Human nature as goodness and human nature as evil were foundational disputes in which scholars of both the Xun Household and the Meng Family could participate. But one had to be at least a Grand Academician to speak on "following the former kings" and "following the later kings." Even Hanlin Academicians rarely participated, because everyone possessed good and evil, but not everyone was qualified to discuss "kings."
Following the former kings was a traditional Confucian School philosophy of the Sacred Way, proposed by both sages, Confucius and Mencius. It meant emulating the words and deeds of ancient enlightened rulers and the institutions of antiquity, such as those of Yao and Shun, King Tang, and King Wen and King Wu of Zhou.
Xunzi went a step further. He not only advocated following the former kings, but also introduced the concept of "following the later kings." These later kings stood in contrast to those distant ancient rulers, chiefly referring to enlightened rulers of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, as well as enlightened rulers yet to come. Xunzi believed that the institutions of the former kings should not be used blindly to hoodwink the Human Race. The enlightened rulers and sages of later ages or the future were equally worthy of emulation and study.
Mencius adhered only to following the former kings, whereas Xunzi sought to establish following the former kings and following the later kings side by side.
On this point, many Confucian School scholars believed that Xunzi had advanced a great stride beyond Mencius and better demonstrated the progressive side of the Human Race. The proposal of following the later kings had broadened the Human Race's Sacred Way.
Mencius had no Sacred Way of "following the later kings," which gave the Xun Household an advantage in attacking the