"People's minds are not as they used to be, for moral virtue has plummeted and died." The world is going downhill and yet it does not realize that it is in need of improvements. We did not used to have so many schools and educated people, but at the same time, people were not so mixed up and wicked then. Now that there are more schools and educated people, there are more and more mean people too. In ancient times, people studied to understand the principles of being human. They learned ways to avoid all evil and do all good. They learned about filiality, brotherhood, loyalty, trustworthiness, propriety, justness, incorruptibility, and a sense of shame. Nowadays people who get an education are out for fame and fortune. "To understand principles" and "fame and fortune" have similar pronunciations in Chinese, but they are complete opposites in terms of action. People who get an education because of fame and fortune decide on their area of study based on money. They major in medicine or science, for example, because they can make lots of money in those fields. Most people do not think, "I want to study to help people in the future. I want to study medicine to contribute to the world, to help others and myself." Nowadays educated people only think about helping themselves but not others. Also, some educators publicly encourage students to take drugs or have sex, or do all kinds of things that disrupt world order. This is why the world is becoming worse and worse.

Laotze said, "When the Great Way dissipates, there exist humaneness and justness; when wisdom emerges, there is great pretense; when the six kinds of relatives do not get along, there exists filiality and kindness; when the country is in chaos, there exists loyal ministers." When the Great Way disappears, people talk about humaneness and justness. If the Great Way exists, humaneness and justness do not show up at all because humaneness and justness are already embodied in moral virtue. When wise individuals appear, pretenders who try to deceive appear at the same time. When family members do not get along, for example, fathers are unkind, children are not filial, and brothers are unfriendly with each other, truly kind fathers and filial children will appear. For example, "[Da Shun's] father was stubborn, his mother was ?? catty, and his brother Xiang was arrogant, but Shun did his best to be filial." Da Shun's father, Gu Sou (Blind Man), was obstinate. His name is symbolic of how he is blind though he has eyes. Da Shun's stepmother was catty, unreasonably and prejudicial. Da Shun's stepbrother (Xiang) was incredibly arrogant and disrespectful toward Da Shun. Although Da Shun was born in this kind of a family, he tried his best to be filial to his parents and loving to his brother.

At that time, Da Shun's stepbrother and stepmother had plans to kill him. One day they told him to clean up their granary. As soon as Da Shun walked in, Xiang immediately set fire to the warehouse. The fire was huge so they thought they had burned Shun to death. They went home happy. But a short while later, Shun came home. Xiang was shocked and asked, "Did not you go and clean up the granary? How come you did not die in the fire?" Shun said, "When I saw a fire starting, I grabbed a couple of straw hats from the warehouse and jumped off of it. I did not get hurt from the fall or the fire." This incident passed just like that.

Another attempt to assassinate Shun happened when he went to fetch some water from the well. When Shun went into the well, the three of them tried to plug up the well with a large piece of stone, figuring that Shun will definitely die this time. Henceforth came the maxim, "Dropping a rock on someone who fell in the well." But wouldn't you know it, there was a hole in the well that allowed Shun to exit and emerge out from the ditch next to the well (some people claim that a white fox had dug the ditch to save Shun). Although they plotted to kill Shun, Shun did not hate them at all. He continued to be filial to his parents and friendly to his brother.

When Xiang thought Shun had died, he wanted to divide up the family assets between him and his parents. He said, "Ox and sheep for parent, grains in the warehouse for parents; for me the weapons, instruments, and flutes, also serving me should be my two sisters-in-law." What Xiang meant was that ox and sheep should be given to his parents, grains and food in the storehouses may also go to his parents. He did not need them. But he wanted all of Shun's five-string instruments, flutes, and weapons martial arts practice. He also wanted Shun's two wives to serve him (Shun's two wives were E Hwang and Niu Yin, the daughters of Emperor Yao who were specifically arranged to marry and serve Emperor Shun). After saying this, Xiang went to Shun's room and saw Shun sitting there on the bed looking good. Xiang freaked out, thinking that Shun's spirit came home. But then Shun opened his mouth and comforted his brother, telling him not to be afraid.

That is how corrupt people were during the times of Yao and Shun, and yet Shun did his best to be filial as a son. That is why it is said, "When the six kinds of relatives are in discord, there exist filiality and kindness; when the country is in chaos, there exist loyal ministers." During peacetime in a country, people cannot tell even if the ministers were loyal. But in times of chaos, it is very easy to tell which ones are loyal ministers and which ones are treacherous. During Southern Song, for example, China was in a state of utter chaos, Qing Kuai the wicked official assassinated Yue Fei. Yue Fei was famous throughout history while Qing Kuai was infamous for thousands of years. Both were famous, but one was reputable while the other disreputable. Another example was Wen Tian Xiang of Southern Song. During times of chaos, he remained loyal to the emperor of Song and continued to protect the country and its people, never surrendering. It is when the country is in chaos that we can tell who are the loyal ministers.