Shamir John L.

Abejar 1
Chinese Philosophy 4PHL1

Xunzi (Hsün Tzu)

This article aims at providing some of the significant points in the body of
teachings by Xunzi (Hsün Tzu), a Chinese philosopher, and in particular, one of
the teachers belonging to the Ru Jia School of thought. The important points
that will be presented find a common ground, namely the importance of
education and governance in the establishment of each individual person's
good moral character, and the corresponding effect of education to society.

(1) Man, by nature is evil:

In context, this idea of Xunzi was a contestation against the idea of human
nature formulated by his predecessor, Mengzi (Mencius). As the subtitle
provided implies, Mencius had a positive idea of human nature- man is good
since birth. This idea is concrete in the body of Mencius' teachings through what
he called the innate seeds of goodness, said to be inherent in every individual:
"the sense of pity..., the sense of right and wrong, sense of good and evil, sense
of truth and falsity are all found in man by birth." This theory suggests that man
himself is potentially capable of discerning between what is morally good from
what is morally evil; man himself is a sufficient barometer of morality since "the
principles of reason are built-in." This inherent aspects that lead man to
goodness would become manifest in practice in the form of virtue; virtue is the
symptom that point out to the reality of the developing self, as far as the innate
seeds of goodness are concerned. “Since all men have these four beginnings (of
innate seeds of goodness) in themselves, let them know to give them full
development and completion. The result will be like fire that has begun to burn
or a spring that has begun to find a vent.” This optimism, however is obviously
met with the obvious challenge of criticism, particularly, a question derived
from reality- why is there still evil, if man could assent towards the right things?
In response, Mengzi divided human perceptions between rational and sensual
(between the "great" part and the "less" part respectively). It is said that when
man emphasizes rational perception (i.e. thinking) in his life, he lives in
goodness. On the other hand, if what is emphasized is the sensual aspect of
one's being, one looses touch with reason, depriving oneself with the potential
to think, thereby also loosing that ability of properly discerning between what
is right and what is wrong.
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Chinese Philosophy 4PHL1

In contrast with Mengzi, Xunzi believed that man is inherently evil. His
justification originated from the fact that man has this constant tendency to
seek things in order to reward himself through satisfaction; as the master
stated: “Man’s nature is evil…. The nature of man is such that he is born with a
fondness for profit.” With this tendency in mind, man is described as an egoistic
and selfish human being that would disregard any moral factor (e.g. fellow
persons, social norms, authorities) for the sake of fulfilling his own desires. He
directly attacked Mengzi's positive idea of human nature by establishing the
difference between human nature and conscious activity. The premise of this
argument states that there are aspects found in the human person which are
either inherently given, or inculcated (developed). And in order to determine
the difference, one should ask where these aspects have originated- from
nature or from constant human effort? “Mencius states that man is capable of
learning because his nature is good, but I say that this is wrong. It indicates that
he has not really understood man's nature not distinguished properly between
the basic nature and conscious activity. The nature is that which is given by
Heaven; you cannot learn it, you cannot acquire it by effort. Ritual principles,
on the other hand, are created by sages; you can learn to apply them, you can
work to bring them to completion. That part of man which cannot be learned or
acquired by effort is called the nature; that of him which can be acquired by
learning and brought to completion by effort is called conscious activity. This is
the difference between nature and conscious activity.” From this distinction,
Xunzi finally establishes that the human manifestation of goodness does not
belong to human nature, but rather given through some process of
development.

(2) The importance of Education in the development of human character:

Xunzi's assertion that human goodness is not a given would lead to his next
assertion- the importance of Education in relation to human character.
According to Xunzi, learning is man's manner in which he combats his evil
nature; it is only by being more knowledgeable about reality that one could
dispel the possibility of committing error. Moreover, Xunzi recognizes the
important consideration man has to undertake in Education- to choose what
teachings shall he trust. “A gentleman will take care in selecting the community
he intends to live in, and will choose men of breeding for his companions. In
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Chinese Philosophy 4PHL1

this way he wards off evil and meanness, and draws close to fairness and right.”
It is essential that man take up the opportunity of being educated, considering
his already poor condition; the point of Education is to improve from such a
degrading state. Xunzi makes this point of Education very clear in his analogy
of the uneducated person to already appalling things in nature that produces
negative things if given no proper attention; in the case of the person, the
neglect of one's evil nature by the deliberate deprivation of oneself from the
opportunity to educate himself also leads to negative consequences produced
by an erroneous, uneducated character: “Every phenomenon that appears must
have a cause. The glory or shame that come to a man are no more than the image
of his virtue. Meat when it rots breeds worms; fish that is old and dry brings
forth maggots. When a man is careless and lazy and forgets himself, that is when
disaster occurs…. Evil and corruption in oneself invite the anger of others.”

