The Deletion of Mencius's Thought of Commons: The Abbreviated Version of the Mencius of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty

During the Song Dynasty of China, the Mencius was included in the Four-Books by Zhu-Xi and became the canon of neo-Confucianism. The anthropology, political thought, and social ethics of the Mencius became important components of the neo-Confucianism. At the same time, Mencius' political criticism, monarch check, and civil rights policy became reasons for doubt, avoidance, and oppression for monarchs or those in power. The Abbreviated version of the Mencius, which was praised by Liu San-wu under the order of the Taizu of Ming dynasty is a representative example. In particular, this paper paid attention to the fact that Mencius's “sharing-withthe- people[與民同之]” ideology was deleted from the Abbreviated version. In the Abbreviated version, themes showing the six “sharing-with-the-people” ideology focused on the Mencius were deleted. The six themes were forest, music, hunting, palace, wealth, and women, which were closely related to the lives of the people, such as family-reproduction, livelihood, wealth, health, culture, and economy. I then explained Mencius's idea of “sharing-with-the-people” as a discussion of the commons of anthropology. In the theory of commons, sharing refers to a social relationship that defines activities, places, and communities such as hunting, collection, and fishing, and operates by the community. Considering the scope of “sharing-with-the-people” as a place and activity of sharing, tensions between the people living on the original land and the monarchs armed with royal land ideology against the background of state power were inevitable. I think this was the reason why Mencius's idea was deleted from the Abbreviated version of the Mencius.