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38-416: Linzi may refer to: Ancient Linzi , capital of the ancient state of Qi Linzi District , the modern district of Zibo, Shandong in the same location [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

76-441: A cemetery, where the mother found her son imitating the paid mourners in funeral processions. Therefore, the mother decided to move. The next house was near a market in the town. There the boy began to imitate the cries of butchers. So the mother moved to a house next to a school. Inspired by the scholars and students, Mencius began to study. His mother decided to remain, and Mencius became a scholar. Another story further illustrates

114-466: A clear thinking person would avoid causing harm to others. This position of Mencius puts him between Confucians such as Xunzi , who thought people were innately bad, and Taoists who believed humans did not need cultivation, they just needed to accept their innate, natural, and effortless goodness. The four beginnings/sprouts could grow and develop, or they could fail. In this way Mencius synthesized integral parts of Taoism into Confucianism. Individual effort

152-420: A maximum of 43 metres (141 ft) in base width, averaging between 20 and 30 metres (66 and 98 ft) in width. The inner city wall reached a maximum of 60 metres (200 ft) in base width. The city had a sewer and water supply system. The palace was located in the inner city, located in the southwestern corner of Linzi. A large rammed earth platform was found inside the inner city, commonly referred to as

190-414: A person regardless of his actions, saying, "One who understands Destiny will not stand beneath a tottering wall". The proper path is one which is natural and unforced. This path must also be maintained because, "Unused pathways are covered with weeds." One who follows Destiny will live a long and successful life. One who rebels against Destiny will die before his time. Mencius emphasized the significance of

228-548: A villain Zhou, but I have not heard of murdering [him as] the ruler." This saying should not be taken as an instigation to violence against authorities but as an application of Confucian philosophy to society. Confucianism requires a clarification of what may be reasonably expected in any given relationship. All relationships should be beneficial, but each has its own principle or inner logic. A ruler must justify his position by acting benevolently before he can expect reciprocation from

266-504: Is another legend about his mother and his wife, involving a time when his wife was at home alone and was discovered by Mencius not to be sitting properly. Mencius thought his wife had violated a rite, and demanded a divorce. His mother claimed that it was written in The Book of Rites that before a person entered a room, he should announce his imminent presence loudly to let others prepare for his arrival; as he had not done that in this case,

304-444: Is evil by birth. Mencius was born Meng Ke in the state of Zou , in what is now Zoucheng , Shandong. He was an itinerant philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism . He was supposedly a pupil of Confucius's grandson Zisi ( c.  481  – c.  402 BC ). Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled throughout China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. During

342-619: Is rather a mistranslation of a similar word referring more to aspects of personality. François Noël , who felt that Zhu's ideas represented a natural and native development of Confucius's thought, was the first to publish a full edition of the Mencius at Prague in 1711 as the Chinese Rites controversy had been recently decided against the Jesuits ; however, his edition attained little influence outside central and eastern Europe. In

380-409: Is to destroy themselves. Human nature has an innate tendency towards goodness, but moral rightness cannot be instructed down to the last detail. This is why merely external controls always fail in improving society. True improvement results from educational cultivation in favorable environments. Likewise, bad environments tend to corrupt the human will. This, however, is not proof of innate evil because

418-466: The Duke Huan platform. The remains of the platform measure 86 by 70 metres (282 by 230 ft) and are 14 metres (46 ft) high. "Seven broad avenues, some 20 metres (66 ft) wide and over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) long, ran north-south and east-west, roughly forming a grid pattern. Four major avenues met in the northeast section of the city. This area yielded the richest cultural remains from

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456-624: The Mencius consists of long dialogues, including arguments, with extensive prose. It was generally neglected by the Jesuit missionaries who first translated the Confucian canon into Latin and other European languages, as they felt that the Neo-Confucian school largely consisted of Buddhist and Taoist contamination of Confucianism. Matteo Ricci also particularly disliked what they had believed to be condemnation of celibacy as unfilial, which

494-562: The Warring States period ( c.  475  – 221 BC), Mencius served as an official and scholar at the Jixia Academy in the state of Qi from 319 to 312 BC. He expressed his filial piety when he took three years leave of absence from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life. Mencius

