Menzi ( Chinese. ,,, Pinyin : Mèngzǐ ) is one of the canons of Confucianism .
Content
Authorship
Most Sinologists agree that the book was compiled by students and followers of the philosopher Mencius , who lived in the IV-III centuries. BC e. Perhaps Mencius himself took part in its writing, but she acquired the final version by the 3rd century BC. e.
Composition
In Shi Ji , a book of Menzi from seven chapters is mentioned. The Hanshu bibliographic section talks about the Menzi treatise of 11 chapters. This discrepancy is explained by the fact that there was another treatise of the "Menzi" - "Menzi wai shu" ("Non-canonical Menzi") of four chapters, which the author of "Hanshu" ranked as the main text of "Menzi". Subsequently, these chapters were lost, and the current text of "Menzi Wai Shu" is a fake of the XV century.
Contents
| “ | 無 父 無 君 ， 是 周公 所 膺 也。 我 亦欲 正 人心 ， 息 邪說 ， 距 詖 行 ， 放 淫辭 ， 以 承 三 聖者 ； 豈 好 辯 哉？ 不得已 也。 能 言 距 楊 墨 者 ， 聖人 聖人 聖人 聖人之 徒 也。 Those who do not recognize either the father or the sovereign, Zhou-gun afflicted. So I want to correct human hearts, exterminate false teachings with their one-sided actions and seductive speeches - in order to serve three Perfectly Wise (In addition to Zhou-gun, Yu the Great and Confucius were mentioned earlier in the text) . Is this [simple] love of eloquence? I act out of necessity. One who can resist the teachings of Mo-tzu and Yang Zhu is [and is] a follower of the Perfectly Wise. | ” |
- Menzi / Chapter 滕文公 下 | ||
The basis of the text of "Menzi" is made up of records of conversations and discussions of the philosopher Menzi about politics, morality, philosophy, education, information about his activities. One of the distinguishing features of the treatise is polemic. Mencius emphasizes that his teaching is designed to contrast Confucian principles with modern fashionable doctrines such as Moism and Yangism .
According to prof. Y. Pinesa , one of the important points of the Menzi ideology is the justification of the rebellion shi ш in relation to the unprincipled monarch (盡心 上 13.10: 304) [1] .
Comments and Interpretations
The Menzi treatise received great attention from Confucian scholars. The most authoritative are the comments of Zhao Qi (II century), Zhu Xi (XII century; introduced the "Menzi" to the rank of Confucian canons and included in the classical Four Books ), Sun Qifeng (late XVI-XVII centuries), Dai Zheng (XVIII century), Qiao Xun (XVIII - beginning of XIX centuries), Yuan Yuan (XVIII — XIX centuries), Wei Yuan (XVIII - beginning of XIX centuries).
Sources
- “Chinese philosophy. Encyclopedic Dictionary ”- Moscow,“ Thought ”, 1994. ISBN 5-244-00757-2
- ↑ Yuri Pines, Envisioning Eternal Empire , 2009: 71-2.