to solve the world. If you can't expand them, even supporting your parents will be a problem. "
reading comprehension
Politics stems from the premise of human nature. Specifically, benevolent governance stems from everyone's benevolence of "being unable to bear the heart of others". Since this kind of "unbearable heart" is inherent in human beings, benevolent governance should also be taken for granted. This is Mencius' thinking.
Mencius' deduction is still to pursue his lifelong pursuit, that is, the ideal of "benevolent government" But his deduction itself seems to have little influence, but the premise of his deduction-"everyone has a heart that can't bear others" has a great influence. In particular, the "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom" put forward on this basis all originated from this "unbearable" view and became the "theory of good nature" in China's ancient philosophy.
Confucius once said: "Human nature is similar, but learning experiences are far apart." ("The Analects of Confucius Yang Huo" means that human nature is similar, but it is far from the same because of different upbringing. But Confucius did not say what similar human nature is, whether it is good or evil, nor did he discuss it. Moreover, from our understanding, Confucius mainly emphasized one aspect of nurture.
Mencius is different. He not only expounded and pointed out that similar human nature stems from the "unbearable heart" of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom, but also cited vivid examples to prove that this "unbearable heart" is inherent in human beings. Without it, it is not a person at all. From this perspective, Mencius' theory of human nature is indeed "transcendental" and subjective idealism, because he regards "benevolence, courtesy and wisdom"
On the other hand, Mencius didn't completely deny the acquired function, because he thought that "the heart that can't bear others" includes four aspects, namely, "compassion, shame, resignation, right and wrong", which is called "four hearts" for short, and this "four hearts" is only the beginning of four moral categories, or "four ends".
Therefore, on the theoretical basis, Mencius really derived the theory of natural morality ("four ends") from the theory of good nature ("four hearts"), and then derived the policy of forbearing others (benevolent politics). But from a practical point of view, he still attaches importance to the role of acquired efforts ("expansion"). Besides the abstract discussion about nature or nurture, idealism or materialism, it is of positive significance to emphasize innate morality and advocate benevolent governance. In fact, it is not limited to the era of Mencius, but can be used in any era. Instead of advocating that human nature is evil, giving up morality and practicing tyranny, it is better to emphasize these!