On Benevolent Government Thought Of Mencius

“Benevolent government” as a political theory was put forward by Mencius,basis which different from other political theories is that “benevolent government” built on“the theory of good nature”.“benevolent government”contain a wealth of connotation, this paper will be discussing“benevolent government” from five parts.The first part is preface that mainly introduces the production background of the“benevolent government” thought.The second part aims at exploring the theoretical premise of “benevolent government”. Mencius proofes “in the nature of man there are good elements” by an example of “if men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well”. He uses the example of “change a ox for a sheep” to tell King Hui of Liang can carry out “benevolent government” as long as he develops his “unbearing mind”.The third part aims at exploring concrete contents of “benevolent government”.In the political aspects, Mencius holds that the monarch must be learning from the ancient sage-king and assigning talents to administer country. In addition, Mencius thinks that the monarch must be attaching importance to common people. In the economic aspects,Mencius holds that the monarch not only provide enough property for common people to ensure their livelihood, but also can give consideration to agricultural production.Besides, the tax on common people must be keeping a reasonable interval. In the educational aspects, Mencius claims that everyone must be receiving the human relationships education and he provides a series of education methods.The forth part aims at exploring the legality of the monarch's political power in“benevolent government”.Mencius thinks that the monarch holds political power is conforming to“the will of heaven”, in fact,“the will of heaven” is equal to “public opinion”. Secondly, monarch's political power whether legal or not depends on if he is“the benevolent”or not, if he is not“the benevolent”, the monarch can be overthrew in that way.The fifth part aims at exploring the ideal of “benevolent government”, namely realize administering the world by means of “kingly government”.This part will bemaking comparative analysis between “kingly government” and “military lord”, Mencius seems that only administer the world by means of “kingly government” can make the world stability.