Virtue, nature, and moral agency in the Xunzi

215 Pages·2000·52.04 MB·English

by  T. C. Kline

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Edited by
T C. Kline III and
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Philip J. luanhoe _1
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Virtue, Nature, and
Moral Agency in the Xunzi
Edited, with Introduction, by
T C. Kline III
.
and
Philip J. Ivanhoe
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Indianapolis/Cambridge
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Copyright © 2000 by Hackett Publishing Company
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Virtue, nature, and moral agnecy in the Xunzi / edited with
,
introduction by T. C. Kline III and Philip J. Ivanhoe
p cm.
.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0-87220-523-1 (alk. paper)
ISBN 0-87220-522-3 (pbk.)
1 Hsdn-tzu, 340-245 B.C Hs&i-tzu. 2. Ethics-China. L
.
Kline, T. C, 1966- II. Ivanhoe, P.J.
B128. H7 V57 2000
181M12-dc21 99-052072
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum require-
ments on American National Standard for Information
Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1984
@
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Contents
Introduction ix

Acknowledgments xix

Note on Conventions and Abbreviations xxi

1 State and Society in the Xunzi: A Philosophical Commentary 1
.

Henry Rosemont, Jr.
2 Ethical Uses of the Past in Early Confucianism: The Case
.
of Xunzi 25

Antonio S. Cua
3 Virtues in Xunzi's Thought 69
.
Jonathan W. Schofer
4 Xunzi: Morality as Psychological Constraint 89
.

Joel J. Kupperman
5 Mengzi and Xunzi: Two Views of Human Agency 103
.
Bryan W. Van Norden
Xunzi on Moral Motivation 13_5

David B. Wong
7 Moral Agency and Motivation in the Xunzi 155
.
T C Kline III
.
8 Xunzi and Zhuangzi 176
.

David S Nivison
5L Theories of Human Nature in Mencius and Xunzi LSS
D r Lmi
10. Does Xunzi Have a Consistent Theory of Human Nature? 220

Erie Hutton
11. Human Nature and Moral Understanding in the Xunzi 237
Philip J. Ivanhoe
Contributors 25J

