Mencius' Humanity Ideology And Its Realistic Values At Present

Chinese traditional cultural ideology is a science concerning with the study of man, in which the realistic relationship between man and human life is attached importance to in particular. The Confucianism, as Chinese dominant ideas, lays stress on inquiring into essence of the reasons why man can be man, humanity, values of man, ideals of man, the realization of ideal moral quality, life and death of man, and freedom etc. In studying these, the Confucianism has evolved the characteristic humanity that mainly pays attention to the real life. Obviously, the discussion on humanity is the main thread of the Confucianism. The influences of Mencius ideology on humanity outweigh those of Confucius. As the originator of the Confucianism, Confucius poses that human nature of different men is quite similar while the habits vary from person to person, confirming some virtues of the humanity, but not mentioning the essence of it. Regardless of these limitations, he puts forward a series of moral norms such as benevolence, justice, courtesy, wisdom and prestige, influencing the later generations deeply, especially on Mencius. Mencius carries forward the Confucius ideology, developing Confucius ideology into "Four Hearts" doctrine: heart of compassion, heart of shame, heart of respect and heart of rights and wrongs construct the theoretical foundation of Mencius ideology of humanity.Mencius' reasoning virtuous humanity is to further develop his policy of benevolence thought and its core is that the monarch cherishes his people and people support their monarchy. But the realization of this goal is based on the assumption that the human nature is virtuous. This assumption had promoted the establishment of the feudal ethics—the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues. Following these moral principles could make perfect a man. Thus the policy of benevolence was carried in the society. Mencius showed human nature was virtuous through his debate with Gao Zi. His thought is convincing regardless of some flaws in logic, illustrating that virtuous humanity is universal, inevitable and prior.Mencius' humanity thought has a far-reaching influence on the later generations. Later, Xun Zi refuted Mencius with his thought that humanity was evil in essence but could be turned virtuous through education. This theory supports Mencius' thought indirectly. Dong Zhongshu of the Han Dynasty proposed " Heaven and man always...