The Study Of Xunzi's Gentleman Thought

Xunzi inherited Confucius and Mencius' view of gentleman,regarded gentleman as the ideal personality in reality and the goal of self-cultivation.However,unlike Confucius and Mencius,Xunzi paid more attention to the social effect of the gentleman's personality,that is,the role of social governance.In Xunzi's view,a gentleman is the forerunner of etiquette and righteousness.Only by formulating etiquette and righteousness,enlightening etiquette and righteousness,and "cultivating people's desire and giving people's desire",can society eliminate the "disorder" and achieve real justice and governance.When it comes to the way to realize the ideal personality,although Xunzi regards "knowing"and "being meaningful" as the essence of human beings and advocates"gentlemen and villains has the same material nature,knowledge and ability",he also clearly recognized the reality gap between individuals,that"everyone can be a saint,but not a saint Therefore,Xunzi inherited the tradition of Confucian elite rule,emphasizing the hierarchical grading in reality,and thus constructed an etiquette society,where the gentleman"clears the ceremony and distinguishes the ownership",the people"law but do not know",everyone abides by their position,each of them is responsible for the rule.