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The book Xunzi 荀子 "Master Xun" is a philosophical book of the late Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent-221 BCE). It belongs to the Confucian books but is not rated as a classic because it contains a lot of thinking later rated as unorthodox. The author is Xun Qing 荀卿 or Xun Kuang 荀況 (sometimes also called Sun Qing 孫卿), a scholar from the state of Zhao 趙 who dwelled at the court of the kings of Qi 齊 where he was an eminent scholar at the Jixia 稷下 state academy. He later went to the southern state of Chu 楚 to become a follower of Lord Chunshen 春申君. He also served king Zhaoxiang of Qin 秦昭襄王 (r. 306-251) but does not to have seen Li Si 李斯 becoming chancellor of Qin. After the death of Lord Chunshen he spent his remaining years in Chu.
Xun Qing was basically a Confucian scholar but he adapted Confucian thought to the circumstances of the present times. Mostly different from Confucian thought is his assumption that man is by nature evil – this is quite the opposite what the Confucian scholar Mengzi 孟子 had taught who supposed, as later Confucians did, that man is good by nature. According to Xunzi it is therefore not possible that morally perfect persons are naturally born. Everybody has to work hard on oneself and to be educated before developing into a morally good being. Xunzi likewise does not suppose that Heaven (tian 天) has a will on its own. His assumption is rather Daoist in that he believes that Heaven and nature are by themselves, and neutral, and therefore do not influence human beings. Man is able to follow the nature but he can also change and shape the nature according to his own wishes. While the traditional Confucian approach can be called idealistic, Xunzi’s is realistic.
The natural non-goodness of man makes it necessary to shape him by education and ritual (li 禮) and etiquette. Otherwise social cooperation would not be possible. This assumption is similar to the legalists who stressed that society has to be hold together by law. But unlike the legalists Xunzi rejects force as an educational instrument: in his eyes morally integer paradigms (especially in the person of the king) are able to impress and to shape society, and to incite fellow humans to behave likewise. Benevolence and righteousness, Confucian core concepts, thus constitute an integral part also of Xunzi’s teachings. The king, like a boat, is carried by the "waves" of the people, as Xunzi says.
The book Xunzi had 32 chapters which were rearranged into 20 chapters by the Tang period 唐 (618-907) scholar Yang Jing 楊倞 because the thought that the parts Dalüe 大略 to Yao wen 堯問 were compiled by later persons. Yang has also written a commentary to the Xunzi. Later scholars rated the following chapters as genuinely written by Xun Qing: Wangba 王霸, Xing e 性惡, Tianlun 天論, Jiebi 解蔽, Zhengming 正名, Lilun 禮論, and Lelun 樂論. It was only during the late Qing period 清 (1644-1911) that scholars again became interested in the writings and thoughts of the Xunzi. Wang Xianqian 王先謙 collected all those commentaries in his book Xunzi jijie 荀子集解. A newer commentary is Liang Qixiong’s 梁啟雄 Xunzi jianshi 荀子簡釋.
Source: Wu Rongceng 吳榮曾 (1992). "Xun Qing 荀卿", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史, vol. 3, p. 1347. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
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1.勸學篇 Quanxue
2.脩身篇 Youshen
3.不苟篇 Bugou
4.榮辱篇 Rongru
5.非相篇 Feixiang
6.非十二子篇 Fei shierzi
7.仲尼篇 Zhong Ni
8.儒效篇 Ruxiao
9.王制篇 Wangzhi
10.富國篇 Fuguo
11.王霸篇 Wangba
12.君道篇 Jundao
13.臣道篇 Chendao
14.致士篇 Zhishi
15.議兵篇 Yibing
16.彊國篇 Qiangguo
17.天論篇 Tianlun
18.正論篇 Zhenglun
19.禮論篇 Lilun
20.樂論篇 Yuelun
21.解蔽篇 Jiebi
22.正名篇 Zhengming
23.性惡篇 Xing'e
24.君子篇 Junzi
25.成相篇 Chengxiang
26.賦篇 Fu
27.大略篇 Dalüe
28.宥坐篇 Youzuo
29.子道篇 Zidao
30.法行篇 Faxing
31.哀公篇 Aigong
32.堯問篇 Yao wen
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Exemplarious translation:
２２．正名
後王之成名：刑名從商，爵名從周，文名從禮，散名之加於萬物者，則從諸夏之成俗曲期，遠方異俗之鄉，則因之而為通。
Rectifying names
This is the way the true kings of later times fixed the names of things. In the case of legal terms, they followed the practices of the Shang dynasty; in case of terms pertaining to ranks and titles, they followed Zhou practice; and for the names of ceremonies and ceremonial objects, they followed ritual practice. For the common names applied to all the various things of creation, they followed the established customs of China, and made certain that such names could be used in distant regions whose customs are different, so that a common means of communication could be established...
今聖王沒，名守慢，奇辭起，名實亂，是非之形不明，則雖守法之吏，誦數之儒，亦皆亂也。若有王者起，必將有循於舊名，有作於新名。然則所為有名，與所緣以同異，與制名之樞要，不可不察也。
Nowadays, however, the sages and true kings have all passed away. Men are careless in abiding by established names, strange words come into use, names and realities become confused, and the distinction between right and wrong has become unclear. Even the officials who guard the laws or the scholars who recite the Classics have all become confused. If a true king were to appear now, he would surely set about reviving the old names, and creating new ones as they were needed. To do so, he would have to examine carefully to see why names are needed, how to go about distinguishing between things that are the same and those that are different, and what essential standards should be used in regulating names.
異形離心交喻，異物名實玄紐，貴賤不明，同異不別；如是，則志必有不喻之患，而事必有困廢之禍。此所為有名也。
If there are no fixed names, men begin to discriminate the different forms of things on the basis of their own particular observations, each applying his own names and interpreting the different phenomena in his own fashion, then the relationships between names and realities will become obscured and entangled, the distinction between eminent and humble will become unclear, and men will no longer discriminate properly between things that are the same and those that are different. In such a case there will be a real danger that the ruler's intentions will not be properly communicated and understood, and his undertakings will undoubtedly be plagued with difficulty and failure... This is the reason why correct names are needed.
名無固宜，約之以命，約定俗成謂之宜，異於約則謂之不宜。名無固實。名有固善，徑易而不拂，謂之善名。
Names have an intrinsic appropriateness. One agrees to use a certain name and issues an order to that effect, and if the agreement is abided by and becomes a matter of custom, then the name may be said to be appropriate, but if people do not abide by the agreement, then the name ceases to be appropriate. Names have no intrinsic reality... There are, however, names which are intrinsically good. Names which are clear, simple, and not at odds with the thing they designate may be said to be good names...
About Yang Zhu and the sophists
「(白)馬非馬也，」此惑於用名以亂實者也。驗之名約，以其所受，悖其所辭，則能禁之矣。故明君不與辨也。
"A white horse is not a horse". Men who make statements like these are deluded in their use of words and bring confusion to realities. If one examines them in the light of the agreed usage of names, accepts those which fit in with agreed usage, and rejects those that depart from it, he can put and stop to such statements... The enlightened ruler does... not argue with men who make such statements.
Translated by Burton Watson (1963). Hsün Tzu: Basic Writings. New York: Columbia University Press.
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Chinese literature according to the four-category system
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