Ultimately, I think I agree with you? Or at least, I don't argue very hard. But the shape of that Duty is what eluded me until very recently.

(Fun fact: going through my poetry collected for Shen Wei helped me figure that out. So writing this post was incredibly useful!)

My idea of Duty is very American, and very... I don't know, US-ian liberal? The system is thoroughly unjust in Dixing, and I would argue that Duty (by my definitions) would require some attempt to address those injustices in some direct manner. But I'm from a culture with an active disrespect for authority and a belief in individual action. My (very US-ian) heroes would be out to bring down the power structure. Shen Wei isn't.

I agree that he's not fatalistic; I just think he accepts an inherent value to the structures and norms of society. He wants incremental change where I'd be rioting in the street.