Zhu Xi’s Philosophical View of Righteousness and Profit

The debate between righteousness and profit is an important starting point for Zhu Xi to pay attention to the moral values of the empirical world. In his opinion, “righteousness”and“profit”are not contradictory existence. The concept of“righteousness and profit” from a transcendent perspective is a unity. In limiting positions, it is necessary to distinguish. However, the popular view in the central region of Zhejiang Province that “righteousness and profit are only one thing” has led Zhu Xi to worry that “righteousness” may be overlooked when people chase“profit”. So Zhu Xi tends to “confucian self-discipline”, that is, to seek benevolence and righteousness as the theoretical basis. Therefore, Zhu Xi’s view of righteousness and profit shows different theoretical forms in various perspectives, which is precisely the effort he has made to solve the complex problem of the debate between righteousness and profit in the empirical world.