The School of Mencius

The doctrine of the School of Mencius is represented most clearly in two books. One is the Doctrine of the Mean, which is believed to have been written, edited or transmitted by Tzu Ssu, the grandson of Confucius and the disciple of Tseng Tzu, the youngest disciple of Confucius. The other is theBook of Mencius, which fully develops the ideas propounded in the Doctrine of the Mean.

The School grounds its teachings in Confucius through devoting its attention to the humanistic understanding of Heaven, humanity and the harmony between them, while also forming its own distinctive doctrines through concentrating on human self-cultivation and self-transformation. At the heart of Mencius' teaching is the belief that human beings are born with the knowledge of the good and the ability to do good.

Everyone is born with what Mencius described as the 'four beginnings':benevolence, righteousness, respect and the capacity to distinguish right from wrong.

Anyone who fully realises his heart/mind understands Heaven and serves the mandate of Heaven, through which he is are able to become a sage, and participates in the creation and recreation of Heaven and Earth.

These beliefs influenced Mencius' perception of politics.

The doctrine of benevolence must be brought into politics so that government is humane and moral. It is the responsibility of the ruler to ensure the economic well-being of his subjects, to provide them with education and, in doing so, to rule through winning their loyalty and confidence rather than through force. If rulers oppress the people then they lost the mandate of Heaven, and the people have the right to remote them.


The exact years of Mencius' life are uncertain, although it is traditionally held that he lived between 371 and 289 BCE. He is believed have received his education from the disciples of Tzu Ssu. The school gained its prestige among Confucian schools partly through attacking other traditions, especially the doctrine of Yang Zhu (a. the fourth century BCE) and Mohism, and established itself as a force in Confucian intellectual life through refining and developing Confucian doctrines on human nature and destiny.

Although the school was not specially influential during the period from the Han to the Sui dynasty, from the Tang dynasty it came to be regarded as the orthodox school in the line of Confucius and one of the key links in the chain transmitting the Way of the Sages.

With the emergence of Neo-Confucianism during the Sung dynasty both the Doctrine of the Mean and the Book of Mencius came to be ranked, along with the Analects and the Great Learning, as the Four Book's. Subsequently, Mencius himself came to be revered as the orthodox transmitter of the Confucian tradition after Confucius and the Second Sage next to Confucius, receiving for eight hundred years, till the beginning of this century, sacrifices both in the Temple of Confucius and in the temples devoted to him.

The School of Mencius does not have a distinctive symbol system.


It is not possible to determine the numerical size of the School of Mencius.


The School of Mencius does not have a headquarters or main centre.