Are Humans Inherently Good Or Evil? The Answer to Kingdom's Most Intriguing Question
Thanks to Shin and Chapter 760 of the manga, we finally have the answer to one of Kingdom’s most intriguing questions.
Are Humans inherently Good or Evil?
In the words of our protagonist, Human Nature is that of Fire.
Fire of Life. Fire of Will. Fire of Heart.
A fascinating answer indeed and not very surprising either considering how true the story has been to this concept since the beginning. Even King Sei’s answer to the same question wasn’t contradictory either.
During the dialogue with Ryo Fui, Sei was asked the same question, to which Sei replied that the true nature of mankind is that of Light.
In this post, we’re going to compare the two answers.
Is Humans nature Fire or Light?
Perhaps both. Perhaps neither.
In chapter 426 of the manga, Ryofui corners King Sei by his idea that maintaining the status quo is the best way to go. He is of the opinion that human conflict will never cease.
War itself is an expression of Human Nature, and to reject that is to reject being human. Clearly, Ryofui was not pleased with King Sei’s naive thinking that bringing all the states together under one rule will be beneficial, let alone the idea that it will end wars.
He stated that if the King cannot accept this simple reality, the world will never be able to make progress.
And by “the world,” he is referring to all of China.
But Sei was quick to shut him up.
It is true that humans lie and cheat, and they are plagued by greed. In fits of hatred, they also kill others. Indeed, these are all aspects of mankind, but Ryofui is wrong.
They may be aspects of humans, but they are not their true nature.
Sei explains that Ryofui will never be able to make progress because of his presumption that man is not free of conflict. He states, and I quote,
“For you have given up on mankind itself.”
It is because of Ryofui’s thinking and the thinking of those like him that China has suffered through five hundred years of neverending warfare. If nothing changes, the warfare will continue.
Naturally, Ryofui now wanted to know his majesty’s opinion on what is man’s true nature.
Sei remembers his horrible childhood and then gives his answer.
He believes that man’s true nature is that of “light.”
He mentions how Shika, the woman who saved him from darkness ultimately ended up giving her own life so that he could live on. In a few words, Sei describes that she was a powerful light.
And it wasn’t just her.
Over the years, Sei has seen that light in all of the people that have fallen so far.
Be it Ouki, a great general of the heavens. Or Duke Hyou, who has given his life to protect Qin.
His own brother and everyone else who perished.
They all had that light, but after they passed away, their light was inherited by someone else.
And now it shines with an even greater radiance.
There is no other way to go about it. People are connected, but they fall to darkness when they lose sight of the light within them, that’s how they give birth to tragedies, and the primary source of that darkness is warfare.
That’s why, no matter how childish or idealistic it may seem, Sei declares that he will abolish warfare from the world.
He will end it all with his generation, he will create an equal, undivided China for everyone, so that the next generation can live in a world without war.
Ryofui never agreed to anything, his way of thinking was too different from that of his majesty, but he could tell that the King had grown.
Now, “Kingdom” is historical fiction, but we know how it all ended, don’t we?
Ei Sei, or should I say, “Qin Shi Huang,” succeeded in unifying all of China. I won’t talk about the tragedies that happened after that considering how we don’t know which direction the author is going to take the ending.
Anyways, now let’s take a look at Shin’s answer to the same question.
Let’s see the glaring similarities.
Kan Pishi, an expert in legalism, is a crucial man if King Sei is actually going to accomplish what he says he will. That’s why a delegation was sent to Han in order to ask him to join Qin.
But we end up with a pressing situation.
As it turns out, Kan Pishi asks Shin the same old question.
“Are humans inherently good or evil?”
Now, it was all riding on Shin. Either he gives a satisfactory answer or they leave without Kan Pishi.
And thanks to the life Shin had endured on the battlefield, all the connections he has made, all the connections he has lost, he was able to come up with a single word as the answer to this question.
FIRE.
In his opinion, all of a person’s actions are driven by the fire within them.
Kanki may be the worst, most evil human scum, but in the end, his actions stemmed from the anger at the world that turns its back on the oppressed.
Nothing excuses Kanki’s actions, but he did, after all, rise for the people in the world who no one else pays attention to.
I’d like to quote Aokiji from One Piece, he once said,
“Justice changes its shape depending on where the person stands.”
Although the English translation may have exaggerated his speech by using big words, Shin is saying the same old universal concept that applies everywhere.
He is talking about how everything is “relative”.
This is why the entire question is wrong.
Are humans inherently good or evil?
No, that’s not what this is about.
There is something more important within humans that never changes, something that every human has.
The fire of Life and the fire of Heart.
In one way or another, everyone clings to life, that is what drives their actions, and when this fire is extinguished after someone’s death, it is inherited by someone else.
And this fire isn’t just limited to allies, it can be inherited between enemies as well.
It’s Naruto all over again.
The will of fire.
In the end, every fire that someone inherits makes their own fire bigger and more intense.
Shin then says something that no one in the throne room expected. He states that one day he will defeat Riboku, the worst enemy of Qin, and inherit his fire.
Kan Pishi loved Shin’s speech, and I’m sure all of us did as well.
It’s basically the same as Sei’s speech to Ryofui, but in Shin’s context, the word “fire” works way better.
Though Kan Pishi also expresses his disappointment that Shin is too optimistic. Shin is a believer of “humans are inherently good.” This is where Shin goes one step ahead of Sei and truly blows our minds.
He says something so simple yet so often ignored.
“Humans are dumb.”
That’s why we need “the Law”.
But being “dumb” and being “bad” are not one and the same.
To begin with, if one believes that humans are inherently bad then the whole thing begins to lack meaning. It’s defeatist and means that one has forsaken humans.
But guess what Shin says next.
He states that it’s because people reject the idea of abandoning humans that they begin to think pessimistically about laws and how to establish them. The law is ultimately for the sake of humans.
And considering how Kan Pishi excels in the field of jurisprudence, doesn’t that make him a believer in the theory of goodness as well?
After all, if he truly believes that Humans are inherently bad, the whole thing would start seeming meaningless.
And with this, Shin convinced the man.
Kan Pishi is finally coming to Qin. He was definitely taken off guard by Shin’s answer.
Overall, the thing about both Shin and Sei’s answers is the idea that it isn’t simply labeling humans good or bad. There are too many factors to consider.
Shin also used Sei’s brother as an example, he is the one behind why Shin lost his best friend, but he changed and died as their ally.
Even Kanki, who may seem like the most evil person, has a heart that cares about the people everybody else has abandoned.
So, there you have it folks, this was an essay on The Answer to one of Kingdom’s most Intriguing Questions.
I hope you enjoyed these speeches in the manga as much as I did!
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