| Theory of human nature is a core topic of Chinese traditional philosophy and there have been different views of it. Dong Zhongshu’s doctrine of human nature is created in a special period, thus his discourse has its special method and significance. Dong Zhongshu discusses human nature from the perspective of the "names" firstly, which inherited from Confucius’s method, in order to argue against Mencius’ theory of Good. Dong thinks that human nature has two sides, including Good and Evil. So, Dong’s theory of human nature is a combination and development of Mencius and Xunzi. Meanwhile, his point of view also inherits from Confucius. Dong Zhongshu talks about human nature through two concepts, "Ying" and "Yang", which represent "Evil" and "Good". His doctrine has had a significant impact on later Confucian scholars. Dong’s theory of human nature refutes the theory of Mencius since he has his own understanding about human nature, which is alike with Xunzi, however he doesn’t agree with the theory of Xunzi totally. Dong’s doctrine of human nature includes Good and Evil, which inherited from Confucius’ doctrine and method, therefor he advocates that the human nature should be enlightened to be good. Dong Zhongshu inherits the pre-Qin scholars theory of human nature and develops them.No matter before or after Dong Zhongshu, Confucian scholars have had different opinions about human nature, which results from different understanding of Xing(Human Nature). However these differences have their own reasons, Dong’s theory has its own special meanings. This article has two problems to resolve, one is analyzing these different theories of human nature in order to understand its features and rationality; the other one is comparing Dong’s theory with the others’ on the basis of the first problem. This article is composed for evaluating the value of the theory of human nature of Dong Zhongshu, and having a historical carding of traditional Chinese Confucian theory of human nature. |
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