Mencius vs Xunzi
Mencius and Xunzi are the two most influential developers of early Confucianism after Confucius himself, and their dispute over human nature is the most important debate within the early Confucian tradition.
Key differences at a glance
| Mencius | Xunzi | |
|---|---|---|
| Human nature | Fundamentally good; four sprouts of moral feeling are innate. | Bad; goodness is conscious effort against natural inclination. |
| Image of cultivation | Watering an inner seed. | Bending crooked wood through ritual constraint. |
| Source of virtue | Recovery and growth of inner moral nature. | External shaping by ritual, study, and the example of sages. |
Biographical facts
| Mencius | Xunzi | |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | 372 BC – 289 BC | 310 BC – 235 BC |
| Nationality | Chinese | Chinese |
| Era | Ancient | Ancient |
| Movements | Confucianism | Confucianism |
| Profile | Mencius → | Xunzi → |
Where they agree
Both held that human beings can be morally cultivated through study, ritual, and the example of the sages, both held that proper government aims at the moral cultivation of the people, and both worked within the Confucian framework of ritual propriety, humanness, and the rectification of names. Both took the Analects as the authoritative starting point.
Where they disagree
Mencius held that human nature is good: the four sprouts of moral feeling are innate, and cultivation consists in their nurture and growth. Xunzi held the opposite: human nature is bad, and what is good in human beings is the work of conscious effort against natural inclination. Mencius's cultivation is the watering of an inner seed; Xunzi's is the bending of crooked wood through ritual constraint. The dispute shaped the subsequent Confucian tradition, with the Mencian view becoming dominant in Neo-Confucianism and the Xunzian view marginalized but never lost.
Representative quotes
Mencius
-
“The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart.”
大人者，不失其赤子之心者也 -
“He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature.”
7A:1, as translated by Wing-tsit Chan in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), p. 62 -
“The feeling of compassion is the beginning of benevolence; the feeling of shame is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference is the beginning of propriety; the feeling of right and wrong is the beginning of wisdom.”
2A:6, as translated by Wing-tsit Chan in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), p. 65 | Variant translation: The sense of compassion is the beginning of benevolence; the sense of shame the beginning of righteousness; the sense of modesty the beginning of decorum; the sense of right and wrong the beginning of wisdom. Man possesses these four beginnings just as he possesses four limbs. Anyone p
Xunzi
-
“The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.”
Quoted in: Errick A. Ford (2010) Iron Sharpens Iron: Wisdom of the Ages, p. 48 -
“In order to properly understand the big picture, everyone should fear becoming mentally clouded and obsessed with one small section of truth.”
Quoted in: Joan Klostermann-Ketels (2011) HumaniTrees, p. 96 -
“Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity.”
Quoted in: Fayek S. Hourani (2012) Daily Bread for Your Mind and Soul, p. 336
Continue reading
- Full profile: Mencius
- Full profile: Xunzi
- Shared movements: Confucianism
- Browse all philosopher comparisons