Welcome to Francis Academic Press

Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2020, 3(5); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2020.030508.

The Research of the Historical Context of Mencius' "Concubine's Principle"

Author(s)

Hongfeng Zhang1, *

Corresponding Author:
Hongfeng Zhang
Affiliation(s)

1 College of Liberal Arts, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, China
*Corresponding author e-mail:[email protected]

Abstract

Mencius said that taking the obedience of the husband as the right path is the principle followed by the concubine. It was also considered by many people as a discrimination against female. In fact, Mencius's remarks did not focus on female. He just borrowed such a historical fact to satirize the behavior of the strategist to obey the monarch. It is what "concubines" should do, not the "real men". Behind this sentence of Mencius, it actually implies the difference between the strategist and the Confucian in the concept of monarch and minister. The strategist regards obedience to the monarch as the way of the courtier, but the Confucianists regards the courage to admonish as the way of courtier. This difference is inseparable from the historical environment of princes' separatism, political turmoil, and frequent diplomacy.

Keywords

mencius, concubine; "real men"; monarchs and ministers

Cite This Paper

Hongfeng Zhang. The Research of the Historical Context of Mencius' "Concubine's Principle". Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2020) Vol. 3, Issue 5: 60-66. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2020.030508.

References

[1] L.Tao(2010). Interpretation of Mencius. Renmin University of China Press, 2010.
[2] He.W.J(2017). Mencius' ideal country. Guangxi Normal University Press, p.92.
[3] Shao.Z.S, Shao.P, and Hu N.N(2017). Great and beautiful Mencius. Qilu Bookstore, p.68.
[4] Dong.L.Z(2014). Mencius Quanjian: 2 editions. China Textile Press, p.115.
[5] Chen.S.G(2006). Zhou Li • Ritual • Book of Rites. Yuelu Bookstore, p.32.
[6] Peng. L (2001). Rites . Yuelu Book Club, p.43.
[7] Liu. X (2017). The Whole Book of Warring States Policy. China Textile Press, p.86.
[8] Zhu.X(2012). Annotations of Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books. Zhonghua Book Company, 2012.