Mencius

The final book of Mencius starts with a discussion of fate and death. The opening section says that if a man realizes his true moral character he will know his nature, and by so doing he will also come to know “heaven” or fate. As such, “Whether he is going to die young or to live to a ripe old age makes no difference to his steadfastness of purpose” (145). Mencius argues that if we have properly developed our character, we should not be troubled by death or whether it comes early. The next two sections flesh out more precisely what this means. Everything happens, says Mencius, according to destiny. Still, we can take an active role in understanding and responding to this destiny (section 2). If we follow the way, we will always die as is befitting of our destiny. In the next section (section 3), Mencius talks about how we can be “open” to destiny while still seeking it.

This subject leads onto a discussion, in later sections, about how we discover ourselves and of asceticism. While, Mencius says, “The multitude can never be said to understand what they practice” and are unaware of themselves (146), a “gentleman” is constantly looking for himself and takes the greatest joy in self-examination.