The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

Philosopher

Xunzi

c. 310 – after 238 BCE

Also known as Xun Kuang, Hsün Tzu

Confucian who argued, against Mencius, that human nature is bad and must be reformed through ritual, learning and the teachings of the sages.

Painted portrait of a man with a moustache and a thin beard, wearing a dark cap
Qing-dynasty portrait, an imagined likeness, from a collection published by the National Museum of Chinese History.Anonymous · Public domain · See the original

Xunzi was born around 310 BCE and served in the state of Chu under the patronage of Lord Chunshen, who was assassinated in 238 BCE; Xunzi was still alive then, and nothing more is known of his death. Two men associated with him as students, Han Fei and Li Si, became leading figures of the Legalist tradition and of the Qin state that went on to unify China.

Against Mencius, he argued that human nature is bad: left to themselves, people pursue their desires and fall into conflict. Goodness is the product of deliberate effort, shaped by ritual, music and learning devised by the sages. Long treated in imperial China as a Confucian who went astray, he is now widely recognised as one of China’s greatest thinkers.

Key ideas

Human nature is bad
The faculties and desires we have from birth lead us to act harmfully if we follow them without reflection. Goodness is achieved by deliberate effort (“artifice”), not given by nature.
The rituals of the sages
For most people the best moral guide lies outside the self, in the rituals handed down by the sage kings. Rituals restrain desires that would otherwise know no bounds, and they shape character as well as keeping social order.
Heaven is constant
Heaven’s processes don’t change from one age to the next. A well-governed state prospers even in the face of disaster, so it’s ignorant or hypocritical to blame Heaven for one’s misfortune.
The heart-mind
The heart-mind is the “lord of the body”. Being “empty”, “unified” and “tranquil”, it can come to know the Way, and it can override any impulse, which is what makes self-transformation possible.
Tradition
Chinese
Region
State of Chu

Influences

Influenced by

Xunzic. 310 – after 238 BCE

Influenced

Influenced by

Xunzic. 310 – after 238 BCE

Influenced

Key works

Sources

  1. Paul R. Goldin, Xunzi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy