Xunzi
People are born selfish, and only education, ritual and effort make them good – morality is a human achievement, not a gift of nature.
Placement
Human nature is bad – only education and ritual shape the human being.
Key ideas
- Badness of human nature
- Ritual as formation
Students: Han Feizi
Influence
Influenced by 1
Confucius
influenced by
Xunzi honoured Confucius as the sage not blinded by partial views and built on his teaching of ritual (li) and learning; the Xunzi opens with ‘Encouraging Learning’. Xunzi, “Quanxue”, “Jiebi”, tr. E. Hutton, Xunzi: The Complete Text (2014); SEP “Xunzi”
Evidence: AI draft
Confucius › traditionally 551–479 BCE
Influenced 2
Han Feizi taught
taught later tradition ✓
Known only from later tradition: Sima Qian’s Shiji 63 (c. 90 BCE) has Han Fei study under Xunzi together with Li Si; the Han Feizi itself never names Xunzi as his teacher. Sima Qian, Shiji 63; SEP “Han Fei”
Evidence: also in Wikidata · Wikidata
Han Feizi › c. 280–233 BCE
Ogyū Sorai
influenced
Ogyū Sorai’s view that the Way consists of rites and institutions invented by the ancient sage-kings is close to Xunzi’s, as scholars note (Bendō, 1717). Ogyū Sorai, Bendō (1717); J. A. Tucker, Ogyū Sorai’s Philosophical Masterworks (2006); SEP “Japanese Confucian Philosophy”
Evidence: AI draft
Ogyū Sorai › 1666–1728
Criticism
Criticizes 4
Mozi
criticised
Xunzi held that Mozi was so fixed on utility that he failed to appreciate culture, defending ritual and music against Mohist frugality (Xunzi 10, 20, 21). Xunzi, chs. 10 ‘Fuguo’, 20 ‘Yuelun’, 21 ‘Jiebi’; SEP “Xunzi”
Evidence: AI draft
Mozi › c. 470–391 BCE
Mengzi (Mencius)
criticised
Xunzi rejected Mencius’ view that human nature is good: goodness is the product of deliberate effort (wei), rites and teachers (Xunzi 23, ‘Xing e’). Xunzi, ch. 23 ‘Xing e’; SEP “Xunzi”
Evidence: AI draft
Mengzi (Mencius) › c. 372–289 BCE
Hui Shi
criticised
Xunzi charged that Hui Shi was carried away by words and failed to grasp reality, and counted him among the masters who misled the world (Xunzi 6, 21). Xunzi, ch. 6 ‘Fei shier zi’, ch. 21 ‘Jiebi’; SEP “School of Names”
Evidence: AI draft
Hui Shi › c. 370–310 BCE
Gongsun Long
criticised
Xunzi’s ‘Rectification of Names’ classed paradoxes such as ‘an ox-horse is not a horse’, linked to Gongsun Long’s school, as misusing names to confuse reality (Xunzi 22). Xunzi, ch. 22 ‘Zhengming’; SEP “School of Names”
Evidence: AI draft
Gongsun Long › c. 325–250 BCE
Works
- c. 240 BCEXunzi
Human nature is bad; goodness is acquired.
Position
Xunzi was the great systematiser of classical Confucianism and Mencius’ chief opponent: human nature is bad, meaning that we are born with desires that, left unchecked, lead to conflict and disorder. Goodness is the product of deliberate effort – of learning, ritual and music, devised by the sages to shape and refine our desires, as a craftsman straightens warped wood. Heaven is simply the regular course of nature, not a moral will that answers prayers. His rationalist, education-centred Confucianism was highly influential under the Han dynasty, though later overshadowed by Mencius.
Life & context
Xunzi (Xun Kuang) came from the state of Zhao and taught for years at the Jixia academy in Qi, one of the intellectual centres of the Warring States period. He later served as magistrate of Lanling in the state of Chu. Among his pupils were Han Feizi and Li Si, who became chief minister of the Qin dynasty.
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