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

man, and that the man is I, and that I and the man are two beings. It is because we look at by the eyes of the universe [instead of by ours], there is nothing we disregard; because we listen by the ears of the universe [instead of by ours], there is nothing may pass unnoticed […]. If perception, hearing, discussion, and joy become broad and deeper without any action, why do not define it perfect wisdom? ²²

The Neo-Confucian debate on the dyad emotions-principles, on the identity of self/no-self and the objectivity/emptiness of existence, can also be seen under the framework of Buddhist influences as the outcome of integrating a Buddhist perspective over mundane disputes within Confucianism.²³ Both Zhu Xi and especially Wang Yangming consider the condition of “no-self” or “being without one’s self,” wuwo 無我, as a basic quality of the sage and the aim of moral cultivation. Worthy of attention is the use of this term by Neo-Confucians who do not mean a denial of the self and its value. They do not claim that the self does not exist. For Confucians, the self is real, as are social relations and the different interpersonal roles of each member of the community. It is clear that for Neo-Confucians “without one’s self” means “without trifling attachments, and free of desires” and “not focusing on oneself.” Here neither the individual self nor his autonomy is called into question, but what is recommended is a kind of purification of the self, its independence from involvement in unessential events of things, and its appropriate response to the world. Neo-Confucian thinkers recurrently state no-self is the accomplishment of long self-cultivation process (xiushen 修身/ yueshen 約身) of complete purification from selfish desires, siyu jingjin 私欲淨盡, self-mastery (keji 克己).²⁴ According to Wang Yangming, the no-self is the self without attachment and desires, the “true self” (zhenwo 真我, zhenji 真己), purified from selfishness and free from thinking of nothing but one’s own gain (zisi zili zhi xin 自私自利之心).²⁵ Two metaphors are currently used to explain this deep experience: the first is the mirror, and the second the body. The clean mirror is a symbol of the momentariness and emptiness of the mind free of any attachment: “The