子曰：人之生也直Confucius said: Man is Born for Uprightness

孔子详细的谈到他人生精神的发展。我们的印象是他是个有决心和思想独立的人。也可以说他相信人性本同，只是习惯的不同才使到人有不同。
什么是共同的人性呢？子贡曾经说：‘夫子之言性与天道，不可得而闻也。’《论语·公冶长》 意思是老师谈到人性与天道，不是听了就能理解的。
从论语记载看来，孔子谈到人性时说法并不一致。
a. ‘人之生也直’《论语·雍也》
b. ‘我未见好仁者、恶不仁者’《论语·里仁》
c. ‘唯上知与下愚不移’《论语·阳货》
对人性的看法变成重要是因为它决定了人会追求怎样的理想和他如何尽力而为。
儒家后来对人性有了两种重要的看法。
孟子(372-289 BC)所持的一种看法是所有人类都有一个善良的内心，可以教育与自修来助长。
另一方面，荀子(453-221 BC) 持着相反的看法，礼仪是用来改正这种恶本性最重要方法。
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Confucius talked in great detail on the life journey of his own spiritual development. One gets the impression of a man of conviction and independence of mind. One can also say that he believed that human nature is common but practice make it different one from another.
But what is this common nature? Zogong once said: The master’s “discourses about man’s nature, and the way of Heaven, cannot be understood easily by just listening to him.”
In the Analects, it would appear that inconsistent views were expressed by the Master on human nature.
a. ‘Man is born for uprightness’ (6.19)
b. ‘I have not seen a person who loved virtue, or one who hated what was not virtuous.’ (4.6)
c. ‘There are only the wise of the highest class, and the stupid of the lowest class, who cannot be changed.’ (17.3)
The position on human nature becomes important as it shapes our ideas on what ideals men can aspire to and how they are best encouraged to do so.
Two significant positions on human nature were developed later among the Confucians.
Mencius (372-289 BC) holds one position that all human beings share an innate goodness that can be cultivated through education and self-discipline.

On the other hand, Xunzi (453-221 BC) holds the opposite view and that ritual is crucial for reforming humanity’s original bad nature.