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Mencius' Prescriptions for Ancient
Chinese Environmental Problems
J. Donald Hughes
University of Denver
Mencius said:
along with those who make war for the same evil rulers. The land
base, he believed, should be increasedonly for benevolent rulers.32
A measure that inhibited agriculturalexpansion but added
to environmentalamenities was the establishment of gardens,
parks, and large preserves. These were no wilderness reservations;
in Chinese gardens every square inch is designed, and art exhausts
itself to be indistinguishable from nature. Fantastically shaped
rocks, removed from their natural settings, were placed by
artificiallakes and streams, among trees and bamboo groves
arrangedto blend with the architecture. Even large parks were
treated in this way, although the vast royal enclosures must have
included areas more like our forest parks and game reserves.
When Mencius visited him, King Hui of Liang wondered
whether a truly enlightened monarch could take delight in such
places:
It was with the labor of the people that King Wen built his
terraceand pond, yet so pleased and delighted were they
that they named his terrace the "SacredTerrace"and his
1989 J.DONALDHUGHES 21
When the people were prepared "to die with" him, even if
the tyrant had a terraceand pond, birds and beasts, could
he have enjoyed them all by himself?36
the sheep should also be spared, but that a gentleman should stay
away from the kitchen, to spare his own feelings! He himself was
not a vegetarian, since he once remarked that his favorite dishes
were fish and bear's paw.41
Mencius'advice on the treatmentof animals must be
considered in light of his distinction between human nature and
non-humannature. In Mencius,the word hsingc was used for
"nature"in both senses, that is, specifically human nature and
nature in general.42In the Ox Mountainpassage,43he compared the
nature of the mountain, which is to be forested, with the nature of a
human being, which is good. The point of the comparisonwas
Mencius'centraldoctrine of the original goodness of every
individual, but he went beyond a purely anthropocentricconclusion.
The mountain, too, has a nature which is good, and when it is
violated it becomes "nolonger fine." It is best if everything in the
world, human being and mountain alike, can develop in accord with
its own nature. Animal nature is good; indeed, there is nothing at
all wrong with it for animals. Mencius asked, "is the nature of a
hound the same as the natureof an ox and the nature of an ox the
same as the nature of a man?"" No, every animal has its own
nature, distinct from that of other species, and human beings have
their own distinct nature, which is the recognition and honoring of
appropriaterelationships to other human beings.45 Human beings,
if they abandon their relationships and duties to other humans,
lose theirown proper natureand become counterfeitanimals.46But
it is laudable for human beings to behave like animals if by that is
meant that they follow their own inherent good nature, as animals
follow theirs: "Thepeople turn to the good as water flows
downwards or as animals head for the wilds. Thus the otter drives
the fish to the deep; thus the hawk drives birds to the bushes."47
For humans, the good is natural. One who wants to follow
the right path can simply look into one's inmost nature, because the
knowledge of right and wrong is there. But there is more. Mencius
said, "Allthings were complete in the self."48"Fora man to give
full realization to his heart is for him to understand his own
nature,and a man who knows his own nature will know Heaven."49
So, at the deepest level, human nature is at one with nature in
general. As Fung Yu-Lanput it, commenting on this passage, "One
comes to feel that there is no longer a distinction between oneself
and others, and so of a distinction between the individual and the
universe. That is to say, one becomes identified with the universe
as a whole. This leads to a realization that 'all things are
1989 J. DONALDHUGHES 23
There was a man from Sung who pulled at his rice plants
because he was worried about their failure to grow. Having
done so, he went on his way home, not realizing what he
had done. "Iam worn out today,"said he to his family. "I
have been helping the rice plants to grow." His son rushed
out to take a look and there the plants were, all shriveled
up. There are few in the world who can resist the urge to
help their rice plants grow. There are some who leave the
plants unattended, thinking that nothing they can do will
be of any use. They are the people who do not even bother
to weed. There are others who help the plants grow. They
are the people who pull at them. Not only do they fail to
help them but they do the plants positive harm.53
Their hall is tens of feet high; the capitals are several feet
broad. Were I to meet with success, I would not indulge in
such things. Their tables, laden with food, measure ten feet
across, and their female attendants number in the hundreds.
Were I to meet with success, I would not indulge in such
things. They have a great time drinking, driving, and
hunting, with a retinue of a thousand chariots. Were I to
meet with success, I would not indulge in such things. All
the things they do I would not do.... Why, then, should I
cower before them?57
a d
b ) 0'I'l
c4j-
49Mendus7. A. 1,182.
50Fung,A ShortHistoryof ChinesePhilosophy, 77. As Creel observes,"themeaning of these
passages has been debated endlessly in Chinese literature,"Chinese7houghtfromConfuciusto
Mao Tse-tung,92-93.
51Creel, ChineseThoughtfrom Confuciusto Mao Tse-tung,93, 204-205.
52Mencius2. A. 2, 77. See the discussion of this passage in Fung, A ShortHistoryof Chinese
Philosophy,78-79.
53Mencius2. A. 2, 78. Mencius'use of parablessuch as this one is reminiscentof Biblicalparallels;
for example,Jesus'story of the Sower (Matthew13:3-30).
54Ibid.4. B. 26,133.
55Hsun Tzu, XVII,translatedby Hu Shih, The Deuelopment of the LogicalMethodin Ancient
China(Shanghai:OrientalBookCo., 1928),152,quoted in Wing-tsitChan,'The Storyof Chinese
Philosophy,"in TheChineseMind: Essentialsof ChinesePhilosophyand Culture,edited by
CharlesA. Moore(Honolulu: East-WestCenterPress and Universityof Hawaii Press, 1967),37.
56Mencus 7. B. 35, 201.
57Ibid.7. B.34,201.
58HoraceOdes2. 15. 1-2.
59Mencius3. A. 4~100-104.
601bid.7. A. 16, 184-185.