Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy Part 30

1993 "A Happy Symmetry: Xunzi's Ethical Philosophy." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 61: 63954. (Examines how, for Xunzi, ritual gains its authority by establishing harmony not just among humans, but also between humans and nature.) Kline, T. C., III, and Philip J. Ivanhoe, eds.

2000 Virtue, Nature, and Moral Agency in the Xunzi. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company. (An anthology containing many of the most influential modern philosophical studies of Xunzi's thought in English.) Machle, Edward J.

1993 Nature and Heaven in the Xunzi: A Study of the Tian Lun. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. (Considers Xunzi as a religious thinker through his views on tian ["Heaven"]. Argues against reading tian as amoral, scientific "Nature.") Nivison, David S.

1996 "Xunzi on 'Human Nature'," in The Ways of Confucianism, Bryan W. Van Norden, ed., pp. 20313. Chicago, IL: Open Court Press. (Points out how Xunzi's comments on yi in chapter nine seem inconsistent with his view of human nature, and proposes a solution.) Radcliffe-Brown, A. R.

1968 "Religion and Society," in Structure and Function in Primitive Society: Essays and Addresses, pp. 15377. New York: The Free Press. (A revealing exploration of Xunzi's ritual theory.) Van Norden, Bryan W.

1993 "Hansen on Hsun Tzu." Journal of Chinese Philosophy 20: 36582. (Investigates the extent to which Xunzi may be considered a "conventionalist" in language and in ethics.) 1Cf. Gaozi's metaphors for self cultivation in Mengzi 6A12 and Xunzi, ch. 23, p. 298.

2Cf. a.n.a.lects 1.4.

3These are the names of "barbarian" states and tribes.

4Cf. a.n.a.lects 15.31.

5In the present translation, pa.s.sages which rhymed in the original have been translated with rhyming English (though not always exactly according to the Chinese rhyme scheme), or, where this has not been feasible, they have been pointed out in the footnotes.

6The horse Qi Ji was famous for his ability to go a thousand li in a single day.

7This line was also rhymed in the original.

8The Yellow Springs were believed to be deep underground and were thought of as the abode of the spirits of the dead.

9Cf. a.n.a.lects 14.24.

10In ancient China, animals were given as gifts to superiors or honored guests. Xunzi's point is that the petty man likewise shows off his learning to ingratiate himself to others and win official position.

11The last word here is Ru , which later came to mean simply "Confucian" (see Important Terms). In Xunzi's time it did not yet have such a specific denotation but instead referred more generally to a "scholar."

12The word here is yi , an extremely important term for Xunzi. In his writings, it can refer both to a specific set of social standards created by the sages, and to the virtue of abiding by those standards. In the former usage, it is frequently paired with ritual, and the standards to which it refers appear to be higher-order standards for structuring society (e.g., by defining various social roles), from which are derived the more particular directives for behavior contained in ritual. For those contexts, in order to mark that Xunzi is referring to an external set of standards, rather than an internal disposition, it is rendered in this translation as "the standards of righteousness." See yi under Important Terms.

13Cf a.n.a.lects 12.1.

14Compare the last lines of Mengzi 3B2 (not in this volume).

15Cf. a.n.a.lects 4.17.

16Mao # 195.

17Mao # 209. This same poem is quoted again in the "Discourse on Ritual" chapter. See Xunzi, chapter 19, p. 278.

18"Boorishness," lou , is an important term for Xunzi. It is the uncultivated state in which a person has not yet been shown the greatest goods in life (that is, the way of the sages), and so does not properly appreciate them. Cf. a.n.a.lects 9.14.

19The word rendered here as "disposition" is qing , an extremely important concept in Xunzi's psychological views. In Xunzi's text, qing is most often used as a cla.s.s term for what in English we call "feelings" (or "emotions") and "desires." Xunzi uses it to refer to specific occasions of feeling and desire but also especially for the general tendency to feel and desire in various ways. It is to capture this latter sense that I have qing rendered as "disposition," and this translation is used throughout, in order to allow readers to track the term, though this sometimes makes for awkwardness, especially when Xunzi is concentrating on the aspect of it that is closer to "emotion." In those cases notes have been added to aid the reader. Xunzi believes that a person's qing can be changed through habituation. Accordingly, he sometimes uses qing to refer to those reformed dispositions, but more often to people's natural dispositions; when he has the second sense in mind, qing is sometimes rendered as "inborn dispositions" to make his point clearer.

