Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 210 Xunzi

Xun Kuang, who was already 62 years old,
He is teaching his two young disciples.

Han Fei was a prince of the State of Han, but he was born with some difficulty in speaking.

Therefore,
After asking the question and getting the answer, he simply lowered his head and pondered.

Li Si, who was standing next to him, asked respectfully, "I heard Mencius say: 'Human nature is good'!"

"Why do you say it is evil, teacher?"

Xun Kuang told him, "Because the distinction between good and evil is something that is distinguished from a human perspective."

"The evil of man is the same as that of the beasts."

"When humans and animals are born, they have no moral concepts!"

"But the reason why people are human beings and gentlemen is that they can learn wisdom from their ancestors and understand the difference between humans and animals."

Human nature is evil.

The good ones are fake!

The word "fake" here does not mean disguise, but means "artificial".

When a person is born, he naturally has his own nature.

However, as we grow up and receive education, we learn to distinguish between good and bad, and then "fake" things arise.

"This is also the reason why the gentlemen of the Xia Dynasty do not mix with the surrounding barbarians."

The barbarians have never received the education of a gentleman, nor have they been enlightened by wisdom.
So they are like beasts when they are born, and they remain like beasts when they grow up!
"I understand!"

Li Si nodded, feeling that his thoughts were clear.

Meng Ke, who was listening, was also shocked and asked He Bo, "What a refreshing argument!"

"Who is this master?"

Because ghosts and gods have often stayed on the plateau in the past few decades and paid less attention to the human world, correspondingly, the dead ghosts in the underworld cannot get timely news about the human world from the ghosts and gods.

Therefore, Mencius and other dead guys didn't know Xunzi's identity.

He Bo said, "This is the new generation of Confucian masters!"

Shang Yang couldn't help but sneer, "A Confucian would say that human nature is evil. This is beyond my expectation!"

Taking advantage of the fact that no one could see him, he pointed at Han Fei and Li Si and said, "I think these two guys don't look like Confucian gentlemen!"

"It looks a bit like me!"

A person's words, actions, behavior, and inner thoughts will inevitably affect his appearance.

Just like Shang Yang,

As a prince of the Wei State, he had been living a life of luxury since childhood and was naturally handsome.

But because he always has a stern face and is very stubborn in what he says and does, he looks a lot more mean.

right now,

This old man named Xun Kuang still had some of the kindness and humility of a Confucian gentleman, but the two disciples he taught were not very gentle and refined.

"alright!"

He Bo noticed that Meng Ke raised his eyebrows, obviously about to start a new bloody storm, so he immediately came out to stop him.

"The reason I brought you here is to let you two discuss the truth with Xun Kuang and ease the conflict between the two sides."

He pointed at Xun Kuang who was completely unaware of the situation and said to the two ghosts, "This man is the last great master of Confucianism before the end of the old destiny!"

"If you say so, how can I miss the opportunity to discuss it with you?"

Shang Yang said immediately.

Mencius also agreed.

So He Bo led his men out again and revealed his figure.

He said, "You can't just show up suddenly and scare people!"

Shang Yang thought of what happened that year and asked, "Why didn't you worry about scaring me at that time?"

He Bo said directly, "You are a stubborn person. You are young and healthy. How can you compete with an old man?"

People of all ages are the least likely to be frightened!
After he finished speaking,
Just go up and knock on the door.

One of Xun Kuang's disciples came over to open the door and found quite a few people standing outside.

The other party was dressed appropriately and looked calm and composed, obviously gentlemen of status.

The one in the lead is even more dazzling, making people feel favorable at first sight!

"Excuse me, what can I do for you?"

He Bo introduced his purpose to him, "We are here to visit Xunzi."

He turned and pointed at Shang and Meng, "My two friends often argue about their own principles and have trouble distinguishing the upper and lower levels of etiquette and law."

"And I also heard that Xunzi had a very deep understanding of Zhou rituals and laws, so I came to seek advice and hope to resolve their dispute."

