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

clear to muddied, from light to dark, from impartial to partial, from hot to cold, from sweet to sour—brought about by the endless interaction between the two poles of yin and yang.

According to Zhu Xi, who inherits Zhang Zai’s elaboration, differences in the manifestation of principle and human imperfections come from the process of differentiation of energy and the fortuitous nature of birth. This very moment influences one’s whole life. Not only does it determine one’s character and dispositions as well as the length of one’s life but also one’s health and future in terms of both good fortune and morality; it all depends on the type of psychophysical energy with which people are endowed (人之性皆善。然而有生下來善底，有生下來便惡底，此是氣稟不同). If one is born with pure, splendid, harmonious, and consistent psychophysical energy, one will surely turn out to be a very good person. If instead one is born when the sun or the moon is clouded over, when the temperature is abnormal, and the universe is in disharmony, one will be endowed with malignant energy and will undoubtedly be nothing but evil (人生而稟此氣，則為清明渾厚之氣，須做箇好人；若是日月昏暗，寒暑反常，皆是天地之戾氣，人若稟此氣，則為不好底人).⁵² It is always possible to return to the principle, but one must modify one’s psychophysical nature (e.g., one’s character). One must “collect the energy scattered everywhere” (yang haoran zhi qi 養浩然之氣) and exercise “self-control” (keji 克己) to constantly curb one’s desires. One can thereby correct one’s own faults only after protracted and courageous efforts.⁵³ The transformation of this “second nature” (bianhua qizhi 變化氣質) through study, self-cultivation, and perfecting one’s moral being is the way to recover one’s original nature and eliminate distinctions and obstacles between self and the rest of the universe.⁵⁴ Human nature, with its four beginnings or seeds of virtue (siduan 四端), is one’s potential toward a moral life, while selfish intentions block and obstacle such tending toward virtue. The possibility to improve or regress is “given” (ming) by heaven, but it is up to humans to have the choice whether and how thoroughly to overcome their limitations and accomplish their innate tendencies.⁵⁵