Bibliography 253

Subject Index 259

Name Index 266

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Introduction
Henry Rosemont Jr., began his 1971 article on the political and social
,
philosophy of Xunzi Kj with the following lament: "The study of
early Chinese philosophy qua philosophy does not attract much attention
in contemporary scholarly circles ... the philosophical depths of the
classical texts are rarely plumbed anymore."1 He hoped that his study of
Xunzi as political and social philosopher would take "a small step in
catching up and reversing an untoward trend."2 Due to the work of
scholars such as Rosemont, the "untoward trend" has been reversed and
the study of Chinese philosophy is beginning to catch up to the rest of
the field. Happily, we need not lament that Chinese philosophy is of no
interest to contemporary scholars. Yet, much work remains to be done.
This volume of essays, focused on Xunzi's ethical philosophy,
continues the well-established trend of increased interest in and
scholarship on early Chinese philosophy. Taken as a group, these essays
support two related claims. First, contrary to what one might gather
from orthodox Confucian criticisms of Xunzi's work, his writings are of
great importance to the development of Confucianism and to the larger
field of Chinese philosophy. There is even a case to be made for the
claim that Xunzi's writings constitute the single most sophisticated
philosophical explanation and defense of the Confucian point of view.
Second, a careful consideration of these essays reveals Xunzi's writings to
be of general philosophical interest and importance. Xunzi is not simply
a significant Chinese philosopher, but an important world philosopher.
His insights into various aspects of virtue, nature, and moral agency
speak to our own concerns as well as to those of his second-century
Chinese peers.
These claims about the significance of Xunzi's work gain further
support if we consider Xunzi and his writings in light of their influence
on later generations of Chinese thinkers. In contrast to our limited
biographical knowledge of many of the philosophers in early China, we
have historical sources that record a good deal of information about the
development of Xunzi's political and philosophical career,3 Xunzi,
literally "Master Xun," was born in the state of Zhao j9 around 310
BC E during the Warring States period (403-221 B.C.E.).4 We know
. . .
little about his family or childhood, but through his writings, Xunzi
reveals a thorough training in the arts of the aristocracy-hunting,
archery, warfare, reading and writing, ritual activity, etc.-as well as an
ix
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X Introduction
education in classical literature. Since only wealthy families could afford
an education of this sort we can safely surmise that he was born into a
,
relatively affluent family. In addition we know that Xunzi's public life
,
began quite early. At the age of fifteen he left his home in Zhao and
,
traveled to the state of Qi 9f in order to expand the range of his studies.
In Qi he studied and later taught at the Ji Xia §[T Academy an
,
important center of intellectual life in early China that attracted scholars
from many different states. While at the academy he would be
,
recognized as a leading thinker and teacher whose fame spread throughout
and well beyond Qi. His distinguished place among the intellectuals of
his time is attested to by his being appointed head libationer of the Ji Xia
Academy-the honorary, highest-ranking participant in an official state
ritual-an unprecedented three times. Xunzi's connection to the academy
shows his active participation and leadership within the philosophical
community at a time when philosophical discussion and the work of
governing the state were thought to require and complement one another.
This intellectual environment afforded him the opportunity first to study
under the most distinguished philosophers of his day, to influence many
of them through discussion and debate, and then to instruct a number of
exceptionally talented students. Despite his recognition as a scholar and
teacher, while in Qi, Xunzi did not hold any government position. Only
after leaving Qi and moving to Chu 2i was he granted a political office.
Eventually dismissed from office, apparently for political reasons, Xunzi
retired and lived to see the unification of China under the Qin a
process that to a large extent was accomplished through the work of his
student Li Si $Wf.
During his career, Xunzi wrote numerous essays on the pressing
topics of the day. In his view, there were plenty of problems to be
solved.5 The power and moral authority of the Zhou dynasty were in
serious decline, and the rulers of various slates vied for political
supremacy. Turmoil and intrigue, rather than harmony and benevolence,
had become the predominant characteristics of those in positions of
power. Neither the majority of the populace nor their rulers followed the
ritual order of the early Zhou kings. Lacking the proper guides for moral
cultivation, people were led to ruin by deceptive and misguided
philosophies. Xunzi addressed these problems and described solutions
that he believed would allow both individuals and the state to
harmoniously follow the proper way of life, or Dao H.
Like his Greek contemporary, Aristotle, Xunzi wrote on a wide
variety of topics and organized them within the context of a larger, unified
philosophical system. His sustained, philosophical arguments respond to
CopyrlgWed matorlaJ
Introduction xi
the challenges of competing philosophical positions as well as explain
