Research on the Enlightenment of Confucius, Mencius and Xun’s Theory of Human Nature to Ideological and Political Education in Colleges and Universities

Abstract

The human nature theory of Confucius, Mencius and Xun, the representatives of Pre-Qin Confucianism, still plays an extremely important role in the ideological and political education of contemporary colleges and universities. Confucius’s “similar in nature and far in practice”holds that human nature is similar, and the difference is formed due to the acquired reasons of behavior habits. Mencius put forward the theory of good nature, pointing out that “human nature is good”, while Xunzi put forward the “theory of evil nature”on the contrary. Analyzing the background and practical value of the theory of human nature of the three Confucian representatives can provide enlightenment for the ideological and political education in contemporary colleges and universities.