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The Chinese culture upholds the value of “righteousness ( yi ) over profit ( li ),” and Confucianism is a case in point. According to The Doctrine of the Mean , “righteousness is also appropriateness.” It is the implementation of human-heartedness and virtue, and the yardstick of whether human behavior is in line with the righteous path and virtue. The Book of Changes says, “Profit must be gained through righteousness.” Profit, which can be divided into material and spiritual gains, generally refers to the reality of material benefits.
Regarding the relationship between righteousness and profit, Confucianism advocates that moral righteousness, the highest value standard, should be put above the utilitarian sphere. Confucius and Mencius valued righteousness above material gains; Hsun Tzu said, “He who puts righteousness before profit is honorable”; Tung Chung-shu said, “Everything is done for the sake of justice and not for personal gain”; Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi (1033-1107), and Chu Hsi, the Neo-Confucian of the Song Dynasty, advocated “reverencing in integrity while belittling profit”; and Wang Fuzhi urged people to “take righteousness as profit.” Those doctrines share the same feature of emphasizing the importance of righteousness and opposing unrighteousness and personal gains at the expense of others.
Confucius lived at a time when the old social orders were transforming drastically, and the class polarization in terms of moral consciousness and wealth was intensifying, so Confucius reintroduced the moral norm of “virtue,” intending to make “the people have a sense of shame and integrity,” so as to guide people in the relationship between righteousness and profit. Confucius said, “The mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness; the mind of the mean man ( xiao ren ) is conversant with gain.” ( The Analects of Confucius ) Herein lies what the later Confucians called the “distinction between righteousness and profit,” a distinction which they considered to be of the utmost importance in moral cultivation. Using this as a yardstick, when Tsze-lu (542-480 BC) asked,“Does the gentleman esteem valor?” Confucius replied, “The gentleman holds righteousness to be of the highest importance. A man in a superior situation, having valor without righteousness, will be guilty of insubordi-nation; one of the lower people having valor without righteousness, will commit robbery.” ( The Analects of Confucius ) So we can see that Confucius took “righteousness” as the measure and criterion for judging the appropriateness of behavior.
The word “righteousness” appears twenty-four times in The Analects of Confucius , mainly in the sense of “appropriateness” or “justice.” For example, “Riches and honor acquired by means that I know to be wrong are to me as a floating cloud.” ( The Analects of Confucius ) There are two stories in history: one is Shu Xiang, who, in the 14th year of Duke Zhao (528 BC), “was appointed to assist the duke in ruling the state and made the criminal law. He did not favor his brother Shu Yu, uncovered the latter’s crimes three times, and did not spare him in the end. In this regard, Confucius commented, “Shu Xiang acts in accordance with righteousness, so we can say that he is honest and upright!” In another story, in the 28th year of Duke Zhao (514 BC), Wei Xianzi ((?-509 BC) was appointed as the Grand Chancellor of the Jin State. He promoted Xu Wu, Zhao Chao, Han Gu, and Wei Wu for their merits and put Shu Xiang to the office for his achievements. When Confucius learned of Wei Xianzi’s deed, he commented, “Wei Xianzi did not fail to bring out the virtuous who were close to him, nor did he ignore the virtuous who were not recommended to him, which was virtuous and righteous.” In these two stories, Confucius clearly takes “righteousness” as the criterion for judging the appropriateness of behavior. Whether or not one behaves like a “superior man” is not a matter of innate endowment but rather a matter of acquired cultivation.
“Righteousness” reflects in both personal behaviors and the behaviors of the state: “Instead of aiming at wealth when governing a country, one should pursue virtue and righteousness for consideration.” ( The Great Learning ) Confucius advocated that “the mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness,” which is to promote all social classes to start from cultivating themselves and following “virtue” and “righteousness” in their daily lives, instead of being tempted by self-interest. For public officials such as the rulers and ministers in the imperial court, Confucius firmly opposed the unrighteous practices of Kuan Chung and the head of the Ji family, who had “indecorous behaviors,” and proposed to “employ people at the proper seasons” and “make more beneficial to the people the things from which they naturally derive benefit.”
Tsze-kung (520-456 BC) asked about government. Confucius said, “The requisites of government are that there be sufficiency of food, sufficiency of military equipment, and the confidence of the people in their ruler.” Tsze-kung said, “If it cannot be helped, and one of these must be dispensed with, which of the three should be foregone first?”“The military equipment,” said Confucius. Tsze-kung again asked, “If it cannot be helped, and one of the remaining two must be dispensed with, which of them should be foregone?” Confucius answered, “Part with the food. Death has been the normal; but if the people have no faith in their rulers, there is no standing for the state.” Here, Confucius put “people’s faith” above “sufficient food” and “military equipment” and asked the ruler “to keep faith and righteousness and take care of people’s livelihood.”
Mencius inherited Confucius’ ideas. At the time of Mencius, the lords were attacking each other, all people were competing for profits, and social relations were in chaos. In response to the ills of the times, Mencius further revealed the relationship between righteousness and profit as “giving up life for righteousness ( she shen qu yi ).” He said,“Fish is what I desire, and so are bear’s paws. If I cannot have them both, I would choose the latter and forsake the former. Life is what I desire, and so is righteousness. If I cannot have them both, I would choose the latter and forsake the former. To be sure, life is desirable, but I will not stick to it discreditably if something more precious is to be desired. When life and righteousness are at odds and cannot be combined, one should undoubtedly choose righteousness.”
Mencius believed that “righteousness” comes from the nature of the human conscience. He said, “Compassion is common to all men.” ( The Works of Mencius ) “If today men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they will without exception experience a feeling of alarm and distress.” ( The Works of Mencius ) At this time, “compassion” is not motivated by any utilitarian purpose, neither to befriend the child’s parents nor gain a good reputation.
