Mencius inherited and developed Confucius' thought of ruling by virtue, and developed it into the theory of benevolent governance, which became the core of his political thought. Mencius' political theory is king with benevolent governance as its content, and its essence is to serve the feudal ruling class. He applied the principles of "pro" and "long" to politics, eased class contradictions and safeguarded the long-term interests of the feudal ruling class.

On the one hand, Mencius strictly distinguished the class status of the ruler and the ruled, and thought that "those who do things rule their people, and those who do things rule their people", and imitated the Zhou system to draw up a hierarchy from emperor to ruler; On the other hand, it compares the relationship between the ruler and the ruled to the relationship between parents and children, and advocates that the ruler cares about the sufferings of the people like parents and the people treat the ruler like parents.

Extended data:

Mencius believed that if the rulers practiced benevolent policies, they could win the heartfelt support of the people. On the other hand, if people's lives are ignored, they will lose people's hearts, become solitary thieves and be overthrown by the people. The specific content of benevolent government is very extensive, including economy, politics, education and ways to unify the world, among which there is a clue of people-oriented thought.

Mencius' "benevolence and righteousness" has a class nature and is based on the feudal hierarchical society. However, he opposed the exploitation of the people by the rulers and the war between the state and the family.