Compare And Contrast Confucius And Hsun Tzu

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Confucius and Hsun Tzu are both prominent figures in Chinese history who lived in different time periods but ended up with the same ideas. The environment that they grew up in was quite similar in characteristics and so it is no surprise that their teachings were similar as well. There are mainly two ways that their ideas are similar: their focus on ancient texts and ancient sage kings and also their view on learning. Confucius and Hsun Tzu shares many similar characteristics but they have one fundamental difference which is their view on human nature.
Confucius or Master Kong as he is known in China lives from 551-479 BC where he spent most of his life in his birthplace, the state of Lu. (Elstein, “Confucius”) His father was a prominent …show more content…

Desires will always exist but through learning, it can be controlled since learning is not only about maturing intellectual but also reforming your characters.(HUM 204: Hsun Tzu) Learning starts with recitation of the classics and ends with reading the ritual texts. (Hsun Tzu 19) Hsun Tzu puts great emphasis on the honoring of rituals and he sees it as the true way of learning. (Hsun Tzu 20-21) Learning to him involves what he calls conscious activity (wei) (Schofer, 118). Confucius in comparison, sees the love of learning as simply essential in life. (Beck) Learning would contribute to the well being of the virtues but it is not just simply learning alone, but the active pursuit and love of learning (Beck). Learning is not just about reading or memorizing texts but also about the practice. Confucius was a very practical man and his teachings definitely shows his emphasis on this idea. (HUM 204: Hsun Tzu) He thinks that it is alright for people to do wrong as long as they learn from the experience and reform him/herself. (HUM 204: Hsun Tzu) Wisdom, according to Confucius, is about knowing what you know and what you do not know.(HUM 204: Xunzi) Knowing everything is not essential because the true way of the master is about doing one’s best (zhong) and acting with empathy. (Ames) Learning is about bringing knowledge into action and sharing the knowledge with other people so that they can learn as well.(HUM 204: Hsun Tzu) Essentially, both figures sees learning as a way to create social harmony and order within

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