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1 chapter o ne Individual Agency and Universal, Centralized Authority in Early Mohist Writings In searching for the roots of individualism, we begin with an unlikely source: the writings of the early Mohists. Unlike the Confucian Analects—a rough contemporary of the early Mohist writings— which focuses deeply on the cultivation of individual moral autonomy, early Mohist writings underscore the importance of an individual’s conformism to Heaven’s will.1 This appears to be a far cry from any notion of individualism with which we might be familiar. Certainly, conformism per se is not equal to individualism. This does not mean that the two must be unrelated or that one cannot serve as the fertile ideological soil for the growth of the other. As this book will demonstrate, conformist ideologies are tightly linked to nascent forms of individualism in early China. To better understand this link, we begin our study with an examination of the ideal of “upward conformity ” (shang tong 上 同) in early Mohist thought. Even a casual reader of the early Mohist writings will notice that they deviated from the bulk of other contemporary writings by not emphasizing the process of individual self-cultivation.2 It is not necessarily the case, however , that the early Mohists did not support self-improvement in their writings or that they did not implicitly promote an ideal relating to individual perfectibility. In fact, the early Mohists avidly stood by the notion that the individual is a powerful agent who, by striving in a particular manner to fulfill his or her ultimate responsibilities toward Heaven, might take positive , moral control over the shape and direction of his or her life. Intriguingly , however, the early Mohists promoted such a philosophy on individual agency at the same time as they invoked a strong rhetoric for conformity to authority—in particular, the authority of one’s leaders and Heaven above. The apparently contradictory relationship between the early Mohists’ concept of upward conformity and their injunctions for individual control and 2 Individualism in Early China responsibility render their message on human agency subtle and complicated , perhaps even more so than writings for which self-cultivation is an explicit concern. In what follows, I examine the early Mohist rhetoric on upward conformity to ascertain their views on the limits and parameters of individual agency and autonomous decision-making powers.3 By exploring what underlies this rhetoric—rooted so deeply in a religious belief about the nature of Heaven’s interactions with man—I show how such rhetoric goes hand in hand with encompassing views on individual self-determination and meritocratic government policies. Most relevant for the developments outlined in this book, the rhetoric of upward conformity advocates universal and uniform allegiance to a single higher power—mediated through a political hierarchy. This differs from the views expressed in the Ru (Confucian) circles of the day, which, while ultimately extolling the Dao and Heaven’s authority, also allocated a considerable amount of power to cultural forms and moral persons both inside and outside of government service. The Universal Authority of Heaven and Its Compensatory Powers Upward conformity as a behavioral ideal is implied throughout the early Mohist corpus and is discussed explicitly in three chapters, each titled “Upward Conformity” 上 同 (Upper, Central, Lower).4 In these chapters, authors outline their program of upward conformity through two types of arguments. On the one hand, they speak of social problems arising from the presence of many diverse judgments (yi 義), or claims on what is right or wrong. Hence, they address the problem of disparate authorities.5 On the other hand, they discuss solutions to these problems through legalistic and meritocratic measures ensured through upward conformity. However, the main significance of upward conformity revealed in these chapters and, indeed, throughout the early Mohist corpus lies in its imperative for all human action to be based ultimately in one authority—that of Heaven— and only proximately in the people and institutions that support it. Thus the early Mohist ideal of upward conformity is inextricably linked to the early Mohist religious injunction for Heaven’s ultimate and exclusive authority in the human realm.6 Given this idealized role of Heaven, how exactly does Heaven interact with humans such that individuals might conform to its will? And what does such an interaction imply about human agency and responsibility? For the early Mohists, Heaven is the ultimate source of good, correct , and idealized authority in the world.7 This authority, not in the least [18.226.169...

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