all one's life
Historical records? The Biography of Xun Qing recorded his life. Xunzi began to study in Qi in 50 years, and in the era of King Xiang of Chu, he was the "most teacher" and "the third was to offer wine". Later, he lived a relaxed and comfortable life in Chu. Chun thought it was made in Lanling, but Chun died, was abandoned and lived in Lanling. During this period, he entered Qin, calling Qin the "ultimate ruler". I went to Zhao and Lin Wujun to discuss the former soldiers. Finally, he died of old age in Chu. He used to preach and teach. At the end of the Warring States period, two of the most famous thinkers and politicians, Han Fei and Li Si, were his disciples. Because his two disciples are representatives of Legalism, scholars in past dynasties doubted whether Xunzi belonged to Confucian scholars. Xunzi was severely criticized by many scholars because of his disciples in the history of China.
work
Xunzi was annotated by Yang Xu in Tang Dynasty, because Xunzi was attacked by scholars of past dynasties, and there were not many annotations. It was not until the prosperity of textual research in Qing Dynasty that the number of annotation collators increased. There are more scholars studying Xunzi in modern times than in ancient times. )
Including Wang Xianqian in Qing Dynasty and Liang Qixiong in the Republic of China. Tan Sitong, a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, commented in his book Benevolence that "(China) studied for two thousand years, and Xunzi was also homesick." (For the full text of Xunzi, see: /page/dcf7D3/).
Philosophical thinking
Xunzi's thought is biased towards experience and personnel, based on social context, attaching importance to social order, opposing mysticism and attaching importance to human efforts. Confucius' central idea is "benevolence", Mencius' central idea is "righteousness", and Xunzi put forward "courtesy" after them, attaching importance to people's behavior norms in society. Confucius was regarded as a saint, but he opposed the philosophy of "Meng Si School" headed by Mencius and Zisi, and thought that Zi Gong and himself were the scholars who inherited Confucius' thoughts. Xunzi believes that people are born to satisfy their desires, and there will be disputes if they are not satisfied. Therefore, he advocates that human nature is evil, and it is necessary to "turn nature into falsehood" by the enlightenment of the holy king and etiquette to enhance his personality.
Xun Kuang is a thinker of the emerging landlord class. His knowledge is profound. On the basis of inheriting early Confucianism, he absorbed the strengths of various schools and comprehensively reformed them, established his own ideological system and developed the ancient materialism tradition. There are 32 existing Xunzi, most of which are his own works, involving philosophy, logic, politics, morality and many other aspects. On the view of nature, he opposed the belief in ghosts and gods, affirmed that the laws of nature were not transferred by man's will, and put forward the idea that man could conquer nature. On the issue of human nature, he put forward the theory of "evil nature" and denied the innate moral concept. Emphasize the influence of acquired environment and education on people; In political thought, he adhered to the Confucian principle of rule by courtesy, attached importance to people's material needs, and advocated the combination of economic development and rule by courtesy. In epistemology, he admits that human thinking can reflect reality. But there is a tendency to despise sensory function. In the famous Persuasion, he concentrated on his views on learning. China people emphasize the importance of "learning" and think that only knowledge can be "without help". At the same time, it is pointed out that learning must be combined with practice, and the learning attitude should be sincere, single-minded and persistent. He attaches great importance to the position and role of teachers in teaching. He believes that a country must attach importance to teachers if it wants to prosper, and at the same time put forward strict requirements for teachers. He believes that students can't practice unless the teacher sets an example.
The article in Xunzi has clear theme, rigorous structure, thorough reasoning and strong logic. The language is rich and colorful, good at metaphor, with many parallel sentences and his unique style, which also has a certain influence on later reasoning articles. The five short poems in Xunzi created a literary genre, namely Fu. He wrote Xiang Xiang pian in the form of folk songs at that time, and the lyrics were easy to understand. He used rap to express his political and academic thoughts, which also had a certain influence on later generations. Xun Kuang deserves to be regarded as a great thinker, outstanding writer and educator in ancient China.
Different opinions about Xunzi:
One:
Xunzi (about 325 BC-about 235 BC) was a famous Qing, also known as Zhao Guozhi (now Linyi County, Shanxi Province).
