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Confucianism -> Liji -> Li Yun -> 29

Therefore the rules of propriety are for man
what the yeast is for liquor.
君子 The superior man by (his use of them) becomes better and greater.
The small man by his neglect of them becomes meaner and worse.
Therefore the sage kings cultivated and fashioned the lever of righteousness and the ordering of ceremonial usages, in order to regulate the feelings of men.
Those feelings were the field (to be cultivated by) the sage kings.
They fashioned the rules of ceremony to plough it.
They set forth the principles of righteousness with which to plant it.
They instituted the lessons of the school to weed it.
They made love the fundamental subject by which to gather all its fruits,
and they employed the training in music to give repose (to the minds of learners).
Thus, rules of ceremony
are the embodied expression of what is right.
If an observance stand the test of being judged by the standard of what is right,
although it may not have been among the usages of the ancient kings,
it may be adopted on the ground of its being right.
(The idea of) right makes the distinction between things, and serves to regulate (the manifestation of) humanity.
When it is found in anything
and its relation to humanity has been discussed,
the possessor of it will be strong.
Humanity
is the root of right,
and the embodying of deferential consideration.
The possessor of it is honoured.


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