The Chinese people call Menius the second Sage of China after Confucius. He was born approximately in 372 BC, and died in 289 BC. His another name Meng Ke who styled himself Zi Yu. He was a student of Confucius' grandson. His mother has been considered as a typical example being good at teaching children. Both Confucius and Menius were great educational pioneers everybody knows in China. During the Warring-State Period of China (475-221BC), Menius once played an important role in spreading Confucian thought. He visited several kingdoms such as Sung, Qi, Liang, Chen and Lu, propagating his ideological and political point of view. However, his theory was too ideal to practice and not easily accepted by all the kingdoms he called on. Being frustrated, Menius returned to his own land, Shizou (today's Zouxian County, Shangdong Province), set up school to enroll disciples or followers. Menius kept on advocating developing his thought owing to Confucian theoretical influence. In addition he began writing further to make his theories systematic and perfectly complete. He had two sophisticated disciples: one was Gongsun Chou, the other Wang Zhang. Menius' disciples rewrote what Menius talked about during his visiting the kingdoms or states. As a classical book, Menius consists of seven articles. Menius inherited Confucianism and he was against reforming the whole society by force or violence, and advocated carrying out the Well-Like Field system. The Chinese character WELL is like the sign # in which the whole land (for example, the 100-Acre land) can be dividedsintos9 parts including the central part as a public one. Thus 8 parts were subordinate respectively to 8 peasants who could plow each own part and also in charge of plowing the central part as a tax-contribution to the state. He supported of feudal management instead of the slavery system. He turned Confucian benevolent ideologysintosbenevolent government or administration in which he suggested that all the Warring States would be united. For the first time in Chinese history, he declared“The people are noble but the noble are humble”

　　Owing to his historical condition limit, apriorism or idealism somehow affected his theory. His belief is that man was born good or benevolent in nature, and turning the wicked just with his later changeable doing carelessly. His or her innate quality is of innocence. Menius theory or thought has had strong effect on the Chinese people's mind for thousands of years. Up to now his childhood story is still told all over China. His mother was very strict with him. She moved for more than once insgroupsto find a good neighbor who would have good influence to little Menius in manners. Once she was too angry to stop weaving-machine and cutting off all the warp and woof as she found his son not to study hard and behave well. As a great mind, Menius could hardly achieve a great deal education without his mother's help during his childhood.Menius left us some interesting and meaningful articles, one of which is Fish, I Wish to Have.

　　The general idea is like this:

　　I like both fish and bear-paw. Unless both of them I have, I prefer bear-paw rather than fish. I like to be alive, and do something righteous, too. However I would prefer to be righteous rather than alive if something more important or valuable than life, therefore I don't always fear danger. Were a man to like nothing more than life, would he be willing to do anything to flee danger? If he liked something much more than life and hated something much more than death, he would choose the way more willingly to die than to live though man's life priceless. If a piece of bread or a cup of drink were presented to a man with an impolite order, he would not have it though he was hungry to death. And even a beggar, too, if he were ordered to eat such a kind of food or drink and the like in the same way, he would spurn it. However, hundreds or thousands of bushels of grain will be taken with no careful consideration of being treated either in polite or impolite way. In fact, it is unnecessary for a man to eat such plenty of grain while being hungry, why could he accept such impolite manner when something in large scale he needs? More examples belonging to the non-logical matters. Although the poor or the needy could benefit nothing, gentlemen still would like to occupy magnificent chambers and mansions for serving their wives and concubines.

　　Menius used to say that“Benevolence means man's heart, and human being means the way; it's terrible that a man doesn't try to find the lost way to walk, and the lost mind to think or the heart to be loved.”

　　From the above abstract we can learn something about his philosophical views. Nowadays more and more the point that every thing in the universe is made out of contradiction as one hand cannot clap with the other or as a coin with two sides. Actually the inner contradiction is the power to move for everything in the universe. More than 2300 years ago, Menius revealed the essence of unite of the opposite to objective things, which proved him to be a true great scholar.

　　And also Menius had great contributions to the Chinese ethics or moral construction. He thought we should devote our lives insgroupsto protect justice or something righteous. There were more heroes or martyrs were encouraged by Mniusisim: Justice is greater than life. 2200 years later, Hungary poet Petofi Sandor (1823-1849) also concluded in his poem as follows:

　　Than anything, life is dearer,

　　Than treasure, love is greater.

　　For winning freedom, however,

　　Both could be given up forever.

　　(Tr. Manfild Zhu)

　　From the poem we can conclude that all the common people have the same language no matter they were old or young, no matter they lived in the past or at present.

　　Anyway we should treasure the ancient classical scholars' experience in connection with today's situation. Unless learning something about Menius or Meniusism, we could hardly understand the Chinese traditional culture. Confucian and Menius seem to be the two great rivers(the Yangtse and the Yellow)always flowing across the Chinese cultural field.

　　(Manfield Zhu.)