The “compassion” mentioned by Mencius, together with “the sense of shame,” “the sense of modesty,” and “the sense of right and wrong,” constitute the four virtues ( si duan ) of human beings. According to Mencius, the criterion for distinguishing a superior man and a mean person is whether they are pursuing “profit” or “righteousness.” He praised Yi Yin(?-1713 BC) for helping Emperor Tang of Shang to ascend the throne and believed that Yi Yin took morality and righteousness as the principle of his choice. As long as it was virtuous and righteous, he should be duty-bound to sacrifice himself for “righteousness.” As to reaching the standard of “righteousness,” Mencius believes that one can only reach “righteousness” by consciously cultivating oneself. The most valuable qualities in the world, such as compassion, the sense of shame, the sense of modesty, and the sense of right and wrong, can only be attained by consciously cultivating oneself.
Hsun Tzu puts forward the concept of righteousness and firmly proposes the proposition of “righteousness before profit” and “profit out of righteousness.” In this regard, he said, “Righteousness and profit are two things that people pursue. Even virtuous rulers like Yao and Shun could not remove people’s desire for profit, and they were able to make their love of righteousness transcend the pursuit of their personal gains. Similarly, even such tyrants as King Jie of Xia and King Zhou of Shang could not remove people’s love for morality, but they could make their love for profit outweigh their pursuit of righteousness.” ( The Works of Hsun Tzu )Therefore, a well-governed society is one in which righteousness prevails over self-interest, and a chaotic society is one in which self-interest prevails over morality. Although righteousness and profit coexist at the same time, there is the question of what comes first or what is dominant. Only by “making a profit by righteousness” and making everyone virtuous can we ensure the stability of the state and society, and the whole society can be truly stable in all walks of life. Hsun Tzu argued against the idea of putting profit before righteousness and took righteousness as the essential human attribute of people, emphasizing “righteousness” as the fundamental factor that distinguishes people from animals.
Since the Qin and Han dynasties, Tung Chung-shu, following in the footsteps of Confucius and Mencius, had further strengthened the view of righteousness over profit. He advanced the principle of “doing everything for the sake of righteousness, and not for the sake of personal profit ( The History of the Han Dynasty ),” which requires the righteousness of human behavior and puts righteousness in the first place, giving primary consideration to the appropriateness of behavior and purpose. If a person has righteousness, he can enjoy himself spiritually even if he is poor in material things; while without righteousness, he cannot survive long even if he is wealthy. Therefore, people should give priority to righteousness over profit and take the world’s justice as the top priority. The relationship between righteousness and profit involves the relationship between public and private interests and implies the relationship between the conscience of human nature and the needs of material and spiritual life. Tung Chung-shu believed that the deserved profit was not contrary to righteousness, but actually the same as righteousness.
During the Song and Ming dynasties, the relationship between righteousness and profit had been well explored. Shao Yong (1011-1077), a famous neo-Confucian of the Northern Song Dynasty, raised the importance of righteousness over profit to the height of state governance. Zhang Zai (1020-1077), an outstanding philosopher of the Northern Song Dynasty, believed that “righteousness is the first principle for regulating human relations. People should prefer righteousness to life.” Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi attached particular importance to the distinction between righteousness and profit and believed that “the only thing under heaven is pursuing righteous profit.” ( Henan Cheng’s Legacy Volume 11) In addressing the relationship between righteousness and profit, they thought they were not compatible, strongly opposing materialistic self-interest. On the basis of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, Chu Hsi proposed that “the distinction between righteousness and profit is the basic skill of a Confucian,” while Lu Jiuyuan (1139-1193) and Wang Shou-jen (also known as Wang Mingyang, 1472-1529) advocated putting righteousness before profit and “knowing the truth and exterminating the desire.”
In ancient China, there were many stories about “righteousness over profit.” In the story “Feng Yuan Burns Receipts for the Loan,” Lord Mengchang sent Feng Yuan, one of his hangers-on, to Xue (now, southest of Tengxian County in Shandong Province) to dun for debts. Before he left, Feng Yuan told Lord Mengchang that he would buy some things the family needed after collecting the debts. When he arrived at Xue, he burned the receipts after checking them with the obligors. Lord Mengchang was surprised when he saw Feng Yuan coming back in a short time and asked him what he bought after collecting the debts. “Righteousness,” was the reply. A year later, Lord Mengchang, with disappointed ambition in politics, had to go and settle in Xue, where the local people walked on foot from a far distance to greet him with their families. At that moment, Lord Mengchang showed his appreciation for Feng Yuan, “What happened today is the value of the ‘righteousness’ you bought for me!” This story tells us that Lord Mengchang did initially lose the “profit” of the loans but gained the “righteousness” of the people’s sincere support, which was the most significant profit for him. It is also under the Chinese traditional culture of righteousness over profit that there emerged the Zhang Qian (164-114 BC) and his journey to the West regions in the Han Dynasty, the prosperity of the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty, and Zheng He’s (1371-1433) seven goodwill maritime expeditions probing down into the South Seas and across the Indian Ocean without conquering other countries.
The doctrine of righteousness over profit has always been the mainstream of traditional Chinese ethical culture. Whether it is Confucius’ “the mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness; the mind of the mean man is conversant with gain,” Mencius’s “giving up one’s life for righteousness,” Hsun Tzu’s “making profit out of righteousness and putting righteousness before profit,” Tung Chung-shu’s “doing everything for the sake of righteousness,” or the neo-Confucian “distinction of righteousness and profit,” they are all dominant philosophies of Confucius and Mencius from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Ming and Qing dynasties.