Xunzi's life activities, "custom and righteousness?" "Biography of Jigong" records: "At that time, all the wise men gathered under Ji ... Sun Qing had a scholar who began to study at the age of fifteen." In 286 BC, the Song Dynasty was wiped out. Confucianism talks about the arrogance of King Qi Min. "All Confucian scholars are disobedient and scattered." At this moment, the alignment said, "If you stand on the position of winning, you will win on the road of winning." He pointed to today's Chu's tie in front of me, the geese threatened me behind me, and Jin Wei held it on my right ... If the national policy was planned, the three countries would inevitably take the opportunity to invade. In this way, Qi will inevitably lead to disintegration and the country is in danger of extinction. (Xunzi). Right ",the second volume, only note the title) opinion was not adopted, Sun Qing went to the state of Chu. During the reign of King Xiang of Qi (283 BC-265 BC), Xunzi returned to Qi for the second time. "Xun Qing is the best teacher. "He was promoted to drink offering three times. ("Historical Records? Biographies of Mencius and Xun Qing) Fan Ju of Qin Dynasty (266 BC-255 BC), Xunzi went to Qin State to meet Zhao Haoqi of Qin State. Zhao Haoqi asked: "Is Confucianism bad for the people's country?" Xunzi replied: "Confucianism is beautiful politically in the current dynasty and vulgar in the status of the next dynasty. Confucianism is like this." ("Scholars") Ying Hou () asked Sun: What do you think of entering Qin? Xunzi replied: "shape wins", "people are simple", "officials are afraid", the scholar-officials are "open-minded and public", and the court "listens without leaving" and "governs"; And "almost no Confucianism" is "what Qin lacks" Because of the rule of law in Qin dynasty, Xunzi's thought of governing the country with Confucianism is not feasible.
Someone slandered Xunzi in Qi, so Xunzi left Qi and came to Chu. In 255 BC, he was appointed as Lan Ling Ling Ling. But some people think that Xunzi is the bane of Chu. So Xunzi resigned from Chu and came to Zhao to worship him as Shangqing. Later, someone in Chu advised Chu Xiangchun and Shen Jun to let Xunzi return to Chu. So Chun sent someone back to Xunzi and asked him to be reinstated as Lanling. In 238 BC, Chun Shen Jun was killed by Li Yuan, and Xunzi was just an official. He died a few years later.
There are more than 300 works of Xunzi circulating in Han Dynasty. After editing and sorting out by Liu Xiang, 32 books were fixed by deleting duplication.
Two:
Xunzi (about 325- 238 BC) was honored as "Qing", so he was also called. Sun Qing was renamed in the Han Dynasty, a native of Zhao State (now southern Shaanxi) at the end of the Warring States Period, and a famous thinker in the pre-Qin period.
Xunzi traveled to Qi in his early years. Because of his extensive knowledge, he was the "most teacher" and served as the "wine festival" of Qi State at that time for three times (the length of the school palace). In about 264 BC, at the invitation of King Qin Zhao, he swam westward into the State of Qin, saying that the State of Qin was "simple in folk customs", "awed by all officials" and close to "supreme rule". Later, he returned to Zhao, where he fought in front of Linwu Junyi, thinking that "the purpose of fighting is to care for the people" and that "people who are good at attaching themselves to the people are also good at fighting" ("Xunzi? Discuss the soldiers "). Later, Xunzi was used by Chu Chunshen as the order of Lanling (now Lanling Town, Cangshui County, Shandong Province). Engaged in teaching and writing in his later years.
comment
Xunzi is knowledgeable and profound in thought. His ideological theory is based on Confucianism, and he also absorbs the strengths of Taoism, Dharma, Fame and Mohism. He claimed to be the successor of Confucius and Zhong Gong, maintained the Confucian tradition, denounced the Confucianism of Zhang Zi, Xia Zi and Zi You as "cheap Confucianism", and strongly criticized Zi Si and Mencius. He gained and lost from Confucius' thoughts, highlighted Confucius' "courtesy" in his political thoughts, and had a tendency to change to legalism. It is not entirely accidental that Han Feizi and Li Si, the representatives of the late Legalists, all came from Xunzi family.
