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

Thus, they [human beings] rebel against the illuminating brightness of the sun and moon above, scorch the refined essence of the mountains and rivers below and overturn the orderly progression of the four seasons in between. [. . .] Deep, indeed, is the disorder brought to the world by the love of knowing! 甚矣夫好知之乱天下也!⁴²

This passage is a caveat against noxious and selfish learning according to the wuwei—xing is harmed by mental activity, rather than being used for the rebellion against unjust power. This lack of Promethean individualism does not, however, translate into a lack of individual promotion and different individualism. Based on these assumptions, we can conclude that rather than perpetuating a priori models of analysis whereby the West is framed as intrinsically individualistic and the opposite qualities are ascribed to China, one should not underrate Chinese variants of “individualism” and go further to examine those specific meanings which allow for an evaluation of the self in various historical periods.⁴³ In this direction, for instance, Xu Keqian has contributed to discovering the admiration of an independent personality of individual intellectuals at the elite level and a kind of “individual survival wisdom” at the grassroots level. Exemplary is the common saying: “If one does not look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him” (ren bu weiji tian shu di mie 人不為己天誅地滅).⁴⁴