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Why is Xunzi a master of Confucianism?
Xunzi criticized all the schools, but praised Confucius' thought as the best idea of governing the country. Xunzi claimed to be the heir of Confucius, especially the "foreign Wang Xue" who inherited Confucius. From the standpoint of epistemology, he critically summarized and absorbed the theoretical proposition of a hundred schools of thought contending, and formed a unique view of nature, morality and social history. On this basis, he summed up the pre-Qin philosophy.

Xunzi's thought is biased towards experience and personnel, based on social context, attaching importance to social order, opposing mysticism and attaching importance to human efforts. The central idea of Confucius is "benevolence", and the central idea of Mencius is "righteousness". Xunzi put forward "ceremony" and "law" after them, attaching importance to the norms of people's behavior in society. Confucius was revered as a saint, but he opposed the philosophical thought of "Meng Si School" headed by Mencius and Zi Si, and thought that Zi Gong and himself were the scholars who inherited Confucius' thought. Xunzi believes that people are born to satisfy their desires, and if they are not satisfied, there will be disputes. Therefore, he advocates that human nature is evil (see Professor Yi Zhongtian's "A Hundred Schools of Thought contend in the Pre-Qin Dynasty" for details), and that personality should be improved through the enlightenment of the sage king and etiquette, "turning nature into falsehood". Xunzi's thoughts, like those of Confucius and Mencius, belong to the Confucian school, but they have their own unique views and form their own family. Xunzi advocates the theory of evil nature, which is often compared with Mencius' theory of good nature. Although the practical norms and principles put forward by Confucius and Mencius in self-cultivation and governing the country are very specific, they are also full of idealism. Confucius strongly emphasized "self-denial and courtesy", "self-cultivation" and "dealing with people". Mencius, on the other hand, believed that as long as he constantly expanded his compassion, shame, resignation, right and wrong, and peace of mind, he could restore his conscience and virtue and realize his ideal of benevolent governance. Compared with Confucius and Mencius, Xunzi's thought is more realistic. While paying attention to etiquette and moral education, he also emphasized the punishment function of the political and legal system.