---
title: "Xunzi | Confucianism | Thought Archive"
number: "027"
slug: "027-xunzi"
author: "Wenzi / 文子"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://tongzai.space/en/thought-archive/027-xunzi/"
is_primary_text: true
---

# Xunzi（Confucianism）



## Common research question

**Does Xunzi's view of human nature rule out becoming good?**

Xunzi's claim that human nature is bad targets the assumption that natural impulses spontaneously yield ethical order. It does not mean people cannot become good. Learning, ritual, teachers, deliberate effort, and institutions explain moral transformation. The distinction between inborn nature and deliberate cultivation is central.

## Interpretive boundary

Read nature and deliberate action in Xunzi's own usage, not through simplified modern labels.

## Archive evidence

- [E-04 ｜ “Human Nature Is Bad”](#E-04)
- [E-05 ｜ “Human Nature Is Bad”](#E-05)