Mencius

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Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Chinese Confucian philosopher

c. 372 BC – 289 BC · 83 years · State of Zou · Asia

Greatest successor of Confucius, who taught that human nature is innately good and rulers must govern benevolently.

Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 4th century BC

Portrait: Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Contemporaries around the world

Europe

Aristotle — ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, 12 years older
Plato — ancient Greek philosopher, 56 years older
Pytheas — Greek navigator and geographer, 22 years younger
Olympias — queen of Macedon, mother of Alexander, 3 years older

Middle East

Alexander the Great — king of Macedon and conqueror, 16 years younger

Africa

Euclid — ancient Greek mathematician, 47 years younger
Ptolemy I Soter — founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, 5 years younger
Arsinoe II — queen of Ptolemaic Egypt, 56 years younger

Asia

Chandragupta Maurya — founder of the Maurya Empire, 32 years younger
Ashoka — Maurya emperor, 68 years younger
Zhuangzi — Chinese Taoist philosopher, 3 years younger
Qu Yuan — Chinese poet and minister, 32 years younger

The world in their lifetime

331 BC Battle of Gaugamela — aged 41, Middle East
331 BC Founding of Alexandria — aged 41, Africa
323 BC Death of Alexander the Great — aged 49, Middle East
c. 322 BC Founding of the Maurya Empire — aged 50, Asia
c. 300 BC Maya script — aged 72, Americas