中英雙語話中國歷史名人 第34期:荀子
Xun Zi (313 B. C.~238 B. C.), whose given name was Kuang and courtesy name Qing, was born in the State of Zhao and was a key figure in the Confucius school.
荀子(約公元前313年~公元前238年)，名況，宇卿，時人尊稱爲“荀卿”，漢代避宣帝諱，稱之爲孫卿。趙國人，儒家代表人物之一。When studying in the State of Qi, he became one of the celebrated scholars at the Jixia Academy.
曾遊學於齊，爲稷下先生，名望極高。In his late years, he dedicated himself in teaching disciples and writing books, one of which is Xun Zi, an epitome of his thoughts.
晚年著書授徒，現存《荀子》一書。
Politically, he inherited the Confucian thought of li (rites) and considers li as not merely a moral standard but a necessity of governing the country.
荀子的思想主要繼承了孔子關於“禮”的思想，核心是實行禮治，把禮由倫理規範上升到一種治國之策。He also called upon the practice of the “royal regulations" which emphasizes li and fa (standards ): the purpose of li is to educate while that of fa is to rule. The practice of them combined means to restrain the evil in human nature.
他主張實行“隆禮重法”的“王制”，把禮與維護等級制度的“法”結合起來。禮主要起“化”的作用，法主要起“治”的作用，而禮與法都是爲了限制人性之中的惡。A strong critic to Mencius' claim that human beings are good by nature, Xun Zi held that human beings are born evil but they are perfectible through education.
在人性理論上，苟子持“性惡論”，他猛烈抨擊孟子的“性善論”，主張性僞之分，把人性區分爲自然之性和道德之性。自然之性與生俱來，稱之爲性; 道德之性受後天教育熏習而成，稱之爲僞(僞就是人爲的意思)。He believed that people are born with a conflicting mixture of desires that if allowed unfettered, would lead to disaster. It is only through the imposition of li and fa that these desires can be well channeled.
他否定有天賦之性善，認爲人生而有慾望要求，慾望要求無度量分界則發生爭奪。因此要靠禮法加以規範限制。Therefore, Xun Zi valued moralization and education so much that the very first chapter of Xun Zi was named “Encouraging Learning”.
所以荀子特別強調人後天的教化和學習，《荀子》的首篇就是《勸學》。On nature, Xun Zi held that the change of the natural world is under the control of objective laws, which have no relations with humanity. He rejected the thought of the existence of a correspondence between human and the universe. This, in fact, leads to the denial of an allegation that royal power is bestowed by the divinity.
在自然觀上，荀子否定了天人感應的思想，認爲自然界的變化是客觀規律作用的結果，“天行有常，不爲堯存，不爲桀亡”，與人事沒有任何關係，這實際上也否定了君權天授的思想。Furthermore, Xun Zi believed that even human beings are the products of nature: born first is the physical body, from which spiritual functions are derived.
不僅如此，荀子認爲就連人類也是自然界的產物，先有了人的形體，即物質實體，然後派生精神作用，“形具而神生”。On the other hand, he affirmed the dominant and positive power of human beings in nature and put forward the thought of “controlling fatality and making use of it".
另一方面，他肯定了人在自然界面前的主導作用和能動作用，盡人事而知天命就能“制天命而用之”，做到人定勝天，這種思想是戰國後期人民戰天鬥地發展生產的反映。
