Abstract

This chapter makes the case that, contrary to traditional views of Mencius as not centrally concerned with rhetoric, in the bulk of the book named for him he is pressingly concerned with (a) how Chinese rulers should rule through persuasion rather than coercion, (b) how the emperor’s top advisors should advise him to rule, and (c) how imperial advisors and top officials should be selected and trained to advise the emperor. The ethos of “advice to ordinary people on how to live their lives” to which the Mencius is traditionally reduced is there, of course; but it represents a small portion of the book, and much of that simply seems like personal ethical advice because for whatever reason it has been politically decontextualized. Also, the political advice Mencius gives rulers and their advisors on how to use rhetoric to rule has often angered emperors, and in addition to radical expurgation in the early Ming Dynasty this delicate political response has led to a tendency to depoliticize the book’s advice, promoting personal ethical advice instead.