Xun Zi

Xun Kuang ([ɕy̌n kʰwâŋ]; Chinese: 荀況, c. 310 – c. 235 BC, alt. c. 314 – c. 217 B.C.), known as "Master Xun" (Xunzi), was a Chinese Realist Confucian philosopher who lived during the Warring States period and contributed to one of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Educated in the state of Qi, the Xunzi, an influential collection of essays is traditionally attributed to him. Witnessing the chaos surrounding the fall of the Zhou dynasty and rise of the Legalistic Qin state, the philosophy of the Confucian Xunzi has a darker, pragmatic, flavour compared to Confucian optimism of Mencius's view that man is innately good. Xunzi's doctrines were influential in forming the official state doctrine of the Han Dynasty, but during the Tang Dynasty his influence waned compared to that of Mencius.

Xunzi would be the teacher of Qin Chancellor Li Si and Realpolitikal synthesizer Han Feizi, proponents of Legalism believing in control of the state by law and penalty. Like Shang Yang he believed that man's inborn tendencies were evil, and that ethical norms had been invented to rectify mankind. Because of this, he is sometimes associated with Legalism. But like most Confucians he focuses on and believed that man could be refined through education and ritual.

(from Wikipedia)