The Lexicon · Genealogy · Antiquity
XUNZI (荀子)
c. 310–c. 235 BCE
Human Nature Is Bad; Artifice Is the Cure (The Liturgy as Cultivation)
Xunzi: against Mencius, human nature is not good; it is corrected by ritual and learning. CoCA's Liturgy (§1.2) operates on the xunzian premise without taking sides in the Mencian debate. We do not assume the artist arrives virtuous. We assume the artist arrives, and the Liturgy works on them. The form is corrective. The form is also welcoming. The two are not opposites; they are the same furniture under different lighting.