and justify his own advocacy of Confucian ritual cultivation. As we have
seen, Xunzi's views had a profound influence on his contemporaries, and
this influence continued long after his death. For example, in the
subsequent Han 9( dynasty, the great historian Sima Qian IQAMII
recognized Xunzi's importance and included him, alongside the other
leading philosophical figures of the past, in the biographies of his
monumental Shiji aHitS "The Records of the Grand Historian."
Many of Xunzi's most significant achievements can be seen in the
development of the later Confucian tradition. He was the first
philosopher to designate a textual canon, a canon that he believed was
crucial to the process of moral cultivation. He included five works in the
canon-1/ W "Rites," Yue M "Music," Shi & "Odes," Shu S
.
"History" and Chunqiu "Spring and Autumn Annals."b Over the
course of time the Confucian canon would change, yet the set of texts
established by Xunzi would endure as its central core. More importantly,
the notion of a canon and its contribution to moral cultivation would
remain a mainstay of the tradition.7 Along with the canon, Xunzi
emphasized the fundamental role of the teacher in classical Confucian
education. Although the importance of the teacher is implicit in the
writings of Confucius and Mencius Xunzi provided explicit
justification for the role teachers must play in moral cultivation.
Moreover, he more thoroughly described the role of teachers and their
significance in the process of guiding others through moral cultivation.
Both his emphasis on the importance of teachers and his explicit
justification of their role in moral education remained characteristic
features of the later tradition. In addition, Xunzi expanded the
understanding of tradition and argued for the necessity of both hierarchy
and a unified set of standards with which to guide cultivation. All of
these ideas became integrated into and came to be defining features of the
Chinese imperial orthodoxy. It should be noted that Xunzi was not the
only philosopher in the early tradition to discuss these issues, but he
offered some of the most sophisticated analyses of these topics and was
the only thinker to bring them together in a systematic fashion. For
these reasons he may be identified as the most influential proponent of
these ideas in the early Confucian tradition.
As significant as these achievements are, Xunzi's most direct
influence can be seen in the accomplishments of his students. It can be
argued that it was through the influence of his students that many of the
ideas described above became orthodox imperial beliefs and practices.
Three of Xunzi's students are responsible for the transmission of extant
Copyrlgmed matorlaJ
xii Introduction
classical texts. Fouqiu Bo 7?]iI5ffi conveyed the text of the Guliang
Commentary RJUfl t0 t e Spring and Autumn Annals to Shen Pei $
i#. Zhang Cang 5JHI transmitted the Zuo Zhuan Mao Heng
f learned the interpretations of the Odes from Xunzi and then taught
them to his son Mao Chang :J|. Together the Maos wrote what
became the orthodox commentary on the Odes. In each case, these stu-
dents of Xunzi disseminated important classical texts, bringing them to
the attention of Han scholars and transmitting'them to later generations.
Xunzi's two most politically successful, as well as notorious,
students were Li Si and Han Feizi As mentioned above Li Si
,
was an advisor to the Qin court and played an instrumental role in
creating the policies that aided King Zheng of Qin 'Hil&i in his
campaign of conquest that culminated in the unification of China and the
founding of the first imperial dynasty-the Qin dynasty. Although King
Zheng never directly employed Han Feizi, his ideas also contributed to
the king's success. Han Feizi believed that the means of effective
governing lay in developing bureaucratic methods for the control of
political power. Like Xunzi, he wrote numerous essays explaining the
techniques of governing and providing philosophical justifications for
them. But, unlike his teacher, Han Feizi focused not on the power of
ritual, moral cultivation, or the virtue of the ruler, but exclusively on the
techniques for exercising and maintaining political power. After reading
Han Feizi's essays, King Zheng implemented many of his policies
during his campaign of conquest and in the administration of the
subsequent Qin dynasty. Thus, taken together, the political skill of Li
Si and the writings of Han Feizi constitute a central component in the
foundation of the Chinese imperial state.
In spite of the remarkable contribution these two students made in
orchestrating the unification of China and the creation of the imperial
bureaucracy, their success had a negative as well as positive impact on
Xunzi's standing as a philosopher. For traditionally, the Qin dynasty
was understood as a brutal and repressive regime. Since, from the
Chinese point of view, teachers are responsible for the actions of their
students, Xunzi was held accountable for the repressive measures used in
the campaign that unified the empire and ensured the emperor's political
power.
Despite the negative impact of being associated with these two
students, Xunzi enjoyed growing philosophical influence and reputation
throughout the Han dynasty. Yet, by the early ninth century C.E., his
public standing began to wane. Han Yu Kfi, a prominent scholar and
literary figure of the late eighth and early ninth century C.E., in a short
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Introduction xiii
essay entitled Dxaun "Reading Xunzi "8 judges Xunzi to be inferior
