Mencius' Doctrine of the Goodness of Human Nature

Mencius' doctrine of the goodness of human nature is widely known among Chinese. Three Character Classic, a rudimentary book for learning Chinese characters, begins with the line "Human beings are born with kind nature." For a long time, the line had been a self-evident truth and a basic belief of Chinese.

As a theory, Mencius' doctrine of the goodness of human nature developed from Mencius' refutation to Gao Zi's views on human nature. In Mencius, Gao Zi's views on human nature consisted of three key points: The desire for food and beauty was part of human nature; human nature was congenital; and human nature was neutral. Reasonable as Gao Zi's views seemed, there was a fateful defect: Gao Zi simply understood human nature as a natural character or animal's instinct and equated human with animal, which was refuted by Mencius. Against Gao Zi view that human nature was congenital, Mencius countered, "Is the nature of dog the same with that of cattle? Is the nature of cattle the same with that of human?" (Mencius, Gao Zi T) It sounded impossible for anyone to accept that human nature was the same with that of dog and cattle. Then, why was human nature? Mencius proposed the famous theory of "Four Origins" (Si Duan) and viewed the "Four Origins" were inborn rather than obtained postnatally:

All can feel sympathy for other; all can feel shameful; all can show respect; and all can judge right or wrong. The sympathy they express means benevolence; the shame they feel means righteousness; the respect they show means rite; and the judgment they make means wisdom. The four are not given by others but inherent in human. Human just do not think and pursue them. (Mencius, Gao Zi I)

Mencius exemplified his theory: "All feel sympathy for a child falling in a well and help him." (Gong Sun Chou I) The feeling of sympathy, or what Mencius called Ce Yin, was the basic morality of human, also known as conscience or instinctive ability. Mencius stressed one without the "Four Origins" could not be called a human: "One cannot be called a human if he does not feel sympathy for other, does not feel shameful, does not show respect, and does not judge right or wrong." (Gong Sun Chou I) Obviously, Mencius took morality rather than animal-like instinct (as Gao Zi did) as human nature. This was the essence of Mencius' doctrine of the goodness of human nature. Its significance lied in that it distinguished human from animal in a fundamental way.

Then, was animal-like instinct or desire not embodied in human nature? In fact, Mencius did not completely deny the desire in human: "What mouth meant to taste was what eyes to form, what ears to sound, what nose to smell, the limbs to comfort. It was human's nature to like them, but it was Destiny that determined. Therefore, a gentleman seldom overstated human nature. What benevolence meant to father and son was what righteousness to the ruler and officials, what rite to host and guest, what wisdom to the wise man, and what sage to Tao. Whether one can obtain them was determined by the Heaven. Therefore, a gentleman seldom s overstated Destiny." (With All Heart II) Mencius viewed that one should entrusted Destiny with the sensory gratification and desire that were not necessarily achieved in human nature; however, one must not entrust Destiny with the righteousness and morality that must be achieved even at the cost of one's life, as this really embodied human nature.

Accordingly, Mencius' doctrine of the goodness of human nature determined its stance of moral appeal and reflection, which Mencius called "Self-Examination": "When one is dissatisfied with his action, he should examine himself." (Li Lou I) In fact, "Self-Examination" was also decided by the view that the "Four Origins" were not given by others but inherent in human. The stance of moral appeal and reflection, in turn, determined to what extent the moral consciousness was achieved. Mencius said, "There is little difference between human and animal... (Shun) acted in accordance with benevolence rather than practice benevolence for its sake." (Li Lou II) Mencius claimed that the difference between human and animal lied in the morality human possesses. Here, Mencius pointed out the essence of morality: Morality meant not only that one acts in accordance with social norms but that he realizes and obeys the most important values voluntarily . In addition, Mencius viewed that anyone could become a sage on condition that he improved himself and made accomplishments: "All can become a sage like Yao and Shun." (Gao Zi If) With great profundity, Mencius' thoughts influenced Lu-Wang School of Mind enormously and deserve our consideration today.

Admittedly, there was theoretical defect in Mencius' doctrine of the goodness of human nature: he identified human nature with morality in human and excluded the natural attribute, which was criticized by Xun Zi.