Zhang Yuelu understood very well that many of the ideals advocated by the Primordial Daoist Ancestor and the Holy Xuan had yet to be fully realized by the Daoist Order and perhaps never would be. However, she still used them to counter the Confucian scholars. It was not just for the sake of a fleeting argument but rather because, in her view, having a standard and failing to meet it was fundamentally different from not setting any standard at all. At least in the former case, there was a guiding principle to restrain behavior, whereas in the latter, there were no limits to wrongdoing.0

The Daoist Order had established a standard of equality. Though in reality, most people failed to adhere to it, the mere existence of such a standard ensured that no one dared to openly violate it. Wrongdoings were committed in secrecy, and once exposed, the offenders faced severe consequences—just like the third-rank Youyi Daoist master who was demoted for mistreating a helper. As a result, no one dared to act recklessly in broad daylight.0

On the other hand, the Confucian School did not even acknowledge the concept of equality, emphasizing strict social hierarchy and class divisions instead. In their system, there was no standard for equality at all. Those within the Confucian School did not even need to pretend. They would...0