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Mencius’ view on human nature can be summarized as “goodness of human nature” or “goodness of nature”; however, it is seriously misread and distorted when it becomes a “common sense of all the people.” Human nature can be a good starting point ― Since Mencius, it has been proven time after time from the aspects of life-experience and of formal logic. The starting points of “humanity, righteousness, propriety and wisdom” come from Heaven (tian 天),1 and are internalized in human heart. The goodness of human nature is,however, not an absolute concept but a relative one, opposite to badness. Mencius, nevertheless, had never denied bad starting points of human nature;for him, bad starting points also truly and substantially lie within human nature. When studying and analyzing Mencius’s theory of human nature,“interpreting Mencius by Mencius” should be adopted as a methodological principle. In interpreting text and thought of Mencius, the distinction between “nature” and “nature for the exemplary person” must also be stressed. On the level of the exemplary person, Mencius deliberately emphasizes “little difference” between nature of the exemplary person and that of animals. As a matter of course, the exemplary person should take “four starting points” as his nature instead of “food and sex.” On the other side, since Mencius does not deny the bad starting points from the aspect of nature or human nature,he also maintains that “the excellent parts 大体” and “the common parts 小体” co-exist within one human heart. From a view of Gongfulun 功夫论(accomplishment of cognizing things), the exemplary person excludes “taste,”“sex,” “sounds,” and “smell” from one’s nature, but for common people, on the contrary, such bodily functions and desires are still included in their nature. Since Qin and Han dynasties, scholars presented various interpretations on Mencius’ notion of human nature, but most of them had neglected the distinction between “nature” and “nature for the exemplary person.”
孟子人性論的基本觀點爲“人性善”或“性善”，業已成爲“國民常識”。在這一常識的背後，隱伏著深度的誤讀與曲解。孟子從個體生命體驗和形式邏輯層面反複證明的一個觀點爲——人性有善端。仁義禮智“四端”源自天，存諸人心爲“立命”。人性之善是與善惡相對之善，善不是絕對之善。但是，孟子從未否定“性”有惡端。人性有惡端是真理，惡具有實質義。研究孟子人性學說，在方法論上應當遵循“以孟釋孟”原則，在文本釋讀與思想詮釋上，應當區別“君子所性”與“性”兩個概念。在“君子所性”層面，孟子刻意強調君子與禽獸的“幾希”之別，君子在應然意義上當以“四端”爲性，而不可以“食色”爲性；但在“性”或“人性”層面，孟子並沒有否定“性”或“人性”有惡端，“大體”與“小體”同在於人心。盡管君子在功夫論層面不將“味”、“色”、“聲”、“臭”稱之爲性，但芸芸眾生之“性”還是蘊含“味”、“色”、“聲”、“臭”。秦漢以降，曆代學人之所以對孟子人性學說理解不一，大多在於未厘清“君子所性”與“性”兩個概念的區別。
