Xunzi: The Complete Writings

Human nature is bad; goodness is the result of conscious effort. Xunzi, the third great Confucian after Confucius and Mencius, argued against his predecessor that people must be shaped by ritual, music and learning as wood is straightened by the press. He wrote the first systematic essays in Chinese philosophy: on learning, on Heaven as nature rather than a moral god, on rectifying names, on the ruler and on war, with rhymed poems and riddles. Two of his students, Han Fei and Li Si, became the architects of the Qin empire. This complete new English translation gives all thirty-two chapters, from An Exhortation to Learning to Yao Asked. Names are given in modern pinyin and key terms are rendered plainly rather than buried in jargon, so the arguments, stories and debates can be read straight through by anyone curious about Chinese thought.