"Xu Yi Er Jing"-Xunzi’s Way Of Removing Blinders

Xunzi was the master of the hundred schools of thought in the pre-Qin dynasty,and his famous proposition of "Xu Yi Er Jing" has a fundamental role and significance in his entire philosophical system.This paper traces the origins of Xunzi’s proposition of "Xu Yi Er Jing" mainly from Confucianism,Lao Tzu,Chuang Tzu of Taoism,and the school of the Emperor Huang and Lao Tzu.Confucius rarely talked about "void quietness",but Taoism was the mainstream.Confucius proposed "emptiness without excess" to describe the emptiness of the human heart,and he came up with " the benevolent man is calm" to describe the state of the virtuous man.The Taoist school systematically put forward the idea of "emptiness and stillness",not only as the natural state of all things in heaven and earth,but also as the highest state of cultivation of the human heart.Xunzi,on the basis of his predecessor’s theory of "void quiet",combined with his own thoughts,systematically put forward the proposition of "Xu Yi Er Jing".The reason why Xunzi proposed this proposition is that the human heart is easily deluded,which is not only detrimental to the development of a comprehensive and correct understanding of things,but can also lead to social unrest and the destruction of the state.Xunzi advocated the "separation of heaven and man",and in comparing "the way of heave" and "the way of man",Xunzi placed more emphasis on "the way of man".He believed that only by being "Xu Yi Er Jing" could the human mind accurately grasp "the Way of Man" and use it as the standard for measuring everything.In order to know the Way,the human mind relies on the perception of external objects by the "sense organ" and "mind".Xunzi hopes that the human mind can accumulate knowledge of the outside world on the basis of "hiding",and then,on the basis of distracted state,use "focuesd" to achieve a comprehensive understanding.Finally,the mind can achieve a state of "calm" on the premise of "distraught" in order to look at things calmly and understand them.Xunzi hoped through these three ways to enter the realm of inner "great clarity".Xunzi believes that through the heart’s "Xu Yi Er Jing" to achieve the state of "great clarity",the human heart enters a state of no obscurity,and is then able to know the social order and law,to transform humanity from evil to good with propriety and righteousness.In the area of governance,the monarch through the "Xu Yi Er Jing",grasps the key to governing the state,and is thus able to be free from obscurity,to discover able people and put them at suitable posts,and to realize the highest ideal of the inner sage and the outer king.From a contemporary perspective,Xunzi’s way of removing blinders through the "Xu Yi Er Jing" also provides the philosophical support for human self-reflection and self-discovery.