Xunzi

Xunzi (Hsün Tzu) (298 - 238 B.C.) was one of the three original Confucian philosophers. The most important concept in Xunzi's philosophy is the Way (dao). The term originally referred to a path, however, it has been extended to a way of doing things, a way of acting, or the right way to live. The style of writing in the Xunzi is quite indifferent, and the Xunzi was rejected in favour of the Mencius in the neo-Confucian imperial corpus; many see the decision to be as a result of the Mencius' superior style, and not superior content. On the other hand, whilst Mencius believed that humans are naturally good, and it is enough to let their natural inclinations surface, Xunzi believed that all humans are naturally "bad", and that, through schooling and Confucian-style self-cultivation, humans can become "good."

Heaven

Xunzi had a different view on Heaven than other early philosophers, although not different to the views of most Chinese philosophers, primarily because the word for "heaven" in Chinese is "天", which also means "sky", amongst other things, and is quite ambiguous, and a very common character. "Heaven" as a concept does not means "a place of the after-life" in the Chinese philosophical tradition, and to translate it as "heaven" is simply for convenience, as in reality there is no synonym in English. Xunzi believed Heaven is much like nature in that it acts as it always does, neither helping the good nor harming the bad. This is different from other early theological thinkers in the middle east, who believed that Heaven was the dwelling place of an anthropomorphic God who had a personal interest in the lives of humans.

Nature of Man

Xunzi believed that the nature of man was evil, a different position than many other philosophers, but one that matches much of western religious teaching.