Mencius (Mengzi), who lived in the 4th century B.C. during the turbulent Warring States Period, expanded upon the moral principles of Confucius. While Confucius focused on ritual and social order, Mencius is best known for his "optimistic" theory of human nature.

If you simply want a free PDF of any Mencius translation, consider older works from the 19th or early 20th century. The most famous is (1861). Legge’s Victorian English is denser than Lau’s, but it is historically important and available for free on Project Gutenberg, Wikisource, and the Chinese Text Project. Search for "Legge Mencius PDF" instead.

In the vast and towering canon of Chinese philosophy, few texts are as immediately accessible or profoundly humanistic as the Mencius (Mengzi). While Confucius often feels distant—a sage of rigid ritual and terse aphorisms—Mencius feels strikingly modern. He argues, debates, uses analogies, and speaks of human nature with a psychological insight that resonates across two millennia. For English readers seeking to engage with this foundational text, the has become a sought-after digital resource, representing a specific, highly regarded translation by the scholar D.C. Lau.