Determinism and “Completion of Character” in Lunheng

This is the most strongly worded statement of something like behavioral determinism I’ve found in Lunheng.  Interestingly enough, it comes in a chapter on government (治期 Zhi qi), and I suspect this is the reason the statement is as stark as it is.  Let’s jump right in (my rough translation follows below-I haven’t tackled Zhi qi yet in my Lunheng translation, though it’s next on my list):

Three Kinds of Destiny

I’ll be talking about Wang Chong quite a bit on this blog in the coming months, as I’ve just plunged into a major project on his work, stemming from the past work I’ve done on his philosophical views.  There’s just far too much of philosophical interest in Lunheng to be overlooked.  The plan is to consider Wang’s philosophy in light of both Han debates and in comparison with contemporary western philosophy, to which Wang Chong’s ideas can make a number of contributions.  I’ve also made a new years resolution for 2012 to post here on UPJ more regularly, as the comments I get here are of great help to me in chiseling and polishing this “unpolished” work!

I’ve come across an interesting issue in Lunheng recently, and an interesting translation difficulty/issue.  Wang Chong distinguished three types of ming 命(destiny) in the essay Ming yi 命義, and there is a difficulty surrounding how this distinction ought to be understood.