The most important development of the Confucian School was in the teachings of Mencius (372–289 B.C.). After the death of Confucius, the teachings were divided into two schools, one of Hsuntse and one of Mencius, the former believing in the wickedness of human nature and the necessity of restraint, and the latter believing in the sheer expansiveness of the good heart of man. Mencius said, The great man is one who has not lost the heart of a child. He started out from the assumption that man has the innate capacity for good and loves what is good, that it is through corruption that man deteriorates, and that therefore the essence of self-cultivation, of preserving one's moral character, consists merely in finding the lost heart of the child. This has become the orthodox school. Mencius has been given a place next only to Confucius, and it is common to speak of Confucian doctrines as the teachings of Kung-Meng, meaning Confucius (Kung) and Mencius (Meng).
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About Mencius
Mencius was confucian philosopher (c. 371 – c. 289 bc). Mencius, born Meng Ke (孟軻), was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage (亞聖) to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting his ideology and developing it further. Read more on Wikipedia →