Why did Mencius advocate benevolent government but not practice it himself?

During the Warring States period, the vassal states brutally exploited each other at home, with heavy labor, and attacked each other abroad to seize the city. In this way, the productive forces were severely damaged, the labor force was insufficient, and the number of soldiers was reduced. The shortage of people was a very prominent problem at that time. Therefore, the struggle for manpower has become a top priority for the rulers of various vassal States.

Liang, the monarch of Wei, once boasted: "I am loyal to my country." Taking disaster relief as an example, he declared that he was better at governing the country than "neighboring politics." However, there is a problem that has been bothering him. "There are not many people in neighboring countries, and there are not many people in my country. Why? " One day, he finally couldn't help asking Mencius the question that "the people are living in poverty".

Mencius did not directly answer Liang's question that "the people are living in poverty", but used his familiar example as an analogy: "Wang is belligerent, please use war as a metaphor." Mencius inspired him with the metaphor of war and made him easy to accept. According to the distance of defeat and escape, Mencius listed two situations in which deserters "abandoned their armor and dragged their troops away" and put forward the rhetorical question "What if we take pot calling the kettle black", which further induced him to unconsciously say something denying his argument: "No, it is impossible to go straight, but it is also possible to go straight." Then he attacked the child's shield with the child's spear. "If Wang knew this, there would be no hope for more people than neighboring countries." In this way, we got to the point at once, which not only answered the reason of "people living in poverty", but also revealed the implication of "pot calling the kettle black": Liang's "immigration millet" is not different from "neighboring politics" in essence, but only in different degrees.

Then, around the core issue of what fundamental measures to take to increase the population, Mencius specifically expressed his political proposition of "benevolent governance".

Mencius first expounded the truth of "the beginning of king". He believes that vigorously developing grain production, rationally utilizing natural resources, and letting ordinary people "stay healthy and have no regrets about losing their lives" are the beginning of implementing "benevolent policies". "Don't go against the farming season, the valley can't win food. If you don't count, neither fish nor turtle can be eaten. The axe is in the mountain and the tree can't be used. " With a set of comparative sentences, this paper puts forward three measures to develop agricultural production reasonably: first, to develop grain production in time without disturbing the people; The second is to oppose arbitrary predation of wild animals; The third is to cut down trees according to the season, and it is strictly forbidden to cut down indiscriminately. These three preliminary measures to increase the population include the sustainable development of today's society: when developing and utilizing natural resources, we must pay attention to protecting the balance of natural ecology, and we must never cut and kill indiscriminately, let alone kill the goose that lays the golden egg and fish all resources.

Then, Mencius expounded the truth of "becoming a king". He further put forward the idea of "benevolent government" to educate the people and make them submit to the people. This is the fundamental measure to increase the number of people. Mencius said, "A five-acre house is made of mulberry trees, and fifty people can wear clothes and silks. Chickens, dolphins and dogs are all domestic animals, so there is no time to waste. Seventy people can eat meat. A hundred acres of land, if you don't hurry, a few people in a family can be hungry. " He also put forward three measures to develop agricultural production with a set of comparative sentences: first, advocate planting mulberry and sericulture, and vigorously develop planting and textile industry; Second, we should not only prey on wild animals moderately from nature, but also seize the opportunity to breed livestock and poultry and vigorously develop animal husbandry; Third, do not delay the agricultural production season and vigorously develop grain production. These three, the construction of material civilization. Compared with the first three, it is obviously a great progress and has stronger subjective initiative. Mencius not only advocated nurturing the people and doing a good job in material civilization construction, but also advocated teaching the people and doing their best to do a good job in spiritual civilization construction. Mencius also said: "I would like to take teaching as the order and apply it to the meaning of filial piety. Those who reward white money cannot bear to wear it on Tao." This is the construction of spiritual civilization. Don't the above four points coincide with the modern idea that "material civilization and spiritual civilization should be grasped together and both hands should be hard" in modern society? Obviously, Mencius should not only solve the problem of people's food and clothing, but also pay special attention to education, strengthen citizens' ideological and moral construction and improve people's ideological and moral cultivation.

Mencius also pointed out the attitude that feudal rulers should have when implementing "benevolent government". He euphemistically and implicitly criticized Liang for saying that he was "dedicated" to the country, but how could he be "dedicated" when the noble family was "a dog eating food without knowing its health" and "painting hunger without knowing its hair"? He retorted with a metaphor that accusing poor years of "being painted hungry" is as ridiculous as accusing weapons of "stabbing people to death", and pointed out that it is not the famine years that hurt people, but the tyranny of rulers. "Wang is innocent and the people of the world need him." How concise! He clearly pointed out the attitude that a ruler should have: be strict with himself, dare to admit his mistakes and not shirk his responsibilities. It is emphasized that we should dare to shoulder our own responsibilities, not complain about others, always reflect on ourselves, eliminate tyranny, be benevolent, and let the people live in houses, plant fields, eat and wear warm clothes, receive education, and understand morality. Only in this way can we win the hearts of the people and increase the number of people. As the saying goes, "He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world."

From this point of view, the idea of "benevolent governance" advocated by Mencius just implies today's sustainable development strategy, and implies the modern thought that material civilization and spiritual civilization are equally important, can not be neglected, and are of common concern. At the same time, it is proved from a historical perspective that these modern ideas and concepts are the inheritance and development of Mencius' thought of "benevolent government" and a powerful inheritance of the essence of China's ancient splendid culture.