Xun Zi
Overview
 
Xun Zi was a Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

 Confucian
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

 philosopher
Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy is philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought. The majority of traditional Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States era, during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and...

 who lived during the Warring States Period
Warring States Period
The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...

 and contributed to one of the Hundred Schools of Thought
Hundred Schools of Thought
The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophers and schools that flourished from 770 to 221 BC during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period , an era of great cultural and intellectual expansion in China...

. Xun Zi believed man's inborn tendencies need to be curbed through education and ritual, counter to Mencius
Mencius
Mencius was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres ...

's view that man is innately good. He believed that ethical norms had been invented to rectify mankind.

Educated in the state of Qi, Xun Zi was associated with the Confucian
Confucius
Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....

 school, but his philosophy has a pragmatic flavour compared to Confucian optimism.
Quotations

I once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study. I once tried standing up on my toes to see far out in the distance, but I found that I could see much farther by climbing to a high place.

The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.

When you locate good in yourself, approve of it with determination. When you locate evil in yourself, despise it as something detestable.

In order to properly understand the big picture, everyone should fear becoming mentally clouded and obsessed with one small section of truth.

If what the heart approves conforms to proper patterns, then even if one's desires are many, what harm would they be to good order?

Music is a fantastic peacekeeper of the world, it is integral to harmony, and it is a required fundamental of human emotion.

 
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