School May Not Have Been

Although Xunzi is the important moment in the developing history of Confucianism,his thought cannot be understood and conditioned rightly for a long time,and it must be re-understood and reinterpreted. The World of thought in China has passed through two great cultural introductions,the first one is the introduction of Buddhism,the other is the Western Culture,which bring about two great changes in the way of thinking in The World of thought in China.The first is the unity of substance and function from the identity of root[ben本]and branch[mo末],and the second is the metaphysical essentialism from the unity of substance[ti体]and function[yong用].But that the changes of the way of thinking cannot be self-reflected is the essential cause of misunderstanding Xunzi by posterior thinkers.So the thought of Xunzi must be regarded and outspreaded by the way of the identity of root and branch.More accurately,to research the thought of Xunzi is not to research the thought of a thinker named Xunzi,but to do the thought of the work named Xunzi,one of whose elements is the thinker named Xunzi.As a work,Xunzi is a completed world of thought as the whole of root and branch,and the task of the reinterpretation is to represent it by Xunzi's self-constitution.Xunzi is not a solitary work but it is situated in the context of Classics[wujing五经],Analects and Mencius,and this situation is one of the elements of Xunzi,whose representation is the representation of the situation at the same time.This dissertation includes the Introduction and the Main,the former is the prelude by which we step into Xunzi,and the latter is the development of this world.In the Introduction,firstly we recollect the history of the research on Xunzi,and then glimpse the basic structure of Xunzi:Learning[xue学],Politicizing[zheng政],and Way[dao道]by the comparison with Analects.Finally,by the comparison with Analects, Mencius,Laozi and Zhuangzi,we explain why "Learning" is the beginning of Xunzi,that is,"Learning" is Confucian particular perspective toward the world.And Learning has three significations.First, it means the space of ethical life among tutors and friends——the community[qun]of learning,they gather together by preserving Classics. Secondly,it means learning as self-cultivation in the life space and the last one means relative ideologies.Accordingly,"Politicizing" means the common political life——the community life(tianxia);and "Way" means the broader common life space than the political one——"the space in-between Heaven and Earth".Accordingly,the Main includes three parts:Learning,Politicizing, and Way.We pick up some books from Xunzi as the core text of the respective part to produce some intuitive clues and frameworks and to go deep into Xunzi's details.The three parts consist of 6 chapters;each part consists of two chapters.And the first one is:the chapter 1 focuses on An Exhortation to Learning[quanxue劝学],illustrating the basic structure of Learning in Xunzi's understanding,the chapter 2 focuses on Contra Twelve philosophers[feishierzi非十二子]and the teachings of the Ru [ruxiao儒效].By illustrating the subtle connections between Learning and Politicizing,Confucianism has held on its own situation and stance.The second part:the chapter 3 focuses on On the Regulations of a King[wangzhi王制],illustrating the excellent image of the Kingly Way that Xunzi longs for,which is the identity of virtue(Learning) and Politicizing.And the chapter 4 focuses on Discourse on ritual principles [lilun礼论],illustrating how political order(Rituals as Way) emerges and how Ritual as Way constitutes the political life.The third part:the chapter 5 focuses on Discourse on Nature[tianlun天论],illustrating the relation of Heaven and Man,which is how Man can form a Triad with Heaven and Earth;and the chapter 6 focuses on Man's Nature is evil[xing 'e性恶] and Dispelling Blindness[jiebi解蔽],illustrating the relation of Nature and Heart-Mind,especially focusing on "Heart-Mind understanding Way".And learning as self-cultivation,which passes through Learning, Politicizing,Way,is the axis by which the whole Xunzi can be constituted. Because virtue[de德]is not the free will of subjectivity but the capabilities and dispositions living in the community(Way),and in some sense,"learning for the sake of self-improvement" means to learn to live together with others.So,from the beginning of An Exhortation to Learning,Xunzi writes,that the gentleman says:"Learning must never be concluded."...