THE RISE OF THE 'MENCIUS': HISTORICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF MENCIAN MORALITY, CA. A.D. 200-1200

Two integral aspects of the Mencian morality can readily be observed: the inner realm, regarding the a priori endowments of man and the outer realm, concerning the ideal of benevolent government. The inner realm of Mencian morality contains a belief in the innate goodness of human nature and in a return to the spontaneity of mind. The outer realm comprises four doctrines, namely, moral men should be political leaders; the government should be moral government; a conditional relationship exists between the sovereign and his subjects and the raison d'etre of a government is for the people. In Mencius' system of thought, the inner realm is the foundation of the outer realm and both the two realms constitute a harmonious whole in the endless process of man's effort to achieve sagehood.;T'ang scholars such as Han Yu and P'i Jih-hsiu presented the Mencius as a counter against Buddhism and Taoism. They urged that the Mencius became a part of Confucian intellectual orthodoxy and made it the source of their concerns over the sufferings of society. Lin Shen-ssu's Continuation of the Mencius represents a further development of interpretation of Mencian morality in the political context.;It is also in the political context that many Northern Sung scholars such as Li Kuo, Wang An-shih and Ssu-ma Kuang were involved in debates over Mencian morality. The polemics on the Mencius in this era focused upon three issues, namely, the problems of the king and the hegemon, of the sovereign and his ministers and of social order and filial piety. A political factor was also involved in Northern Sung scholars' debates on issues of Mencian theory on human nature.;The failure of Wang An-shih's reforms signified a turning point in the unfolding of the interpretation of Mencian morality. After the eleventh century, many scholars who read the Mencius were predominantly concerned with morality as the final goal of philosophical inquiry. Chu Hsi's interpretation of Mencian morality bears a clear imprint of the shift of scholarly concern from statecraft to philosophy. However, Chu Hsi conceived of Mencian morality in terms of the philosophical system in the Great Learning as he interpreted it. He also illuminated the Mencian morality in the light of his own rationalistic philosophy centering on the concept of principle (li). Chu Hsi amplified the inner realm of Mencian morality by enhancing the significance of knowledge in the process of attaining sagehood.;In the Confucian scholastic tradition, the development of interpretation of Mencian morality witnessed two major changes: the first appeared in the Later Han and the second in Southern Sung times. Many scholars in the Han dynasty visualized the Mencius in terms of classical learning (ching-hsueh) and read it as a political treatise. Chao Ch'i marks a culmination of such a scholarly trend. His interpretation of Mencian morality is predominantly concerned with politics as a way of practicing one's moral beliefs. Such an emphasis never ceased to animate Mencian scholarship until the eleventh century.;To conclude, the development of interpretations of Mencian morality exhibits a shift of scholarly interests from the particularistic perspective to the universalistic perspective.