Mencius, Chinese philosopher: “If you love others and they respond with hostility, examine the quality of your love”

When Meng Ke first crossed paths with the art of philosophy, the world looked nothing like it does today. The man later known as Master Meng embraced Confucianism and, as part of the fourth generation of Confucius’ disciples, carried that wisdom across the corners of a China that, in the fourth century BCE, had left behind the “Spring and Autumn” period and stepped into the turbulent era of the “Warring States.” He did so quite literally: traveling from state to state, offering counsel to various rulers. The collected record of those conversations ultimately gave the philosopher his enduring name in history - Mencius.

Among all of Mencius’ teachings, perhaps the most famous is his claim that human nature is intrinsically good. People, he argued, possess innate moral tendencies that illuminate their humanity and counteract the evils that arise not from their essence, but from corrupting external forces - poor social conditions, poverty, political corruption, or a lack of moral cultivation. And despite having formulated these ideas while journeying across the fractured states of ancient China, his theory still resonates today.

The teachings of Master Meng

The continued relevance of Mencius can be seen clearly in some of his most enduring passages, such as this one - an elegant summary of human nature: “If you love others and they respond with hostility, examine the quality of your love. If you govern people and they become ungovernable, examine your wisdom. If you treat others with courtesy and they fail to return it, examine your courtesy. When your actions achieve nothing, always look within yourself - you will find the answer there.”

The line urges introspection: to look inward first when one’s actions fail to produce the intended response. For Mencius, the root of moral action lies in the integrity of both mind and heart. Too often, he suggested, we fail to realize that any of the aforementioned external factors may be warping our interactions with the world. Hence the importance of studying oneself in order to correct these distortions. This connects directly to another of his ideas: virtue, by its nature, is not merely individual but social. A virtuous person is better equipped to exert positive influence on the ethical and political spheres around them.

This explanation does not shy away from the present; in fact, it draws it close - uncomfortably close. The passage argues that moral responsibility is born within each individual, and that only from that inner foundation can it genuinely transform human relationships and society as a whole. The truth of that claim is no different today than it was during the age of the Warring States. This was precisely what the sage Mencius sought to impart to the rulers of his time.

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