Lu Jianhua | Xunzi's human world

Xunzi's human world

Lu Jianhua

Professor of the Department of Philosophy, Anhui University

Source: Journal of Wuhan University of Science and Technology, No. 6, 2021

Summary: Xunzi believes that human nature is a natural or innate qualification of human beings, in this sense, Xunzi's theory of human nature can be said to be sexual simplicity; Xunzi believes that the content of human nature includes human desire and human cognitive ability, but in order to argue the need for human nature and evil, Xunzi attaches more importance to the lust in human nature, so that his theory of human nature gives people the impression of lust theory; Xunzi objectively realizes that the metaphysical basis of human nature is "qi", but for its own reasons it is not valued, in this sense, Xunzi's theory of human nature can be said to be the theory of sexual qi; Xunzi discusses human nature from the perspective of the content of human nature- lust, believing that the development and practice of human nature is harmful to others and society, and human nature is a theory of sexual evil at the moral level; because Xunzi argues that human nature is evil, it is intended to demonstrate the rationality, necessity of the emergence of "ritual" and the absolute value of the existence of "ritual", so its argument for human evil is intertwined with the argument that "ritual" arises, exists, and values. Looking at man's "goodness" from the perspective of human nature's evil dimension, Xunzi believes that man's "goodness" is acquired and man-made, and is the product of man's learning, thinking, and enlightenment.

Keywords: Xunzi; human nature; evil; qi, etiquette

Xun Zi was a sexual evil theorist, recognized by scholars of all generations, and criticized by later Confucianism for this. For example, Wang Chong said: "Sun Qing was anti-Mencius, and wrote the article "Sexual Evil", thinking that 'human nature is evil, its good ones, and pseudo-nature'" ("On Heng and Nature"), that is, he believes that Xunzi advocates the theory of sexual evil, Xunzi advocates that the theory of sexual evil is intended to oppose Mencius's theory of sexual goodness, and Xunzi's theory of sexual evil focuses on his "Sexual Evil" section; Cheng Yiyi: "Xunzi is extremely biased, only one sentence of 'sexual evil', and the big book has been lost" ("Henan Cheng's Testament", vol. 19), that is, a criticism of Xunzi's sexual evil theory.

In recent years, some scholars have believed that Xunzi is not a sexual evil theorist, but a sexual simplicity theorist, and for this reason, they have denied that the "Sexual Evil" chapter was written by Xunzi. In fact, the Theory of Xunzi's Human Nature has its own internal logical structure and rich connotation, the so-called sexual simplicity and sexual evil are only different aspects of Xunzi's theory of human nature, and the two are not contradictory, and there is no need to deny Xunzi's sexual evil theory because of "discovering" Xunzi's sexual simplicity. In addition, the passage "Sexual Evil" was written by Xunzi, and even if it is not written by Xunzi, as the proclamation of Xunzi is a sexual simplicity, it can also be proved that Xunzi is a sexual evil theorist.

One

Confucius Ziyun,"Sexually similar, xixiang also distant" (Analects of Yang Goods), believing that human nature is similar or even identical, emphasizing the consistency and identity of human nature. Xun Zi was inspired by it, saying: "The nature of mortals, Yao, Shunzhi and Jie, and The Metatarsal, have one nature; the gentleman and the villain, their sex is also one" (Xunzi Sexual Evil); "The reason why the saints are the same as the many, they are not different from the many, and the sex is also" (Xunzi Sexual Evil). That is to say, all people have human nature, and all people's human nature is the same, whether it is Yao Shun or Jie Lu, whether it is a gentleman or a villain, whether it is a saint or a crowd, its human nature is the same, there is no different human nature. This also shows that in the dimension of human nature, all people are the same, and there is no difference between Yao Shun and Jie, gentleman and villain, saint and everyone, etc.; the difference between people, the difference between Yao Shun and Jie, the difference between gentlemen and villains, saints and people, etc., has nothing to do with human nature.

Xunzi's so-called human nature is the same. So, what is this same humanity? Xunzi has repeatedly discussed this: "Those who are born are called sex" ("Xunzi Zhengming"), "Nature is naturally called sex without doing anything" ("Xunzi Zhengming"), "Sex, heaven is also" ("Xunzi Zhengming"), "All sexes, the heavens are also, can not be learned, can not be done" ("Xunzi • Sexual Evil"), "Those who cannot learn and cannot do things in heaven are called sex" ("Xunzi Sexual Evil"). This means that human nature is something that is born with, something natural that has not been transformed by any human factor, so human nature is not obtained through acquired and man-made efforts, and what is obtained through man-made and acquired efforts is not human nature. This shows that in Xunzi's view, human nature is naturally generated, born, innate and unchangeable, and the characteristics of human nature are "natural". In short, human nature is, in the essential sense, the innate natural qualifications of man.

Based on the innate and natural nature of human nature, Xunzi discusses the nature of human nature separately, but also discusses the essence of human nature with the opposite of "sex" and "pseudo". He said, "What cannot be learned and done in heaven is called sex, and what can be learned and can be done is called hypocrisy." It is also the distinction between sexual and false" (Xunzi Sexual Evil). This means that human nature is something that is naturally generated by man, not something man-made by the day after tomorrow; what is obtained through the acquired man-made factor can only be "false." Not only are things obtained through "learning", "things", etc. "pseudo", "accumulating thoughts, being able to practice and then becoming false" ("Xunzi Zhengming"), but also obtaining things through "worry", "xi", etc. are also "pseudo". That is to say, all man-made things are "pseudo". Because of this, we must pay attention to the distinction between "sex" and "pseudo", and should not confuse "sex" and "pseudo", let alone "pseudo" as "sex". Starting from the distinction between sex and hypocrisy, Xunzi believes that Mencius's use of benevolence, righteousness, and wisdom as the content of human nature is actually "pseudo" as "sex".

Judging from Xunzi's distinction between "sex" and "pseudo", xunzi's division method obviously comes from Confucius's "sexual proximity and xi are far away" (Analects of Yang Goods), about the difference between "sex" and "xi". On the one hand, xunzi's "pseudo" and Confucius's "xi" are common and consistent in the essential sense, in the acquired and artificial sense; on the other hand, Xunzi's "pseudo" includes Confucius's "xi" in extension, in other words, "xi" is only one of the "pseudo". The brilliance of Xunzi lies in the abstraction of concrete "habits" into "pseudoses" of universal significance.

Since human nature is essentially a congenital or innate thing of man, Xun Zi said: "Sex, the original material is simple" ("Xunzi Li Theory"), continuously using the categories with original meaning such as "ben", "beginning", "material", "park" and so on to explain human nature, saying that human nature is essentially the origin of man, the beginning of man, the material of man, the simplicity of man, and is the most fundamental, newborn, and original qualification of man. It can be seen from this that since human nature is the "original material and simplicity" of man, then, in the sense of the essence of human nature, it can be said that Xunzi's theory of human nature is the "theory of sexual simplicity", or the theory of sexual origin, the theory of sexual origin, and the theory of sexual material.

However, some scholars have determined that Xunzi's theory of human nature is "sexual simplicity" according to Xunzi's phrase "sex is simple", while ignoring that Xunzi's theory of human nature can also be called the theory of sexuality, the theory of sexual origin, and the theory of sexual material, and at the same time, they do not realize that the so-called theory of sexual simplicity is only a generalization of Xunzi's theory of human nature from the level of the essence of human nature, and they also use Xunzi's theory of sexual simplicity to deny Xunzi's theory of sexual evil, which is obviously wrong.