The disciple said, “So that’s it!”

"Please wait a moment. I will go and report to the teacher."

He ran to the inner room and told Xunzi about this.

The old man had just finished teaching his two most admired disciples, and his minds were broadened at the time.

After hearing this, he said, "I haven't discussed the Dao for a long time!"

"Since you said that those visitors all look like learned gentlemen, what reason do I have to refuse their request?"

"Please invite them in!"

Subsequently,

A group of people came in one after another.

He Bo pushed the two protagonists forward so that they could quarrel to their heart's content.

As for him,
He brought other dead ghosts to watch from the side and record this discussion that transcended time.

For Shang and Meng,

Xun Kuang had never seen it.

former,
Before Xun Kuang was born, it had already been divided into five equal parts.

the latter,
It was fate that whenever the young Xunzi wanted to visit Mencius, Mencius was not at home because he was out giving lectures. The two men never met until Mencius' death.

therefore,

Although Xunzi was somewhat surprised at the age and knowledge of the two, he did not think that he had seen a ghost.

At most, I feel:
There are indeed many hermits in the world.

People who can debate with me equally well are not well-known nowadays.

……

"I want to ask, why do you advocate respecting rituals and laws?"

There have been too many debates between Shang and Mencius on Confucianism and Legalism.

When facing Xunzi, they just had a simple discussion among the three parties, and then asked about Xunzi's "Tao".

Xun Kuang said, "Does ritual and law have to be separated and cannot be integrated?"

"When Duke Zhou established the ritual system, the world was ruled by 'ritual'."

"And now that Qin has the Mandate of Heaven, the Law will naturally flourish."

Xunzi had been to the State of Qin and expressed his strong approval of the Qin system.

And his experience in Qin State also became part of his wisdom.

"Why can't there be only laws?" Shang Yang asked him.

Xun Kuang clapped his hands and expressed the Taoist viewpoint, "Because things will turn into the opposite when they reach their extremes!"

"The reason why the Qin State became strong was because of its strict laws, which united the upper and lower classes."

"However, the governance of Shandong still has many feudal lords at the local level, each ruling its own empire. How many troops can the monarch directly mobilize? How large is the territory under his direct rule?"

"So if you use a small corner of the country to fight against a whole country, failure is inevitable."

"But during my years in Qin, I could see that most of what the Qin people did was to achieve victory in battle."

"They gained land and wealth by joining the army and fighting, and improved their status, so the reputation of the Qin people as a fierce and powerful army spread far and wide."

"But after the world is unified, wars will no longer be as frequent, nor as fierce as they are now."

"By that time, won't the tigers and wolves be out of control?"

"So when the world is unified, morality needs to be promoted again!"

Mencius then asked, "So you think that morality is necessary for governing the world, right?"

"Yes!"

Xun Kuang nodded, "But the law cannot be ignored."

"The nature of man is no different from that of animals. Only by correcting them with laws can we reach the realm of 'pseudo' and transform from evil to good."

“In order to achieve stable governance in the world, we must always use laws to restrain the natural evil in people’s hearts, and then use morality to strengthen the good that people have learned.”

"If we only talk about the law, people's hearts will become cold and they will be like wolves, hostile to each other."

"If we only talk about morality, people's evil will not be effectively restrained and will cause too much harm, which is even more disadvantageous for moral gentlemen."

"Human wisdom has not yet recovered its ancient simplicity and nature, and human desires are still not satisfied, so it is inevitable that some people will become evil!"

"So I said, we must respect the law and honor the rites!"

Restrain the wicked and praise the good,
This is a normal and stable social form!
This is what Xunzi believes the law should do most.

Shang Yang burst into laughter immediately.

He stood up, pointed at Xun Kuang and said to Meng Ke, "You, you, what are you arguing with me about?"

"Although he is a Confucian, he is the successor I want most!"

"Strict laws are used in troubled times, and other means are used to govern peaceful times. This was my original dream!"