532-843: The Western Zhou to the Han." In the Records of the Grand Historian , the population of Linzi in the fourth and third centuries BC was said to be 70,000 households, with at least 210,000 adult males. Scholars today believe this was somewhat exaggerated. The kings of Qi and the Qi state acted as patrons of the Jixia Academy (ca 315-285 BC) in Linzi, the earliest and largest (in its time) center of learning in China. The academy, possibly named after

570-399: The aged, he advocated free trade , low tax rates , and a more equal sharing of the tax burden . In regards to the Confucian perspective of the marketplace, more about Confucius’ thoughts from Mencius than from the philosopher himself are learned. The government should have a mostly hands-off approach regarding the marketplace. This was in part, to prevent state-run monopolies, however, it

608-616: The ancient city were excavated in 1926 by Japanese archaeologists and in 1964 by Chinese archaeologists. Linzi covered an area of around 668 square kilometres (258 sq mi) with the city built between two parallel rivers that ran north–south, the Zi River to its east and the old course of the Xi River to its west. The city was surrounded by a 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) perimeter wall of rammed earth . The city consisted of an outer city and an inner city. The outer city wall reached

646-653: The basis of the Mencius , which would later be canonised as a Confucian classic . One primary principle of his work is that human nature is righteous and humane. The responses of citizens to the policies of rulers embodies this principle, and a state with righteous and humane policies will flourish by nature. The citizens, with freedom from good rule, will then allocate time to caring for their wives, brothers, elders, and children, and be educated with rites and naturally become better citizens. This placed him at odds with his near contemporary, Xunzi , who believed that human nature

684-486: The city gate (Ji) nearby, was made up of chosen scholars who received a handsome stipend from the government in return for advising the king on government, rites and philosophy. Among the Jixia Academy scholars were Mencius , Xun Zi (who taught Han Fei Zi and Li Si , among others), and Shen Dao . The ruins of the city are surrounded by over 100 tumuli , some as far as 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away. Many of

722-402: The common citizens in the state. While Confucianism generally regards rulers highly, he argued that it is acceptable for the subjects to overthrow or even kill a ruler who ignores the people's needs and rules harshly. This is because a ruler who does not rule justly is no longer a true ruler. Speaking of the overthrow of the wicked King Zhou of Shang , Mencius said, "I have merely heard of killing

760-403: The context of educating rulers and citizens about the nature of man. "He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature" and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind." To show innate goodness, Mencius used the example of a child falling down a well. Witnesses of this event immediately feel alarm and distress, not to gain friendship with the child's parents, nor to seek

798-427: The emphasis that Mencius's mother placed on her son's education. As the story goes, once when Mencius was young, he was a truant. His mother responded to his apparent disregard for his education by taking up a pair of scissors and cutting the cloth she had been weaving in front of him. This was intended to illustrate that one cannot stop a task midway, and her example inspired Mencius to be diligent in his studies. There

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836-407: The future. One is significant only for what one gives, not for what one takes. Mencius distinguished between superior men who recognize and follow the virtues of righteousness and benevolence and inferior men who do not. He suggested that superior men considered only righteousness, not benefits. That assumes "permanent property" to uphold common morality. To secure benefits for the disadvantaged and

874-452: The legend that Mencius's mother moved houses three times before finding a location that she felt was suitable for the child's upbringing. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of finding the proper environment for raising children. Mencius's father Meng Ji ( 孟激 ) died when Mencius was very young. His mother Meng Mu ( 孟母; lit. 'Mother of Meng' ), born Zhang ( 仉 ), raised her son alone. They were very poor. At first they lived by

912-426: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Linzi&oldid=1205610401 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Ancient Linzi Linzi ( Chinese : 臨淄 ; pinyin : Línzī )

950-620: The orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially by the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty . Mencius's disciples included a large number of feudal lords, and he is said to have been more influential than Confucius had been. The Mencius is one of the Four Books that Zhu Xi (1130–1200) grouped as the core of orthodox Neo-Confucian thought. In contrast to the sayings of Confucius, which are short and self-contained,

988-407: The people. In this view, a king is like a steward. Although Confucius admired kings of great accomplishment, Mencius is clarifying the proper hierarchy of human society. Although a king has presumably higher status than a commoner, he is actually subordinate to the masses of people and the resources of society. Otherwise, there would be an implied disregard of the potential of human society heading into

