The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

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Confucians and their critics

8 stops

Two thousand years of argument over Confucius's legacy: Mohists, Legalists and later Confucians on human nature, ritual and how to rule.

Confucius taught that good order begins with cultivated people and proper ritual. For the next two thousand years Chinese philosophers argued over that idea: whether human nature is good, whether ritual helps or hinders, and whether a state needs virtue or laws.

This path follows the debate from Confucius’s first critics to the Qing dynasty.

The path

  1. Confucius

    c. 551 – c. 479 BCE · Chinese

    Confucius taught that social harmony depends on the moral cultivation of individuals, above all of those who govern, through benevolence, ritual and respect within the family.

  2. Mozi

    fl. 440–420 BCE · Chinese

    Mozi, the first Chinese thinker to argue systematically for his views, condemned partiality, lavish funerals and music: we should care for everyone and judge practices by whether they benefit all.

  3. Mencius

    c. 372 – c. 289 BCE · Chinese

    Mencius argued that human nature is good: everyone has sprouts of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom, which need cultivating. Unlike Mozi, he held that concern is graded, greatest for family.

  4. Xunzi

    c. 310 – after 238 BCE · Chinese

    Xunzi, also a Confucian, argued the opposite: human nature is bad, and goodness comes only through deliberate effort, guided by the rituals of the sages.

  5. Han Fei

    fl. 260 – d. 233 BCE · Chinese

    Han Fei, of the fa tradition, set virtue aside altogether: order depends on clear laws, reliable rewards and punishments, and the power of the ruler’s position.

  6. Zhu Xi

    1130–1200 · Chinese

    More than a thousand years later, Zhu Xi rebuilt Confucianism around pattern (li) and qi. His editions of the Four Books, with his commentaries, were set for the imperial examinations for centuries.

  7. Wang Yangming

    1472–1529 · Chinese

    Wang Yangming challenged Zhu Xi: the pattern of things is already present in every mind, so there is no need to seek it in external things, and knowing and acting are one.

  8. Dai Zhen

    1724–1777 · Chinese

    Dai Zhen, in the Qing dynasty, argued against Zhu Xi that pattern lies in everyday things, and that ethics begins from fulfilling people’s wants and feelings, not suppressing them.

For discussion

  1. Mencius and Xunzi disagree about human nature, yet both are Confucians. What do they agree on?
  2. Is Mozi's care for everyone a better ideal than Mencius's graded concern?
  3. Han Fei trusts laws, not the virtue of officials. Where do you see his thinking in modern institutions?
  4. Wang Yangming says that knowing what is right without doing it is not yet knowing. Do you agree?

Terms on this page

fa
Standards, models or law (法). The Mohists sought objective standards for judging right and wrong; the fa thinkers, often called Legalists, sought impartial standards of rule, enforced by rewards and punishments.
qi
Vital force or material force (氣), the stuff of which all things are made. Neo-Confucians paired it with principle (li), and explained the differences between people by the qi each is endowed with.

All terms in the glossary

Sources

  1. Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Confucius, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  2. Chris Fraser, Mohism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  3. Bryan Van Norden, Mencius, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  4. Paul R. Goldin, Xunzi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  5. Yuri Pines, Legalism in Chinese Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  6. Kirill Thompson, Zhu Xi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  7. Bryan Van Norden, Wang Yangming, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  8. Frank Y. C. Chong and Chris Fraser, Dai Zhen, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy