Wang Jiaohe emanated an awe-inspiring righteous aura, his face set with resolute determination, giving the impression of one prepared to sacrifice himself for moral righteousness.0

He raised both hands, with palms facing up, as though he were receiving an imperial decree. At once, a vast, overwhelming presence pressed down. This pressure had no effect on the physical body, but it weighed on the mind, like an emperor rebuking his ministers in court.0

Wang Jiaohe declared the heavenly edict, “The righteous duty between sovereign and subject!”0

Anyone raised on the doctrine that the sovereign had supreme control over their subjects—or even rigid, blindly loyal fools—would likely not be able to withstand this decree, even if they had a lofty cultivation. They would be compelled to search their own conscience, asking whether they had lived up to the grace of their sovereign and whether they truly conformed to the proper way of conducting themselves in the world.0

The foundation of the Confucian School lay in etiquette. It was a social order where one’s life and death hinged upon...0