Why is Yasheng Mencius? Why is Mencius called Yasheng? Why?

In Confucianism, Mencius is second only to Confucius, so he is called Yasheng, like the champion, runner-up, and third runner-up, Ya is slightly worse, in addition, Wang Anshi was called Jisheng for a long time in ancient times.

Mencius was a junior of Confucius, but his achievements in Confucianism were no less than those of Confucius, so he called Mencius a sage (because Confucius was a sage).

Zhang Xuan in the Ming Shizong period proposed to let Mencius replace Yan Hui and inherit the honorific title of "Yasheng". After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, it began to vigorously promote the way of Confucius and Mencius. In the ninth year of Qianlong, Mencius was named "Yasheng", Yan Hui was named "Fusheng", Zeng Shen was "Zongsheng", Zisi was "Shusheng", so far, Mencius's social status was determined, and Confucius and Mencius thought and Confucius and Mencius rankings were also unified with each other.

Let's analyze why we have such an evaluation of Mencius. This starts with the ideas of Confucius and Mencius. Confucius and Mencius are both representatives of Confucianism, Confucius founded Confucianism, the core system of Confucius thought is "benevolence" and "propriety", the main content is to require "benevolence and love for others" and "self-denial and retribution".

Confucius's "benevolence" requires rulers to be sensitive to the people's feelings, oppose harsh government and arbitrary torture, and advocate broad understanding and consideration for others, so as to adjust interpersonal relations and stabilize social order. Politically, he advocated "virtue for government", requiring rulers to cherish the people's strength and educate the people with morality. Mencius developed Confucius's doctrine of "benevolence" into a set of political doctrines, namely the doctrine of "benevolent government".

To practice benevolent government, we must respect the people. He believed that land, people, and government affairs were the three treasures of the country, and demanded that rulers treat the people with benevolence. On this basis, he put forward the proposition of "the people are noble and the monarch is light".

Mencius expounded his ideas in the book: inheriting Confucius's thoughts, opposing the change of law, criticizing farming and warfare, and advocating the hierarchical order of "obeying the king", maintaining the world's officials and ruling people, and "those who work hard govern people".

He also put forward the theory of "benevolent government" aimed at alleviating class contradictions, advocating that "the people are precious, the society is secondary, and the monarch is light." In order to promote "benevolent government," he even advocated ceding the throne to the "virtuous man", that is, the doctrine of "Shang Xian". Mencius called for "controlling the people's constant production", not missing the agricultural time, and saving the punishment lightly.

He put forward the "theory of sexual goodness" in philosophy, arguing that human beings are born good and that the purpose of education is to enlighten the conscience. Mencius is the second great man to develop and improve Confucianism after Confucius's "benevolence and courtesy", and his and Confucius's ideas are respectfully called "the way of Confucius and Mencius", which has become the spirit used by the ruling class of all dynasties to rule people's thoughts for thousands of years.

Although Mencius was in the decline of Confucianism, he was able to insist on advocating Confucianism, vigorously propagating the way of Zhou Confucius, and writing books to pass on to the generations, making great contributions to the inheritance and development of Confucius. The book "Mencius" has been listed as a classic book in the five dynasties, and it has been a compulsory book for the imperial examination since the Song and Yuan dynasties.

In modern society, it is because he has also made a lot of achievements and contributions to Confucian scholarship, and he has also introduced a lot of excellent ideas, and he also respects the ability to educate, and is recognized as a sub-sage by later generations.

Even when he was accomplished, he was already called a saint. And he did have great achievements at that time, which was very recognized by many people.

It was already called Yasheng at a very early age, and there are relevant records in the Song Dynasty, and it can be seen that people also have great respect for him.

It was in the later development, and at that time Mencius was already very famous, with different titles, and there were many sages at that time.

During the Ming Dynasty, the emperor particularly admired Confucianism, so he knighted Confucius and Mencius, and also respected Mencius as a sub-sage.

It was during the Middle Tang Dynasty that he became a sub-sage, when Mencius was elevated to the position of the mainstay of Confucianism and Taoism.

Mencius is called the "sub-sage" because Mencius inherited and carried forward the ideas of Confucius and put forward a complete system of thought, which had a great influence on later generations. He was a great thinker, educator, and representative of Confucianism during the Warring States period.

It is mainly because Mencius made great contributions to inheriting and carrying forward Confucianism, especially Confucius's doctrine of benevolence, that he is called a sub-sage. In addition, Mencius and the Analects are tied for the same name, so it is also worthy of the name to call Mencius a sage.

Because Mencius inherited the conservative ideas of Confucius. Mencius advocated retro, opposed the reform of the law, and advocated the maintenance of the hierarchical order of the class.

Because he is also a very famous person, his ideas are respected by many people and studied by many people, so he has such a title. His fame is not inferior to Confucius, so he is known as a sub-sage.

Mencius was admired, and the merit was in Han Yu. Han Yu admired Mencius when Lao Buddha was prosperous, which was related to Mencius's criticism of Yang Mo and the culmination of the theory of concentration of heart. - Academically speaking, Mencius was the second person after Confucius to know the mandate of heaven in writing.

Knowing the destiny of heaven is knowledge, that is, enlightenment. - Of course, if the learning did not reach that level, Mencius would not be able to read it, and Confucius would still not understand it.