20That is, to reject ritual.

21That is, the teacher shows one both the right rituals to practice and how to practice them rightly.

22Mao # 241.

23Cf. Legge, The Shoo King, p. 331. These same lines are quoted again in the "Discourse on Heaven" chapter. See Xunzi, chapter 17, p. 274.

24"Avoidance of prejudice" is my translation for gong . It is a virtue opposite both to prejudice in favor of oneself, that is, selfishness, and to prejudice in favor of certain people or certain views, that is, unfair bias. Stated more positively, it combines both public-spiritedness and impartiality. Cf. Han Feizi, chapter 49, p. 344, n. 39.

25Zhuangzi also argues that making normative distinctions sets humans apart from animals, but claims that this tendency is the greatest source of trouble and should be avoided. Here Xunzi turns Zhuangzi's point on its head and glorifies such distinctions as the source of all good. See Zhuangzi, chapter 2, pp. 21324.

26This line is probably intended as polemic against views such as those in Daodejing, chapter 25 and Zhuangzi, chapter 2, pp. 217, 223 that seem to propose the way of Heaven as the model for human beings. Cf. Xunzi's explicit criticism of this approach in chapter 21, p. 287.

27Here Xunzi is playing upon the close similarity between the words jun , "ruler," and qun , "community" in both p.r.o.nunciation and written form. (At the time Xunzi was writing, the two may in fact have had the very same sound.) 28The text of this paragraph is very difficult, and the translation is tentative.

29The word here is fa , which generally connotes a rule-like standard for doing things. As such, it can also mean a "method" or "model" or "law." Here it is translated as "rules" to try to cover all these senses, but it is usually rendered elsewhere as "model." Xunzi often describes ritual as a kind of fa (cf pp. 26465).

30The "fundamental works" are agriculture and textile production.

31Xunzi is playing on the fact that the character guan (here translated as "faculty") means both "organ" and "official."

32From here down to the word "confusion" in the next paragraph, the original text is rhymed.

33From here down to the quote from the History, the original text is rhymed.

34Quoted earlier in the "Cultivating Oneself" chapter. See Xunzi, chapter 2, p. 265.

35Cf. Mozi, chapter 11, pp. 6566.

36The Wu and the Xiang were pieces of music a.s.sociated with King Wu.

37The Shao and Hu were pieces of music a.s.sociated with Shun and Tang, respectively.

38Here and in many other places in this chapter, Xunzi is relying on the sense of qing, "dispositions," that is closer to our notion of "emotions." In this case, his point seems to be that the perfect form of ritual is one in which inner feeling and outer expression are perfectly balanced and matched. Cf. a.n.a.lects 6.18. For more on qing, see n. 19.

39This refers to debates among members of the so-called Mingjia. See Important Terms.

40Mao # 209. These same lines are quoted earlier in the "Cultivating Oneself" chapter. See Xunzi, chapter 2, p. 262.

41Commentators note that Xunzi's description of this last kind of funeral largely resembles the kind of mourning regulations prescribed by Mozi for everyone, and thus this pa.s.sage serves as a criticism of Mozi by implying that Mozi would have us treat even our dearest loved ones as no better executed criminals.

42I.e., as a means of detecting breath visually.

43Here qing, "dispositions," seems to refer specifically to people's feeling positive or negative emotions in response to good or bad events. Cf. n. 38.

44Mao # 273.

45This paragraph does not fit well with the context. Burton Watson (1963) suggests that it may have fallen out of place from chapter 23. Nonetheless, it expresses very important ideas relating to Xunzi's view of human nature.

46In this paragraph, Xunzi speaks mainly of the mingqi or so-called "spirit goods," items made specifically to be buried along with the deceased.

47The term zei , here translated as "villainy," often had the connotation of murder in particular. Xunzi here is criticizing the practice of "accompanying burials," in which people were sacrificed to serve the deceased in death.

48The sima lasted for three months, and the xiaogong lasted for five months.

