Xunzi And Trend Of Thought During The Warring States Period

For a long time, there are ideas from academic field like this Xunzi criticized and absorbed the ideas of hundred of thinkers of Pre-nd linQin from the standpoint of Confucianism and became the big carrier of them. But, the way aks which Xunzi's accumulation took need to be discussed further. This paper is going to start from comparing the complicated relationship Xunzi and thoughts of hundred of thinkers, discuss the responses Xunzi took to different tides of academic ideas. It also tries to reveal how Xunzi absorbed and developed the thoughts of hundred of thinkers. So it will reappear the specific process how Xunzi has mingled the thoughts of hundred of thinkers.The Warring States are the most brilliant developing period in civilization in Chinese history. Schools swarmed and hundred of thinkers struggled to say. They are made up of the prosperous academic outlook during the Warring States. Responding to the trend of unity, the academic ideas began to mingle and connect with each other during the late Warring States period. Every school absorbed each other while they struggled to say. It developed from "academic ideas separate for the world" to academic ideas combined to each other. The thoughts of Xunzi were the product of this trend. This paper discusses the time background and reasons that academy was prosperous during Warring State. It believes that the cultural accumulation from the Xia, the Shang, West Zhou, Spring and Autumn, cultural popularity because of private schools at late Spring and Autumn, the stress to elite caused by rulers struggling to power, the great wealth and convenient traffic caused by the economic development, the social rise of bachelors, all of these together created the great time of the hundred of thinkers' struggling to say.Based on the analysis of academic thoughts of hundred of thinkers during the Warring States Period, Xunzi believed that Confucianism marked the right direction of ruling the country. Xunzi inherited and enriched Confucianism from these: benevolence; ruling by rites; rectifying the Names; studying; relationship between heaven and human; moral education. Xunzi criticized and absorbed the other thinkers' ideas from the standpoint of Confucianism. From the forming and contents of Xunzi's philosophy: On the rectifying Names, Xunzi absorbed the ideas Confucius and Moti, criticized the debaters Denxi and Huishi, promoted the ideas that Names should fit facts, the ritual should be principle, and the benevolence should be used. He summarized the "three ways of breaking confusion" to tell the truth from false. He also stressed that "names fit facts" is the base of building up social common sense and unity. On the relationship of Heaven and human, Xunzi started from Confucius "Heaven and human separate". He absorbed Moti's thoughts "not fate" and Lao-zi, chuang-chou's opinion that Heaven is Nature. He also criticized Lao-zi and chuang-chou's thoughts "do nothing". He hence promoted that nature and human are separated, human know the separation then they will be strong themselves. On human nature, Xunzi stared from Moti's "human nature is evil" and Gaozi's "there is no good or bad in human nature", he promoted that "human nature is bad" at the same time he believed that human can transform the original nature by learning and become sage. By the criticism to ChengZhong, Shiqiu, Taxiao, Weimou, Xunzi raised the ritual principle and educational ways of "changing the basic nature by education". On the idea of social ideality, Xunzi inherited the ideas of thinkers in pre-Qin "all over the world"—borderless in geographical concept; complete in systems; covering in culture. He also developed the ideas into that Confucius morals and humanity work together all over the world. Further more, he adopted Lao-zi's "Watch the world by the world". At the same time, he absorbed Law's ideas on the unity of systems. He borrowed Moti's thoughts on worshiping sage that "elites govern the country". On the accumulations to Confucianism, Taoism, Lawism, Mohism, he promoted the "king's way" society "all over the world". In it he demonstrated the specific content and regulation in the "king's way" society. On education and morality, Xunzi completely accepted Confucius' idea on learning. He got Lao-zi's dialectical thoughts and absorbed the academic spirit of Huanlao school combining Confucianism, Taoism and Lawism plus learning methods of "a heart that has the qualities of emptiness, unity and stillness can understand the way", "without these qualities, the heart is liable to fall into various blindness". He also criticized the attitude and way Zixia, Zisi and Mencius (who were all later Confucian philosophers) developed Confucianism. Xunzi completely responded and criticized academy during the Warring States Period. He also inherited and developed it. It means he both criticized the hundred of schools and mingled them. It shapes his academic character in thought—mingling and joining.The paper believes that long time accumulation, varied phenomena resulted the prosperity of academy during the Warring States Period. Xunzi's open learning attitude, strong social responsibility and his own effort made him becomes the big carrier of academy during the Warring States Period. He was one of the typical examples that academy during the Warring States went to mingle and join together. Xunzi's thought is not only the product of the development of society and academy, but also started the trend that academic thought mingled and joined together. His thoughts which stresses on rituals and laws in ruling the society had affected Chinese feudal society which had lasted more than 2000 years.