Thinkers Timeline

Mencius was a Chinese philosopher. His Chinese name was Meng Ke, which means 'Master Meng'. Later Chinese tradition called him the 'Second Sage', meaning second only to Confucius himself. The Latin name 'Mencius' was given to him by European Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century. He was born around 371 BCE in the small state of Zou, in what is now Shandong province in eastern China. This was the same region where Confucius had lived over a century earlier. Mencius's father died when he was three years old. His mother raised him alone. Stories about her wisdom became famous in China. In one story, she moved house three times to find a place where her son would have good influences around him. The story of 'Mencius's Mother's Three Moves' is still told in China today. Mencius lived during the Warring States Period. This was a violent time. Several Chinese kingdoms fought each other constantly. Armies swept across the land. Ordinary people suffered terribly from war, high taxes, and harsh rulers. Mencius spent much of his adult life travelling from one kingdom to another, offering advice to their rulers. He wanted them to govern more humanely. Some listened for a while. Most did not take his advice seriously. In the end, he retired from public life, disappointed. His students collected his conversations and teachings in a book. It is called simply the Mencius. The book is long and often funny. Mencius argues with rulers, other philosophers, and his own students. He is sharp, stubborn, and clear. He died around 289 BCE, aged about 82. Nearly 1500 years later, the Mencius became one of the 'Four Books' that every educated Chinese person had to study. His ideas shaped China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam for centuries.

Zhuangzi was a Chinese philosopher of the 4th century BCE. His name means 'Master Zhuang'. His personal name was Zhuang Zhou. He lived during a period called the Warring States, when several Chinese kingdoms fought each other constantly. This was a violent and unstable time. It was also a golden age of Chinese thought. Many of China's most important thinkers lived then: Confucius had lived a generation earlier, Mencius and Laozi were also writing in this period. We know very little for certain about Zhuangzi's life. The historian Sima Qian, writing about 150 years after his death, says he was a minor official in a place called Qiyuan, in what is now Henan province. He was offered a high position by the king of the state of Chu but turned it down. He preferred to live simply. He married and had children. He died in peace, probably in his sixties. The book known as the Zhuangzi is named after him. It has 33 chapters and is one of the great works of world literature. Modern scholars think Zhuangzi himself wrote only the first seven chapters, sometimes called the 'Inner Chapters'. These contain the most famous and powerful writing. The rest of the book was written by his students and later followers over several generations. The Zhuangzi is, along with the Daodejing, the foundation of Daoist philosophy. Together the two books form the core of the Daoist tradition. Unlike most philosophers of his time, Zhuangzi wrote mostly in stories. His book is full of talking animals, wise cooks, strange encounters, and dream sequences. He is one of the first great storytellers in world philosophy. His influence on Chinese literature, art, and humour has been enormous.