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Tian Lie: Meng Baohao.com dcard‘s transcendent concepts and political concerns
——Restoration of the system of Mencius’s thinking
Author: Huang Yutong (Professored by Shandong Confucian Advanced Research Institute, Doctoral Supervisor)
Source: “Literature, History and Philosophy”Caiming Market2021 Issue 3
[Abstract]Mencius’s transcendence of view was not “inner beyond”, but inherited the sacred “heaven” of Confucius’ “inner beyond”. This originated from Mencius’s question-based awareness, which is the criticism of political power caused by the concerns of the people in dire straits, thus revealing the most basic theme of “regulatory power”. This must meet the following three conditions in logic: the first is to establish the criterion, and he must have the value superiority of power, so Mencius established the abstraction of the “Heavenly Official” that possesses the “Heavenly Master”, that is, the “King Master”. This requires meeting the following two conditions. The second is the acquired quality of the tutor, that is, the natural talent that must be planned by those who are power, so Mencius established the “balance” mental and natural theory (this is the reason why Confucianism is beyond the direction of its internal transformation) and eliminated social-level concepts on the humanitarian level; the third is the acquired quality of the tutor, that is, it must be the superiors in the same category to ensure their regulatory qualifications. Therefore, Mencius established the “spiritual power” discussion and “first perception” discussion and realm discussion. The supporting conditions for the above three conditions must adhere to the inner nature and sacredness beyond the “heaven”. However, all of the above are inconsistent with Mencius’ ethics of the monarch and ministers’ meanings, making his fantasy of “frustrated and destined to practice the way” a illusion.
【Keywords】Mencius; Reduction; Sacred beyond; Political concern; Heavenly Official
Since the 1980s, the problem of “transcendence” has always been a serious topic in the study of Confucian philosophy, because it also involves the ultimate concern and political concern of Confucianism. Mou Zongsan proposed that the Confucian philosophy created by Confucius and Mencius was “immanent transcendence” [1], which is different from and superior to the “internal transcendence” (external transcendence) (I call it “the two teachings of ‘inner transcendence’” [2]). This article confirms that Mencius’s transcendence of view is “inner sacred beyond”, and by answering Mencius’s question on why he insists on the inner and sacred nature of “heaven” beyond, he restores the entire system structure of Mencius’ thinking.
1. From the intensive care of the common people to the power regulation
To understand Mencius’s thoughts through the ground and include his transcendent thoughts, it must be discussed from Mencius’s first aspirations, that is, his question-based ideas. All Mencius’s thoughts were developed from a feeling, that was the deep concern for the people’s dilemma; this concern led to his dramatic criticism of political power; and this criticism also concisely introduced his most basic theme, that is, the discipline on the power. In this regard, he once explained himself:
How good is it? I have no choice! …The tyrants used to make the palace rooms a dirty pond, and the people had no place to sleep; they abandoned the fields and regarded them as gardens, so that the people could not have food and clothing. …There are fat meat in the kitchen, fat horses in the kitchen, and the common people have piglets in the wild, which is a vegetarian. …I am in this way, and I am obsessed with the way of the sages, and I will not be allowed to do evil words. …I also want a gentleman to stop being evil, to keep his words away from his actions, to let go of lust, to inherit the Three Saints. [3]
He combined the relationship between the tyrant and the people to “lead the beast to eat people”, sympathize with the “common people” and hate the “jun”. The important thing in his positioning of his own tasks is the “gentleman’s heart”; and the most important thing among them is “constraining the wrongs of the king’s heart” [4], that is, the regulation of power.
(I) Concern of the common ecology
Mencius’ origin was “concern of the common ecology”. A clear feature of Mencius’s thoughts is that they stand on the ground and criticize the people; even if they say “king the whole country”, they try to convince them to impose “tyranny” on the people to protect the basic benefits of the people. Therefore, Mencius can be said to be “the people think about their families.” Only in this way, the more specialized the monarchs in later generations were, the less they liked Mencius; and the more they were the Confucians who wanted to restrain the power of the monarch, they would respect Mencius.
Mencius felt deeply sympathy for the people’s situation. He pointed out: “Now, we also control our parents, and lack the ability to serve our parents, and lack the ability to live a wife. We will suffer in our youth and will not be able to escape death and die in our lives.” “When we are approaching, we will not be able to cultivate our parents, and our parents will grow old and we will be scattered, and our brothers and wives will be scattered”[6]; “At age, our son’s old age will turn into a valley, and those who are weak will scatter in all directions.”[7]. Mencius described the suffering and difficult situation of the people “like water becomes deeper and hotter like fire” [8]. He then pointed out that the suffering of the people is not a separate phenomenon, but a widespread situation; it is not a temporary phenomenon, but an ultimate problem of the times: “There is no more than this time.” [9]
Mencius called for “rescuing the people in water and fire” [10], pointing out that “the things are not successful” [11], which is “the urgent thing to do” [12]. The reason why Mencius said that the marquis practiced “domineering” and imposed “tyranny” to “king the whole country” was to complain that “the king went to seek it, and the common people thought that they would save themselves from the water and fire” [13]. He called on those who are authoritative to protect the basic career conditions of the people:
A wise ruler will make it possible to serve his parents and to be able to keep his wife. He will eventually live in peace and avoid death in his lifetime. …If the house of five tills is covered with mulberry trees, fifty people can wear silk; if the animal is covered with chickens, pigs, dogs, pigs, pigs, and pigs, and if the animal is covered with seventy people, you can eat meat; if the field is covered with hundreds of tills, you can eat meat; if the field is covered with hundreds of tills, you can have no relatives; if the teachings are arranged in order, you can apply the meaning of filial piety and brotherhood, and those who are white will not be burdened by the way. [14]
Therefore, Mencius’s thoughts can be combined into “helping heaven and blessing people”. He quoted the evidence and said, “The Book of Changes says, “The Book of Changes: “The Heaven brings down the heavens, and is a king, and is a teacher, but he only says that he helps God and brings to the four directions…” [15] Here, “The Heaven brings down the heavens brings down the four directions” written by “The Book of Changes: “The Heaven blesses the people, and does not want to harm him”; “I can only help the heavens, and protect the people from suffering from difficulties.” [16] In this meaning, Mencius’ philosophy, even “Confucian philosophy is emotional philosophy” [17].
(II) Political Criticism
The above-mentioned deep sympathy for the people’s “dry and hot” situation naturally inspired Mencius’ “political criticism” of power. Mencius resolutely criticized “tyrants” [18] “tyranny” [19]:
Dogs eat people but don’t know how to detect them, and they have erectile dysfunction but don’t know how to develop. When a person died, he said, “It’s not me, it’s my life.” Why did he kill him and said, “It’s not me, it’s military.” [20]
There are fat meat in the kitchen and fat horses in the kitchen; the common people have a good color, and the wild have a squid: this is to take the veins and eat people. [21]
Why did my king like to be so happy? Father and son do not meet each other, brothers and wife are separated. [22]
King Hui of Liang was in a state of affairs and fought against him, which was a big defeat; if he wanted to recover, he might not be able to defeat him, so he exorcised his love and sacrificed him for his sacrifice…[23]
In a high position, he w