Why Xunzi? A Dilemma for an East Asian Democratic Political Constructivist

One of my favorite books to teach is the Xunzi. In the famous chapter titled “Human Nature is Bad,” Xunzi compares human nature to crooked wood that the ruler must steam and bend straight. “Now without teachers or proper models for people, they will be deviant, dangerous, and not correct. Without ritual and yi , they will be unruly, chaotic, and not well ordered.” 1 Immanuel Kant and Isaiah Berlin maintain that liberalism is predicated on the ruler not being able to straighten the crooked timber of humanity and that the effort will lead to violence. Xunzi, on the contrary, argues that the ruler may manipulate words— yi , standards of righteousness—and the environment— li , ritual—to shape the souls of subjects. I object to Xunzi’s authoritarianism but find him to be a profound critic of liberal democracy. One reason to research and teach comparative political theory is to engage thinkers who disagree with things oneself and one’s students take for granted.