Mencius

Mencius believed that human nature is good: anyone who sees a child about to fall into a well feels alarm and compassion. Travelling from court to court in the Warring States, he told kings that they would win the world only by caring for their people, that a tyrant who loses the people's hearts may be killed like a common criminal, and that the sprouts of virtue in every heart need only to be nourished. His debates with rulers, rival philosophers and his own disciples are lively, combative and full of famous images: the farmer who pulled his crops to help them grow, the ox spared from slaughter. This complete new English translation gives all fourteen books. Names are given in modern pinyin and key terms are rendered plainly rather than buried in jargon, so the arguments, stories and debates can be read straight through by anyone curious about Chinese thought.