China's traditional theory of human nature is based on the theory of evil nature.

Good and evil: Mencius' proposition of "good nature" affirmed the possibility and necessity of human moral life, and revealed the fundamental difference between human beings and animals, which undoubtedly had positive significance, so it had a great influence in the history of China. However, admitting this does not mean that it is not a problem. Mencius' exposition of "human nature is good" actually has great loopholes. Despite his eloquence or Kan Kan's words, he still didn't really explain the root of evil. He said that evil is influenced by the external environment, of course, referring to people and human society, because there is no such value judgment as good and evil in nature. The theory of "external influence" is generally not difficult to accept, but if "the casserole pattern is broken", where does this evil from the outside-the most primitive evil-come from? Assuming that at the beginning of life, the first person who came to this world should only have the nature of goodness (this is a patent of Mencius), and his descendants must have inherited his nature of goodness, then where did the evil of people or society come from, when and why? This problem is easy to solve in Christianity, because Satan, the devil, made the snake confuse Eve, the mother of human beings, and stole the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden, so human beings had "original sin". However, Mencius did not provoke demons in the theological world, and he also lacked ontological argument in philosophical rhetoric, so evil lost its original existence foundation and became a passive water and a tree without roots! Evil can't exist, so what is the meaning of its existence? Moreover, evil is real in the empirical world from ancient times to the present, from the middle to the outside, and it is everywhere. If you don't believe me, please turn on the TV immediately and watch News 30, Social Fiona Fang, Legal Report, Dongfang 1 10, Collection of Cases, Rule of Law Online ... As for newspapers and magazines, people around you, such as relatives, colleagues, neighbors, family members and units.

It is precisely because of the defects in Mencius' theory that Xunzi came out to talk about "human nature is evil." Xunzi's point of view is that human nature is an innate simple natural attribute, which follows the principle of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, loves leisure and hates labor, so human nature is evil. The reason why people can be good is only the result of acquired education and learning, which is "false", that is, the result of cultivating people's temperament through "artificial" and "turning nature into falsehood" The standard of "false" is "etiquette and justice statutes" formulated by "saints". This logically extends Xunzi's emphasis on education and learning, and it is no accident that his book "Encouraging Learning" was first established: "Learning is not enough", "Being willing to talk with the son of foreigners, being born in unison, being long and different, teaching is natural", "I think all day long, so it is better to learn what I have learned for a while"; Learning the day after tomorrow is very important for people. Education determines people's growth. Knowledge and virtue are accumulated. "Accumulated soil becomes mountains, and the wind and rain are prosperous; The water drops merged into the ocean and the dragon was born; Accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent, and the sacred heart is prepared. " Xunzi's theory of human nature is a combination of Gao Zi's "the nature of life" and Confucius's "the similarity of sex and the distance of learning". He emphasized that morality is created by people, and people must consciously transform themselves with the norms of the real social order, which has certain merits. But his problems are more: first, he still regards human nature only as animal instinct; Secondly, he said that "nature comes from heaven" and "human nature is evil", so is this "heaven" (nature) that produces human nature good or evil? Third, he emphasized the acquired transformation of "turning nature into falsehood", but how can nature be turned into evil? For example, how can coal, which is naturally black, turn white?

People are conceptual beings, such as outlook on life and love. These basic concepts are people's basic views on these basic fields, which will greatly affect people's attitudes towards various things, that is, how people should look at things. The views on human nature are the same. Advocating that human nature is good or evil will lead people to have different attitudes towards themselves, that is, how to treat others and themselves. The theory of human nature is optimistic and pessimistic. Just like love, some people believe in the existence of true love, which is optimistic, while others don't believe in the existence of true love, which is pessimistic. Different views on love lead to different attitudes towards love.

However, various concepts may not conform to the facts, which has a lot to do with personal experience. After all, individuals are limited. Perhaps people who have read this article, some agree that human nature is good, some agree that human nature is evil, and they will have other views on this article. This is normal. People will believe in the correctness of their own views, otherwise, why insist on their own views?

In the history of the theory of human nature, apart from the theory of good nature and the theory of evil nature, there are two eclectic views, namely, the theory of good and evil and the theory of good and evil, which will not be discussed here.