Mencius

Mencius (Mengzi; Meng Ke) was an influential Confucian philosopher of China’s Warring States period. He is traditionally dated to 372–289 BCE and is regarded as the most important early Confucian thinker after Confucius. Later tradition describes him as a student in the lineage of Zisi, Confucius’s grandson, and as an itinerant adviser who traveled among rival states offering counsel on humane government. Mencius argued that rulers should cultivate benevolence and that people possess an innate tendency toward goodness. His teachings are preserved in the *Mengzi* (*Mencius*), a text traditionally attributed to him and his disciples.