Since human nature is the "origin", "beginning", "material" and "simplicity" of human beings at the essential level, Xunzi also knows: "The nature of today's human beings is born away from its simplicity, and if it is separated from its capital, it will be lost and lost" ("Xunzi Sexual Evil"), which means that human nature is the "simple" and "capital" that human nature is born of, and if human nature loses "simplicity" and "capital", and is divorced from human nature's natural qualities and materials, it will no longer be human nature.

Two

In essence, human nature is an innate, fundamental, and primordial thing of man, and is a natural qualification possessed by man innately, and in this sense Xunzi's theory of human nature can be said to be "sexual simplicity", or the theory of sexuality, the theory of sexual origin, and the theory of sexual material. Then, what Xunzi called the innate, fundamental, and primitive things of human nature, and what are the natural qualifications that human beings have innately, this needs to be explored, and this belongs to the content of human nature and the composition of human nature.

Let's look at Xunzi's saying: "The sex is also the nature of the heavens; the lover, the quality of sex; the desirer, the love should also be" ("Xunzi Zhengming"), "the likes and dislikes of sex, the joys and sorrows of the feelings" ("Xunzi Zhengming"). This means that the content of human nature is actually human feelings and desires. This is the understanding of human nature as the physiological attributes of human beings, the sensual desires. To this end, Xunzi also made an argument on this, holding that the reason why "feelings" and "desires" are the contents of human nature is because "feelings" come from "sex" and are the joys and sorrows of sexual likes and dislikes; "feelings" are the actual content of human nature and the manifestation of the essence of human nature, and "desire" is the manifestation of "feelings" and the natural reaction of "feelings" to the outside world.

It is precisely because of this that Mr. Xu Fuguan said: "Although Xunzi conceptually defines sex, emotion, and desire; in fact, sex, emotion, and desire are the three names of one thing. The characteristic of Xunzi's theory of sex lies in the use of desire as sex." It is precisely because of this that Xunzi sometimes uses "sex" and "love" together, and even regards "love" as a compound word, and at the same time believes that man's "sex" is man's "love nature": "The nature of this man, hungry and full, cold and warm, hard and want to rest, this person's emotional nature is also" ("Xunzi Sex Evil"); "Ruofu is lustful, his ears are good, his mouth is good, his heart is good, his bones and skin are good and happy, he is born of human love, he feels natural, and he does not wait for things to be born later" (Xunzi Sexual Evil).

This means that human nature is man's "erotic nature", specifically man's "hunger and desire to be full, cold and warm, labor and desire to rest" and other sensory desires or physiological desires, which are manifested as "lustful eyes, good ears, good taste, good heart, good skin and pleasure" and other strong pursuits of sensory desires and the pursuit of desires by the "heart" based on these pursuits. It can be seen from this that human nature encompasses many aspects of desires such as food, clothing, shelter and transportation, including the desires of the mouth, ears, eyes, body and other senses.

Here, it is worth noting that Xunzi believes that human sensual desires and physical desires are "not to be reborn", that is, they are innate, not artificial. This also demonstrates from the dimension of the essence of human nature that human sensory desires and physical desires are the reasons for the content of human nature. Man's sensual desires and physical desires are "sex", and the opposite can only be "pseudo", so Xunzi immediately said: "Those who feel that they cannot be, and those who must wait for things and then come after them are said to be born of hypocrisy" ("Xunzi Sexual Evil"), believing that "those who must treat things and then come after them" belong to the acquired man-made, and they are all in the category of "false".

Of course, with regard to the content of human nature as sensual desires and physical desires, Xun Zi argues in the same words in the articles of "Honor and Disgrace" and "Non-Phase": "Hunger and desire to eat, cold and warm, labor and desire to rest, good and evil, are born of man, and those who do not wait are also." This means that the reason why people's sensory desires and physical desires are the content of human nature is that sensory desires and physiological desires are born and exist without human effort, which conforms to the essential provisions of human nature.

It is precisely because the content of human nature is love and desire, sensory desire, and physical desire, that Xunzi sometimes simply talks about sex in terms of "love": "The love of man, the appetite of the people, the desire of clothing, the desire of the horse, and the desire of the husband to accumulate wealth, but the poor years do not know the inadequacy, it is also the love of man" ("Xunzi Glory and Humiliation"); "The love of the lady, the desire of the eyes, the desire of the ears, the taste of the mouth, the smell of the nose, and the desire of the heart." These five qi people will inevitably be the place of human affection" (Xunzi Wangba). Here, Xunzi's exposition of man's "feelings" and his exposition of man's "feelings" are not only identical in essence, but also in content. Here, it can be seen that Xunzi's so-called "love" is not "love" in the moral sense, but the "love" of "lust" and the "love" of desire.

Since the satisfaction of sensual desires often requires "power" as a guarantee, and because the sensual desires of man as an individual are often closely linked to the social desires, especially political desires, of man as a social being, "Xunzi also exerts man's sensual desires as man's political desires, and incorporates man's political desires into human nature." Therefore, Xun Zi said: "Fu Gui is the Son of Heaven, rich in the world, is the same desire of human feelings" ("Xunzi Glory and Disgrace"), "Fu Gui is the Son of Heaven, rich in the world, named The Holy King, concurrently making people, and making people cannot get and control, is the same desire of human feelings" ("Xunzi Wangba"). This means that attaining the noble position of the Son of Heaven, having the wealth of the whole world, and attaining the reputation of the Holy King, which can rule over all people, is the ultimate of human desire and the content of human nature. However, since Xunzi regarded man's political desire as an extension of man's sensual desire, and believed that this political desire could be largely contained within the sensory desire, he did not discuss it too much.

The content based on human nature is man's sensual desires and political desires, to be precise, the content based on human nature is man's sensual desires and includes political desires, so "Xunzi Wangba" said: "Heavy color and clothing, heavy taste and food, heavy property and system, the world and the king, the diet is very thick, the vocal music is very large, the Tai Xie is very high, the garden is very wide, the ministers and princes, in a day, are the same desires of human feelings"; "The system is Chen, the government decree is threatened, the official is dead, the prince is disrespectful, and the extravagant virtue of the four kingdoms will be destroyed." Fame is like the sun and the moon, merit is like heaven and earth, the people of the world should be like the scenery, and they are the same desires of human feelings"; "The feelings of the people, the taste of the old people, the good taste and the smell of the mouth are good, the ears are good and the vocal music is mo da yan, the eyes are lustful and the articles cause the complicated women Mo Zhongyan, the body is good and the body is good and the peace and quiet mo is pleasant, the heart is good and the valley is mo hou yan, and the desire of the world is the same as both", directly listing people's sensual desires and political desires as "the same desires of human feelings", that is, the content of human nature, and at the same time, it is considered that obedience is to chase sensual desires and political desires. Achieve the greatest satisfaction of sensual and political desires. Here, it should be noted that compliance means indulgence, while indulgence means not only harmful to oneself, but also harmful to others. In this sense, we can conclude that Xunzi considers human nature to be evil. Therefore, even if some scholars deny that the "Sexual Evil" chapter was written by Xunzi, they cannot prove that Xunzi is not a sexual evil theorist.

