There are two schools of thought about human nature in ancient China, Mencius' theory of good nature and Xunzi's theory of evil nature. Since ancient times, many scholars have deeply discussed the good and evil of human nature. Gao Zi thinks that human nature is neither good nor evil, which is influenced by external factors, while Shi Shuo of Zhou Dynasty thinks that human nature has both good and evil. However, Dong Zhongshu's theory of human nature is an attempt to reconcile good and evil. Starting from this way, many people in later generations have discussed it. For example, Han Yu's theory of congenital three natures is based on Dong Zhongshu's theory of third-class human nature. It can be said that Dong Zhongshu's contribution to the theory of human nature is fundamental.

Dong Zhongshu divides human nature into three categories: "the nature of saints" and "dou" (shāo, 1. Ancient bamboo utensils for rice. Now the bamboo used for rice washing is called a basket. 2. buckets. ) and "China's Human Nature", with "China's Human Nature" as the main research object. He said, "The nature of a saint cannot be named. The nature of the fight is beyond name. Those who are famous for their nature are the nature of China people. " ("Spring and Autumn Story?" Reality ") because" the nature of saints "is innate, perfect and does not need education; The nature of "fighting" is inherently evil and cannot be educated, so neither of them is the main research object. Most people belong to the so-called "China people's nature": they are neither the best nor the worst, but "have good qualities, but fail to become good" (Spring and Autumn Stories? Deep trial name "). "It has good quality", so it is possible to make it better through education; "Failure to be a good person" needs education to make it a good person.

Dong Zhongshu's theory of human nature can be said to be the synthesis and development of Mencius and Xunzi's theory of human nature, which has similarities and differences with Mencius and Xunzi's views. In the ideological system of "harmony between man and nature", man is a replica of heaven, everything of man comes from heaven, and human nature also comes from heaven. This is not only different from Mencius' view that people have "conscience" and "good ability" and can understand the consistency of heaven and earth as much as possible, but also different from Xunzi's view that "heaven and man are separated" But Dong Zhongshu further elaborated how human nature comes from destiny, which Mencius did not discuss. On the concrete view of human nature, Dong Zhongshu's view is different from Mencius' and close to Xunzi's. He explained from the perspective of philology that "sex" is "life" and "the essence of life is sex". What is the so-called "natural quality of life"? He explained that sex is like grains, cocoons and eggs, and goodness is like rice, silk and chickens. Kindness comes from nature, just as rice comes from grain, silk comes from cocoon, and chicks come from eggs. These two aspects are both related and different. Sex is a gift, and goodness is artificial. Therefore, "rice produces grain, but the grain is not all rice." Goodness comes from nature, but not all nature is good. Kindness and rice, what human beings inherit from heaven, are made outside, not in heaven. Dong Zhongshu's emphasis on the artificial processing of sex is similar to Xunzi's emphasis on the distinction between sex and falsehood.