Individual Autonomy and Responsibility in Late Imperial China By ...

to be equal, and so there is no difficulty in deciding which of them is destined to triumph.¹³⁷

Again, the central theme of the The Story of the Lute is the conflict between two virtues. The characters face the dilemma of a choice between loyalty (zhong) and filial duty (xiao), and they make decisions that are sometimes courageous and sometimes mistaken, causing suffering not only to the person deemed directly responsible for these decisions but to others as well. Such decisions are, nevertheless, made in the name of moral precepts, on the basis of the priority assigned then to one virtue and now to another, and since moral values are arranged in a precise hierarchy, it is all but predetermined which one would prevail.¹³⁸

In view of all these considerations, one would wonder whether the sense of drama is attached more to matters of morality than to conflicts between the individual’s passions. Two major issues are deeply related with this question: (1) one concerns the “justification” of a choice based on a particular interest by resorting to certain precepts, and (2) the other deals with the choice between competing moral norms. Although it is not possible to find a clear-cut solution to these issues, the author may let the reader catch a glimpse of the interests that appear behind choices, while the feelings that manifest themselves in the foreground seem to derive wholly and solely from emotional reactions to interpersonal relations.¹³⁹ The anthology of short stories “Nodding Stones” offers other valuable examples which raise the following moral questions: When filial piety clashes with other duties toward the family, which obligation should prevail? Among the duties linked with status, career, and scholarship, on the one hand, and filial piety on the other, which is the most important? For example, is a father who has abandoned his family worthy of being sought out by his sons?¹⁴⁰ Can an action deserving reproof be finally redeemed or justified by a virtuous feeling such as filial piety? In the story titled “The Bell in a Quiet Night,” two types of filial duty come into conflict: a young man kills his father’s concubine to prevent his mother’s suicide, and the choice of a lesser evil is therefore approved.¹⁴¹ In so far