In the process of being educated, Xunzi identifies two important things a person
must encounter: a worthy teacher and ritual: “In learning, nothing is more
profitable than to associate with those who are learned.” Teachers are needed,
according to Xunzi because they have grown in experience of interpreting the
texts, and that they could help new students to better understand the materials
they read: “[But] if you make use of the erudition of others and the explanations
of gentlemen, then then you will become honored and make your way
anywhere in the world. Therefore, I say that in learning nothing is more
profitable than to associate with those who are learned, and of the roads to
learning, none is quicker than to love such men.” Furthermore, Xunzi considers
teachers to be the sources of rituals. Establishing these rituals, he emphasized,
required experimentation, in determining validity and ultimately whether
these rituals should be recommended to students. “Therefore, the sage
transforms his nature and initiates conscious activity: from his conscious
activity, he produces ritual principles and regulations. Hence, ritual principles
and rules are produced by the sage. In respect to human nature the sage is the
small as other men and does not surpass them; it is only in his conscious activity
that he differs from and surpasses them.” And because teachers are crucial in
education, they become legitimized as a form of authority in the eyes of their
students. Reverence of the student towards his teachers becomes a norm. As
for ritual, the master Xunzi cites the significance of these practices, as they
serve as the rules people must follow, in order to live a well-tempered and
coordinated life, helping oneself to prevent being conquered by one’s inherent
selfish drive towards profit; it reshapes one’s life towards a purpose, beyond
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one’s egoistic nature. Through the devoted practice of ritual, a person could see
plans and projects accomplished with precision. “This is the way with impartial
goodness: use it to control your temperament and nourish your life and you will
live longer…; use it to improve yourself… It is in fact what is meant by ritual. If
all matters pertaining to temperament, will and understanding proceed
according to ritual, they will be ordered and successful; if not, they will be
perverse, violent or slovenly and rude…. Therefore, a man without ritual cannot
live; an undertaking without ritual cannot come to completion; a state without
ritual cannot attain peace.” If either or both factors of teachers or ritual are not
provided with the proper consideration it deserves, education becomes
useless; “then you will only be learning a mass of jumbled facts, blindly
following the Odes and Documents, and nothing more…. If you want to become
like the former kings and seek out benevolence and righteousness, then ritual
is the very road which you must travel.”

Xunzi also recognizes the difficulty of Education, since learning could also prove
to be a tiresome work. And aware of the crucial project of education as forming
a good human character, it is not as brief and ordinary as any other processes
people undergo. “Where does learning begin, and where does it end? I say that
as to program, learning begins with the recitation of the Classics and ends with
the reading of the ritual texts; and as to the objective, it begins with learning to
be a man of breeding, and ends with learning to be a sage…. Learning continues
until death and only the does it cease. Therefore, we may speak of an end to the
program of learning, but the objective must never for an instant be given up.”
Though he stated that education is a lifetime project, the statement does not
deny the possibility of achieving total formation within one’s lifetime. Man
could still reach the summit of education, given that he must focus on his task.
Xunzi compares a group consisting of six thoroughbreds to a turtle in
illustrating this point: “Men are certainly not as widely separated in their
capacities as a lame turtle and a team of six thoroughbreds; yet the lame turtle
reaches the goal where the team of thoroughbreds fails. There is only one
reason: one keeps on going, the other does not. Though the road is short, if you
do not step along, you will never get to the end; though the task is small, if you
do not work at it you will never get finished.” And though Xunzi’s two
statements -education is lifetime task and education accomplishable through
one’s strong sense of focus- are seemingly contradictory assertions on one
hand, these statements may still be perceived as consistent on the other; Xunzi
must be recognizing the fact that living is in flux. One could not always maintain
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Chinese Philosophy 4PHL1

a certain state of mind; experience tells us that instability in character also

occurs, and is not realized until it is already too late. Hence, Xunzi’s argument
remains consistent under the acknowledgement of this aspect of living.

Despite this reality, Xunzi is still encouraging that people should take up this
possible course in life where they are educated, because there are benefits
behind this rigorous work. One benefit has already been established – that of
the development of human character; “if the gentleman studies widely and each
day examines himself, his wisdom will become clear and his conduct be without
fault.” Another benefit is that he could be distinguished from other people, in
terms of developing practical skills- that the gentleman is by birth no different
from any other man; it is just that he is good at making use of things.”

Learning for Xunzi, however, is not merely an ordinary transmission of wisdom

from the teacher to the student. Significant to establishing a human character,
wisdom from education should not be taken for granted. Hence, Xunzi reminds
students that they must possess a kind of disposition where education must be
understood under this significant purpose. This is why Xunzi (as established
earlier) emphasized the importance of the necessity in students to associate
themselves with full (in other words, sincere) consent with their teachers and
the rituals being taught. Appreciation for the teachers and their teaching is the
important thought a student must realize; he must delve into the purpose of his
education, in order to assent that whatever is being taught to him is necessary,
and therefore should never be forgotten. “If your emotions find rest in ritual
and your understanding is like that of your teacher, you have become a sage.”
This implies that students must take heart the lessons parted by their teachers
and be sincere in this process of development, because to possess a good
character would later entail heeding later to the call of society, in need of
virtuous men, highly regarded for the characteristic genuine competence to
serve it.

