人性本善

rénxìng běn shàn

phrase

Meanings

HSK 5

我相信人性本善，坏人是环境造成的。

Wǒ xiāngxìn rénxìng běn shàn, huàirén shì huánjìng zàochéng de.

I believe people are born good; it is circumstances that make them bad.

HSK 7-9

孟子主张人性本善，荀子却认为人性本恶。

Mèngzǐ zhǔzhāng rénxìng běn shàn, Xúnzǐ què rènwéi rénxìng běn è.

Mencius held that human nature is good, while Xunzi thought it is bad.

culture

The 三字经 opens with the same idea: 人之初，性本善, 'at birth, people are by nature good'. The question was also the motion of the 1993 final of the 国际大专辩论赛.

人 rén

性 xìng

本 běn

善 shàn