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

The heart-mind is the site of reflective and cognitive activities for Xunzi as well. He scrutinizes the capability of choice by recognizing the important role of the mind ²⁹ and distinguishes the potentiality of acting from the real will to do—“the mean man can become a gentleman but he does not want to” (故小人可以為君子，而不肯為君子).³⁰ However, a question which was not raised by the Chinese thinker is how and why the mean person is unable to decide and always tries to change their condition.³¹ Xunzi refers to moral choices in terms of weighing between options on several occasions by employing the images of balance (heng 衡), counterweight (quan 權),³² and crossroads (qu 衢). If the balance is not aligned, the heart/mind will be mistaken in weighing options (22/71–8).³³ He refers to the sage who knows how to act in any circumstances. As for the difficulty and importance of the recruitment of civil servants, Xunzi provides a brief anecdote about the life of Yang Zhu 楊朱 (440–360 BC) reaching a fork in the road: he expresses the suffering caused by the risk of possibly having chosen the wrong road, and by the serious consequences from taking the first step in the wrong direction.³⁴ Thus, xin is the ruler of the body, the organ of judgment, volition, and emotions.

Another important term concerning moral responsibility is “heart-mind-commitment,” “determination,” zhi 志, which will be examined in the next section on Neo-Confucianism. It expresses the will of the moral agent in decisions and actions and can be found in early Classics. Confucius is supposed to have argued that the armies in a large state may be deprived of their commander, but even a common man cannot be deprived of his determination (三軍可奪帥也，匹夫不可奪志也).³⁵ And the virtuous man in Mencius, “when he realizes his wishes, practises them with the people; and when his wishes are disappointed, he practises the Way alone; wealth and honors cannot overwhelm him, poverty and mean conditions cannot influence him, and power and force cannot bend him—this is the great man” (得志與民由之，不得志獨行其道。富貴不能淫，貧賤不能移，威武不能屈。此之謂大丈夫).³⁶ These words not only indicate a moral autonomous dimension of Confucian personhood but also imply the duty of resistance and dissent toward the political