Mencius 372 BC – 289 BC

Mengzi, conventionally known in the West as Mencius, was a Chinese Confucian philosopher of the fourth century BC, traditionally regarded as the second sage of the Confucian tradition after Confucius himself. His teachings, recorded in the book that bears his name, develop the central Confucian themes of moral cultivation and right government with particular emphasis on the original goodness of human nature. He argued that all human beings possess innate moral sprouts of compassion, shame, deference, and judgement of right and wrong that, if properly cultivated, develop into the cardinal virtues. He travelled extensively as an unsuccessful adviser to the rulers of various warring states. The Mencius became one of the canonical Four Books of Neo-Confucianism in the Song dynasty and shaped East Asian moral and political thought for centuries.