Xun Zi citations

Xun Zi ou Siun Tseu est un penseur chinois confucéen, originaire du royaume de Zhao et ayant vécu tout à la fin de la période des Royaumes combattants, au IIIe siècle av. J.-C.

Xun Zi a vu dans son enfance des guerres incessantes avec leurs séquelles de cruautés, de félonies et de misère. Ces maux le persuadent sans peine que les hommes ne possèdent pas ces quatre rudiments de vertu que discernait en eux Mencius.

Membre de l'Académie Jixia, grand foyer culturel et point de ralliement des grands penseurs de l'époque, puis haut magistrat du royaume méridional de Chu, Xun Zi élabore une pensée réaliste, tournée vers l'action et « rationaliste ». Il est le penseur de référence de la branche dite « réaliste » du confucianisme, la branche opposée étant celle de Mencius. Il la défend vigoureusement, face aux écoles de pensées concurrentes, dans un livre du même nom, le Xunzi , divisé en 32 chapitres portant chacun sur un thème précis, et qui fut le premier écrit chinois à proposer un discours construit et argumenté.

De même, ce qui l'importe est la pratique de la justice, la manifestation de l’humanité et les rites. Ainsi, Xun Zi accorde de l’importance à l’étiquette, mais dans un contexte de formation d’une société, s’est introduite une discipline du désir à valeur éducative incluant des fêtes religieuses et des danses.

Il eut notamment pour élèves les penseurs légistes Han Fei Zi et Li Si. Wikipedia

✵ 313 av. J.-C. – 238 av. J.-C.

Xun Zi photo

Xun Zi: 13 citations 0 J'aime

Xun Zi: Citations en anglais

“Learning proceeds until death and only then does it stop. … Its purpose cannot be given up for even a moment. To pursue it is to be human, to give it up to be a beast.”

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Xun Zi

Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (2001), p. 258
An Exhortation to Learning

“One whose intentions and thoughts are cultivated will disregard wealth and nobility. One whose greatest concern is for the Way and righteousness will take lightly kings and dukes. It is simply that when one examines oneself on the inside, external goods carry little weight. A saying goes, "The gentleman makes things his servants. The petty man is servant to things."”

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Xun Zi

Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (2001), p. 263
A similar phrase to the saying is found in the 3rd millennium BCE Sumerian text Instructions of Shuruppak by Šuruppak: "You should not serve things; things should serve you." http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section5/tr561.htm
"Cultivating oneself"

“The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.”

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Xun Zi

Quoted in: Errick A. Ford (2010) Iron Sharpens Iron: Wisdom of the Ages, p. 48.

“Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity.”

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Xun Zi

Quoted in: Fayek S. Hourani (2012) Daily Bread for Your Mind and Soul, p. 336.

“In order to properly understand the big picture, everyone should fear becoming mentally clouded and obsessed with one small section of truth.”

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Xun Zi

Quoted in: Joan Klostermann-Ketels (2011) HumaniTrees, p. 96.

“The learning of the gentleman enters through his ears, fastens to his heart, spreads through his four limbs, and manifests itself in his actions. … The learning of the petty person enters through his ears and passes out his mouth. From mouth to ears is only four inches—how could it be enough to improve a whole body much larger than that?”

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Xun Zi

Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (2001), p. 259
An Exhortation to Learning

“The straightening board was created because of warped wood, and the plumb line came into being because of things that are not straight. Rulers are established and ritual and rightness are illuminated because the nature is evil.”

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Xun Zi

Sources of Chinese Tradition (1999), vol. 1, p. 182
Human nature is evil

“A questioner asks: If human nature is evil, then where do ritual and rightness come from? I reply: ritual and rightness are always created by the conscious activity of the sages.”

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Xun Zi

Sources of Chinese Tradition (1999), vol. 1, p. 180
Human nature is evil

“A person who is shallow aspires to depth; one who is ugly aspires to beauty; one who is narrow aspires to breadth; one who is poor aspires to wealth; one who is humble aspires to esteem. Whatever one lacks in oneself he must seek outside.”

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Xun Zi

Sources of Chinese Tradition (1999), vol. 1, p. 181
Human nature is evil

“If an action … involves little profit but much righteousness, do it.”

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Xun Zi

Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (2001), p. 263
"Cultivating oneself"

“The gentleman knows that whatever is imperfect and unrefined does not deserve praise. … He makes his eyes not want to see what is not right, makes his ears not want to hear what is not right, makes his mouth not want to speak what is not right, and makes his heart not want to deliberate over what is not right. … For this reason, power and profit cannot sway him, the masses cannot shift him, and nothing in the world can shake him.”

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Xun Zi

Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (2001), p. 260
An Exhortation to Learning

“A person who is transformed by the instructions of a teacher, devotes himself to study, and abides by ritual and rightness may become a noble person, while one who follows his nature and emotions, is content to give free play to his passions, and abandons ritual and rightness is a lesser person.”

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Xun Zi

Sources of Chinese Tradition (1999), vol. 1, p. 180
Human nature is evil

“Human nature is evil; its goodness derives from conscious activity. Now it is human nature to be born with a fondness for profit. Indulging this leads to contention and strife, and the sense of modesty and yielding with which one was born disappears. One is born with feelings of envy and hate, and, by indulging these, one is led into banditry and theft, so that the sense of loyalty and good faith with which he was born disappears. One is born with the desires of the ears and eyes and with a fondness for beautiful sights and sounds, and, by indulging these, one is led to licentiousness and chaos, so that the sense of ritual, rightness, refinement, and principle with which one was born is lost. Hence, following human nature and indulging human emotions will inevitably lead to contention and strife, causing one to rebel against one’s proper duty, reduce principle to chaos, and revert to violence. Therefore one must be transformed by the example of a teacher and guided by the way of ritual and rightness before one will attain modesty and yielding, accord with refinement and ritual, and return to order.”

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Xun Zi

Sources of Chinese Tradition (1999), vol. 1, pp. 179-180
Human nature is evil

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