Research On Harmonious Thought In Mencius’s Interpersonal Relation Theory

Harmony is one of the basic spirits of Chinese traditional ethical culture, as wellas the quintessence and essence of Chinese culture. Along the historical process of thefive thousand years of Chinese civilization,“harmony” has played an indispensablerole in the maintenance of social stability, enhancement of national cohesion andcoordination of an indispensable role and so forth.The harmonious thought in Mencius’s interpersonal relation theory is generatedunder the historical conditions of socio-economic development, political unrest,intellectual “Hundred Schools of Thoughts” in the Spring and Autumn period.“Original Goodness of Human Nature” is just the basic theory of human nature for theharmonious thought in Mencius’ interpersonal relation. On this basis, a series ofthoughts about harmonious interpersonal relation is proposed by Mencius that: firstly,the thought “opportunities vouchsafed by Heaven are less important than terrestrialadvantages, which in turn are less important than the unity among people” is proposed;secondly, five orders of seniority in human relation and their corresponding criteriaare confirmed as: affection between fathers and sons, affiliation between monarchsand courtiers, distinction between husbands and wives, order between seniors andjuniors, and trust amongst friends, respectively; thirdly, ethical requirements areproposed to achieve a harmonious interpersonal relation, namely, benevolence,sacrifice for justice and innate correct knowledge and conscience; fourth, thestrengthening of moral cultivation is proposed to realize the harmonious interpersonalrelation, and “self-cultivation”,“cultivation of awe-inspiring spirit” and other moralcultivation methods are put forward. The harmonious thought in Mencius’interpersonal relation theory has played a very important role in handling the relationsbetween the individual and collective correctly, improving personal accomplishment,adjusting and reconstructing the harmonious and friendly relations in the social,rebuilding social ethics, and achieving a harmonious relationship between men andmen, between men and the society. The in-depth exploration for ethical thought of Mencius’“harmony of people”and the clear clarification for the relationship between the understanding of theharmonious interpersonal relation in Mencius’ ethics and a harmonious socialistsociety hereof have an important reference significance for the establishment of aharmonious socialist society if their essences are taken and dregs are discarded.