Alumni College Fellow

Howard Curzer

Stingy King Meets Savvy Sage: Rethinking the Dialog Between Xuan and Mengzi

I present a new interpretation of an ancient text by Mengzi, a follower of Confucius. My interpretation has four big advantages over the standard view. First, it makes better sense of the text. Second, it makes Mengzi sound insightful rather than dense. Third, it increases the number of virtues in Mengzi's meager virtue list. Finally, it arms Mengzi with a strategy for improving the character traits of rulers. The last two advantages are of interest not only to Mengzi scholars, but also to contemporary Confucians, especially since Mengzi presents his strategy as a cure for a ruler's vices concerning anger, sex, and wealth.

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