The therapy of desire in early Confucianism: Xunzi

摘要

Several years ago in an essay on the Lu'sSpring andAutumn ~X, D.C. Laurnremarked that '~it is not an exaggeration to say that ancient Chinese thoughtrnwas man-centered, while the study of man was desire-centered. Thus the notionrnof desires is at the heart of most of Chinese thought" (Lau: 56). Surveying bothrnextant and unearthed Chinese texts from the early period, we find that the vastrnmajority, though not all, deal with questions of moral and religious cultivationrnand transformation. As Lau claims, at the heart of these discussions we findrnsignificant attention paid to desire. In one way or another, thinkers from all ofrnthe various schools of thought in the early period of Chinese philosophy arguernthat desires are problematic. In general, desires are the root cause of the chaoticrnsituation of the world, and their transformation or cultivation or re-formationrnis necessary to return individuals and society to a more han'nonious, peaceful,rnand prosperous existence. If we heed D. C. Lau's call to focus on the role ofrndesire in Chinese thought, how should we proceed? I suggest that we take ourrncue from a similar study of the discourse of desire in ancient thought by MartharnNussbaum.