The article delves into the ideas of Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi, who posits that virtues are interconnected, much like the seasons. Humaneness (仁) is emphasized as the essential virtue that underpins and gives life to others such as righteousness, ritual propriety, and wisdom. The article explores Zhu Xi's analogy between the cycles of nature and moral virtues, illustrating how humaneness must be present for the other virtues to flourish, akin to how spring is essential for the cycle of seasons.
The relationship between the four virtues is like the four seasons. One must see the divisions between the four seasons but also see how the spring encompasses the other three seasons.
The qi of the four seasons varies from warm, to cool, to hot, to cold. When the qi is cool or cold then life is not produced.
If the spring did not have the impulse to produce living things then the subsequent three seasons would cease to exist. This is the sense in which ren can encompass righteousness, ritual propriety, and wisdom.
Zhu Xi's understanding of virtues emphasizes the unity of humaneness with the other virtues, showing that strong humaneness is a prerequisite for embodying them.
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