Surrendering to and Transcending Ming 命 in the Analects, Mencius and Zhuangzi
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3323354 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ying Zhou (0000-0001-7335-5601, Southwest Minzu University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1000 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-31 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel16081000 |
| OpenAlex | W4412844753 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 17 |
This article examines the concept of ming 命 (mandate/command or fate/destiny) in the Analects, Mencius, and Zhuangzi, exploring its relationship to tian 天 (Heaven). Across these works, ming retains an intrinsic connection to tian-an inviolable cosmic force beyond human control. All three texts exhibit profound reverence and submission to tian, acknowledging the boundary between human control and cosmic inevitability, yet, at the same time, advocating active alignment with tian's ordained patterns. In the Analects, a central tension emerges between tian's teleological purpose-centered on preserving human culture and ethical cultivation-and the seemingly arbitrary fluctuations of individual fate, particularly regarding lifespan and personal fulfillment. This tension persists in the Mencius, articulated as a conflict between the political disorder of Mencius' contemporary era and tian's normative moral order. The Zhuangzi, by contrast, resolves this tension through advocating for withdrawal from the political life, as well as a radical reinterpretation of tian. Stripping tian off the Confucian moral-cultural imperatives, the text deconstructs dichotomies like life and death, championing inner equanimity via flowing with the cosmic transformation
Aesthetics · Epistemology · Chinese history and philosophy · Japanese History and Culture · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
Mortality in Traditional Chinese Thought
Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy
Heaven as a Source for Ethical Warrant in Early Confucianism
The Reification of Fate in Early China
After Confucius
Mencius and Early Chinese Thought
Hiding the World in the World
Debating the Spirit in Early China To Become a God
The Conception of Ming in Early Confucian Thought
"Emotional Control and Virtue in the "Mencius
Zhuangzi on Skepticism, Skill, and the Ineffable Dao
The Genesis of the Concept of Blind Fate in Ancient China
Rethinking the Mengzi's Concept of Tian 天
| Highly cited | No |
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