shan o, Chinese terms for ‘good’ and ‘evil’, respectively. These are primary concerns for Chinese philosophers: the Confucianists wanted to do good and get rid of evil, while the Taoists wanted to go beyond good and evil. In fact the Taoists presupposed that man has the ability to reach a higher level of spirituality. Chinese philosophers often discussed shan and o in relation to human nature. Mencius believed that nature is good; his opponent Kao Tzu, nature is neither good nor evil; Hsün Tzu, nature is evil; and Yang Hsiung, nature is both good and evil. Most Chinese philosophers believed that man is able to do good; they also accepted evil as something natural that needed no explanation. See also CONFUCIANISM , HSÜN TZU, MENCIUS , TAOISM , YANG HSIUN. S.-h.L.