Hsun Tzu

Hsun Tzu has some great zingers (e.g., the one about the wise man trapping learning in his mind, while the petty man sprews his learning forth), but ultimately his thinking boils down to two points:

1. Man is inherently bad (incompetent, evil, lazy, impulsive, ineffective ... take your pick) and only training and ritual can tun him into something good

2. A True Leader who perfectly follows Ritual and Principle will never have any problems - nobody will attack him, his people will love him, there will always be enough food and money

The first is either trivially true or obviously false, depending on whether you believe children are a) beasts or b) perfect beings who are degraded over time as innocence is replaced by experience.

The second is absolute hogwash.… (meer)

Once again Burton Watson provides an insight into pre-Classical Chinese philosophy, this time translating a selection of the Xunzi by Xun Zi (Hsün Tzu): a Confucian but not like Mencius or Confucius, rather a more reasoned and rigorous thinker who wrote essays as opposed to the monologues given by Mencius or the aphorisms given by Confucius.

Xun Zi stands out among Confucians for his believe that "man's nature is wayward" and inclined to evil, unlike his predecessors who believed in man's inherent goodness.

Watson provides both historical and philosophical context to the Xunzi, and his translations reads well. A useful book for students and those interested in less well-known currents of Classical Chinese philosophy.… (meer)