Meng Ke said, "But I am still worried about the evil in the Qin emperor's human nature!"

Once the goal of unifying the world is achieved by relying on Qin law, will the Qin kings of later generations easily modify the laws that are beneficial to themselves?
Qin law requires everyone to obey the orders of the monarch. Could the monarch be willing to give up such power?

Can a monarch resist the temptation to use the wealth of the world to support himself alone?

Shang Yang said, "That's for future generations!"

"All I want is for the world to be unified!"

Turning around, he said to the confused Xun Kuang, "The years of debate between Confucianism and Legalism ended in your hands."

"I think your disciple can definitely assist the monarch and realize the great cause of unifying the world!"

As for Xun Kuang himself?
Ugh,
They are all over sixty years old.

It’s better not to make things difficult for the old man.

Not everyone has the physical fitness of Jiang Taigong.

Among the onlookers, He Bo quietly said, "If the world is unified, the people's thoughts and ideas must also be unified."

"When Mencius was still alive, he quarreled with people so fiercely, and the separation between rituals and laws was so severe!"

"By the time of Xunzi's generation, Confucian scholars had mixed various schools of thought and expanded Confucianism."

"So the new destiny is coming soon!"

The various schools of thought gradually merged together.
Is a unified world still far away?
Hui Shi smiled and said, "If you say so, then when the teachings of various philosophers are gathered into one school of thought, won't it be under the rule of the monarch who unifies the world?"

He Bo then thought of Lu Buwei, who was doing venture capital in Xianyang, and Ying Zheng, who seemed to be becoming more and more mature.

He sighed and said, "That's true!"

In such a chaotic world,
Only twenty-six years...

Zhuang Zhou said, "It is impossible to mix the ideas of hundreds of schools of thought."

During the long debate, the philosophers have increasingly solidified their own "Tao".

It is okay to mix one or two schools of thought to complete one's own theory.

Because Confucius once asked Laozi about etiquette,

And Mozi also studied under Confucian scholars.

But the Hundred Schools?
If so many theories are mixed together, which one should be the main one?

A school of thought,
A thought,

Without a backbone, it is difficult to unite.

If a piece of clothing has a few holes, it can be mended with scraps of cloth from other clothes without destroying the shape and color of the clothing itself.

But it has to be all mouths...

How could there be clothes in the world that are made entirely of scraps of cloth?

……

"excuse me!"

This time I communicated with Xun Kuang,
Mencius felt that Confucianism had successors.

Shang Yang also felt that the Legalists had successors.
Confucianism and Legalism both have a bright future!
So they were both contented.

He Bo also sincerely thanked Xun Kuang:
"You are a rare scholar in the world. It seems that many people in the future will become your disciples and continue your wisdom!"

Xun Kuang was very modest. "At my age, I became the Lanling Order only because the King of Chu was kind. How can I dare to say that I can achieve such a career?"

He Bo thought of the countless celebrities in later generations who were "Confucian in appearance but legalistic in nature" and just laughed.

He just said, "I want to hear your truth and understand your wisdom, but you look like you have almost exhausted your energy."

"In that case, I'll take my leave now and I'll ask you for advice later!"

After he said that, he took the dead ghosts away.

Li Si and Han Fei came over and wanted to help the teacher to go to the back room to rest.

Xun Kuang said, "No need."

Perhaps it was because he had a very pleasant conversation with the two scholars who were both proficient in Confucianism and Legalism, which made Xunzi feel that his old body was full of strength at this moment.

"Let's edit the book first!"

Xun Kuang is old.

He also began to learn from the predecessors and compiled his own theories into books to pass on to future generations.

He had no idea how his books would fare.

Among his disciples,
Han Fei and Li Si both focused on what they called laws and were short on the morality of Confucian scholars.

This made Xun Kuang feel distressed.

It is very worrying for a school of thought that students are unable to continue their own ideas and carry them forward.

But this is the end,
Let’s edit the book first.

(End of this chapter)