| | Mencius [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-12) |
 | | The common intellectual and political problem that Warring States thinkers hoped to solve was the problem of China's unification. |
 | | While no early Chinese thinker questioned the need for autocratic rule as an instrument of unification, philosophers differed on whether and how the ruler ought to consider moral limitations on power, traditional religious ceremonies and obligations, and the welfare of his subjects. |
 | | Into the philosophical gap created by a lack of political unity and increasing social mobility stepped members of the shi ("retainer" or "knight") class, from which both Confucius and Mencius arose. |
| www.iep.utm.edu /m/mencius.htm (4812 words) |