Resenting Heaven in the Mencius: An Extended Footnote to Mencius 2B13
Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 20 (2):207-229 (2021)
Abstract
It is widely accepted among Mencius scholars that for Mencius, the junzi 君子 is the kind of person who accepts Heaven’s will and never resents Heaven. There are, however, several passages where resentment seems to be presented as a quality that the junzi possesses. In particular, Mencius 2B13 has been the subject of much contention. In Section 1, I will discuss various interpretations of 2B13, building on and updating Philip Ivanhoe’s helpful 1988 survey. In Section 2, I will present an argument for resentment against Heaven in the Mencius. I argue from passages in the Mencius and its relationship with the Shijing 詩經 that we have good reason to think that, under certain circumstances, the junzi ought to resent Heaven. In Section 3, I will develop a theory of resentment from the Mencius and demonstrate how 2B13 can be understood in the larger context of this theory.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1007/s11712-021-09773-0
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References found in this work
Confucius Analects: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries.Edward G. Slingerland - 2003 - Hackett Publishing.
Heaven and Earth Are Not Humane: The Problem of Evil in Classical Chinese Philosophy.Franklin Perkins - 2014 - Indiana University Press.
To Become a God: Cosmology, Sacrifice, and Self-Divinization in Early China.Michael J. Puett - 2002 - Harvard University Press.