I really liked your reading of No-Face — born neither good nor bad, with the environment deciding which side gets drawn out.
In East Asian thought, there are three old positions on human nature: that it is good (Mencius), that it is bad (Xunzi), and that it is neither good nor bad (Gaozi). Your reading of No-Face felt, to me, closest to the third — Gaozi's.
Gaozi compared human nature to swirling water: cut a channel east and it flows east, cut one west and it flows west. The water itself has no fixed direction. No-Face — devouring in the bathhouse, gentle in Zeniba's home — moves just like that water.
I am honored that you’d take the time to share these philosophical frameworks, Arimitsu. I hadn't explicitly linked No-Face to Gaozi's view, but that comparison to swirling water fits perfectly. It makes me see the character in a completely new light.
Thank you for adding such a profound layer to the discussion🙏
I really liked your reading of No-Face — born neither good nor bad, with the environment deciding which side gets drawn out.
In East Asian thought, there are three old positions on human nature: that it is good (Mencius), that it is bad (Xunzi), and that it is neither good nor bad (Gaozi). Your reading of No-Face felt, to me, closest to the third — Gaozi's.
Gaozi compared human nature to swirling water: cut a channel east and it flows east, cut one west and it flows west. The water itself has no fixed direction. No-Face — devouring in the bathhouse, gentle in Zeniba's home — moves just like that water.
I am honored that you’d take the time to share these philosophical frameworks, Arimitsu. I hadn't explicitly linked No-Face to Gaozi's view, but that comparison to swirling water fits perfectly. It makes me see the character in a completely new light.
Thank you for adding such a profound layer to the discussion🙏