Chapter 27: Correlation between Dong Zhongshu’s Theory of Nature and the Ox Mountain Chapter

An In-depth Interpretation of Mencius' 'The Trees of Ox Mountain' Chapter: The Core of Innate Goodness and Cultivation of Mind and Nature

This paper takes the "The Trees of Ox Mountain" chapter from Mencius' "Gaozi" as its core text, integrating it with pre-Qin philosophical literature to deeply analyze the argumentative structure of innate human goodness, the mechanisms by which external environments harm the mind and nature, and the philosophical foundations and cultivation practices of the theory of innate goodness.

Tianwen Editorial Team February 7, 2026 102 min read PDF Markdown

Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BCE), a great Confucian scholar of the Western Han, adopted a mediating position between Mencius’s inherent goodness and Xunzi’s inherent evil.

Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu Fanlu, Chapter on Deep Observation of Names):

"Nature (xing) is the simplicity of Heavenly endowment; Goodness (shan) is the transformation brought by Royal Teaching. Without the endowment, the Royal Teaching cannot transform; without the Royal Teaching, the simplicity cannot become good. ... Heaven gave birth to human nature with a good endowment, but man cannot yet be good, so Heaven established rulers to make him good—this is Heaven’s intent. People receive the nature that cannot yet be good from Heaven, and subsequently receive the education that completes the nature from the rulers. The ruler’s task, following Heaven’s intent, is to complete human nature."

Dong Zhongshu argues that human nature possesses a "good endowment" (shan zhi), but "cannot yet be good"—it has not yet fully realized goodness. It requires the ruler's teaching to actualize this good endowment. This can be understood through the "Wood of Ox Mountain" chapter:

"Good endowment" is like the soil of Ox Mountain—it possesses the potential to grow trees.
"Cannot yet be good" is like the soil being good but the trees not yet grown.
"Royal Teaching’s transformation" is like reasonable forest management—using education to allow the endowment to be realized.

Dong Zhongshu’s position emphasizes the necessity of "teaching/transformation" more than Mencius—he believes a mere "good endowment" is insufficient; it requires royal teaching to become "good." This resonates with Mencius’s idea that "If they obtain nurture, nothing will fail to grow"—the "good endowment" requires "nurture" (education) to "grow" (be realized as good).

However, Mencius emphasizes that the sprout of goodness is already present (a small, existing moral emotion like compassion), whereas Dong Zhongshu emphasizes that the "good endowment" is a "potential for goodness that has not yet been realized." The difference lies in whether the goodness is seen as an existing, albeit small, moral feeling, or merely as an unrealized potential.