Comparative Study On Good And Evil Of Mencius And Mahayana

Confucianism and Mahayana, of intruductional significence for human inward accomplishment, are both important elements of traditional chinese culture. Due to different theoretical character and morals, they show several samenesses and differences in many aspects. This essay will compare traditional confucianism represented by Mencius and the universal theory of Mahayana in the following three respects:differenciation of the concepts of good and evil; life state and personal endeavor in inwardness; contribution for social construction.The concept good mentioned by Mencius and Mahayana is body-proved inherently, self-consciously and willingly, especially the mundane good in Mahayana shares a lot of similarity with confucian doctrine, the difference between them is Mencius appoves human's goodness and dignity from subjective value level, while Mahayana just see human's goodness as one temporary step in the whole progress of striving for becoming a buddha; Mencius extends his inward theory into social construction based on family ethics, advances the humanistic thought and advocates policy of benevolence, while Mahayana places a lot of emphasis on mundane ethics consequentially, not motivationally. Mahayana guides individuals transcend life and death, reach the other shore finally, thus possesses strong tendacy of departing this life.