二十世紀以來，在用「唯物主義」、「唯心主義」話語系統建構中國哲學史的歷程中，荀子「天」論成為過度詮釋的一典型案例，出於非學術性原因而編織的「偉大的唯物主義者」等桂冠不一而足。隨著近幾年考古材料的問世，我們不難發現：荀子「天」論與孔子、孟子「天」論一樣，同樣蘊涵著「主宰之天」、「自然之天」和「義理之天」等諸種義項。先秦儒家哲學中的「天」並不存在一個由「宗教之天」向「哲學之天」過渡的哲學進程。廣而論之，就先秦兩漢儒家哲學而官，「宗教之天」與「哲學之天」不僅自始至終都裹挾在一起，而且「宗教之天」還有逐步強化的趨勢。

In the process throughout the twentieth century of constructing the history of Chinese philosophy with terms like materialism and idealism, Xun Zi's doctrine of the heaven is a textbook case of over interpretation caused by those laureate materialists. As more and more archeological materials have been discovered recently, we can easily find that Xun Zi's doctrine about the heaven is just like the one of Confucianism, implying the meanings of the “ruling heaven,” the “natural heaven” and the “doctrinal heaven.” The concept of the “heaven” in the Pre-qin Confucianism didn't contain the transition from the “religious heaven” to the “philosophical heaven.” Generally, in view of the Confucian philosophy of the Pre-qin Period and the Han Dynasties, the “religious heaven” and the “philosophical heaven” were always intertwined with each other as the “religious heaven” was strengthened.