s a chun-tzo or perfect gentleman. Politically, Confucius advocated a paternalistic government in which the sovereign is benevolent and honorable and the subjects are respectful and obedient. The ruler should cultivate moral perfection in order to set a good example to the people. In education Confucius upheld the theory, remarkable for the feudal period in which he lived, that in education, there is no class distinction (Mungello, 89).After the death of Confucius two major schools of Confucius two major schools of Confucian thought emerged. One was represented by Mencius, the other by Hsun-tzo. Mencius continued the ethical teachings of Confucius by stressing the innate goodness of human nature. He believed that original human goodness can become corrupt through ones own destructive effort or through contact with an evil environment. The problem of moral cultivation is therefore to preserve or at least to restore the goodness that is ones birthright. In political thought, Mencius is sometimes considered one of the earliest advocates of democracy. He advanced the idea of the peoples supremacy in the state (MacInnis, 326). In conflict to Mencius, Hsun-tzo contended that a person is born with an evil nature but that it can be regenerated through moral education. He believed that desires should be guided and restrained by the rules of propriety and that character should be molded by an orderly observance of rites and by the practice of music (Twitchett and Wright, 265). This code serves as a powerful influence on character by properly directing emotions and by providing inner harmony. Hsun-tzo was the main exponent of ritualism in Confucianism (MacInnis, 327).Confucianism became considered in the late Chou period one of six major philosophical schools. The others included Taoism, Legalism, the School of Yin-Yang, and the School of the Dialecticians. It was not until the Han dynasty that Confucianism was adopted as the state of belief (DeVo...