1. Mencius inherited Confucius's idea of "benevolence" as the core, Confucius had the teaching of "killing oneself to become benevolent", and Mencius also used the vivid metaphor of fish and bear's paws to illustrate the principle of "sacrificing one's life for righteousness".

2. Mencius developed Confucius's idea of "benevolence loves others", founded the theory of "goodness", put forward the heart of "benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom", and established the root of why people are human beings. Confucius mellowed the benevolence of chaos, and thus the cross opened, and Mencius's teaching of "living in benevolence and righteousness" was of great merit.

3. The perfection of the study of the mind: Mencius pointed out the "conscience and conscience" in the depths of the human soul by the ontology of Confucius, and established the theory of conscience. This is the ideological origin of Wang Xinxue in the later generations of Lu and Kong.

4. Mencius inherited and developed the original concept of "benevolence" in Confucius's thought, which is the mainstream thought of Confucianism, so later generations also referred to "Confucianism" as "Confucius and Mencius thought".

In ancient China, the traditional Confucian culture of incense was passed down from generation to generation, and it is still maintained in modern Chinese life. In ancient China, people admired Confucianism, and the important figures of Confucianism were Confucius and Mencius, and the two of them were called Confucian sages and sub-sages. It can be seen how high the achievements of the two of them are, and the Confucianism of later generations has created an important foundation.

But back to Mencius, why Mencius was called a sub-sage after the Song Dynasty has the following reasons. <>

1. Dynasties before the Song Dynasty did not respect Confucianism. First of all, we must know that during the Tang and Song dynasties, they mainly advocated Taoism and Buddhism. And it is precisely because of this that the development of Confucianism in the Tang Dynasty was difficult and bumpy all the way, and after the continuous development in the future, after the Song Dynasty, people began to slowly learn and re-collect Confucianism into the students' classroom books.

It was only then that people turned their attention back to the midpoint of Confucianism and re-developed Confucianism. <>

Second, Zhu Xi's promotion. Secondly, the master of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty must go back to Zhu Xi. It is precisely because of Zhu Xi that Confucianism was developed into science.

Later, Confucianism was re-developed in China and re-inherited in later generations. Because Zhu Xi relied on his status in his own country and his profound academic knowledge, everyone re-admired and studied such a doctrine. Therefore, Zhu Zhao Daxi re-established the development of Confucianism, so it is well deserved to regard Mencius as a sub-sage.

3. To satisfy the demands of the rulers. Returning to the last point, no matter how these schools of doctrine develop, the ultimate purpose is to help the ruler manage the country, and the Song and Ming Dynasty also imitated this precisely because of this. Zhu Xi created what you learned and later learned to help the Song Dynasty at that time manage state affairs, and the most obvious of them is the Three Platforms and Five Constants.

And he helped the ruler to manage the country, and the state spread Confucianism to the general trend, and Mencius, one of the founders of Confucianism, as the Asheng, which is also the wish of the whole people.

<> Mencius was a famous thinker, the successor of Confucius's teachings, and an important representative of Confucianism. He inherited Confucius's idea of "benevolence" and developed it into the idea of "benevolent government", becoming a generation of Confucian masters second only to Confucius, and was revered as Meng Yasheng, also known as Mencius Forest,Together with Confucius, it is called "Confucius and Mencius".

Mencius's birth was about a hundred years after the death of Confucius (479 BC). There is very little about his life experience"The Biography of Han Poems" contains the story of his mother's "broken weaving", and "The Biography of the Daughters" contains the stories of his mother's "three migrations" and "going to Qi", which shows that he benefited a lot from his mother's education.

Historical Records. The Biography of Mencius Xunqing said that he was "a man of the people who thought about the industry", and Mencius's teachings were influenced by Confucius's thoughts. Therefore, Xunzi listed Zisi and Mencius as one school, which was later called the Simeng school in Confucianism.

withLike Confucius, Mencius also led his students on a tour of Wei, Qi, Song, Lu, Teng, Xue and other countries, and once served as a guest secretary of King Xuan of Qi. Because his ideas are also the same as those of Confucius, they are not reused, so he returned to his hometown to gather disciples to give lectures, and wrote books with students Wan Zhang and others, saying, "Preface to "Poems" and "Books", describing the meaning of ZhongniHe wrote seven articles of Mencius。The seven articles of "Mencius" that we have seen, each divided into upper and lower, about 35,000 words, a total of 260 chapters.

<> there are seven chapters of "Mencius", which are:"King Liang Hui" up and down; "Gongsun Chou" up and down; "Teng Wengong" up and down; "Leaving Lou"; "Ten Thousand Chapters" up and down; "Confession" up and down; "Dedication" up and down。its doctrineThe starting point is the theory of sexual goodness, putting forward "benevolent government" and "royal road", and advocating the rule of virtue

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi was a generalMencius and the Analects, the University, and the MeanTaken together, they are called the "Four Books". From then until the end of the Qing Dynasty, the "Four Books" had always been a compulsory part of the imperial examination. Mencius's essays are eloquent, detailed, and full of momentum, and long in debate.

The first "Shang Doctor" canonized by King Xuan of Qi in the Jixia School Palace was Mencius. In 1083 (the 6th year of Song Yuanfeng), he was promoted to the Duke of Zou Guo; In 1330 (Yuan Zhishun 1 year), he was given the Yasheng Duke of Zou Guo, and in 1530 (the 9th year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty), he was enshrined as the Yasheng and dismissed the Duke.