moral discipline

  • The Analects – Chapter 16.7

    Confucius said, “The noble person has three things to guard against: in youth, when one’s vital energies (xue qi) are not yet settled, guard against lust; in prime adulthood, when vital energies are at their strongest and most vigorous, guard against contentiousness; in old age, when vital energies have declined, guard against greed.”

  • The Analects – Chapter 12.1

    Yan Hui asked about benevolence (humaneness). The Master said, “To restrain oneself and return to ritual propriety is humaneness. If for just one day everyone could restrain themselves and conform to ritual propriety, the whole world would return to humaneness. Cultivating humaneness depends on oneself—how could it depend on others?”

  • The Analects – Chapter 10.13

    When the ruler granted cooked food, Confucius would always straighten his mat and taste it first as a sign of respect. When granted raw meat, he would cook it and first offer it to his ancestors. When granted a live animal, he would raise it alive. When dining with the ruler, as soon as…

  • Caigentan 132. Inner bedrock, Outer radiance

    An upright and virtuous personality, which shines like broad daylight, is fostered in a dark hut with a leaky roof.

  • The Fox Sisters and the Scholar

    Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: The Fox Sisters (Fourth Sister Hu) weaves a fantastical tale of scholar Shang and his encounters with fox spirits Hu Sanjie(Third Sister Hu) and Hu Sijie(Fourth Sister Hu), exploring themes of desire, morality, and karmic justice.