Cultivating Feelings

Abstract This chapter turns to the specific methods Mengzi (and other Confucians) advocate for self-cultivation. The core of Mengzi’s account is that emotions arise from immediate stimulation, leading to an imperative to put oneself in the right situations. That basis in direct experience is extended and complicated by imagination and attention. Mengzi frequently points out the way in which certain situations will evoke feelings of compassion, shame, or aversion in us, while other situations will not, even if they are equally bad. That leads to his idea of extension, which is a central theme of this chapter. Extension includes the method of empathic reciprocity, shu, not wanting to impose on others what we do not want imposed on ourselves, something resembling the Golden Rule. The chapter concludes with a discussion of our dependence on other people and the sharing of responsibility.