Benevolent governing was a system which institutionalized thinking highly of "the people" or lower classes. It insisted that the ruling class regard the lower classes as the core of society. When Mencius went to Qi State, King Xuanwang asked Mencius about other kings' practice of dominating the world through military power. Mencius said they would never achieve their goal, because their methods were fundamentally wrong. Opposing armies may have different aims, but both are human beings. The wise choice was not to increase arms and prepare for wan, but to win the support of the people of the nation and then the whole world. Only in this way could one realize the dream to unify the world.
Mencius' principle of benevolent governing has exerted a deep and far-reaching influence throughout China's history. The suffering lower classes saw Mencius' doctrine as their deliverance, capable politicians tried to implement it and philosophers used it to expose harsh regimes. Even today we can see those who aspire to Mencius' idea of government and succeed.