In addition to listing sensual desires and their corresponding political desires as the content of human nature, Xunzi also listed human cognitive ability as the content of human nature. He said: "Whoever knows, human nature also; can know, the truth of things also" (Xunzi, Unmasking), clearly pointing out that man's cognitive ability is the content of human nature, and at the same time pointing out that man's cognitive ability depends not only on man himself, but also on the knowability of the object of cognition. So, why is human cognitive ability the content of human nature? Xun Zi explains: "Born to know" (Xun Zi Unmasked). This means that human cognitive ability is innate, or that human beings are born with cognitive ability, so it belongs to the content of human nature. This is to argue that human cognitive ability is the content of human nature from the dimension of the nature of human nature.

As the cognitive ability of human beings as the content of human nature, Xunzi made a very detailed explanation. He said, "The nature of man today can be seen by the eye and heard by the ear." The husband can see the light without leaving the eyes, can hear the wisdom without leaving the ears, the eyes are clear and the ears are deaf, and cannot be learned and clear" ("Xunzi Sexual Evil"), "The eyes distinguish between white and black beauty and evil, the ears distinguish the sound of clear sounds, the mouth distinguishes salty and sweet, the nose distinguishes the fragrant and fishy, the bone and body are born and have, and the cold and summer diseases are born and have, and those who have nothing to wait for" ("Xunzi , Honor and Disgrace" and "The Heart Is Born and Knows" ("Xunzi • Unmasked"). This means that the cognitive ability of people as the content of human nature includes perceptual cognitive ability and rational cognitive ability, of which perceptual cognitive ability is born of perceptual cognitive organs such as ears, eyes, nose, and mouth, and rational cognitive ability is born with rational cognitive organs such as "mind". Here, Xunzi bases man's cognitive ability on man's material organs, cognitive organs, and regards man's cognitive abilities as the inherent abilities of man's material organs, cognitive organs. In this way, it not only explains why people have cognitive ability, but also explains the congenital problem of human cognitive ability.

From the perspective of the structure of the word "sex", human nature includes two aspects, "heart" and "birth", Xunzi understands the content of human nature as human desire and human cognitive ability, the former involves the "life" side of human nature, and the latter involves the "heart" side of human nature. This understanding of the content of human nature is comprehensive and complete. However, Xunzi, out of the need to argue for the "evil" of human nature, did not make too much discussion of the content of cognitive ability in human nature, and he avoided it when arguing that human nature is evil. From this point of view, in Xunzi, the content of human nature objectively includes human feelings, desires and people's cognitive ability, including the "heart" and "birth" sides of the word "sex", but subjectively, Xunzi attaches more importance to the content of love and desire as human nature, and pays more attention to the "life" in human nature.

When discussing the nature of human nature, Xunzi believes that human nature is essentially the same; and when discussing the content of human nature, Xunzi also believes that human nature is also the same at the level of content. In this way, Xunzi's so-called "mortal nature, Yao, Shunzhi and Jie, and Metatarsal, their sex is also one; the gentleman and the villain, their sex is also one" ("Xunzi Sexual Evil"), which has the same meaning of expressing human nature at the level of essence and content. Regarding the similarity of the content of human nature, Xun Zi said: "Material nature knows ability, gentleman, villain one also." Good honor and evil humiliation, good profit and evil harm, are the same as gentlemen and villains" (Xunzi Glory and Humiliation), "Mortals have one: hungry and hungry, cold and warm, labor and desire to rest, good and evil, is born of man and has, is the one who does not wait, is the same as Yu and Jie. The eye distinguishes between white and black beauty and evil, the ear distinguishes the sound of clear sound, the mouth distinguishes sour, salty, sweet and bitter, the nose distinguishes the fragrance and fishy, the bone and body distinguish between cold and summer diseases, it is born and has it, it is the one who does not wait, and it is the same as yu and jie" (Xunzi Glory and Humiliation). This means that the content of human nature, people's sensual desires and cognitive abilities are the same, whether it is a gentleman or a villain, whether it is a holy king or a tyrant, specifically, whether it is Yao, Shun, Or Jie, metatarsal, whether Yu or Jie, the content of its human nature is the same, there is no different content of human nature. This also shows that in the dimension of the content of human nature, people are the same and undifferentiated; the difference between people is not only unrelated to the essence of human nature, but also has nothing to do with the content of human nature; the difference and difference between people is acquired, not innate.

Three

Xun Zi identified human lust and human cognitive ability as the content of human nature, on the grounds that these are things that are born and can be possessed without the need for acquired efforts such as education. So where does humanity come from? Or where does the content of human nature come from?

Let's first look at the following text of Xunzi, which we once quoted: "Ruofu is lustful, his ears are good, his mouth is good, his heart is good, his bones and skin are good and happy, he is born of human affection, he feels natural, and he who does not wait for things and is born later" ("Xunzi Sex Evil"),"Discerning white and black beauty and evil, clear sound in the ears, distinguishing sour and salty and bitter, distinguishing the nose from fragrant and fragrant, distinguishing cold and hot diseases from the bone and body, being born of man, and being born and having, and those who do not wait for it" ("Xunzi Glory and Humiliation"),"Born to Know" ("Xunzi· " The Mind Is Born and Knows" (Xunzi Unmasking).

Here, Xunzi believes that human desire and human cognitive ability, which are the contents of human nature, are the functions and desires of human eyes, ears, mouths, noses, hearts and other body organs, while human eyes, ears, mouths, noses, hearts and other body organs are part of human beings. This is the origin of human nature and human cognitive ability to argue human nature or the content of human nature from the dimension of the human body itself.

But where does the human body come from? Where do human body organs such as the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, heart, and so on come from? This needs to be demonstrated from a metaphysical level. For this, Xunzi tried to prove it from the height of ontology: "Water and fire have qi but no life, grass and trees are born and ignorant, animals and animals have knowledge but no righteousness, people have qi, life, knowledge, and righteousness, so they are the most noble in the world" (Xunzi Wangzhi). As for Xun ziyun: "The Heaven and Earth, the Beginning of Birth" ("Xunzi Kingship"), "Heaven and Earth, the Origin of Life", "Heaven and Earth Are Combined and All Things Are Born", "Heaven and Earth Are Born", "Heaven and Earth Creatures" ("Xunzi Li Theory"), it is only to say that heaven and earth are the foundation of the survival of all things, heaven and earth make all things survive, and heaven and earth provide the basis for the survival of all things, and do not have ontological implications, and cannot be regarded as an ontological proof of human nature, which requires attention.

From Xun Zi: "Water and fire have qi and no life, grass and trees are born and ignorant, animals and animals have knowledge and no righteousness, people have qi, life, knowledge, and righteousness, so they are the most noble in the world" ("Xunzi Wangzhi"), it can be seen that in Xunzi's view, everything in the universe is composed of qi, qi is the essence of all things in the universe, from the height of "qi" to examine all things in the universe, everything in the universe is the same, as for the difference between all things in the universe, it lies in the specific properties of all things in the universe, the more advanced species, the more attributes they have For man, as the most advanced being, compared with the attributes of "qi" possessed by water and fire, the attributes of "qi" and "life" possessed by grass and trees, and the attributes of "qi", "sheng", and "knowing" possessed by animals and animals, man also has the attributes of "righteousness" in addition to the attributes of "qi", "life" and "knowledge", and distinguishes and is superior to anything else by virtue of the unique attribute of "righteousness"; as far as the essential difference between species is concerned, the attributes of lower species do not have. It is the special property of a relatively advanced species, and this special property is the nature of this species. From this point of view, water and fire are the existence of "qi", grass and trees are living beings, animals and animals are intelligent beings, and people are polite beings. That is to say, the nature of water and fire is "qi", the nature of grass and trees is "life", the nature of animals and animals is "wisdom", and the nature of man is "righteousness". From this point of view, the nature of water and fire is "qi", and the nature of grass, trees, animals and animals, and people, respectively, "life", "wisdom", and "righteousness" comes from "qi". Because "qi" is the essence of all things in the universe, it becomes the metaphysical basis for the nature of all things in the universe.

