Mencius as the Architect of Confucian Humanism in East Asia

Abstract

The present article aims at illuminating the defining facade of Confucian humanism, of which Mencius was the major architect. After reviewing Mencius’s concept of humans, we tackle the major propositions of Confucian humanism as shared by Confucian thinkers in China, Korea, and Japan. We also envision the contemporary relevance of Confucian humanism in the twenty-first century. Mencius’s notion of humans may be observed on four counts: namely, (a) humans are endowed with moral instinct, predominantly “innate knowing” (liangzhi 良知) and “innate ability” (liangneng 良能); (b) the mind (heart-mind; xin 心) possesses universality and priority; (c) the mind is the origin of valueconsciousness; and (d) the mind is capable of comprehending the mandate of Heaven. The keyword in Mencius’s humanism is “becoming” rather than “being.” We also delineate the leading three propositions of Confucian humanism, namely, (a) humans are free agents of action; (b) the mind is the origin of moral values; and (c) the “homo-cosmic continuum” comprises the continuity between Heaven and human beings and the harmony between human beings and nature. The keyword of Confucian humanism in this regard is continuity as opposed to rupture. In a historical perspective, the major tenets of Confucian humanism stemmed from Mencius and developed by the later-day East Asian Confucian philosophers. In this sense and to that extent, we are warranted in characterizing Mencius as the architect of Confucian humanism.