A Passion for the Worthy

摘要

"Virtue" or de it in early China, was regarded as one of the things that might satisfysensual longings. As such, it was compared to a variety of commodities, from materialand tactile goods—such as rich foods or luxurious clothing—to music, beauty and sexualattractiveness that are appreciated through the non-tactile senses of hearing and sight. t Andalthough thought superior to any of these other commodities, because virtue was treated assomehow analogous to them, it was consequently regarded as something that could be valuedand treasured, measured and quantified, as well as embraced and accumulated; it could becultivated and refined by those who possessed virtue or, perhaps, counterfeited, faked, ruined,and otherwise diminished in value by others who lacked it but nevertheless managed to in-fluence those in power; and, finally, virtue might be overlooked or unappreciated by thosewith misplaced desires or for whom it was an acquired taste like caviar or bear's paw, andhence simply not to their liking.