Generally speaking, after the death of Confucius, Mencius inherited and developed his theory of "inner sage" or self-cultivation (mainly embodied in the book "Fourteen Articles of Mencius"); Xunzi inherited his theory of "external is king" or "governing peace" (mainly embodied in Xunzi).
During the Song and Ming Dynasties, mainly influenced by Mencius' theory, Neo-Confucianism and Mind came into being. The main representatives of Neo-Confucianism are Cheng Yi, Cheng Hao and Zhang Zai in the Northern Song Dynasty and Zhu in the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhang Zai left a well-known saying: "Make a heart for heaven and earth, make a life for the people, link the past with the future, and make the world peaceful", which inspired later Confucian scholars to forge ahead courageously in the face of the righteousness of home and country.
The main representatives of the theory of mind are Lu Jiuyuan in the Song Dynasty, Wang Yangming in the Ming Dynasty and Li Zhi in the late Ming Dynasty.
In modern society, "modern neo-Confucianism" represented by Xiong Shili and Mou Zongsan has emerged. And Xunzi's study of foreign kings has basically integrated into the huge historical field of later generations. In addition, I think that Mr. Li Zehou, a modern scholar with profound attainments in Confucianism, has more inherited Xunzi's theory of "governing peace", is very concerned about the great cause of China's reform and opening up, and has published many exclusive opinions derived from traditional Confucianism, which deserves our attention.
On the connection and difference between Confucius, Mencius and Xunzi's thoughts, domestic scholars have summed it up very accurately, and now they quote as follows:
"Mencius and Xunzi's thoughts are not only the differentiation of Confucius' theory, but also its further concrete development: on the issue of human nature, they divide Confucius' chaotic theory of no good or evil into two propositions: the theory of good nature and the theory of evil nature; In terms of academic content, they divided Confucius' original theory of the unity of benevolence, righteousness and propriety into two lines: paying attention to the cultivation of benevolent personality and the social norms of propriety; ? In terms of social function, they divided Confucius' spontaneous and integrated spirit of "inner sage and outer king" into two major trends: the metaphysical pursuit of inner sage and the utilitarian practical purpose of outer king. ?