(3) Polished human character as essential for a stable community:

The importance of Education as a means to promote social order: So far what

has been established is that man, from an evil nature, undergoes the moulding
of Education in order to set his life straight. In this process, teachers and the
latter's rituals help the person through training, constantly practicing ritual as
to discipline the person on his path to a converted life. Though once Education
succeeds in teaching its purpose to the person's character, what happens next?
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Xunzi proceeds on with the argument, regarding the relevance of the entire
process. Aside from the benefit of a renewed life for the student, Education
brings about good individuals to be available in society. Recalling the master's
words, if people would refuse to take the opportunity to be educated, affairs in
society would not be characterized as peaceful or just; for as long as people do
accept education in order to fix their dispositions (from the disposition of
profiteering against fellow persons), no arrangement would be exempt from
havoc: “It is man's emotional nature to love profit and desire gain. Suppose now
that man has some wealth to be divided. If he indulges his emotional nature,
loving profit and desiring gain, then he will quarrel and wrangle even with his
own brothers over the division. But if he has been transformed by the proper
forms of ritual practice, then he will be capable of yielding even to a complete
stranger. Hence, to indulge the emotional nature leads to quarreling of
brothers, but to be transformed by ritual principles makes a man capable of
yielding to strangers.” Hence, when people receive Education from their
teachers, not only does this set people straight, but collectively, society is being
converted from being inhabited by evil men, into good-willed and conscientious
citizens: “Hence, any man who follows his nature and indulgences his emotions
will inevitably become involved in wrangling and strife, will violate the forms
and rules of society, and will end as a criminal. Therefore, man must first be
transformed by the instructions of a teacher and guided by ritual principles,
and only then will be able to observe the dictates of courtesy and humility, obey
the forms and rules of society, and achieve order.” In this sense, Education
becomes an essential tool of society; it is used to polish persons to align
themselves toward rituals, ultimately towards the accepted norms of society.
Ritual may be comparable to laws which govern the people, and teachers, as
alternative leaders of society. For Xunzi, the history of the Chinese civilization
tells of virtuous kings who also took the role of teaching their people virtues,
and rituals and laws being described separately, although description of rituals
(in comparison with that of laws) seem to refer to one thing (more importantly,
a form of literature governing people's way of life to a defined concept of good).
“Now supposedly that man's nature was in fact intrinsically right, reasonable,
and orderly- then what need would there be for sage kings and ritual
principles? The existence of sage kings and ritual principles could certainly add
mothing to the situation. But because man's nature is in fact, evil, this is not so.
Therefore, in ancient times the sages, realizing that man's nature is evil, that it
is prejudiced and not upright, irresponsible and lacking in order, for this reason
established the authority of the ruler to control it, elucidated ritual principles
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Chinese Philosophy 4PHL1

to transform it, set up laws and standards to correct it, and meted out strict
punishments to restrain it.” To understand further the parallelism of law and
ritual, and leaders and teachers (that Education, comprising of teachers and
rituals, is important in promoting social order), Xunzi wanted to consider the
following scenario: “Now let someone try doing away with the authority of the
ruler, ignoring the transforming power of ritual principles, rejecting the order
that comes from laws and standards, and dispensing with the restrictive power
of punishments, and then watch and see how the people of the world treat each
other. He will find that the powerful impose upon the weak and rob them, and
in no time the whole world will be given up to chaos and mutual chaos.” As far
as the place of Education in society is concerned, Xunzi's idea of society contains
teachers and/or leaders inviting all citizens to submit into the social system
which would help form human character, which ultimately becomes an act for
a common good- the peace of society. Another term which can be derived from
Xunzi's thoughts on Education is Discipline. His idea of Education, as it is being
synthesized by society encourages good behavior, while discouraging
otherwise. Society rewards those who would live in accordance to the norms
established by society, while penalizes those who do not. “ When it comes to
men of perverse words and theories, perverse undertakings and talents, or to
people who are slippery or vagrant, they should be given tasks to do, taught
what is right, and allowed a period of trial. Encourage them with rewards,
discipline them with punishments, and if they settle down to their work, then
look after them as subjects; but if not, case them out. In the case of those who
belong to the five incapacitated groups, the government should gather them
together, look after them, and give them whatever work they are able to do,
Employ them, provide them with food and clothing, and take care to see that
none are left out. If anyone is found acting or using his talents to work against
the good of the time, condemn him to death without mercy. This is what is called
virtue of Heaven and the government or a true king.”
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Chinese Philosophy 4PHL1

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