Chapter on Original Nature
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Intellectual historians interested in the ancient debate over the goodness and evil of human nature
- Students of Chinese or philosophy using it as a text for close reading
- Reading group members seeking a short argumentative text for discussion
- Close readers who like to annotate and map argumentative structure
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking a systematic history of philosophy or a psychology primer
- Beginners who need modern examples and plain-language explanations
- General readers who prefer long narratives or literary stories
- Utilitarian readers hoping one essay will settle every question about human nature
Reading tips
- Read through once, summarize the author's view of human nature in one sentence, then go back to find the supporting evidence.
- On the second reading, mark turns and rebuttals as you go, map the argumentative layers, and make a brief outline.
- Read alongside public-domain material on human nature by thinkers such as Mencius and Xunzi to compare their angles of argument.
- After reading, write a short passage stating your own judgment and why you agree or disagree, to test whether you have understood it.
About the publisher
Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 卷三 本性篇第十三
FAQ
Does this essay argue that human nature is good or evil?
Is it long? How long does it take to read?
Can I read it without a philosophy background?
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About the author
Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.
