Xunzi

Xun Kuang ([ɕy̌n kʰwâŋ]; Chinese: 荀況, c. 310 – c. 235 BC, alt. c. 314 – c. 217 B.C.),[1] known as "Master Xun" (Xunzi), was a Chinese Realist Confucian philosopher who lived during the Warring States period and contributed to one of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

The Xunzi, an influential collection of essays, is traditionally attributed to him.

Educated in the state of Qi, the philosophy of the Confucian Xunzi has a darker, pragmatic, flavour compared to Confucian optimism.

Witnessing the chaos surrounding the fall of the Zhou dynasty and rise of the Legalistic Qin state, counter to Mencius's view that man is innately good Like Shang Yang he believed that man's inborn tendencies were evil, and that ethical norms had been invented to rectify mankind.

Because of this, he is sometimes associated with Legalism. But like most Confucians he focuses on and believed that man could be refined through education and ritual.

Though his focus is on Confucian ritual, Xunzi would be the teacher of Qin Chancellor Li Si and Realpolitikal synthesizer Han Feizi, proponents of Legalism believing in control of the state by law and penalty.

Life

Xunzi was born Xun Kuang (荀況). Some texts recorded his surname as Sun (孫) instead of Xun, either because the two surnames were homophones in antiquity or because Xun was a naming taboo during the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han (73–48 BC), whose given name was Xun. Herbert Giles and John Knoblock both consider the naming taboo theory more likely.[3][4]

The early years of Xunzi's life are enshrouded in mystery.

Nothing is known of his lineage.

Sima Qian records that he was born in Zhao, and Anze County has erected a large memorial hall at his supposed birthplace.

He was first known at the age of fifty, around 264 BC, when he went to the state of Qi to study and teach at the Jixia Academy.

Xunzi was well respected in Qi; the King Xiang of Qi honoured him as a teacher and a libationer.

It was around this time that Xunzi visited the state of Qin and praised its governance, and debated military affairs with Lord Linwu (臨武君) in the court of King Xiaocheng of Zhao.

Later, Xunzi was slandered in the Qi court, and he retreated south to the state of Chu, where Lord Chunshen, the prime minister, gave him a position as Magistrate of Lanling (蘭陵令).

In 238 BC, Lord Chunshen was assassinated by a court rival and Xunzi subsequently lost his position.

He remained in Lanling, a region in what is today's southern Shandong province, for the rest of his life and was buried there. The year of his death is unknown.[5]

Of his disciples, the most notable are Li Si (prime minister to the First Emperor of Qin) and the Han state royal Han Feizi, who developed the quasi-authoritarian aspects of his thought into the doctrine called the School of Law, or Legalism.

Because of Li Si and Han Feizi's staunch anti-Confucian stances, Xunzi's reputation as a Confucian philosopher has often come into question.

While Xunzi's doctrines were influential in forming the official state doctrine of the Han Dynasty, during the Tang Dynasty his influence waned compared to that of Mencius

Source

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