Ming
Ming
Name, or “that which designates a thing.” This includes “designations of things and their qualities,” “those referring to fame and disrepute,” and “such descriptive appellations as ‘intelligence’ and ‘stupidity’ and ‘love’ and ‘hate.’ ” “Names are made in order to denote actualities so as to make evident the honorable and the humble and to distinguish similarities and differences.” For Rectification of Names, see Cheng ming. — W.T.C.
Fuente: The Dictionary of Philosophy
Ming
Fate; Destiny; the Decree of Heaven. The Confucians and Neo-Confucians are unanimous in saying that the fate and the nature (hsing) of man and things are two aspects of the same thing. Fate is what Heaven imparts; and the nature is what man and things received from Heaven. For example, “whether a piece of wood is crooked or straight is due to its nature. But that it should be crooked or straight is due to its fate.” This being the case, understanding fate (as in Confucius), establishing fate (as in Mencius, 371-289 B.C.), and the fulfillment of fate (as in Neo-Confucianism) all mean the realization of the nature of man and things in accordance with the principle or Reason (li) of existence. “That which Heaven decrees is true, one, and homogeneous . . . Fate in its true meaning proceeds from Reason; its variations (i.e., inequalities like intelligence and stupidity) proceed from the material element, the vital force (ch’i) . . . ‘He who understands what fate is, will not stand beneath a precipitous wall.’ If a man, saying ‘It is decreed,’ goes and stands beneath a precipitous wall and the wall falls and crushes him, it cannot be attributed solely to fate. In human affairs when a man has done his utmost he may talk of fate.” The fate of Heaven is the same as the Moral Law (tao) of Heaven. The “fulfillment of fate” consists of “the investigation of the Reason of things to the utmost (ch’iung li)” and “exhausting one’s nature to the utmost (chin hsing)” — the three are one and the same.” In short, fate is “nothing other than being one’s true self (ch’eng).” — W.T.C.