Xun Zi Holds That Human Nature Is Simple and Uncarved, Not Evil

For more than two thousand years, the chapter of the Xunzi titled “Man’s Nature Is Evil” has labeled Xun Zi as a representative of the doctrine that human nature is originally evil. In fact, Xun Zi holds to a belief in human nature as originally simple and “uncarved.” The ideas of human nature in that chapter conflict with those in the other chapters including “Discourse on Ritual Principles,” “An Exhortation to Learning,” “Discourse on Nature,” “On the Correct Use of Names” and “Of Honor and Disgrace.” According to these chapters, human nature is not evil, but simple and uncarved; its good or evil is undetermined, it may become either good or evil, etc. Furthermore, we can find other evidence, such as the sayings of Xun Zi’s disciples, the Records of the Grand Historian, the doctrines of human nature in the Western Han dynasty, and so on, for the statement that Xun Zi holds that human nature is simple and uncarved.