,
to Mencius. According to Han Yu Xunzi's writings are "mostly pure
,
with minor defects," while Mencius' philosophy is "the purest of the
pure."9 By the eleventh century, for a variety of complex reasons,
philosophical interest turned toward Mencius and away from Xunzi.
Primarily because Xunzi was recognized as opposing the Mencian
interpretation of Confucius' philosophy the neo-Confucians of the Song
,
dynasty excised Xunzi from the grand Confucian narrative. As a
result the writings of Mencius and not Xunzi were included in the
,
orthodox Confucian canon. Xunzi's claim that "human nature is bad" 'ft
xing'e directly opposed Mencius' claim that "human nature is good"
ttll xingshan and came to be regarded as a mark of Xunzi's inferior
philosophical insight. Nevertheless, much of the rest of Xunzi's
philosophy endured in practice even if publicly unacknowledged. Given
this Mencian turn in the Confucian tradition, from the Song dynasty
onward, scholars spent little time or effort studying Xunzi's
philosophy.10
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Western writers and
translators studying Chinese philosophy followed the orthodox neo-
Confucian narrative. As a result, Xunzi was once again the subject of
relatively little scholarly attention. James Legge, one of the most
productive and influential translators of the nineteenth century, translated
only a single chapter of Xunzi's writings. As part of the introductory
material to his translation of the Mencius, Legge presented the Xing'e '|4
M chapter along with various other short essays by early Chinese
philosophers who had written on the topic of human nature.11 In the late
1920s, Homer Dubs became the first person to publish a book-length
study of Xunzi's philosophy-Hsiintze: The Moulder of Ancient
Confucianism}1 This monpgraph was followed one year later by Dubs'
selected English translation of Xunzi's writings.13 The publication of
Burton Watson's partial translation in 1963 marked the next major event
in Xunzi scholarship.14 Yet not until the mid-eighties was the second
book-length study of Xunzi's philosophy published Antonio Cua's
,
Ethical Argumentation: A Study in Hsiin Tzu's Moral Epistemology.]5
In the last ten years scholarly interest in Xunzi's work has grown
significantly. John Knoblock published, over a period of six years, his
three-volume translation and study of the complete works of Xunzi.16
The publication of this full translation meant that the entire text was now
accessible to non-Chinese readers. While Knoblock was publishing his
complete translation, Edward Machle wrote a translation and study of the
Tianlun chapter.17 And most recently, Paul Goldin has written a
,
CopyrlgWed matorlaJ
xiv Introduction
book on Xunzi's philosophy.18 Yet even taken together, these works
,
only begin to sketch the outlines of Xunzi's philosophical system
.
These observations concerning Xunzi and his influence argue for his
importance to the field of Chinese philosophy Yet, what can be added to
.
support the additional claim that Xunzi is of philosophical interest to
us-Western philosophers? To begin Xunzi writes sustained
,
philosophical arguments. His writings form a surprisingly consistent
group of essays that, when taken together, form a complex and rich
system of Confucian philosophy. The developed and systematic nature of
his writings recommend him as a more accessible conversation partner for
Western philosophers. In addition, Xunzi's broad knowledge of the early
Chinese philosophical tradition outside of Confucianism makes his work
exceptional. Although he devotes a great deal of time to criticizing rival
philosophies, he adopts and adapts almost as much of their work as he
condemns. For example, Xunzi criticizes Zhuangzi for being obsessed
with Heaven and unable to understand either the importance of culture or
the need for self-cultivation. Nonetheless, despite these criticisms Xunzi
,
adopts many aspects of Zhuangzi's conception of language and draws
upon his understanding of moral psychology. In a similar manner in the
,
course of criticizing both Mencius a fellow Confucian, and Mozi H-F
, ,
founder of a powerful, competing school of philosophy, Xunzi not only
sheds significant light on important aspects of their philosophies but also
deepens and sharpens his own work in the process.
All these comments point toward Xunzi's involvement in an
ongoing debate among early Chinese thinkers concerning the proper
understanding of human nature, language, culture, and the need for or
irrelevance of a ritual system of moral cultivation. He significantly adds
to this debate by knitting together and defending a conception of human
nature alongside a more complex theory of moral psychology and an
understanding of moral cultivation and its connection to the mechanisms
of tradition. While many of his views on this range of problems are
distinctively Chinese-and uniquely Xunzian-the problems he confronts
are recognizable and familiar to any philosophically-minded reader.
These are our problems as well as his. We still grapple with questions
concerning moral psychology and the proper role and form of education.
We too worry about how to become better people how to cultivate
,
virtues in ourselves and inculcate them in others. We too try to explain
the function of our social practices and describe their connection to
tradition. Xunzi brings to these debates a rich conception of human
nature, an element that is missing from many contemporary philosophical
discussions of moral agency, and he is interested not only or even
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