Five Conducts (Wu Xing 五行) and the Grounding of Virtue

Perkins, Franklin. 2014. “Five Conducts (Wu Xing 五行) and the Grounding of Virtue.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 41 (3-4): 503–20.

There are two distinctions in Five Conducts,

1, conduct of de, and conduct

2, Good (first four in harmony) and Virtue (all five in harmony)

Questions: what is the relationship between these two distinctions?

There may be three interpretations. The author advocates the third one. "Such a view might be implicit in the use of the phrase dezhixing: de can be read as an adjective describing each kind of action (“virtuous conduct”) but de also can be read as the agent itself, so that it is the conduct belonging to or expressing de." (p.506)

What does the internal (taking shape within) refer to in Five Conducts? Affective engagement. "[...] a person with de expresses their own affects." (p.507) 

Conclusion. " In WX, sagacity and wisdom are required to bridge between the heart and proper forms of action. While Mengzi believes that human beings must learn and follow the sages, there is less of a gap between the heart and proper forms of behavior, thus reducing the need for a distinct account of how we recognize the way." (p.517)