The Concept "Man Can Overcome Nature" in Traditional Chinese Culture

"Man can overcome nature" is a common phrase in Chinese. This paper addresses how although it was first used by Shen Baoxu, as recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, it later came to take on a meaning exactly opposite of its original usage. The phrase went through many transformations over the ages and was most likely solidified in its present form during Northern Song by Su Shi and his pupils. Its meaning began to change from a negative connotation to that of a positive one between the Northern and Southern Song dynasties. During Southern Song, its positive meaning was more popular, being used in discussion on changing one’s destiny, preventing calamities, overcoming illness, and training military troops.
With regards to its philosophical thought, it is most closely related to the phrase “Nature can be overcome through preparedness and efficiency” found in Yi Zhoushu (The Lost Book of Zhou). The term ‘nature’ here refers to the divergence in the myriad things in heaven and earth. Traditional Chinese culture originates from the farmland along the Yellow River. The geographical environment there gave rise to the overarching principle that “Man is an integral part of nature.” Confucians hold that man adapts himself to nature. The Doctrine of the Mean and Xunzi could not but advocate the same thing. The phrase in question “Man can overcome nature,” which came into existence later, most likely falls in with this tradition.
Dictionaries published after the 1911 have not provided a detailed explanation of the formation and transformation of this idiom; rather, they’ve lumped it all under one definition, thus taking the part for the whole. Many supporting citations listed under the entry were misguided as a result. Dictionaries published in the last 30 to 40 years, in the wake of developments in academic thought, defined the phrase as meaning: “Man’s power can enable him to be victorious over nature.” This is clearly at odds with the traditional meaning and usage.