Rightness is moral duty that goes beyond personal interest, together with the responsibility that comes with it.
In the Spring and Autumn period Confucius said "the gentleman understands rightness, the petty man understands profit" (Analects, Liren), drawing the Confucian line between rightness and profit.
In the Warring States Mencius said "give up life to hold to rightness", setting rightness as the standard of choice at the point where life and death are at stake.
Shen Yue of the Southern Dynasties wrote "high rightness touches the clouds" in his essay on the biography of Xie Lingyun in the Book of Song, and the line later settled into the idiom yi bo yun tian, "rightness reaching the clouds".
Righteousness is the class in the chapter on Values on putting rightness above profit: placing duty and responsibility beyond personal interest first. Confucius distinguished rightness from profit, Mencius said one may "give up life to hold to rightness", and Shen Yue of the Southern Dynasties wrote "high rightness touches the clouds", a line that later settled into the idiom yi bo yun tian.
