On Humanity’s Emotions and Higher Virtues: A Passage from the Chapter “Qingxing” in the ‘Baihu tongde lun’ (Discussions on the Power of Virtue in the White Tiger Hall; attributed to Ban Gu) fl. 1st Century CE
BY BAN GU (fl. 1st Century CE)
TRANSLATED BY HEINER FRUEHAUF
情性者，何謂也？性者，陽之施；情者，陰之化也。人稟陰陽氣而生，故內懷五性六情。情者，靜也，性者，生也，此人所稟六氣以生者也。故《鉤命決》曰：「情生於陰，欲以時念也；性生於陽，以就理也。陽氣者仁，陰氣者貪，故情有利欲，性有仁也。」
What is the nature of our emotional disposition (qingxing)? Our moral values (xing) represent an expression of yang, while our emotional urges (qing) are a transformation of yin...