"Loving Virtue As Loving Beauty" And "The Difficulty Is With The Countenance"

There are lots of descriptions about the word"Se"in the Confucian Analects.Apart from the differences by definition,there implies the coherence of the meanings of the word "Se".The Master has mentioned twice in the Confucian Analects,"I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty." In this sentence,the meaning of the word "Se" is"natural desire",and it has a demonstration function,which aims to demonstrate that the virtue stems from natural law,thus giving an emphasis that man has the ability to accept goodness in humanity.The Master also stresses that "In regard to his countenance,he is anxious that it should be benign."and "If a man withdraws his mind from the love of beauty,and applies it as sincerely to the love of the virtuous".In this sentence,man has obtained realistic character in virtue through internal intuition,reflection,acquired learning and practice.When Tsze-hsia asked what filial piety was.The Master said,"The difficulty is with the countenance".The Master's reply,on one hand,means how the moral conduct or behavior is cultivated,which involves internal intuition,reflection,constant acquired learning and practice;on the other hand,it means the "appearance" that shows should be accord with the inner kindness and sincerity.The coherence of the different meanings of the word "Se" comes to involve the self-conscious in virtue,signs of social communication and moral practice,thus developing virtue from a spontaneous and conscious way to a natural way(also known as a middle way).