Etiquette Peer-world Governance

Xunzi, philosopher and educationist of the late Warring States Period, is very important in the culture of Pre-Qin times, whose thoughts is like a milestone. He is devoted to Confucian school of thought, has great learning in various schools of thought, and forms a style of his own in Xun Studies. The thought of rules and etiquette, the core of Xun Studies, is the product of his times. On the one hand, the economy, politics, and culture in the late Warring States Period, especially the cultural environments of the contention of a hundred schools of thought, form the realistic foundation of his thought of rules and etiquette. On the other hand, during the contention of a hundred schools of thought, Mengzi proposes that the human nature is born kind. Comparing with this view, Xunzi puts forward that the human nature is born evil from a creative perspective, which is the theoretical foundation of his thoughts of rules and etiquette.Based on these two foundations, Xunzi constructs a more integrated system of the thought of rules and etiquette, whose core is paying much attention to both etiquette and rules. This system has a strict inherent logic. First, the distinction between kind human nature and evil human nature is the extension and use of the distinction between heaven and man, one kind of materialistic views, which is applied in the theory of human nature. Second, during the reformations of human nature, the view of prospering the etiquette and respecting the law is the specific extension of exchanging evil human nature to kind human nature in the aspects of politics and life.Xunzi elucidate the rules and etiquette from the different perspectives: prospering etiquettes, respecting rules and laws, the relationship between rules and etiquettes, social ideals, and so forth, as a consequence, which reappears the systematic and complete aspect of his thought of rules and etiquette. He puts an emphasis on prosperingetiquette, which has great effects on cultivating oneself, putting family in order, governing the state, and pacifying the world. He pays much attention to respecting the rules and laws, because it has the external, mandatory, and restraining effects, which is helpful for the practices of etiquette. Furthermore, he puts forward a series of principles of legislation and views of enforcing the laws. Meanwhile, Xunzi attaches much importance to the internal relationship between rules and etiquettes. In a broad way, this relationship can be shown in the following three levels: 1) the rules are within the etiquettes, 2) the rules are equal to the etiquettes, and 3) the etiquettes are superior to the rules. Xunzi advocates prospering the etiquettes and respecting the laws, in a sense, his essential motivation aims at realizing the political positions and social ideals, that is, law follows the convention of the former emperors, the rules and etiquettes are united, and there is only one system. As a result, prospering the etiquettes and respecting the law are the means and approaches, whereas the social ideals are the destinations.The thought of rules and etiquettes proposed by Xunzi has extensive knowledge and profound scholarship, to which, people have paid much attention all through the ages. However, owing to the limitations of the times and his own restrictions, the opinions about these thought are widely divided, and differed-some in praise, some in criticism. Therefore, the fate of this thought rises and falls in rhythm. In a sense, this also shows that the thought has far-reaching influence, and the direct influence is the mapping to the political system and academic thought of Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty. As a consequence, studying the profound connotation and the developmental history, from which, we can get a lot of benefits. In other words, the abundant resources of thoughts may return to the original state, up the new fields, and make the past serve the present, which can provide the theoretical references to the constr...