However, since Xunzi believes that the content of human nature is human desire and human cognitive ability, which is equivalent to the "birth" and "knowledge" possessed by plants, trees, animals, and animals, and the ontological proof here actually concludes that the content of human nature is etiquette, and the result of this proof is precisely the confirmation of Mencius's view that the content of human nature is benevolent and righteous, and Mencius's theory of human nature is strongly opposed by Xunzi. This forced Xunzi to abandon the ontological proof of the content of human nature and avoid the metaphysical basis of the content of human nature. Therefore, Xunzi's ontological proof of the content of human nature is here, and it is still a failure.

However, what surprised Xunzi was that "water and fire have gas but no life, grass and trees are born and ignorant, animals and beasts have knowledge and no righteousness, people have qi, life, knowledge, and righteousness, so they are the most noble in the world" ("Xunzi Kingship"), although the argument for the metaphysical basis of human nature, human nature, and the origin of human nature content has failed, this passage is very appropriate for the doctrine of arguing the essence of human beings.

Regarding the nature of man, Xun Zi said: "What is the reason why man is human? A: Discernment by its own. Hunger and desire to eat, cold and warm, labor and desire to rest, good and evil, is born of man and has, is the one who does not wait, is the same as Yu and Jie. However, the reason why man is human is not that he is bipedal and hairless, but also discerned by his discernment. Imabari laughed, and was bipedal and hairless, but the gentleman sipped his soup and ate his fistula. The reason why the old man is human is that he is not special because of his bipedal and hairless, but also because he has discernment. Husbands and beasts have fathers and sons but no father and son, and there is no difference between men and women, so humanity cannot distinguish between men and women" (Xunzi Non-Phase), "The distinction is greater than the point, and the distinction is greater than the ceremony" ("Xunzi Non-Phase"). This "clearly concludes that the reason why man is human, that is, the essence of man, does not lie in his innate instincts, human nature, nor in the appearance of man's form—the appearance of the body is not even enough to separate man from the orangutan, but lies in 'discernment'", that is, "etiquette", or "etiquette". This shows that the essence of man is the difference between man and animals and all things in the universe, and only etiquette and righteousness can distinguish man from animals and animals and from all things in the universe. And where do rituals and righteousness come from, and where is the metaphysical basis? According to Xunzi, "Water and fire have qi but no life, grass and trees are born and ignorant, animals and animals have knowledge but no righteousness, people have qi, life, knowledge, and righteousness, so they are the most noble in the world" (Xunzi Kingship). This means that "righteousness", that is, ritual and righteousness, come from the "qi" of the ontology, and its metaphysical basis is the "qi" of the ontology. Unfortunately, Xunzi did not notice this.

Of course, Xun Zi did not notice this, perhaps it was not a fact, but a deliberate omission of his bitterness. We know that qi is the basis of etiquette, which means that etiquette originates from qi, which means that etiquette is innate in people, and etiquette is something that is born with it. If this is the case, it means that etiquette is also the content of human nature, which is inconsistent with Xunzi's view that Mencius regarded benevolence, righteousness, and wisdom as the content of human nature, and deviates from Xunzi's assertion that "the nature of this man is rude" (Xunzi Sexual Evil). As a last resort, Xunzi had to deliberately ignore it.

Contemporary scholars have paid little attention to Xunzi's attempt to argue the content of human nature from the height of ontological qi. The reason why xunzi did not pay much attention was that although Xunzi associated the ontological qi with "life" and "knowledge" and provided ontological proof for "life" and "knowledge", in the process of proof, he failed to list "life" and "knowledge" as the contents of human nature and human nature, but instead listed "life" and "knowledge" as the nature of grass and trees and animals, respectively. Mr. Mou Zongsan realized this: "Although Xunzi is directly related to man's biological instincts, physical desires, and psychological emotions (in short, it is generally human animal nature), there is still a gap between verbal nature and those who speak of qi, and there is no doubt that nature is always precipitated in the lower one"; "In Xunzi, the metaphysical or abstract concept of 'qi' has not yet been refined." Even so, then Xunzi's speech can also be drawn into the road of 'using qi for sex'." In this sense, Mr. Mou Zongsan believes that Xunzi's "use of qi as sex" belongs to "shunqi sex". Regarding "Shunqi Sex", Mr. Mou Zongsan said: "Shunqi speaks of sex, then the root of retrospectiveness is 'Yuanyi Qi', referred to as 'Yuanqi', or straight 'Qi'"; "Shunqi speaks of sex, then sex is entrusted to the individual under Qi." As far as the characters are concerned, they are called 'first gifts', that is, they are born and accepted as sex." In Mr. Mou Zongsan's view, although Xunzi failed to refine and abstract the ontological qi, its so-called human nature and human nature content undoubtedly originated from "qi", in short, the metaphysical basis of Xunzi's human nature or the content of human nature is "qi".

Here, Mr. Mou Zongsan believes that Xunzi's so-called human nature is human lust and human animality, sees xunzi's desire to argue human nature, human nature content, that is, the origin of human desire, and human animality from the height of "qi", and sees that Xunzi wants to associate human nature, the content of human nature or the content of human emotion and human animality with "qi", but he did not notice that Xunzi said "qi", and his so-called "qi" is actually abstract ontological qi, and did not notice that Xunzi wanted to associate human nature and the content of human nature with "qi". Theoretical dilemmas encountered in connection. The reason for this is that Mr. Mou Zongsan, like the vast majority of scholars, ignored Xunzi's "water and fire have qi but no life, grass and trees have life and ignorance, animals and animals have knowledge but no righteousness, people have qi, life, knowledge, and righteousness, so they are the most noble in the world" ("Xunzi Royal System"), this historical material.

In fact, Mou Zongsan's views were clearly influenced by Song Ru. We know that Zhang Zai divides human nature into "the nature of heaven and earth" and "the nature of temperament", believing that both originate from "qi". Ercheng divides human nature into "the predicate of the Mandate of Heaven" and "the predicate of life", that is, it is divided into the nature of the Mandate of Heaven and the nature of qi, believing that the former comes from "reason" and the latter comes from "qi", because the second course is based on "reason", so it is thought that the nature of the mandate of heaven is more fundamental, and it is said: "On sex regardless of qi, not prepared; on qi regardless of sex, unknown" (Henan Cheng's Testament, vol. 6). Zhu Xi inherited Zhang Zai's division of "nature of heaven and earth" and "nature of temperament", but thought that "nature of heaven and earth" came from "reason", and "nature of temperament" came from both "reason" and "qi", and then inherited the rational theory of the second process, thinking that "the nature of heaven and earth" was more fundamental. Zhu Xi quoted the above text of The Second Journey to comment on mencius, Xunzi, and Yang Xiong's theory of human nature: "Cheng Zi: 'On sex regardless of qi, it is not prepared; on qi regardless of sex, it is not clear. For example, Mencius's 'sexual goodness' is to talk about sex regardless of qi; Xun Yang is to talk about qi, and it is to talk about qi and to be ignorant of sex" (Zhu Zi Yu Class, vol. 59). Here, Zhu Xi believes that the human nature that XunZi said is equivalent to "the nature of temperament" and "the nature of qi", and its metaphysical basis is "qi". Here, although Zhu Xi judged Xunzi's theory of human nature in terms of Song Confucianism, after all, he saw the intrinsic connection between Xunzi's human nature, the content of human nature, and "qi", and saw Xunzi's efforts to provide a metaphysical basis for human nature. However, Zhu Xi believed that "Mencius's 'sexual goodness' is to talk about sex regardless of qi", and seems to have made a mistake, and does not see the internal connection between Mencius's so-called human nature and "qi", especially "Haoran qi".

