Shame
A sense of shame motivates righteous behavior.
The feeling of shame (chi) at doing wrong is the beginning of yi. A person without shame cannot develop righteousness. Shame is not guilt but awareness of falling short of standards.
The feeling of shame is the beginning of righteousness.
Shame is a natural moral sense that can be cultivated.
Mencius
Written about in
- What Confucianism says about failure
Mencius calls the feeling of shame the beginning of righteousness — not a symptom to be managed but the sprout the virtue grows from. On this view a person who failed and felt nothing is the worse case, not the healthier one.