荀况

Xun Kuang was a renowned thinker in ancient China, commonly known as Xunzi. Public information about his nationality, dates of birth and death, and early life is limited, and no confirmed English name is available in our records, so his biography should not be over-interpreted. Judging from the extant works, Xun Kuang excelled at argumentative prose: his reasoning is rigorous, his language plain yet forceful, and he is skilled at expounding political, ethical, and human-nature questions through analogy and step-by-step argument. Our collection contains seven of his works, including different editions of the Xunzi, such as Xunzi (Volume I), Xunzi (Volume II), and Xunzi (plain text edition), as well as one title, A Growth Handbook for Aspiring Young People: Running, Reading, and Public Welfare, whose subject matter differs considerably from the others and whose attribution remains to be verified. His works are commonly classified under Eastern philosophy, literary appreciation, history, and social science, which shows that Xun Kuang's thought has long been an object of philosophical study and has also entered the视野 of literary and historical reading.