In “The Wisdom of Confucius,” Mencius explores mans’ nature. He compares it to a forest on a mountain, saying that, at its origin, it is beautiful and good. However, over time, as men have chopped away the trees, the mountain has lost its luster. So much so that people do not even remember that it was once covered with trees. The mountain has lost its true nature. Mencius believes man is the same. He says, at their core, humans have a “heart of love and righteousness,” but have lost it due to the continual hacking of the human spirit. This teaching reminded me of the class discussion on if man is inherently good or evil. There were some who believed that man leans toward being inherently evil, and that is understandable, but I can’t help but wonder if it is because we live in a culture that has forgotten mans’ original nature. Maybe, with “proper nourishment and care,” we can return to a place where the obvious answer to that question is that man is inherently good; return to the full forest on the mountainside.
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