Ethics And Governance

From a philosophical sense, "position" (Wei) is a person's social existence, and"virtue" (De) is a person's inner character. Mencius's discussion on the "position" and "virtue", substantially reveals the relations of politics and morality. In the political hierarchy, "position" is unequal. There are some differences between the positions of monarch and subjects, and Mencius absolutely affirms these. However, the virtues of them in some extent are the same. In essence, the virtues are the moral standards, which including "humanity" (Ren), "obligation" (Yi), "ritual" (Li), and"reason" (Zhi). From the view of ethics and morality, the obligations and responsibilities between monarch and subjects are equal. However, under the feudal hierarchy, the obligations and responsibilities of subjects are emphasized. Stressing on the respect of wisdom and commending the sage and benevolent persons to the monarch, Mencius has highlighted the "moral" importance in the political field. He is aware of governor's role of orientation and education, and shows its moral values of his political ideology. From the theoretical premise of "Original Goodness of Human Nature were" , Mencius believes that all of us have four-terminal, which is called "humanity" (Ren), "obligation" (Yi), "ritual" (Li), and "reason" (Zhi). The theory of "saints, and I have the same" , and therefore "every person could become Yao and Shun" , reflects the equality of personality. From the view of subject's moral cultivation, one can promote virtue by self-cultivating and perfecting one's inner character. The "morality" is used to resist the "position" (and the"power"), which weakening the "position" and standing out its own significance. Individuals understand the Tao through the virtue, and not interfered by the outside. And through the effort of making a resolve, understanding the heart (Xin), cultivating one's human nature (Xing), expanding one's "four-terminal" and raising one's righteousness (Hao-Ran-Zhi-Qi), one can realize the ideal goal - a real man. Individuals are the numbers of the society, and the ultimate values of the achievement of the ideal personality are connected with the society. The values of individual virtues are demonstrated in the social field, and that infers to "benevolent politics" . From the view of Mencius, the implementation of "benevolent politics" has its inner accordance, and the accordance is the opinion of "all of us have benevolent heart" . Mencius distinguishes "good governance" from "good education" .Furthermore, in his view, "Benevolence" has moral connotations and "governance" points to the political field, and the connection of which shows the inherent relevance of morality and politics, which showing its moral values of his political ideology.