A Research On Hsun-tzu's Philosophical Thought

Hsun-Tzu is an outstanding thinker of the later period of warring states,which is the master of Confucianism in the pre-Qin Dynasty.Under the influence of the academic thought in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period,Hsun-Tzu stood on the standpoint of Confucianism to absorb and criticize the thought of each thought,so that his thoughts showed the characteristics of the hundred and all-inclusive.The thought of Hsun-Tzu opened the precedent of the comprehensive study of the Warring States period,and his thought of ruling the country influenced the feudal society of China for more than two thousand years.This paper expatiates five theories including the theory of harmony between heaven and human,theory of human nature,theory of mind,theory of rectification of names and the theory of rite to interpret the theoretical system of Hsun-Tzu's philosophy systematically.In the theory of harmony between heaven and human,Hsun-Tzu's thought of " know the difference of respectiveduties between heaven and man" broke through the shackles of "destiny",emphasizing that people should not expect the blessing from mysterious fate and improve the subject position,and enhance the person responsible for their own fate responsible.Theories like "Separation of nature and human"," adapting the law of heaven and making use of it" and so on achieve the shift from heaven to human of the highest principle of the social order and laid the foundation for the construction of human thoughts of governing by rites,then it encourages the reasonable development and utilization of nature.And the thought of "benevolent government of the sage kings" nourshing all things on earth with the virtue governs all on earth and achieves the harmonious coexistence of human and nature.In the theory of human nature,Hsun-Tzu proposed "the nature of evil" against Mencius' thought of "the nature of goodness" as the important part to serve for his whole thoughts.The theory of the nature of evil aims at "the nuture guided by rites is from evil to goodness",highlights the importance of rites,and with the ritual to regulate people's behavior,finally to rebuild the social order and to achieve the ideal society of "great harmony" and "ritual and law".From the theory of "the nature of goodness" to "the nature of evil",from "govern by humanity" to "govern by rites",the shifts in thinking indicates Confucianism during later period of the warring states was more inclined to solve the social problems by the means of externalization of reality but no longer completely hope for the trust of good human nature.Focus on the connotation of "heart" in theory of mind and their functions in Hsun-Tzu's philosophy system,the "heart" proposed by Hsun-Tzu is a complex of five forms of heart including a cognitive heart,a material heart,a desire heart,a heart for domination and a hard for will.The rational sense of cognition,emotional function,the decisive role of will and active role for good make up the functions of heart.Hsun-Tzu puts forward the theory of heart-controlling method like "demasking" and "sincere and dedicated to calm the heart" to realize "totally understanding" of the state of "Tao",By "learning","accumulating","experiencing" and "honesty" of nourishment ofmind,Hsun-Tzu completed the process from experiencing,understanding and practicing which offered the necessary condition for the implementation of the rites and ritual.Focus on the logical and political significance of Hsun-Tzu's discussion on the relations between name and reality in the theory of rectification of names.During the later period of warring states,under the background of falling of ritual system to reconstruct a ordered and stableand harmony ideal societ,the primary task is to "name",Hsun-Tzu inherited and developed Confucius' thought of "rectification of names",promote the development of the pre-Qin confucianism.Hsun-Tzu's thought is not only the meaning of the name of the language and logic,its fundamental purpose is to bring order out of chaos in politics and ethics.On one hand,he proposed the name of "to identify common and difference",which is the definition and specification of the logical thought in word and debate.On the other hand,he proposed to name the "recognition of the high or low value",that is to make everyone in society to know their status clearly so as to realize the stable and harmonious society with rites and law.In the theory of rite,the origin,essence and value of rite and the relations among rite and law are systematically elaborated.In the pre-qin Confucianism,Confucius stressed "humanity",Mencius attached importance to "righteousness" and Hsun-Tzu brought forward "the ritual".Ritual theory is the corecontent of whole philosophy system of Hsun-Tzu.His harmony theory,theory of human nature,the theory of mind and the theory of name served for the governing by rites,and the purpose is to achieve the ideal society of "great harmony" and "ritual and law".Hsun-Tzu's ritual theory emphasizes the unity of rites and music,"beauty and kindness are perfect ",not only gives music to the ethical status,while giving the rites to the aesthetic purport,through the ritual coordinateness reached the unity of beauty and goodness of perfection.