Four

Since the content of human nature is human lust and cognitive ability, acting in accordance with nature, from the perspective of human lust, it is to indulge lust, and the result of indulging lust is harmful to others and to society. It is in this sense that Xunzi makes a value judgment on human nature from the moral dimension and determines that human nature is evil. In order to argue that human nature is evil, when Xunzi discusses the value orientation of human nature, its so-called human nature content specifically refers to human desires, but does not include human cognitive ability; in order to argue that human nature is evil, Xunzi also wrote a special article "Sexual Evil".

It can be seen from the "Sexual Evil" section that Xunzi's argument for human nature is evil, which is intended to provide a basis for the emergence and existence of etiquette, and to provide theoretical proof for his idea of ritual rule. Based on this, his argument for the evil of human nature and the necessity of its existence and its argument for the emergence and existence of rituals are two and one. This is the reason why the words in "Sexual Evil", the discussion of sex and the discourse of etiquette are intertwined and inseparable.

Of course, this kind of thought also exists in the Treatise on Etiquette. This is why Xunzi talks about etiquette and introduces "sex". At the beginning of the Treatise on Etiquette, it is said, "Where did the ritual begin?" A: Born with desires, if you want to be undesirable, you cannot be without demand; if you want without measurement and demarcation, you cannot be indisputable; if you are chaotic, chaos is poor. The first kings were evil and chaotic, so they made rituals and righteousness divided, so as to feed people's desires, and to give people's requests, so that desires will not be poor, and things will not succumb to desires, and the two will be long and long, and they are the origins of etiquette" (Xunzi Li Theory). This is nothing more than to say that the content of human nature is human lust, if only to obey the inherent needs of human nature, people will be swayed by desires, unrestricted pursuit of desire satisfaction, resulting in human competition, resulting in social chaos, the country is poor, which shows that human nature is evil, need to have external mandatory norms to restrain, and this mandatory norm is "etiquette". This is the "reason" for the appearance of the liturgy. As for the specific system of liturgical music, it is produced by the "first king", or the main body of the ritual music is the "first king". The value of etiquette lies in the fact that by delineating people's social hierarchy and determining the degree of satisfaction and satisfaction of people's desires, the limited material wealth and people's controlled desires are reconciled, so as to satisfy people's desires to be restrained and ensure the sufficiency of material wealth, which not only stipulates human behavior, but also governs the country.

Let's look at the relevant text in "Sexual Evil". First, "The nature of this human being is born with good and good, and shun is, so it is born to fight for birth and resign; born with disease and evil, shun is, so the cruel thief is born and loyal to die; born with the desire of the eyes and ears, there is a good voice, and the shun is, so fornication is born and the righteousness is born and the righteousness is dead." However, from the nature of man, from the feelings of others, he will return to violence out of contention, and will be in accordance with the division of chaos. Therefore, there will be the transformation of the teacher's law, the way of etiquette and righteousness, and then out of resignation, in accordance with the literary reason, and return to the rule. From this point of view, however, human nature is evil, and its good is false." This means that human nature is composed of human desires, embodied in the innate greed for selfish interests, hatred of others, the desire of the eyes and ears and the goodness of the voice, and develops according to the desires of human nature, that is, to allow people to covet selfish interests and hate others, to allow people to indulge the desires of the eyes and ears, the good of the voice, and the result is that people will compete with each other, kill each other, indulge in fornication, etc., and the consequences are the moral degeneration of resignation, faithfulness, and the collapse of the system of etiquette, while the degeneration of morality and the collapse of the system of etiquette and righteousness mean hierarchy. The destruction of social order and so on, the country even fell into riots. This shows that human nature is evil. It is precisely because human nature is evil that it is necessary to indoctrinate the "teaching method" and the guidance of etiquette and righteousness, so that people can return to the structure of morality and etiquette, so that society can move toward stability. Here, human evil is the "justification" for the existence of rituals.

Second, "The evil nature of this man will be corrected by the teacher, and then he will be cured by courtesy and righteousness." If people today do not have a teacher, they are dangerous and not righteous; if they are rude and righteous, they are rebellious and do not rule. The Holy King of the Ancients regarded the evil nature of man as dangerous and unjust, and the rebellion without rule, but he took it as a courtesy and righteousness, made the law degree, corrected it by correcting man's sentimentality, and led it by disturbing man's emotional nature. The beginning is out of the rule, and the one who is in harmony with the Tao is also. Today's people are gentlemen who transform the teacher's law, accumulate literature, and morality and righteousness; those who indulge in temperament and peace and righteousness are villains. From this point of view, however, human nature is evil, and its good is false." This means that indulging in disposition will lead to misdeeds, evil deeds, and violations of etiquette, and it will become a villain who endangers others and society, and therefore, human nature is evil. And it is precisely because human nature is evil that it is necessary to standardize the "teaching law" and etiquette, restrain and rectify human nature, so that people can be influenced by etiquette and indoctrination, so as to become gentlemen who are beneficial to others and society. The ritual righteousness and the dharma came from the hands of the ancient holy kings. Here, too, human evil is the "reason" for the existence of rituals.

Third, "The nature of this man is hungry and full, cold and warm, hard and restless, and this man's emotional nature is also." Those who are hungry today will give way to those who are hungry and dare not eat first, and those who work hard but dare not ask for rest will be replaced. The Master's concession to the Father, the Brother's giving way to the Brother, the Son's substitute for the Father, and the Brother's substitute for the Brother, these two elements are all contrary to sex and contrary to affection. However, the way of filial piety, the literary principle of etiquette and righteousness. Therefore, the smooth nature does not resign, and the resignation is contrary to the emotional nature. From this point of view, however, human nature is evil, and its good is false." This means that human nature is man's desire, which is manifested in man's natural pursuit of fullness, rest, etc., and the pursuit of conformity to human nature and human desire will violate the virtue of filial piety and the system of etiquette, so human nature is evil. The reason why people's behavior is moral and "good" is the result of violating human nature and deviating from lust, and the result of observing the way of filial piety and the system of etiquette. This is also an argument for the existence of ritual and its value while arguing for the evil of human nature.

