中英双语话中国历史名人 第34期:荀子

Xun Zi (313 B. C.~238 B. C.), whose given name was Kuang and courtesy name Qing, was born in the State of Zhao and was a key figure in the Confucius school.

荀子(约公元前313年~公元前238年)，名况，宇卿，时人尊称为“荀卿”，汉代避宣帝讳，称之为孙卿。赵国人，儒家代表人物之一。

When studying in the State of Qi, he became one of the celebrated scholars at the Jixia Academy.

曾游学于齐，为稷下先生，名望极高。

In his late years, he dedicated himself in teaching disciples and writing books, one of which is Xun Zi, an epitome of his thoughts.

晚年著书授徒，现存《荀子》一书。

Politically, he inherited the Confucian thought of li (rites) and considers li as not merely a moral standard but a necessity of governing the country.

荀子的思想主要继承了孔子关于“礼”的思想，核心是实行礼治，把礼由伦理规范上升到一种治国之策。

He also called upon the practice of the “royal regulations" which emphasizes li and fa (standards ): the purpose of li is to educate while that of fa is to rule. The practice of them combined means to restrain the evil in human nature.

他主张实行“隆礼重法”的“王制”，把礼与维护等级制度的“法”结合起来。礼主要起“化”的作用，法主要起“治”的作用，而礼与法都是为了限制人性之中的恶。

A strong critic to Mencius' claim that human beings are good by nature, Xun Zi held that human beings are born evil but they are perfectible through education.

在人性理论上，苟子持“性恶论”，他猛烈抨击孟子的“性善论”，主张性伪之分，把人性区分为自然之性和道德之性。自然之性与生俱来，称之为性; 道德之性受后天教育熏习而成，称之为伪(伪就是人为的意思)。

He believed that people are born with a conflicting mixture of desires that if allowed unfettered, would lead to disaster. It is only through the imposition of li and fa that these desires can be well channeled.

他否定有天赋之性善，认为人生而有欲望要求，欲望要求无度量分界则发生争夺。因此要靠礼法加以规范限制。

Therefore, Xun Zi valued moralization and education so much that the very first chapter of Xun Zi was named “Encouraging Learning”.

所以荀子特别强调人后天的教化和学习，《荀子》的首篇就是《劝学》。

On nature, Xun Zi held that the change of the natural world is under the control of objective laws, which have no relations with humanity. He rejected the thought of the existence of a correspondence between human and the universe. This, in fact, leads to the denial of an allegation that royal power is bestowed by the divinity.

在自然观上，荀子否定了天人感应的思想，认为自然界的变化是客观规律作用的结果，“天行有常，不为尧存，不为桀亡”，与人事没有任何关系，这实际上也否定了君权天授的思想。

Furthermore, Xun Zi believed that even human beings are the products of nature: born first is the physical body, from which spiritual functions are derived.

不仅如此，荀子认为就连人类也是自然界的产物，先有了人的形体，即物质实体，然后派生精神作用，“形具而神生”。

On the other hand, he affirmed the dominant and positive power of human beings in nature and put forward the thought of “controlling fatality and making use of it".

另一方面，他肯定了人在自然界面前的主导作用和能动作用，尽人事而知天命就能“制天命而用之”，做到人定胜天，这种思想是战国后期人民战天斗地发展生产的反映。