On Mencius' Political Thought

People-centered doctrine, reign of virtue, and the spirit of political protest are the content and basic feature of Mencius' political thought. As one of the leading thinkers of Pre-Qin Confucianism, Mencius lived in the Warring States Period, a time which was socially turbulent and intellectually flourishing. On the basis of Confucian theory and thoughts of contemporary thinkers, Mencius put forward a system of political thought and made a great contribution to traditional Chinese political culture.Mencius claimed that human nature was originally good, and made his theory of human nature the foundation of his political thought. Loving and caring about the people, Mencius maintained that the people were the most important element in a nation, government the next; and the sovereign the least. He elaborated on the relationship between sovereign and subjects and that between sovereign and the people. He proposed that subjects were equal to sovereign and that the people can change the sovereign, which certainly surprised all in the times of feudal autocracy. As for way of governing a country Mencius spoke highly of reign of virtue. He advocated that the sovereign should be a moral role model and should educate and transform the common people, and that would result in a harmonious society. Focusing on reign of virtue doesn't mean the neglect of law. Mencius held that law should be referred to when necessary and that equal stress should be land on both virtue and law.Mencius' political thought not only has been inherited by the progressive intellectuals and thinkers of various generations, and has a positive effect on the development of society, but will also give us inspiration while we undertake socialist modernization. To explore deeply the core value of the people-centered doctrine and the reign of virtue will be very helpful to us when we advocate "government for the people," "reign of virtue," and endeavor to develop our socialist democracy.