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Moral Rights and Justification of Revolution: Heart-Nature Theme of Mencius

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Major Aspects of Chinese Religion and Philosophy

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Abstract

In the Confucian tradition symbolized by The Tao (Dao) of Confucius and Mencius, the doctrine of Mencius’ Righteousness in the Paragon of Confucian Humaneness (kongren) and Mencian Righteousness (mengyi) has been associated with Heart-Nature (xinxing), which leads consequently to an intended personality of Confucian ethics and politics. The concept of righteousness, for Mencius, connotes the cosmological ethics under the heaven, transcending the secular powers of father in family and monarch in country under the auspices of heavenly sanctity. Such transcendence is often vindicated by Righteousness-Oriented Destruction of One’s Relatives (dayimieqin) and The Overthrow of Government by Performing Heaven’s Mandate (titianxingdao). The concept of Heart-Nature in Mencius is the transformation of Heaven-Mandated-Nature (xingming) from the Doctrine of the Mean (zhongyong), attesting to the subjectivity and ethics in Confucian epistemology and cosmology. The combination between Heart-Nature and Tao-Righteousness in Mencius reveals the universally existed moral rights and ethical obligations of human beings as well as the ethical transcendence and restrictions on secular powers of Son of Heaven, i.e. monarchs and dukes. The dialectics exposed in this relation between moral rights and its restrictions on administrative powers justifies social revolutions in case of moral rights being violated and abused by administrative powers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Gongsun Chou Shang, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, gongsunchou shang).

  2. 2.

    Gao Zi Shang, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, gaozi shang).

  3. 3.

    Yao Yue, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, yao yue).

  4. 4.

    Gongsun Chou Shang, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, gongsunchou shang).

  5. 5.

    Teng Wen Gong Xia, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, tengwengong xia).

  6. 6.

    Gao Zi Shang, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, gaozi shang).

  7. 7.

    Ibid.

  8. 8.

    Xian Wen, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, xian wen).

  9. 9.

    Wang Zhi, The Works of Xun Zi (xunzi, wangzhi).

  10. 10.

    Jin Xin Shang., The Works of Mencius (mengzi, jinxin shang).

  11. 11.

    Shu Er, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, shu er).

  12. 12.

    Jin Xin Xia., The Works of Mencius (mengzi, jinxin xia).

  13. 13.

    Wan Zhang Shang, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, wanzhang shang).

  14. 14.

    Dong Zhongshu, “Sophistication on Divine Mission (ji yi),” in Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals (chunqiu fanlu) (Shanghai: Shanghai Classic Press, 1989), p. 74.

  15. 15.

    Dong Zhongshu: “Responding to Gifted Appointment, Chapt. 3 (ju xianliang duice),” in A Brief Resources in Chinese History of Philosophy, Part I , from Western and Eastern Han to Sui and Tang Dynasties (Beijing: Zhong Hua Shu Ju Press, 1963), p. 18.

  16. 16.

    Xue Er, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, xue er).

  17. 17.

    Yan Yuan, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, yanyuan).

  18. 18.

    Li Ren, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, li ren).

  19. 19.

    Xian Jin, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, xianjin).

  20. 20.

    Yang Huo, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, yanghuo).

  21. 21.

    Wei Zheng, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, weizheng).

  22. 22.

    Zi Han, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, zihan).

  23. 23.

    Shu Er, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, shu er).

  24. 24.

    Li Lou Xia, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, lilou xia).

  25. 25.

    Jin Xin Shang., The Works of Mencius (mengzi, jinxin shang).

  26. 26.

    Teng Wen Gong Xia, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, tengwengong xia).

  27. 27.

    Li Lou Xia, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, lilou xia).

  28. 28.

    Gao Zi Shang, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, gaozi shang).

  29. 29.

    Ibid.

  30. 30.

    Liang Hui Wang Shang, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, lianghuiwang shang).

  31. 31.

    Jin Xin Xia., The Works of Mencius (mengzi, jinxin xia).

  32. 32.

    Jin Xin Shang., The Works of Mencius (mengzi, jinxin shang).

  33. 33.

    Liu An, “Monarch’s Rule (zhu shu xun), The Works of Duke Huai Nan (huainanzi),” in Anthologies of Master Scholars (zhuzi jicheng) (Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore Press, 1986), Vol. 7, Chapt. 9, p. 138.

  34. 34.

    Ge, Tuan Ci, The Book of Changes .

  35. 35.

    Teng Wen Gong Xia, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, tengwengong xia).

  36. 36.

    Jia Yi, “On Proprieties, The New Book of Jia Yi (xin shu, li),” in The Complete Works of One Hundred Scholars (bai zi quanshu) (Changsha: Yuelu Press, 1993), Vol. 1, Chapt. 6, p. 713.

  37. 37.

    BaYi, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, ba yi).

  38. 38.

    Wang Fuzhi, “Commentaries on The History As A Political Mirror (du tongjian lun),” in The Complete Works of Chuan Shan (chuanshan quanshu) (Changsha: Yuelu Press, 1988), Vol. 10, Chapt. 1, p. 67.

  39. 39.

    Yao Yue, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, yao yue).

  40. 40.

    Xian Wen, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, xian wen).

  41. 41.

    BaYi, The Analects of Confucius (lunyu, ba yi).

  42. 42.

    Liang Hui Wang Xia, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, lianghuiwang xia).

  43. 43.

    Li Lou Shang, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, lilou shang).

  44. 44.

    Li Lou Xia, The Works of Mencius (mengzi, lilou xia).

  45. 45.

    Huang Zongxi, “On Monarch, A Ming Barbarian Waiting for A Visitor (yuan jun, ming yi dai fang lu),” in The Complete Works of Huang Zongxi (huangzongxi quanji) (Hangzhou: Zhejiang Classic Press, 2005), Vol. 1, p. 3.

  46. 46.

    Quotations from Zhang Zai, see Feng Youlan, The Complete Works of Three Pines Hall (sansongtang quanji) (Zhengzhou: Henan People’s Publishing House, 2000) Vol. 10, p. 135.

  47. 47.

    He Qi and Hu Liyuan, “Notes to Educations (quan xue shu hou),”cited in Zhang Jinfan, The Chinese Legal Tradition and Its Modern Transformation (3rd Edition) (Beijing: Law Press, 2009), p. 426.

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  1. International Confucian Studies, China University of Political Science and Law, No.25, Xituchenglu Road, 100088, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Shan Chun

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Chun, S. (2012). Moral Rights and Justification of Revolution: Heart-Nature Theme of Mencius . In: Major Aspects of Chinese Religion and Philosophy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29317-7_18

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