49This is a part of the ceremony in which the impersonator of the dead gives blessings to the host of the ceremony. The idea seems to be that just as guests come with expressions of thankfulness for the host of a feast, so the spirit of the dead expresses thanks for the sacrifice.

50From here to the end of the paragraph, several of the lines are rhymed in the original.

51According to commentators, the host changes from the sacrificial robes back into the robes of mourning.

52That is, people have a natural tendency to feel joy in response to certain things, and this tendency is sure to manifest itself in such feelings sooner or later. For more on qing, "dispositions," see n. 19.

53The names of parts of the Odes. See the entry for the Odes in Important Texts.

54Cf. a.n.a.lects 3.20.

55Cf. Mozi, chapter 32, pp. 10510.

56The repet.i.tion of this sentence may be meant to mock Mozi's own repet.i.tive style.

57That is, just as the heart must apply itself to the sense organs in order for them to perceive correctly, so it must watch over itself in order to avoid obsession and apprehend the truth.

58 Reading as it appears in the text. Most commentators and translators read it as , "memory." Cf. Mengzi 2A2; especially n. 19.

59 From this explanation, it is clear that what Xunzi means by "emptiness" is not having no thoughts or clearing out one's mind, but rather the ability to take up new ideas and objects of attention. Thus, his "emptiness" is more akin to what nowadays would be called "receptiveness."

60Cf. Laozi, chapter 47.

61Mao # 3.

62Cf. a.n.a.lects 2.12 and the note to that pa.s.sage.

63Cf. Zhuangzi, chapter 5, p. 232.

64This person is unattested elsewhere, and the p.r.o.nunciation of the name is uncertain.

65For an account of this incident, see D. C. Lau, Mencius (New York: Penguin Books, 1970), p. 217.

66Youzi, also known as You Ruo, was a disciple of Kongzi.

67Cf. a.n.a.lects 13.3 and n. 113 to that pa.s.sage. "Name" in both pa.s.sages is ming, which can refer not only to proper names, but to words in general.

68For more on qing, "dispositions," see n. 19 above. Here Xunzi most clearly has in mind the aspect of qing we call "emotions."

69That is, when one is disposed a certain way, such as feeling anger, and the heart reflects and chooses whether and how one will act on that feeling, this is to engage in deliberation.

70That is, when the potential to do something is manifested in a certain activity, it is called a particular ability (e.g., one is said to have the ability to drive when one performs the activities specific to that skill).

71Xunzi's point seems to be that only after usage is set do the names have any meaning, rather than being mere sound.

72Xunzi here seems to be talking about identifying and individuating cla.s.ses, rather than identifying and individuating particular ent.i.ties.

73This claim was put forth by Songzi.

74It is unknown who put forth this claim.

75This is a famous Mohist argument.

76This claim was put forth and defended by Huizi.

77This is another of Songzi's famous claims.

78The origin of these last two statements is uncertain.

79The text at this point seems corrupt, and the translation is tentative. The claim as presented here appears as an object of a.n.a.lysis in Mohist works.

80The word here is bian , which literally means "to discriminate among things." This character was interchangeable with another, also read bian , which means "to argue, dispute." The text seems to play on a fusion of these senses in the idea that true differences between things will be presented and defended through argument. Therefore, I have rendered it "demonstration" to convey the sense both of pointing out differences and arguing for a position.

81Cf. Mengzi 6A10.

82The repet.i.tive character of these sentences makes them seem very much like glosses that were miscopied into the main text.

83Cf. Gaozi's metaphor in Mengzi 6A1, and opening paragraph of Xunzi, chapter 1, pp. 25657.

84Cf. Xunzi's definitions in the opening section of the "On Correct Naming" chapter. See Xunzi, chapter 22, p. 292.

85Cf. Mengzi 6A6, 6A8, 7A15, and 7B31.

86This seems to be a reference to the story of Bo Yi and Shu Qi. See Important Figures.

87Zengzi and Minzi Qian were both disciples of Kongzi. Xiao Yi (or "Filial Yi") was heir to the throne of Gaozong, ruler of the Shang dynasty. All three were famous for their displays of filial piety.

88Cf. Mengzi 6A15.

89The wording here recalls a.n.a.lects 4.1.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

HAN FEIZI.