At the end of the Warring States Period, Xunzi's thoughts and theories of hundred schools of thought had already appeared, which enabled him not only to adopt hundred schools of thought's thoughts, but also to criticize and compare them, so Xunzi's thoughts were very rich. It can be said that Xunzi has made great achievements in the world view, humanity view, morality view, knowledge view, education view, literature view, politics view, economy view, logic view and so on.
1, the concept of heaven: Xunzi believes that "heaven" is an objective nature. "Stars around, the sun and the moon handover, four-year-old royal, Yin and Yang amplification, generous wind and rain. Everything has its own harmony and life, its own nourishment and success. If you don't see it working, your husband is called God; Its success is well known, but intangible, which is called the sky "("Xunzi? Family "). Nature has the regularity of being independent of human will. "Heaven exists forever, not for Yao's survival, not for Jie's death. Appropriate to rule by luck, chaos should be fierce "("Xunzi? Family "). Based on the understanding of the objectivity and regularity of nature, Xunzi put forward the viewpoint of "the separation of heaven and man", holding that "the sky cannot be poor if the foundation is strong and the use is frugal; If you are prepared and move, you will not get sick; If you don't do it by the way, the sky can't be a disaster; ..... Therefore, the distinction between heaven and man is clear, and it can be said that people are also "("Xunzi? Family "). On the basis of advocating respect for the laws of nature, Xunzi further put forward the idea of giving full play to people's subjective initiative, "controlling destiny and using it" to control, publicize and conquer nature. Falling from the sky, used to control fate; Wait a minute; Which is to make it in time, which is to make it better; Thinking about things and things is to manage things without losing them; May things live, and may things be made. Therefore, if you think about the sky with the wrong person, you will lose your love for everything "("Xunzi? Family "). Xunzi's series of materialistic thoughts are unique in the debate of pre-Qin philosophers about the concept of heaven. It holds high the rational spirit and has high theoretical value.
2. Epistemology: Xunzi pointed out: "Anyone who knows is human nature; The reason of knowing things is also "("Xunzi? Uncover), that is, the world is knowable and is carried out through human functions. The process of cognition is to contact with external things through the "heavenly officials" (senses), and then the "heavenly kings" (thinking organs) carry out rational processing ("seeking knowledge"), that is, the combination of subject and object. "Mind" (thinking) is an important stage of understanding. "Mind is also the king of form; And the Lord of the gods also "("Xunzi? Uncover "). It is believed that the one-sidedness and subjectivity of knowledge is a great "cover", and there are many forms of "cover", including: "Desire is cover, evil is cover, end is cover, far is cover, near is cover, knowledge is cover, shallowness is cover, ancient is cover, and today is cover. Everything is different and hides from each other. This mentality is also a public disaster. " ("Xunzi? To uncover, you must "know". How do people know? Heart. How to be intimate, saying: empty and quiet. People are born with knowledge, knowing and aspiring, and those with aspirations also hide. But there is a so-called emptiness, and it is not empty with what has been hidden "("Xunzi? Uncover "). If you achieve "silence", you can achieve "complete enlightenment". In the relationship between "knowledge" and "behavior", Xunzi thinks that "behavior" is higher than "knowledge", and "knowing without doing it will stop learning and do it" (Xunzi? Confucianism "). On the relationship between "name" and "reality", Xunzi emphasized that "reality" is the objective basis of "name" and put forward "making name refer to reality" (Xunzi? Correct the name).