Fourth, "All the so-called good people in the ancient and modern worlds are righteous and peaceful; the so-called evil ones are dangerous and chaotic." There is also the distinction between good and evil. Honesty in the nature of man to cure evil with righteousness? Then there are evil uses of the Holy King, and evil use of rituals and righteousness! Although there is the righteousness of the Holy King, it will be added to the right riki Heiji yaya! Not now, human nature is evil. Therefore, the saints of the ancients regarded the evil nature of man as dangerous and unjust, and the rebellion and not the rule, so they established the king's judgment to come to it, to make it clear and righteous, to rule it with the law, to punish it with severe punishment, so that the whole world is governed by governance and is in harmony with goodness. It is the reign of the Holy King and the transformation of righteousness. Now try to go to the king's womb, the infertility of righteousness, the rule of righteousness, the prohibition of no punishment, and the contemplation of the harmony of the people of the world. If it is, then the strong will harm the weak and take it, the multitude will be violent and widowed, and the world will die of chaos, and it will not wait for it. From this point of view, however, human nature is evil, and its good is false." Xunzi first defines "good" and "evil" here, or first determines the criteria of good and evil, and then determines whether human nature is good or evil accordingly. In Xun Zi's view, the criterion for judging good and evil is the degree of etiquette and righteousness, which conforms to the law of etiquette and righteousness, and those who can realize the "rule" of the world are "good"; those who violate the law of etiquette and righteousness, evil and treacherous, and make the country "chaotic" and those who do not rule are "evil". And if human nature is allowed to develop freely, there will be phenomena such as the law of the jungle, adultery, rebellion, and betrayal of etiquette, so human nature is evil. It is precisely because human nature is evil that it is necessary to have the ancient saint kings and the ancient saint kings to make the ritual law.

It can be seen from this that Xunzi, based on the lust in the content of human nature in the "Sexual Evil", repeatedly argued that human nature is evil, thus paving the way for the emergence of etiquette, although its argumentation method is relatively single.

On the whole, Xunzi believes that "all those who are righteous and righteous are born of the hypocrisy of the saints, and they are born of the nature of the human beings without reason"; "Therefore, the sainthood arises from the hypocrisy, and the hypocrisy arises from the righteousness, and the righteousness is born and the Dharma is controlled." However, those who are righteous and righteous are born of saints. Therefore, the reason why the saints are the same as the multitude is that they are not different from the multitude, and so are the ones who are different from the multitude, and the hypocrites are also false. He who is good for profit and who desires to gain, the human nature of this person is also" (Xunzi Sexual Evil). That is to say, the content of human nature is lust, not righteousness, which is acquired; lust in human nature is expressed as "good profit and desire", so human nature is evil. Whether it is a saint or a multitude, its human nature is evil, and the saints and all people are the same when examined from the dimension of human nature; the degree of etiquette and righteousness is acquired and man-made, and the division between saints and people lies in the morality of etiquette and righteousness, and the examination of saints and people from the dimension of morality of etiquette and righteousness is not the same. In short, the distinction of the saints from others is not in "sex", but in the degree of etiquette, which comes from the "falsehood" of the saints and from the artificial efforts of the saints the day after tomorrow. In this sense, it can be said that the ritual law degree is produced by the saints; the saints make ritual law degrees to educate and restrict human nature, so that human nature is limited to the scope stipulated by the "rituals".

Five

Some scholars sometimes avoid Liu Xiang's "Preface to Sun Qing's New Book" in which "Mencius, also a great Confucian, with the goodness of human nature, Sun Qing hou Mencius more than a hundred years." Sun Qing thought that human nature was evil, and pretended to be a "sexual evil", with non-Mencius" and other texts, claiming that "Xunzi himself does not advocate sexual evil, and his later studies advocate sexual evil; "Sexual Evil" was composed by Xunzi Houxue", "Xunzi could not have written "Sexual Evil", he was not a sexual evil theorist", and even listed "Sexual Evil" between "Zi Dao" and "Fa Xing" according to Liu Xiang's "New Book of Sun Qing", and "Zi Dao" and "Fa Xing" were not written by Xun Zi in Yang Liang's view, arguing that "Sexual Evil" was not written by Xun Zi. This is very imprecise. Because in the Preface to Sun Qing's New Book, Liu Xiang has made it clear that "Sexual Evil" was written by Xunzi, and in the Preface to Sun Qing's New Book, Liu Xiang does not say that the articles in the Xunzi's work "Sun Qing's New Book" that he collated were not written by Xunzi, but believed that all the articles in the book were written by Xunzi.

Because Liu Xiang clearly wrote in the Preface to Sun Qing's New Book: "Mencius, also a great Confucian, with the goodness of human nature, Sun Qing hou Mencius more than a hundred years." Sun Qing thought that human nature was evil, pretending to be a "sexual evil", with non-Mencius", relying solely on the premise of avoidance can not solve the problem, the scholar, without any conclusive evidence, either on the premise of Liu Xiang "did not see the serious conflict between the "sexual evil" and other parts, did not see the serious contradiction between the sexual evil thought and The overall thought of Xunzi, and thought that everything written in the name of Xunzi was indeed from the hand of Xunzi himself", or on the grounds that "these words should have been added by later generations, not the original ones originally in Liu Xiang's "Records of Sun Qing", Deny that these texts were written by Liu Xiang, thus denying that the sexual evil chapter was written by Xun Zi. This is also very imprecise. Taking a step back, even if these words were not written by Liu Xiang, but added by later generations, it cannot be concluded that the "Sexual Evil" chapter was not written by Xun Zi. Because Liu Xiang did not conclude that "Sexual Evil" was not written by Xun Zi.

In fact, the "Sexual Evil" chapter for Xun Zi has long been conclusive. As mentioned earlier, Liu Xiang, who removed the repetition of Xunzi's works and compiled them into 32 editions, wrote the "Preface to Sun Qing's New Book", believing that the "Sexual Evil" section was written by Xunzi: "Mencius, also a great Confucian, with the goodness of human nature, Sun Qing hou Mencius more than a hundred years." Sun Qing thought that human nature was evil, so he pretended to be a "sexual evil" article, taking non-Mencius" as a non-Mencius." Historically, Yang Liang, the first to annotate Xunzi, also believed that the sexual evil chapter was written by Xunzi: "When the Warring States were in power, they were greedy and did not cultivate benevolence and righteousness, but Xun Qing was aware of the way of governance, knew that it could be transformed, and had no position to come, so he wrote this theory in anger. ...... The old twenty-sixth, now in the words of Xun Qing's arguments, has also risen to the top." In addition, Wang Chong, the earliest systematic study of Xunzi's theory of human nature in history, also explicitly said: "Sun Qing had anti-Mencius and wrote a chapter, thinking that 'human nature is evil, its good ones, and false ones' ("On Heng and Nature").

Taking a step back, even if some scholars say that the "Sexual Evil" article was not written by Xunzi, and the word "sexual evil" is not found in other articles in "Xunzi", we can prove that Xunzi believes that human nature is evil. Leaving aside for the time being that Xunzi believes that the content of human nature is human lust and cognitive ability, and that conformity to sex is indulgence in the sense of human desire in the sense of human nature, and indulgence will inevitably hurt others and harm society, which has shown that human nature is evil.

Let's first look at the relevant exposition of "Xunzi And Honor and Disgrace". First, "The birth of a person is a small person, and if there is no teacher, it is only the ear of profit." Here, Xunzi believes that people are born villains, or that they are villains from the perspective of the dimension of human nature, which is manifested as being born with mercenary interests. And mercenary intentions will abandon morality and etiquette, and will endanger others and society. This shows that in Xunzi's view, human nature is evil. And it is precisely because human nature is evil that Xunzi believes that it needs to be restrained by the "teacher" and "fa". Second, "From the desire of man, he cannot tolerate it, and things cannot support it." Therefore, the case of the first king made a distinction between etiquette and righteousness, so that there are nobles and lowlinesses, the difference between the elder and the young, the distinction between ignorance and ignorance, and whether they can or cannot be divided, so that people can carry their own things and get their own suitability, and then make the name of how thick and thin they are, which is the way of husband and wife." Here, Xunzi opposes the indulgence of human nature and indulgence, believing that the material wealth of society cannot satisfy people's desires, and it is necessary to use etiquette to determine people's social hierarchy, divide people's dignity and inferiority, nobility, elder and young, etc., and restrain people's desires. It can also be seen from this that in Xunzi's heart, human nature is evil. And it is precisely because human nature is evil that it needs to be a ritual as an external norm.

