invented the various cultural objects that now give people superiority.’’
Indeed, sage-kingship in Xunzi’s philosophy of human society,
itself accomplished through personal and societal cultivation, is the
source, the culmination, and the model of human cultivation. Without
sage-kings and noble-minded ministers and scholars, human society
would be impoverished, violent, and chaotic, which in Xunzi’s point
of view, is not much different to the world of animals and beasts.
Social distinctions(fen)
Xunzi holds that nature is inherently diverse and unequal. From
nature, there are old and young, odd and even, primary and secondary.
Furthermore, because the life necessities of members of society are
varied, a wide range of skills and vocations is required to satisfy
people’s needs, and one individual cannot be proficient in all skills
and be qualified for all vocations. Consequently, to meet the needs of
society as a whole, work must be reasonably divided among its
members. Social hierarchy as a means of economic collaboration
is therefore absolutely necessary for humans to survive and triumph
in the natural universe.
Xunzi elevates the role of social distinction to the Way (Dao)of
rulership (Xunzi, Book 12). In Book 10, he states that the principle of
governing the universe is social distinction and the essence of conduct
propriety is also social distinction. ‘‘Conduct propriety means that
there should be rankings according to nobility or baseness, disparities
between the privileges of old and young, and modes to match these
with poverty and wealth, insignificance and importance’’ (Xunzi,
Book 10: 10.3a).
Given social distinctions are natural and necessary for basic human
society, what distinguishes good and successful from bad and failing
governance is not so much the presence or absence of distinctions, but
the bases on which distinctions are established. Social distinctions
without just bases will leave the weak, the less intelligent, and the less
powerful bullied and taken advantage of by the strong, the intelligent,
and the more powerful, which will lead to poverty, violence, and
disorder. Xunzi therefore proposes a system of rules of proper conduct
to be the guiding principles of social distinctions.
Xunzi’s social distinctions have horizontal and vertical dimensions
although more attention and emphasis have been given to the latter.
64 Yan-qin Peng, Chao-chuan Chen, and Xin-hui Yang