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

2022-09-07T12:12:40-07:00Tags: , , , , |

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...