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494 Xunzi man today is to seek for gain, if this desire is followed, strife and rapacity results and courtesy dies therefore the civilizing influence of teachers and laws, the guidance of the ‘li’ [proper good conduct] and justice is absolutely necessary Hence they [ancient kings] established the authority of the prince to govern man; they set forth clearly the ‘li’ and justice to reform him; they established laws and government to rule him; they made punishments severe to warn him, and so they caused the whole country to come to a state of good government and prosperity.” However, Xunzi agreed with Mencius’s social and economic welfare plans and agreed that unworthy rulers should be overthrown, saying, “Heaven does not create people for the sake of the sovereign Heaven made the sovereign for the sake of the people.” While Xunzi’s interpretation of Confucianism had great influence during his lifetime, it waned during the Han dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.) and thereafter, and the more altruistic interpretations of Mencius were accepted as the Confucian orthodoxy Two of his students, Han Fei and Li Si (Li Ssu), would become leaders of the Legalist school, gained great power under the Qin (Ch’in) state, and engineered the unification of China under the Qin (Ch’in) dynasty See also Hundred Schools of Philosophy; Legalism Further reading: Fung, Yu-lan A History of Chinese Philosophy vols Translated by Derk Bodde Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983; Knoblock, John, trans Xunzi: A Translation and Study of the Complete Works vols Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988–94; Watson, Burton, trans Hsun Tzu: Basic Writings New York: Columbia University Press, 1963 Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur