Mencius
Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng (originally Zouxian), Shandong province, only thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south of Qufu, Confucius' birthplace.
He was an itinerant（巡回的，流动的） Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. Supposedly（按照推测）, he was a pupil of Confucius' grandson, Zisi. Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform.[5] During the Warring States Period (403–221 BCE), Mencius served as an official and scholar at the Jixia Academy in the State of Qi (1046 BCE to 221 BCE) from 319 to 312 BCE. He expressed his filial （孝顺的，子女的）devotion when he took an absence of three years from his official duties for Qi to mourn （服丧）his mother's death. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.
Mencius is buried in the "Mencius Cemetery" (孟子林, Mengzi Lin, also known as 亚圣林, Yasheng Lin), which is located 12 km to the northeast of Zoucheng's central urban area. A stele（石碑，石柱） carried by a giant stone tortoise and crowned （冠上）with dragons stands in front of his grave.[6]
View on human nature
While Confucius himself did not explicitly focus on the subject of human nature, Mencius asserted the innate goodness of the individual, believing that it was society's influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – that caused bad moral character. "He who exerts （运用，发挥）his mind to the utmost（极限） knows his nature"[9] and "the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind".
孟子
孟子，乳名叫做孟轲，出生在邹国，也就是现在山东省的邹城市。离孔子的故乡曲阜只有30公里（18英里）。
他是一个到处游学的先哲圣人，也是儒家的代表人物。据推测，他曾是孔子曾孙子思的学生。传说，他曾像孔子一样，游历中国各地40年，向当地的统治者提供变革的建议。在战国时期公元前319-312年，孟子曾作为教育官员和学者，在齐国的稷下学宫任职。在他离职为母亲守孝的三年间彰显了他所提倡的孝道。遗憾的是他没能改变当时的社会就退休了。
孟子死后葬在孟子林，也叫做亚圣林，这里离邹城市中心只有12公里。 在他的墓前，有一个巨石龟背着的石柱，石柱上还刻有龙的标志。
对于人的本性的论断
孔子本人从未明确地提出过有关人的本性这一问题。而孟子却曾断言说人性本善，只是社会的不良影响才造成了人的恶念，因为缺少积极的思想教育。把思想发挥到淋漓尽致的人才能找到自我的本性。而学习的过程正是找回自我的过程。
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