Man's nature is inherently good in the beginning, a poem written by Wang Yinglin
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Man's nature is inherently good in the beginning. Similar in nature, but far apart in habits. If you don't teach, your nature will change..." This is the beginning of the very famous "Three Character Classic" in enlightenment education. As a Chinese, you are basically familiar with it. However, is human nature really good at the beginning? Why did Xunzi propose that human nature is inherently good? Is nature evil, and its goodness is false? And, not to mention it, I also wrote a special article titled "Evil Nature", which directly targets Mencius' theory of human nature being inherently good.
The question of whether it is inherently good or inherently evil not only causes confusion, but also causes controversy. Each has its own reasons and has its own fan base, but no one can convince anyone. This debate naturally makes the newborn baby the focus. In fact, for innocent newborns. For children, it doesn't matter whether they are inherently good or evil. To put it bluntly, they are just a blank slate.
As long as there is milk to drink, they will be satisfied. If not, they will cry when they are hungry. Urinating and urinating at will - how can we distinguish between good and evil for such a natural nature?
Han De is thicker than a naked child...Unknown. When they are united and composed, they are at their most refined. When they are moaning all day long, they are in perfect harmony." This is Laozi's description of the state of infants in the Tao Te Ching. The general meaning is: babies and innocent children are both simple and natural, doing everything willfully and without any pretense.
Furthermore, because the energy is sufficient, sexual intercourse can be strong without knowing it; because the energy is harmonious, one can cry all day long without becoming hoarse. In short, it contains great virtue. Therefore, Lao Tzu sighed again: "Can you be as gentle as a baby if you focus on your Qi?" That is to say, how can we adults condense our essence and become smooth and soft like babies?
Detailed analysis:
From the above statement, although Lao Tzu did not directly point out the inherent goodness or evil of human nature, the word "virtue" shows that at least human nature is not evil. . Moreover, the most harmonious, gentle, and submissive are all the most primitive ideal states. Once they grow, they are lost. Let’s look again in the Book of Changes to see if there is any enlightenment in this regard.
The first and second hexagrams of the Yi Jing are Qian and Kun respectively, which respectively symbolize Yang and Yin, heaven and earth, male and female, hardness and softness...understood from the perspective of a baby Nature is the parents, and it is the essence and blood of the parents that creates a new life form. Immediately afterwards, the third hexagram of the "Book of Changes" is the Tun hexagram, which represents the growth of new things.
The Tun Gua hexagram is "Yuan Henry Zhen", but it also contains the truth about the difficulty of birth. Therefore, in the "Book of Changes", there is no statement that nature is inherently good or inherently evil, but it only indicates that one must conform to nature and accept the test of growth.