3. Theory of human nature: In the theory of human nature, Xunzi put forward the view of "evil nature" which is completely opposite to Mencius' "good nature". In his view, human nature is an innate and simple natural attribute. "Anyone born can't learn or do anything, ... but in people, it's called sex" ("Xunzi? Sexual evil "), manifested as" A wants to be full, cold wants to be warm, and tired wants to rest "("Xunzi? Evil nature "), so human nature is" born with good interests ","born with diseases and evil "and" born with eyes and ears and good feelings "("Xunzi? Sexual evil "). The "goodness" of human nature is artificial (that is, "false"), "human nature is evil, and its goodness is also false" ("Xunzi? Sexual evil "). "Goodness" is the result of acquired environment and enlightenment learning. "People who are polite and righteous, born of saints, learned people, people who can do what they have learned and achieve, and people who can learn and do what they have learned are talented people. This is called falsehood" ("Xunzi? Sexual evil "). Congenital "sex" and acquired "falsehood" are a pair of contradictions. To solve contradictions, we must change our "nature" by studying and doing things. Sex and falsehood are the unity of opposites. "Without sex, there is no falsehood. Without falsehood, there is no self-beauty." Only by "sexual absurdity, then the name of a saint" ("Xunzi? The theory of ceremony). Xunzi's theory of "evil nature" is quite different from Mencius' theory of "good nature", but the purpose of educating and influencing people through the so-called "teaching of the holy king" is the same.
4. The theory of ceremony: the thought of ceremony is the core concept of Xunzi's social and political thought. Xunzi proposed that "ceremony" was a "measuring boundary" formulated by the former king in order to adjust people's desires and avoid war. "Where did the ceremony begin?" Yue: People are born with desires. If they want but can't, they can't want nothing. They can't argue if they want to have no measurement boundary. Struggle is chaos, and chaos is poverty. The late king hated the chaos, so he divided the etiquette and righteousness to nurture people's desires and give them desires. It is also a ceremony to make desires not be limited by things, and things not yield to desires. "("Xunzi? Xunzi believes that although the content of "ceremony" includes "life", "death", "sacrifice" and "teacher", its essence is nothing more than "cultivation" ("desire to educate people") and "restraint" ("there are differences between the young and the old, and there are rich and poor"). Xunzi emphasized that "courtesy" is the highest standard to measure everything, the foundation of governing the country, that is, "the extreme of human nature", and the highest principle of supreme and eternal existence. "Heaven and earth, the sun and the moon are bright, the four seasons are orderly, the stars are in line, the rivers are flowing, everything is prosperous, likes and dislikes are decorated, the mood is suitable, the next one is smooth, the last one is bright, and the change is not chaotic. ("Xunzi? Ritual theory ")
5. View of education: Xunzi attaches importance to the role of education and learning, which is actually a logical extension of his view of heaven and man and his theory of human nature. He believes that learning is very important to people, "learning is impossible", "I think all day long, it is better to learn in an instant" ("Xunzi? Advise "). Education determines a person's acquired growth. "For the son of a foreign nationality, he is born with the same voice, long but vulgar, and natural in teaching" ("Xunzi? Advise "). He pointed out that the cultivation of knowledge and virtue is formed through accumulation. "Accumulated soil becomes mountains, and the wind and rain are prosperous; The water drops merged into the ocean and the dragon was born; Accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent, and the sacred heart is prepared "("Xunzi? Advise "). Xunzi believed that there was no end to learning, and the latecomers came to the top. "Green is taken from blue, and green is blue; Ice, water is for it, but it is colder than water ",and emphasizes that the purpose of" learning "is" doing ",so learning numbers has a purpose. If it is meaningful, you can't give up for a moment. For it, people are also; Give it up, animals also "("Xunzi? Advise ").
Xunzi has always been regarded as a very important figure in the early teaching of Confucian classics. He also knows all the classics. Ying Shao's "Customs Pass" said: "Sun Qing is good at poetry, etiquette, righteousness, spring and autumn." Wang Zhong, a Confucian scholar in the Qing Dynasty, wrote the General Theory of Xunqing Zi, arguing that "Xunqing's learning originated from Confucius, and he made a detailed textual research on Xunzi's Classic Biography, which was basically recognized by scholars who studied the history of Confucian classics. Xunzi was a very important Confucian scholar and scholar in the pre-Qin period. In the early feudal society of China, his position was relatively high. However, since the Song Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism has often promoted Mencius, suppressed Xun, and excluded him from the orthodoxy. However, Xunzi's thoughts and theories still have far-reaching influence. Zhang Heng, Wang Chong, Liu Zongyuan, Wang Fuzhi, Dai Zhen and the modern bourgeois revolutionary democrats were all influenced by him to varying degrees.