Who Is More Faithful Follower of Confucius - Mozi, Mencius or Xunzi - Essay Example

Who is the more faithful follower of Confucius, Mencius or Xunzi? Give specific textual evidence for your judgment. Why might a thoughtful person be tempted by the alternative position? Xunzi was the most faithful and devoted follower of Confucius than Mencius. Besides being a rationalist thinker who forcefully argued for the importance of ritual, he also laid great impact on education, self-cultivation, statecraft and formal ritual. His contradicting theory with Mencius that human nature is evil made him popular as a Confucian thinker of the classical period. Xunzi departs from the ideas of Confucius and Mencius in the view of heaven (Ivanhoe and Bryan 41). He argues that heaven is nothing more than the natural world which has no moral will and that its activities are totally different to human activities. Therefore, human-beings are responsible for their own destinies and they must not think that heaven can intervene or be in control of their own troubles. He says that heaven is responsible for how things are and not how they ought to be. People must therefore live with the effects and limitations imposed on them by heaven and earth (Ivanhoe and Bryan 39). On ritual, Xunzi perceives it as a way of bringing into existence a fully human world from people’s emotions. Rituals more often satisfy certain psychological needs and desires without considering on those of others. Sacrificial rites express the feelings of remembrance and longing for the dead. They perfect loyalty, good faith and the flourishing of ritual department and refined demeanor. Xunzi`s theory dearly anticipates Sigmund Frend whereby the sages had a psychological purpose in creating the rituals and did not depend upon belief in the existence of ancestral spirits or their ability to respond to sacrifice (Ivanhoe and Bryan 51). Xunzi also argues that human nature is evil and that its goodness is the result of conscious activity. It is human nature that one is born with the desire for something either good or bad. As a result, indulging human emotions with human nature will lead to strife causing chaos and violence. Xunzi therefore indicates that before one attains modesty, he or she must emulate the example of a teacher and guided by the way of ritual and rightness. On the other hand Mencius argues that the nature of human beings is good after an understanding of human nature and distinction between the nature and conscious activity. He further argues that nature cannot be acquired by effort or learn it but instead given by heaven. They both recognize that human beings have both bad emotions and good ones as well (Ivanhoe and Bryan 89). For Mencius, it is a matter of nourishment while Xunzi its transformation. As a result, education becomes more important for Xunzi than for Mencius since Xunzi view it as the only counterforce to the natural tendencies that result to competition, strife and aggression in the society. 2. Compare and contrast Mozi's, Mencius's and Xunzi's views of Heaven. Xunzi refutes the norm of the role of heaven by stating that heaven does not care about human affairs. According to him, heaven is nothing more than the natural world which has no will and correlation to human activities. He further argues that those who pray for rain are wasting their time. He points out that human beings are in charge of their own destinies and they must not wait for heaven to intervene on their troubles (Ivanhoe and Bryan 31). He concurs with Confucius that natural events like droughts affect human beings, they have no human meaning. Therefore people must live with the challenges imposed on them by heaven and earth. Xunzi also contrast with Mozi`s and Mencius view on non-action or non-striving action. He claims that good things are only achieved through effort. He attacks Laozi and Zhuangzi on the matter that human beings adopt the perspective of heaven and leave conventional values as result of yielding the natural flow of things. Xunzi instead gives the distinctive importance of the human nature and how human beings are in charge of their own destinies (Ivanhoe and Bryan 61). Mozi also argues that heaven together with ghosts and spirits can only punish those who do not react or respond to either of their rules. This is because Mozi believed that in order to win the favor of their rulers, people ought to act as that heaven desires are good. Heaven desires what is right and hate what is wrong. It desires to have life and hate death, wealth and not poverty. Heaven leads human beings to act in accordance with what is right and therefore requires human beings to do according to what heaven desires. It is heaven's will to take charge as the governing standard of the people, and govern them equally whereby the strong will not rob the weak, and the great states will not attack the small states. However, those who take charge as governing force contradict and differ in deeds bringing harm to the people as the strong rob the weak. Zhuangzi`s view about heaven is alike with Xunzi's whereby heaven is orderly and great (Ivanhoe and Bryan 67). He gives an example of using a boat on a land which is quite hectic and impossible. As nature dictates, a boat will easily move on water than on land. He therefore claims that leaders at some point exhaust themselves without success and cause misfortune on their heads. 3. Compare and contrast Mencius's and Han Feizi's conceptions of rulership. Han Feizi was a member of the ruling house of the state of Han. He could not speak his own counsel. He studied under Xunzi the great Confucian philosopher. During his tenure, the state of Han faced internal disorder and in constant danger of being swallowed by the state of Qin to the west. He disagreed with Mohist claim that a ruler should model his government on the values and institutions of the ancient kings. He maintained that rulers of each age must come up with new measures for tackling challenges. A successive government must be based on a strong grasp of the existing political conditions, and not on history or human social life. He therefore denied the traditional way of rule. He did not believe that moral goodness was enough to guarantee peace and prosperity (Ivanhoe and Bryan 31). Han Feizi believed that a system of government must be stable enough to uphold bad rulers. He was keener on politically dangerous social groups of people which he termed as merchants, draft dodgers, private swordsmen and wandering orators. His political philosophy led to institutionalism as seen in Xunzi`s emphasis on public ritual and rightness. His political philosophies are therefore alike with men since they both stress on political significance. Besides being a brilliant theorist, he was a great rhetorician (Ivanhoe and Bryan 45). His writing style has been credible and praised by later writers. His theories were often discussed in the succeeding dynasty. On the other hand, Mencius was also a Chinese Confucian Philosopher just like Han Feizi. He saw the teachings of Yang Zhu and Mozi as a block of leadership. He accused Yang Zhu for being an extreme egoist through his teachings of both Mohism and Confucianism. Mencius agrees with Yang Zhu that humans have a certain nature which they must follow. He too unveils the existence of ethical sprouts in humans and thoughtful experiments. His teachings base on concrete cases and uses particularistic virtue in explaining his contexts. He uses his human nature in response to both Mohism and Yangism (Ivanhoe and Bryan 23). He safeguards every effort to keep his kingdom intact since profit making of one's kingdom will be self-defeating (Mengzi 1A1). Work cited Philip J. Ivanhoe and Bryan W. Van Norden. Readings in classical Chinese Philosophy. (2nd ed.) Hackett, 2006. X Read More