Let's look at the relevant discussion of "Xunzi Confucian Effect". First, "Man without a teacher's law is long," and if he has a teacher's law, he who has a teacher's law is full of emotions, not by what he has received, and sex is not enough to rule independently." Sex is also what I cannot do, but it can be transformed into it; those who are also lovers, not owned by me, but can also be. Note the wrong custom, so the nature is also; and one is not two, so the product is also". What Xunzi means is that human nature cannot manage itself and cannot go to goodness on its own, so it cannot be "long-lived", that is, it cannot allow the free development of human nature, and it needs the constraint and guidance of the "teacher's law", and it needs to "transform nature", that is, to educate human nature. Here, the human nature that Xunzi speaks of is definitely evil. Second, "If a person knows to be careful about mistakes, be cautious of customs, and accumulate great accumulation, he is a gentleman; if he indulges in temperament and is not enough to ask questions, he is a villain." This means that through acquired, artificial efforts, after a long period of tempering, can become a gentleman, on the contrary, if you indulge the innate disposition, let human nature drive, without learning, accumulation, will become a villain. Here, Xunzi believes that compliance and indulgence will become villains, and human nature is undoubtedly evil.

Let's look at the relevant exposition of the Xunzi Ritual Treatise next: "Born with desires, if you can't want them, you can't ask for nothing; if you want without measuring boundaries, you can't be without dispute; if you are chaotic, chaos is poor." This means that man is the existence of desires, and in order to satisfy the needs of human nature, his own desires, people will fight, and thus lead to chaos, poverty, and lack of governance in the country. Here, the human nature that Xunzi is talking about is naturally evil.

Finally, let's look at the relevant exposition of "Xunzi Zhengming": "The sex one, the heavenly one is also; the lover, the quality of sex; the desire one, the love should also be", "Although it is a gatekeeper, desire cannot go, and sex is also possessed." Though he is the Son of Heaven, his desires are inexhaustible." This means that human nature refers to human lust, human desire, and even a lowly person like the janitor has his own desires, and cannot abandon his own desires, even if he is a noble man like the Son of Heaven, his desires are endless. Because of this, if the satisfaction of desires is not restrained and there is no external norm, it will inevitably lead to competition between people and social chaos. This shows that human nature is evil.

From the above, it can be seen that Xunzi's theory of human nature is a theory of sexual evil from the moral dimension, and its value is negative. Xunzi's theory of sexual evil exists not only in the sexual evil chapter, but also in other articles in Xunzi. It is in this sense that Mr. Xu Fuguan said that Xunzi's "claims of sexual evil are scattered throughout the book."

Six

When discussing the value orientation of human nature, we can see that XunZi wrote "Sexual Evil" with the intention of providing a theoretical basis for the appearance of "li". However, Xunzi's discussion of human nature is evil, and it is necessary to face mencius's human nature and goodness. To this end, Xunzi not only made a more concentrated criticism of Mencius's theory of sexual goodness in the "Sexual Evil" section, but also proved his own sexual evil theory by criticizing Mencius's theory of sexual goodness. It can be said that Xunzi's preaching of his own theory of sexual evil and criticism of Mencius's theory of sexual goodness can also be said to be two or one. Regarding mencius's human goodness, Xunzi's criticism in the "Sexual Evil" section is as follows:

First, "Mencius said: 'A scholar of man, his nature is good.'" A: Not really. It is not as good as knowing the nature of man, and not aware of the distinction between the false nature of man. Whoever is of all nature, the heavens are also unlearnable, nor can he do anything; the righteous, the born of the saints, the learned and able, and the accomplished." In view of Mencius's basis on the goodness of human nature, he believes that the reason why people can understand etiquette through the study of the day after tomorrow is because human nature is good, and starting from sex will "discover" the inherent etiquette in human nature. Xun Zi refuted it from his position of sexual evil theory, believing that etiquette originated from the production of saints, and etiquette was acquired for people, therefore, etiquette does not belong to the content of human nature, people need to recognize and obtain etiquette through the study of the day after tomorrow, and Mencius's mistake is that he does not understand the distinction between sexual hypocrisy, and mistakenly regards the "pseudo" of the day after tomorrow as the innate "sex". Here, it is not difficult to see that Mencius's so-called "learning" to know the etiquette is essentially to seek inward and "discover" the content of human nature; Xunzi's so-called "learning" to know the etiquette is essentially to seek outward and obtain external etiquette. Here, Xunzi criticizes Mencius's theory of sexual goodness from the perspective of sexual hypocrisy.

Second, "The nature of man today can be seen by the eye and heard by the ear." The husband can see the light without leaving the eyes, can hear the wisdom without leaving the ears, the eyes are clear and the ears are deaf, and cannot be learned. Mencius said: 'The good nature of this man will lose his nature, so evil will also be lost'. A: If it is, it is too much. The nature of this human being, born away from its simplicity, without its capital, will be lost and lost. From this point of view, however, human nature is evil. The so-called good sex is not far from its simplicity and beauty, and it is not separated from its capital and profit. If the husband can see the wisdom without leaving the eyes, and the hearing can not be separated from the ears, so that the eyes are clear and the ears are clear. In view of Mencius's explanation of the "evil" of human external behavior based on the goodness of human nature, and the "evil" of human external behavior lies in the "goodness" in man's loss of nature and loss of nature, Xunzi criticized it from the essential level of human nature. Xunzi believes that human nature is something that is born and has, not something that is learned acquired, taking this as a standard, examining people's visual, auditory and other perceptual cognitive abilities, people's visual, auditory and other perceptual cognitive abilities belong to human nature and are the content of human nature; the so-called loss of human nature refers to people's detachment, contrary to their natural qualities, inherent materials, the so-called human nature should refer to not detaching, conforming to people's natural qualities, inherent materials have goodness and beauty, just as people's visual, auditory and other perceptual cognitive abilities are inseparable from the eyes. Same with the ears. According to this, mencius's so-called human nature content benevolence, righteousness, and wisdom are not the content of human nature, because they are not born; since moral norms such as benevolence, righteousness, and wisdom do not belong to human nature, then the value orientation of human nature is not "good"; because human nature is not "good", the "evil" of people's external behavior is not the loss of nature. Here, Xunzi is different from when arguing that human nature is evil, limiting human nature to the field of lust, or arguing for human nature evil with lust in human nature, and when criticizing Mencius's human nature, he limits human nature to the field of cognition, or criticizes Mencius's human nature and goodness with the cognitive ability of human nature. Here, Xunzi criticizes Mencius's theory of sexual goodness from the perspective of the innate nature of human nature and the content of human nature.

