Motif
Ancient austerity contrasted with contemporary excess
ancient_austerity_contrasted_with_contemporary_excess
A motif of the World Ages and Cosmic Decline family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
confucian
-
The Li Ki, Books XI-XLVI (The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Confucianism, Part IV; Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 28) THE GREATER RECORD OF MOURNING RITES. / BOOK XX. Al FA / BOOK XXI. At fi / BOOK XXIV. AI KUNG WAN; lines 10289-10418 confidence: high
Ancient superior men are described as living economically, dressing plainly, limiting decoration, using plain vessels and food, and sharing advantages with the people.
Ancient superior men are described as plain and economical for the people’s benefit, while present-day superior men are described as wealthy, extravagant, exploitative, and ritually deficient.
read in the book →