VII. The Utmost of the Human Way: "Li" as the Highest Standard of Civilization

7.1 "Establishing the Exalted as the Utmost Standard"

Is not li the utmost indeed! It establishes the exalted as the utmost standard, and nothing under Heaven can add to or take away from it. Root and branch accord with one another; end and beginning correspond to one another. Its pattern, carried to the utmost, makes distinctions; its discernment, carried to the utmost, gives explanation. Those under Heaven who follow it are governed; those who do not are thrown into disorder. Those who follow it are at peace; those who do not are in peril. Those who follow it endure; those who do not perish. The petty person cannot fathom it.

— Xunzi, "Discourse on Ritual Propriety," Passage 18

"Is not li the utmost indeed! It establishes the exalted as the utmost standard, and nothing under Heaven can add anything to it or take anything away. Root and branch (details) accord with each other; end and beginning correspond to each other. Its pattern is carried to the utmost, and yet makes distinctions; its discernment is carried to the utmost, and yet gives explanation. Those under Heaven who follow it are governed, those who do not fall into disorder; those who follow it are at peace, those who do not are in danger; those who follow it endure, those who do not perish — this is a truth that the shallow-minded cannot fathom."

Here Master Xun elevates li to a height that can scarcely be surpassed. He calls li "zhi" (至) — the highest, the ultimate. Nothing under Heaven has the power to add to or subtract from it — not because someone is defending it by force, but because it has already attained a state of perfect balance, such that any addition or subtraction would destroy that balance.

"Root and branch accord with one another; end and beginning correspond to one another" — the root and the branch (the details) are in harmony, and the beginning and the end resonate with each other. This means that li is an organic whole, not a pile of unrelated rules thrown together. Every particular rule points toward the same underlying principle, and every detail remains consistent with the whole.

7.2 The Ink-Line, the Scale, the Compass and Square: Metaphors of Measurement

The principle of li is truly profound … Thus once the ink-line is truly laid down, one cannot be deceived as to crooked or straight; once the scale is truly hung, one cannot be deceived as to light or heavy; once the compass and square are truly set, one cannot be deceived as to round or square; and once the noble person is discerning in li, he cannot be deceived by falsehood and pretense. Thus the ink-line is the utmost of straightness; the scale is the utmost of level balance; the compass and square are the utmost of round and square; and li is the utmost of the human way.

— Xunzi, "Discourse on Ritual Propriety," Passage 19

This passage employs three metaphors drawn from the tools of the craftsman:

• The ink-line (a carpenter's tool for marking straight lines) → the utmost standard of "straightness"
• The scale (for weighing) → the utmost standard of "level balance"
• The compass and square (tools for drawing circles and squares) → the utmost standard of "roundness and squareness"
• Li → the utmost standard of the human way

Just as, once the ink-line is laid down, no one can be deceived about what is crooked or straight; and once the scale is hung, no one can be deceived about what is light or heavy; and once the compass and square are set, no one can be deceived about what is round or square — so too, once a noble person is discerning and clear regarding li, he cannot be deceived by falsehood and pretense.

This metaphor is exceedingly apt. It likens li to a kind of precision measuring instrument, used to gauge whether human conduct is proper. Just as a craftsman needs the ink-line to ensure that timber is straight, and needs the scale to ensure that weight is accurate, so too does a person need li to ensure that conduct is proper.

An important epistemological point is implicit here as well: without a standard, there can be no judgment. Without an ink-line, you cannot judge whether a line is straight — because you have no point of reference. Likewise, without li, you cannot judge whether an action is proper — because you have no standard.

7.3 Refuting the School of Names: The Fog of "Hard and White" and "Sameness and Difference"

In the same passage, Master Xun also criticizes the Warring States School of Names (mingjia) — in particular the debates of thinkers such as Hui Shi and Gongsun Long:

The principle of li is truly profound — the discernments of "hard and white," of "sameness and difference," sink and drown once they enter into it; its principle is truly vast — theories that arbitrarily fabricate institutions, narrow and shallow, are lost once they enter into it; its principle is truly lofty — those who are violent and arrogant, self-indulgent and unrestrained, and who regard contempt for convention as loftiness, fall and collapse once they enter into it.

"The principle of li is truly profound — sophistries such as 'hard and white' and 'sameness and difference' sink and drown the moment they enter into it. Its principle is truly vast — arbitrary theories fabricating institutions, narrow and crude, are lost the moment they enter into it. Its principle is truly lofty — those who are violent, arrogant, self-indulgent, and who regard contempt for the vulgar as a mark of superiority, collapse the moment they enter into it."

"Hard and white" refers to Gongsun Long's debate on the "hard, white stone" — is the "whiteness" and the "hardness" of a white, hard stone one property or two$21 Can they be separated$22 "Sameness and difference" refers to the debates of Hui Shi and others concerning the sameness and difference of things.

Master Xun holds that, however ingenious these intellectual games may be, they are powerless before the great way of li. They are like attempting to use sophistry to deny the straightness of the ink-line or the accuracy of the scale — no matter how many clever logical tricks one plays, the carpenter's line remains straight and the scale's reading remains accurate. In the same way, the standard of the human way established by li cannot be shaken by mere disputation over names.

This reflects a central conviction of Master Xun's — and indeed of the Confucian tradition as a whole: practical wisdom (knowing what is proper, and how to act properly) surpasses purely theoretical wisdom (skillful conceptual analysis and disputation).

7.4 Learning in Order to Become a Sage: The Ultimate Goal of Learning

The conclusion of this passage is exceptionally powerful:

Thus Heaven is the utmost of height; Earth is the utmost of lowness; the boundless is the utmost of breadth; and the sage is the utmost of the Way. Therefore the one who studies studies, from the outset, in order to become a sage — not merely to become a person without a compass to guide them.

"Heaven is the utmost of height; Earth is the utmost of lowness; the boundless is the utmost of breadth; the sage is the utmost of the Way. Therefore the student's learning is, from the outset, meant to make of him a sage — not merely to make of him an ordinary person with rules to follow."

Here Master Xun proposes an exceedingly lofty aim in life: the ultimate goal of learning is to become a sage. Not merely to observe rules (to be a "person with standards"), not merely to avoid error (to be someone who is merely not "without standards") — but to attain the utmost of the Way.

This accords entirely with the spirit of Confucius. Though Confucius modestly said, "As for being a sage or a person of ren, how would I dare to claim that$23" (Analects 7.34), his entire program of teaching points toward the realization of a complete character — proceeding from "learning," through the cultivation of li, to the ultimate attainment of ren.