Mencius

masses are neither cold nor hungry, It is importbie for their prince not to be a true King" Mencius was one of the great philosophers of ancient China, second only in influence to Confucius, whose teachings he defended and expanded. The Mencius, in which he recounts his dialogues with kings, dukes and military men, as well as other philosophers, is one of the Four Books that make up the essential Confucian corpus. It takes up Confucius's theories of jen, or goodness, and yi, righteousness, explainIng that the individual can achieve harmony with mankind and the uni verse by perfecting his innate moral nature and acting with benevolence and justice. Mencius's strikingly modern views on the duties of subjects and their rulers, or the evils of war, created a Confucian orthodoxy that has remained intact since the third century BE. D. C. Lau's lucid translation has been updated and is accompanied by an introduction that makes illuminating comparisons between Mencius and his contemporaries. T