"In the beginning, human nature is inherently evil" is Xunzi's view during the Warring States Period, which comes from "Xunzi·Evil Nature". The original sentence in "Xunzi·Evil Nature":

Today's people who practice mastery, accumulate literature, and practice etiquette and justice are called gentlemen; those who indulge their temperament, live in peace and contentment, and violate etiquette and justice are villains . Judging from this, it is obvious that human nature is evil, and its good nature is false.

Vernacular translation: Nowadays, people who can be influenced by teachers and laws, accumulate knowledge of classics, and observe etiquette and justice are called gentlemen; those who indulge in willfulness, are accustomed to wanton debauchery and violate etiquette and justice, are gentlemen. Just a villain. From this point of view, it is obvious that human nature is evil, and their good behaviors are man-made.

Extended information:

Xunzi's discussion of "human nature is inherently evil" is an improvement compared to Mencius' "human nature is inherently good". It has logic, unlike Mencius who talked nonsense; it also has arguments, unlike Mencius who was messy. The obvious difference from Mencius is that he defined human nature: "The reason why we are born is called sex."

That is to say: sex is an innate, primitive and simple natural attribute that we are born with. , is a natural instinct that does not need to be learned. The opposite of "sex" is "pseudo". "Fake" means artificial and acquired processing. For example, benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, and trust are "fake" and are the result of artificial education.

Xunzi criticized all schools of thought, but he only admired Confucius' thought as the best idea of ??governing the country. Xunzi regarded himself as the successor of Confucius, and he especially inherited Confucius's "external kingship".

He also critically summarized and absorbed the theoretical propositions of various schools of thought from the standpoint of epistemology, and formed a distinctive view of nature that “understands the distinction between heaven and man” and “the origin of nature.” The moral concept of "pseudo" and the social and historical concept of "the rule of etiquette", and on this basis, the pre-Qin philosophy is summarized.