Yi (Righteousness) in Confucianism

Is Ren (benevolence) the only doctrine of Confucianism? Of course not, Confucius had five important principles, which are called "仁义礼智信" in Chinese. As we have talked about the most important Ren (benevolence), now we can briefly talk about the other principles.

Yi (Righteousness), in Confucius' mind, means being rational. He believed there to be no set rules for worldly affairs, and everything is to be done in the spirit of rationality, which should be the primary principle in handling all affairs. ln ethics, yi denotes rationality, i.e., rational things, behaviors or states.

ln speaking of yi (righteousness), we cannot steer away from the relations between yi (righteousness) and li (material gains), which later became an important theme of arguments between thinkers in later generations. Confucius advocated and held yi in high regard but never rejected li. He maintained that one should hold to yi, to the sacrifice of li (material gains), when the two come into conflict. However, he did not exclude reaping li in accordance with yi. He deemed it unnecessary for one to turn one's back on material gains, on condition that one's conduct does not go against the principles of yi. On the whole, Confucius stood for temperance in pursuit of material gains and did not go to extremes in handling the relations between the two.