Jesse Ciccotti

Following the cultural and social devastation of the mid-twentieth century, posttraditional, post-Marxist China is experiencing a resurgence of interest in numerous traditional cultural elements, including the figure of the ancient sage-king Shun (舜) through what is being called Shun Culture (舜文化). This issue of Contemporary Chinese Thought is devoted to bringing this phenomenon to light as it is expressed among the intellectual elite of contemporary mainland China. This introduction highlights significant features of the discourse that occurs within this phenomenon, raising questions regarding the claims and perspectives presented, and probing a possible alternative to these claims by means of the role and values associated with a “cultural hero” and through engagement with a contemporary Anglo-European ethical discussion.

In this paper I will argue for a plausible account for moral luck in the Ruist tradition. In part one I will offer a preliminary framework for moral luck to establish an intersection between Ruist virtue ethics and its counterparts outside of Ruism. I will situate the term moral luck in a Ruist context. Although the term moral luck does not appear in The Mengzi the concept was known to Master Meng and is useful for comparison with its foreign counterparts. In part two, guided by Thomas Nagle’s four categories for moral luck, I show where Ruist moral luck can be found in The Mengzi. I conclude by highlighting the contributions that Ruism offers to the broader moral luck discussion.