Confucius assesses three types of ancient recluses with distinct moral stances. Unlike them, he holds no rigid fixed choices – he acts flexibly according to righteousness, embodying the supreme Confucian wisdom of timely adaptation and the Doctrine of the Mean.
5.23 The Master said, “Boyi (Bo Yi) and Shuqi (Shu Qi) never bore old ills in mind and had but the faintest feelings of rancour.”