Combat Profile
Ritual Correction
Xunzi purifies the moral alignment of all beings in his presence, gradually reforming those who have strayed from virtue.
Human Perfectibility
Xunzi radiates unwavering faith in humanity's capacity for self-cultivation and moral transformation through study and discipline.
Sage | Confucian
Third major Confucian thinker (c. 310-235 BCE); argued against Mencius that human nature is inherently selfish and must be shaped by ritual and education; his student Han Fei founded Legalism. Where Mencius saw moral sprouts needing cultivation, Xunzi saw weeds needing pruning — human beings are naturally self-interested, and only the transforming power of ritual (li) and education can produce virtue. His pessimism made him the most politically influential Confucian thinker of his era.
Parallels: Hobbes (human nature as selfish, requiring external constraint — Leviathan/ritual as social technology), Calvin (human depravity requiring structure and discipline), Machiavelli (political realism over moral idealism) See also: Confucius, Mencius, Junzi, Heaven (Tian)
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