Deconstruction and Reconstruction:Mencius'View of Sage Symbol Communication
During the Spring and Autumn period,the sage had become a symbol of communication,implying the mean-ing of the sage king.During the Warring States period,heresy prevailed,and the symbol of the sage represented by Confu-cianism lost its original vitality and value,urgently requiring reconstruction.Mencius placed the symbol of the sage in the context of relational communication,reconstructing it through the relationships between heaven and man,between man and man,and between people(things),endowing the sage with symbolic meanings such as"sex","the highest of human ethics",and"authority in persistence".Mencius,from the perspective of the symbol receiver,linked the symbol of the sage with the"theory of goodness in nature"and"the teacher of a hundred generations",and promoted it to symbolize the sage.The foun-dation of the construction of sage symbols lies in the individual identity of the audience,which then rises to group identity.Mencius provided an internal basis for the audience to become saints based on the theory of"same nature",and on this ba-sis,guided the audience to recognize themselves with the theory of"seeking their peace of mind",leading the subjective self to the objective self,and thus achieving the construction of the symbol of saints.
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