Mencius was perhaps the first most influential interpreter of Confucius who very much developed upon the original teachings of the master. He believed in "humaneness" (that all human are innately good and we all contain the similar trait of compassion) (Loi, Shun, Kwong). The example of a child falling into a well was just one of his more famous analogies of "humaneness." Mencius usually referred to the idea of the seed and that we all have this seed in which benevolence can grow. Mencius also believed that the good and talented ought to help those who are less fortunate than themselves (Loi, Shun, Kwong). He warned people to think of the consequences before pointing out the shortcomings of others. Doing what is right was paramount for Mencius, as he believed that a great person might not always keep one's word or see actions through to the end, if these were not right. Similar to Confucius Mencius stressed the importance of family, and how the wellbeing of a family can coincide with the wellbeing of society or a state. .
Xunzi was another advocate of Confucian ideals. As one of the great philosophers of his time, Xunzi merged the ideas of Confucius with, ethics, metaphysics, political theory, and the .
philosophy of language(Robins, Dan). He stressed, much like Confucius, the importance of education and how it was absolutely critical in life to be educated. His perspective was that education and organization were vital to social order (social order, which is also stressed by Confucius). Providing cohesiveness, comprehensiveness, and direction to Confucius' teachings, Xunzi strengthened the ideals of Confucianism thereby giving the philosophy continuance as a living tradition for over 2,000 years. Many consider Xunzi the main reason for prolonging the philosophy. Contrary to Mencius, Xunzi believed that human nature was evil. .
During the Qin empire, Legalism set the forth the main principles of which the empire ran.
