Xun Zi (simplified Chinese: 荀子; traditional Chinese: 荀子; pinyin: Xún Zǐ; Wade-Giles: Hsün Tzu, ca. 312–230 BCE) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who lived during the Warring States Period and contributed to one of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Xun Zi believed man's inborn tendencies need to be curbed through education and ritual, counter to Mencius's view that man is innately good. This is similar to Thomas Hobbes's idea that men are natural...
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Xun Zi (simplified Chinese: 荀子; traditional Chinese: 荀子; pinyin: Xún Zǐ; Wade-Giles: Hsün Tzu, ca. 312–230 BCE) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who lived during the Warring States Period and contributed to one of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Xun Zi believed man's inborn tendencies need to be curbed through education and ritual, counter to Mencius's view that man is innately good. This is similar to Thomas Hobbes's idea that men are naturally evil, and they have to be led by a greater power to stop competing each other. He believed that ethical norms had been invented to rectify mankind.
Educated in the state of Qi, Xun Zi was associated with the Confucian school, but his philosophy has a more pragmatic flavour compared to Confucian optimism. Some scholars attribute it to the divisive times.
Xun Zi was born with the name Xun Kuang (荀況), courtesy name Qing (卿). Some texts recorded his surname as Sun (孫) instead of Xun, either because the two surnames were homophones in antiquity...
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