Third, "Mencius said: 'Man is good in nature. A: Not really. All the so-called good people in the ancient and modern worlds are righteous and peaceful; the so-called evil ones are also dangerous and chaotic. There is also the distinction between good and evil. Honesty in the nature of man to cure evil with righteousness? Then there are evil uses of the Holy King, and evil use of rituals and righteousness! Although there is the righteousness of the Holy King, it will be added to the right riki Heiji yaya! In response to Mencius's proposal of the goodness of human nature, Xunzi defined "good" and its corresponding "evil", and then judged the good and evil of human nature accordingly, and denied Mencius's theory of sexual goodness. Xun Zi believed that obeying the desires of human nature could conform to the law of etiquette and righteousness, so that those who "governed justly and peacefully" in the country would be "good", while those who violated the law of etiquette and righteousness would make the country move towards "dangerous and rebellious" those who were "evil". From this examination of human nature, Xun Zi found that acting in obedience to human nature cannot achieve the effect of conforming to etiquette and righteousness and "ruling with justice and peace", but on the contrary, it violates the law of etiquette and righteousness, and makes the country move toward a chaotic and incurable situation, so human nature is evil. An important sign of human evil is that it is necessary for the holy king to make a ritual and use "ritual" to regulate people's behavior. If, as Mencius said, human nature is good, do we still need holy kings and rituals? Here, Xunzi criticizes Mencius's theory of sexual goodness from the perspective of the political consequences of human nature.

Fourth, "Those who speak well of the ancients will have a festival in the present, and those who speak well of heaven will have a sign of man." Whoever argues, you have discernment and conformity. Therefore, sitting can be set up, and open can be implemented. Mencius said, "Man is good in nature. 'If there is no discernment and conformity, sit and say, rise and not set, open and not execute, is it not very bad!' In response to Mencius's theory of sexual goodness, Xunzi criticized it from the perspective of "evidence". Xun Zi believes that any point of view must have "evidence" as the basis and reason for proof, and can be successful in practice, while Mencius's theory of sexual goodness has no "evidence" to prove, and it is impossible to succeed in practice, so it is extremely wrong. Here, Xunzi criticizes Mencius's theory of sexual goodness from the perspective of the "evidence" of goodness and evil in human nature.

Seven

Mencius preached the theory of sexual goodness, and it was necessary to explain the "evil" behavior of some people from the dimension of sexual goodness. Similarly, Xunzi preaches the theory of sexual evil, and it is necessary to explain the "goodness" of some people's behavior from the dimension of sexual evil theory. For this, Xun Zi gave the answer when he put forward the theory of sexual evil and before he argued that human nature is evil. This is what is stated at the beginning of "Sexual Evil": "The nature of man is evil, and his good is also false." This means that human nature is evil, and starting from human nature will only lead to "evil" and cannot achieve "goodness"; the "goodness" of human external behavior has nothing to do with human nature, and comes from the "hypocrisy" of man, that is, the man-made of the day after tomorrow.

Why is it that the "goodness" of man's external behavior comes from his "hypocrisy" and not from human nature, as Mencius put it? This is what Xunzi wants to prove. From the "Sexual Evil" section, Xunzi always says when arguing about the evil of human nature: "With this view, then the evil of human nature is clear, and the good is false", it can be seen that Xunzi's argument for the evil of human nature is carried out at the same time as his argument for the acquired nature of the "goodness" of human external behavior, or that while arguing for human nature evil, he has demonstrated the acquired nature of the "goodness" of human external behavior, and it can also be said that it is precisely by arguing that human nature is evil to demonstrate the acquired nature of the "goodness" of human external behavior. According to XunZi's train of thought, it is precisely because human nature is evil and there is no "goodness" in human nature that the "goodness" of human external behavior is acquired and man-made. So, how is the "goodness" of man the day after tomorrow realized? Let's look at Xun Zi's relevant discussion in the "Sexual Evil" chapter:

First, "There will be the transformation of the teacher's law, the way of etiquette and righteousness, and then out of resignation, in accordance with the literary reason, and return to the rule", "The person of the present, the teacher's law, the accumulation of literature, and the moral righteousness are gentlemen; the indulgent temperament, the peace and the righteousness, and the violators of etiquette and righteousness are villains." This means that the observance of the order of etiquette and righteousness, the emergence of the virtue of humility, and the resulting governance of the country and the stability of society come from the "transformation of the teacher's law, the way of etiquette and righteousness", that is, from the indoctrination of the "teacher's law" and the guidance of the etiquette, which shows that man's "goodness" is the result of acquired man, and man's "goodness" is realized through the way of indoctrination and guidance. Therefore, if you accept the indoctrination of the "teacher's law", accumulate the cultural knowledge of etiquette, and consciously abide by the etiquette, you can be good and become a gentleman; if you act willfully, indulge in lust, act arbitrarily, and violate the etiquette, you will naturally turn to evil, and thus become a natural villain.

Second, "Those who are hungry today and do not dare to eat first will give way to it; those who work hard but do not dare to ask for rest will have their place." The Master's concession to the Father, the Brother's giving way to the Brother, the Son's substitute for the Father, and the Brother's substitute for the Brother, these two elements are all contrary to sex and contrary to affection. However, the way of filial piety, the literary principle of etiquette and righteousness. This means that the act of filial piety, which is in keeping with the father and the brother, and the son is in the father's place, and the brother is in the brother's place," is not the result of obedience to the development of human disposition, but the result of obeying the system of etiquette and morality and rebelling against human nature. This shows that man's "goodness" and filial piety are acquired and man-made, and are achieved by observing the external system of etiquette and righteousness.

Third, "The nature of today's human beings is inherently impolite, so it is strong to learn and seek to have; sex does not know etiquette, so it thinks and seeks knowledge." However, if they are born, then people are rude and do not know etiquette. If people are rude and righteous, they are chaotic, and if they do not know etiquette, they are contradictory. However, if it is only born, it is rebellious in itself. This means that the content of human nature is not righteousness, and starting from human nature will not only not give birth to righteousness, but will violate righteousness and cause chaos in society. Only when people have etiquette and consciously use etiquette to regulate their external behavior will they return to "goodness."

Fourth, "The evil nature of this man will be ruled by the Holy King, transformed into righteousness, and then all will be governed by goodness." This means that human nature is evil, and the "goodness" of man needs to be achieved through the governance of the Holy King and the indoctrination of etiquette.

From this, it can be seen that Xunzi believes that human nature is evil, and that the "goodness" of man is acquired, which comes from "hypocrisy" and is the result of observing the system of etiquette and righteousness. Human "pseudos" include active "learning" and "thinking" and active acceptance of the holy king's governance and the indoctrination of "teaching".

In this sense, Xunzi's theory of human nature can be said to be the theory of sexual simplicity; Xunzi believes that the content of human nature includes human desire and human cognitive ability, covering both the "heart" and "birth" sides of the word "sex", but in order to demonstrate the need for evil in human nature, Xunzi attaches more importance to the lust in human nature and the "birth" in human nature, so that his theory of human nature gives people the impression of lust In this sense, Xunzi's theory of human nature can be said to be the theory of sexual qi; Xunzi discusses human nature from the perspective of the content of human nature - lust, believing that the development and practice of human nature is harmful and useless to others and society, and that human nature is sexual evil at the moral level; because Xunzi argues that human nature is evil, it is intended to demonstrate the rationality, necessity and the absolute value of the existence of "ritual", so it argues that human nature is evil and the absolute value of the existence of "ritual", so it argues that human nature is evil and argues for "ritual" The generation, existence, and value are intertwined. Looking at man's "goodness" from the perspective of human nature's evil dimension, Xunzi believes that man's "goodness" is acquired and man-made, and is the product of man's learning, thinking, and enlightenment.