 Xunzi’s reference to this example in particular in Book 22 of the Xunzi is likely his response to the paradoxical statement “White horses are not horses”, famously asserted by the sophist Gongsun Long probably as a foil to the Mohists’ theories of naming and reference (Gongsun Long may himself have once been a Mohist; see the entry  School of Names  for further discussion). The inference works, presumably, because \(m_2\) serves as a model for “horse” irrespective of its color. Since color is not a relevant criterion of resemblance, “horse” functions as a term of greater generality.