Mencius lays out three pillars of stable governance: trust virtuous officials to sustain the nation, uphold ritual and righteousness to keep social order, and attend to state affairs to guarantee adequate public finance.
Mencius claims no truly just wars occurred in the Spring and Autumn age, though some rulers acted less brutally. Only the Son of Heaven held the right to launch punitive campaigns; equal states had no authority to attack one another.
Mencius states true friendship centers on virtue, free from status, age or power. He cites nobles and rulers treating virtuous men as equals, arguing genuine respect from lords means granting them political authority, balancing honoring superiors and worthy subordinates.
In the chaotic aftermath of Dong Zhuo’s seizure of the Han capital in 190 AD, the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition, led nominally by Yuan Shao, struggled to maintain unity.
Two shepherd boys, Gu and Zang, went out together with their flocks and both of them lost their sheep.