Research On The Image Of Confucius In Xunzi

Hsun Tzu, the last master amongst the pre-qin scholars, is not only the most well-known scholar after Confucius and Mencius, but also the earliest founder of study of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty, playing a pivotal role in the intellectual history. As a guru in Confucianism, Confucius became a cultural symbol in the later ages.The image of Confucius in the era of Hsun Tzu took on a different look when it was under the sanctification of Confucians and the alienation of the other philosophers.In late Period of Warring States, as Confucianism failed to dominate and the image of Confucius changed, Hsun Tzu who was born in harmony with his generation upheld the Confucian aspiration of "Making Confucius prevail" by re-projecting the image of Confucius and eliminating the heresies of Confucianism, which played a key role as the connecting link in the process when Confucius became a saint monarch.Confucius In Xunzi is an important part in the transformation of the Confucius. He shared the characteristics of a man of moral integrity in the Spring and Autumn Period.At the same time, he broke the saint appearance of Confucius and turned it to a Confucian one by returning to reason. More ideologically speaking, by seizing the opportunity of the separation of "sage" and "monarch" in Hsun Tzu’s definition, Confucius then took a brand new look of "monarch" as a sage.The image of Confucius as a saint monarch is the quintessence of Hsun Tzu’s social ideal. In his definition, more realistic political factors were added the image of Confucius. It is the image that profoundly impacted people’s perspective on Confucius in the Han Dynasty and further made Confucius more sage-oriented, monarch-oriented and deified. Meanwhile, it also consolidated his role as a political and cultural icon formed in the Han Dynasty. The exploration of his image in Xunzi will help clarify the book’s significant standing in the transformation of his image on the one hand, and will offer explanations on the characteristics of Xun Tze’s Doctrine from a unique perspective on the other hand.This thesis is divided into three parts, namely, Introduction, Main Body (five chapters) and Conclusion.In Introduction, the image of Confucius and the status quo of the research on his image in XunZi are mainly combed where the purpose, significance, content and methods of the research are introduced.In the first chapter, the image of Confucius before the launch of Xunzi is traced. Based on the Analects of Confucius and aided by the historical data such as Guoyu and Zuozhuan,it offers a summary that Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period projected an image of an original gentleman. Based on the virtual phase of reality, the character of gentleman is the lowest level of the the ideal characters of Confucianism.Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period is a man of moral integrity, a real gentleman.The second chapter, the author gives a detailed discussion on the three images of Confucius in Xunzi, gentleman, giant Confucian, and monarchal sage.Given the transformation of his image, the three images shared an internal logical tie:generally, Confucius as a gentleman inherits from his original image in the Spring and Autumn Period; Confucius as a giant Confucius highlights his cultural and political talent which stresses wisdom and transparence.It is a distillation of gentleman and it is also a remedy for his image after Menzi. The image of Confucius as a saint monarch is the quintessence of Hsun Tzu’s social ideal, exerting a great influence on people’s perspective on Confucius in the Han Dynasty.In the third chapter, the author analyses the impact of the book XunZi on the image of Confucius in the Han dynasty. In the western Han dynasty, Confucius was not only further sanctified, projecting an image of a crownless monarch to establish the legal system for the Han dynasty. He was also further sanctified as the crownless monarch in the divination combined with mystical Confucianist belief. In the early eastern Han dynasty, Wang Chong eradicated the image of a deified Confucius, and eventually reshaped Confucius as a saint monarch. Xunzi made Confucian as a political and cultural icon in the Han dynasty.In the fourth chapter, the author first summarizes the standing of the book Xunzi in the process of the transformation of his image. The author analyses in details the significance of Xun-Tze’s portrayal of his image from the perspective of the intellectual history. The relavant characteristics of Xun-Tze’s Doctrine are also summarized.In Conclusion, the author generally summarizes the transformational process of the image of Confucius, the characteristics of the image of Confucius in the book Xunzi and the standing of the book Xunzi in the process of the transformation of his image.