Part 2: Moral motivation and moral cultivation inMencius—When one burst of anger brings peace to the world

Abstract

As a 4th century BCE Confucian text, Mencius provides a rich reflection on moral emotions, such as empathy and compassion, and moral cultivation, which has drawn attention from scholars around the world. This two-part discussion dwells on the idea of natural moral motivation expressed through the analogy of the four sproutsparticularly the sprout of ceyin zhixin (the heart of feelings others' distress)-as the starting point, the focus, and the drive of moral cultivation. In Part 1, I presented an integrated view of the sprouts as including cognitive, affective, and motivational aspects. In Part 2, I discuss the cultivation and application of natural moral motivation. I illustrate how the sprouts inform moral deliberation and drive moral cultivation, while also being its subject. I also demonstrate how emotional responses are managed and regulated according to the sprouts and discuss why moral cultivation is sometimes unsuccessful.

Learned Women, “Leftover” Women, and “The Third Sex” Women's Learning in the Confucian Tradition and Contemporary China

“…Confucianism is more than a state ideology for the learned social and political elites; its connections, if there is any, with gender oppression in everyday life must be found instead in the institution of the family where the Confucian emphasis on the familial virtue of filial piety, the continuity of the family nature, and ancestor worship are more of a way of life"(Rosenlee 2006, 121-22). 4 For a detailed discussion of the affective components of the four hearts and how moral motivations are cultivated, seeHu (2019aHu ( , 2019b. 5 For example, in a story Mencius wants to divorce his wife for not behaving according to rituals-she sat in an inappropriate manner in her husband's presence.…”