Erudite Jiang Gong cherished profound fraternal love with his brothers and taught thousands of disciples. He declined countless official summons. Seeing the court controlled by corrupt factions, he fled by sea to evade appointment and died at seventy-seven at home.
Mencius explains Shun enfeoffed his murderous brother Xiang out of fraternal love yet stripped him of real power via appointed officials, balancing kin affection and public justice. Shun met Xiang often under political pretexts to sustain their bond.
The Master said, “A young man’s duty is to behave well to his parents at home and to his elders abroad, to be cautious in giving promises and punctual in keeping them, to have kindly feelings towards everyone, but seek the intimacy of the Good. If, when all that is done, he has any…