1026-463: The person who had violated the rite was Mencius himself. Eventually Mencius admitted his fault. She is one of 125 women of which biographies have been included in the Biographies of Exemplary Women , written by Liu Xiang . Mencius expounds on the concept that the human is naturally righteous and humane. It is the influence of society that causes bad moral character . Mencius describes this in

1064-554: The praise of their neighbors and friends, nor because they dislike the reputation [of lack of humanity if they did not rescue the child]... The feeling of commiseration definitely is the beginning of humanity; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety; and the feeling of right or wrong is the beginning of wisdom. Men have these Four Beginnings just as they have their four limbs. Having these Four Beginnings, but saying that they cannot develop them

1102-402: The probability of factual accounts by comparing them with experience. Mencius also believed in the power of Destiny in shaping the roles of human beings in society. What is destined cannot be contrived by the human intellect or foreseen. Destiny is shown when a path arises that is both unforeseen and constructive. Destiny should not be confused with Fate. Mencius denied that Heaven would protect

1140-417: The property were acceptable and to be the only means by which the dukes and states would collect money. They did not need to collect much because taxes were only for supplemental funds. These taxes were also progressive, meaning the families that owned larger, more fertile pieces of land would pay more than the families with uniform land allotments. Scarcity is an issue in any market; however, Mencius emphasizes

1178-465: The reframing of the idea of a scarce resource. Instead of scarce, resources are to be seen as abundant. Resources are gained through work ethic not by any other means so there are no unfair competitions or gains. To preserve these natural resources, they needed to be used or harvested according to their cycles of growth or replenishing. In many cases, posterity has priority over profit. Mencius's interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered

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1216-481: The remains found in the graves, and the study says it "highlight that ancient mtDNA data obtained under different sampling schemes and subject to potential contamination can easily create the impression of drastic spatiotemporal changes in the genetic structure of a regional population during the past few thousand years if inappropriate methods of data analysis are employed." Mencius Mencius ( MEN -shee-əs ; c.  371  – c.  289 BC )

1254-470: The tombs around Linzi have been looted in antiquity. In pits near what is considered the tomb of Duke Jing of Qi , over 600 sacrificed horses have been found arranged in two rows. An initial test of corpses from Linzi graves' mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) claimed that their mtDNA was found to be more similar to Europeans than modern Chinese. The mtDNA was reexamined and the initial test was found to be wrong, with results showing European mtdna sharing no links to

1292-510: Was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage ( 亞聖 ) to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting his ideology and developing it further. Living during the Warring States period , he is said to have spent much of his life travelling around the states offering counsel to different rulers. Conversations with these rulers form

1330-449: Was also the state's responsibility to protect against future monopolies that might come into existence. Mencius also advocated for no taxes on imports; the market was to exchange for what you lacked so taxing merchants importing goods would ultimately hurt the villagers. The thought behind this is that people are inherently good and rational and can be trusted to regulate themselves, so price gouging or deception would not be an issue. Taxes on

1368-599: Was buried in the Cemetery of Mencius ( 孟子林 ; Mèngzi lín ), located 12 km (7.5 mi) to the northeast of Zoucheng's central urban area. A stele carried by a giant stone tortoise and crowned with dragons stands in front of his grave. Mencius's mother is often held up as an exemplary female figure in Chinese culture. One of the most famous traditional chengyu is 孟母三遷 ( mèngmǔ sānqiān ; 'Mencius's mother moves three times')); this saying refers to

1406-495: Was needed to cultivate oneself, but one's natural tendencies were good to begin with. The object of education is the cultivation of benevolence ( ren ). According to Mencius, education must awaken the innate abilities of the human mind. He denounced memorization and advocated active interrogation of the text, saying "One who believes all of a book would be better off without books" ( 盡信書，則不如無書 , from 孟子.盡心下 ). One should check for internal consistency by comparing sections and debate

1444-520: Was the capital city of the Chinese Qi state . The ruins of the city lie in modern-day Linzi District , Shandong , China . The city was one of the largest and richest in China during the Spring and Autumn period . Upon occupying Linzi in 221 BC, King Ying Zheng of Qin completed his conquest of the Chinese rival states and declared himself the first emperor of China shortly afterwards. The ruins of

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