Revisiting the Internal-External Issue of Ren and Yi: In and beyond Mengzi 6A:4

This essay focuses on the debate between Mengzi and Gaozi in Mengzi 6A:4 concerning the internal-external issue of ren and yi, that is, whether ren and yi are internal or external. It argues (1) that ren and yi each integrate the internal and the external dimensions in Mengzi's view, and (2) that Mengzi and Gaozi utilize distinctive standards, namely the heart boundary and the family boundary, to differentiate between the internal and the external. This offers an alternative reading to Mengzi 6A:4.