Who was Mèng Kē?
Q: Who was Mèng Kē?
A: Mèng Kē was a Chinese philosopher also known as Meng Zi or Mencius.
Q: When did Mencius live?
A: Mencius lived from about 371 B.C. to about 289 B.C.
Q: Who did Mencius regard as the greatest teacher?
A: Mencius regarded Confucius as the greatest teacher.
Q: What did Mencius teach about humans?
A: Mencius taught that humans are born with four gifts: the natural ability to feel what other people feel and to want to help and protect them, the ability to recognize when they are not doing their share of maintaining a good society, the ability to recognize conflict situations before they grow big and to defuse them, and the ability to recognize when some other people are hurting others and want to obtain justice for those being hurt.
Q: What did Mencius believe about the relationship between the ruler and the people?
A: Mencius believed that just as the people owed things to the ruler, the ruler also owed things to the people.
Q: When would it be acceptable for the people to get rid of the ruler, according to Mencius?
A: If a man held the position of ruler but did not do the things for the people that a ruler should do, then it was acceptable for the people to get rid of the ruler, and even to kill him, according to Mencius.
Q: What is the name of the book that Mencius wrote?
A: The book that Mencius wrote is called by his name, so in English it is called the Mencius.
