Mencius [Paperback]

Mencius (Author), David Hinton (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1582430209 | ISBN-13: 978-1582430201 | Publication Date: August 1, 1999

This new translation makes the teachings of ancient Chinas second sage relevant for contemporary readers.. This ancient text records the teachings of Mencius, Chinas ya sheng , or second sage. A philosopher who worked in the fourth century b.c., Mencius studied with the grandson of Confucius and is credited with the development of orthodox Confucianism. Divided into seven chapters, Mencius is composed largely of conversations between the great philosopher and the rulers he sought to guide. Sometimes mystical, sometimes poetic, these teachings are often unpredictable, with startling insights that bring the narrative to life. David Hintons Mencius reveals for the first time the literary vibrancy of this great philosopher and the earnestness behind his faith in humanity. This ancient text records the teachings of Mencius (4th C. b.c.e.), the second originary sage in the Confucian tradition, which has shaped Chinese civilization for over two thousand years. In a culture that makes no distinction between those realms we call the heart and the mind, Mencius was the great thinker of the heart, and it was he who added the profound inner dimensions to the Confucian vision. Given his emphasis on the heart, it isnt surprising that his philosophical method is literary in nature: story and anecdote full of human drama and poetic turns of thought. Indeed, the text is considered a paragon of literary eloquence and style.Menciuss strikingly contemporary empiricism represented a complete secularization of the spiritualist concepts of governance that had dominated China for over a millennium. He invested the humanist Confucian vision with its inner dimensions by recognizing that the individual is an integral part of a self-generating and harmonious cosmos. He saw all the spiritual depths of that cosmology inside us, and this led to a mystical faith in the inherent nobility of human beings. In his chaotic and war-ravaged times, he was therefore passionate in his defense of the people. Indeed, he advocated a virtual democracy in which a governments legitimacy depended upon the assent of the people. Such is the enduring magic of the Mencian heart--full of compassionate and practical concern for the human condition, and yet so empty that it contains the ten thousand transformations of the entire cosmos.This volume is the second in a series of translations presenting the four central masterworks of ancient Chinese thought: classics that will stand as definitive translations for our era. Series translator David Hinton is known for the poetic fluency he brings to his award-winning work. His new versions are not only inviting and immensely readable, but they also apply a much-needed consistency to key terms in these texts, lending structural links and philosophical rigor to a canon that has only been rendered in a hodgepodge of styles. Other titles in the series are: Chuang Tzu: The Inner Chapters (1997), The Analects (1988), Tao Te Ching (1999).

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

David Hinton's translations of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy have earned wide acclaim for creating compelling English texts that convey the ambiguity and texture of the originals. His books include translations of the ancient poet Tu Fu, T'ao Ch'ien, Meng Chiao, and Li Po, as well as the contemporary poet Bei Dao. He has held fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts and The National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1997 his work was awarded the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582430209
• ISBN-13: 978-1582430201
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Discover a classic of Chinese literature!, January 18, 2001

By 

bryan12603 (Poughkeepsie, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mencius (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Very few people in the West have heard of Mencius. However, in East Asia he is known as "the second sage" of Confucianism -- second only to Confucius himself. The eponymous _Mencius_ is a collection of his sayings and dialogues with disciples, rulers, and rival philosophers. It is unfortunate that this work is not more widely read outside of Asia. It is more accessible than the often cryptic _Analects_ of Confucius. Furthermore, Mencius is arguably a deeper philosophical thinker than Confucius. Buy this book and you'll get a fine translation of a classic of world literature and philosophy.

Mencius is most famous for his claim that human nature is good. He illustrates this by asking us to imagine a person who suddenly sees a child about to fall into a well. Anyone, Mencius claims, would have a feeling of alarm and compassion at this sight. This feeling is a manifestation of our innate tendency toward benevolence. Mencius is aware that, despite having this innate tendency toward virtue, most people fail to act in a benevolent manner. But he claims that this is due to bad environmental factors, as well as a failure to cultivate one's "sprouts" of virtue. (Lau translates "sprout" as "germ," a minor infelicity.)

Lau's _Mencius_ is probably the best complete translation of this work in English. It also includes extensive supporting material: an interpretive introduction, a glossary, and appendices on events in the life of Mencius, early traditions about Mencius, the text of the _Mencius_, ancient history as understood by Mencius, and Mencius's method of argumentation.

James Legge also did a complete translation, _The Works of Mencius_, which is a little dated (it was completed in the late 19th century), but it is still a good translation, and includes the Chinese text, along with extensive notes. I did a partial translation of the _Mencius_ for _Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy_.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, Great Translation!, January 7, 2004

By 

Frikle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mencius (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

For those who don't know, Mencius was a disciple of Confucius's philosophy - probably the most famous. He helped spread it by adding his own flavour to the theories. This book presents them. It is easier to read than the Analects, in my opinion, as it presents much longer and more coherent paragraphs many of which are like stories. As a result, less time is spent getting acquainted with the background.

One of the key features of Mencius that separates him from Confucius is the book of Mencius has a lot of philosophical argument and rhetoric that is quite sophisticated from a cursory reading (with Confucius, much of the sophistication is apparent only if you know the text EXTREMELY well). Mencius was a keen maker of illustrations in arguments. This is the book that contains the famous argument taht human nature is fundamentally good because a person seeing a child on the edge of a well about to fall in will initially be compelled to run and save the child.

Basically, there was a sort of split in the interpretation of Confucianism. Xunzi believed that humans are essentially evil (or at least selfish) and therefore it is necessary to have ren (benevolence), li (ritual/propriety) and fa (law) to enable them to develop themselves and overcome their base urges. Mencius went the other way, considering people essentially good (as can be seen in the well example). He would see evil as a result of corruption by society, and ren and li as tools to enable one to develop their true nature. From reading his work though, I think he was far from naive and he certainly did not have an idyllic view of humanity. Rather, Xunzi and Mencius seemed to be advocating the same kind of philosophy and there is not actually that much difference between them. But Mencius is the more optimistic and hence more pleasant to read, and it is perhaps because of the sense of optimism that he was adopted by the Chinese as the more authoritative Confuscian in ages to come.

The translation is great and makes the reading easier. There are useful appendices at the end which give the background in a logical way (eg a section on Mencius's view of history).

A great find!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "To try to achieve anything is like digging a well. ", February 19, 2005

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frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mencius (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Having read the Analects, I wanted to read further in Chinese philosophy. It was recommended that I pick up the Lau translation of Mencius, as it was widely considered the best.

Even as a reader approaching his thinking for the first time, I was able to get quite a bit from reading the seven books. They were thought-provoking and crisp. I was interested in the notions of morality and good as treated in his analogies. This point is the famous difference between Confucius and Mencius and alone makes this book valuable reading.

The Penguin edition may well be the best available translation and I am sure that the essays at the beginning and end are useful for more knowledgeable scholars. Unfortunately, as a reader largely unfamiliar with his life and work (beyond knowing his role as a student of Confucius) these essays assumed a level of knowledge beyond that which I actually possessed. It would have been helpful for me if the introduction had been more concerned with basic context setting.

The appendices bound with the book contain essays on dating events in the life of Mencius, early traditions about Mencius, textual notes, history as depicted in the text, and the use of analogy as argument.