What does Confucius and Mencius think is providence? How can we conform to God's will?

Confucius and Mencius affirmed the role of education in the formation of human personality, but their arguments were not exactly the same. Confucius believes that people's innate qualities are almost the same, but the gap is getting farther and farther because of the different learning the day after tomorrow.

Mencius affirmed the role of education according to his theory of good nature. Mencius believes that moral qualities such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom are all innate. But Mencius believed that these moral qualities were only a bud or clue at first. He said: "Compassion is the purpose of benevolence ..." (Mencius Gongsun Chou, quoted below) He said: "If it is true, it can be good, that is, the so-called good." (Gao Zishang) It can be seen that the goodness of human nature mentioned by Mencius is not a natural benevolence, but an innate quality that forms benevolence. We need education if we want to give full play to our innate qualities. This is how Mencius affirmed the role of education with his theory of good nature.

Mencius believes that education is an indispensable activity in human society, otherwise people can't be human, but almost like animals. He said: "People are Tao, eating and wearing warm clothes, living in seclusion and not teaching, that is, getting close to animals." (Teng Wengong) The innate goodness of human beings can only be formed and perfected through acquired education. Mencius believes that education can transcend the category of animals, improve people's value and make people become real people. This view of Mencius is very valuable.

Both Mencius and Confucius believe that education plays an important role in the formation of human personality, but Mencius is more profound than Confucius in reasoning or argumentation.