Yang Yi followed the path of extinguishing desires, advocating the preservation of heavenly principles and the eradication of human desires; not distinguishing between rich and poor, old and young, men and women, he promulgated what he called the proper norms, as if he believed that as long as people understood etiquette, everything would start to improve.
Such promotion of norms and teachings of etiquette would ultimately become a tool for the powerful to oppress the poor.
Yang Xiao, on the other hand, was different. Having lived a hard life since childhood, he knew what it felt like to be hungry. When people's eyes gleamed with hunger and their bodies shivered from the cold, there was no thought of etiquette or norms in their minds. At that time, a person was no more than a wild beast, a terrifying creature driven to bite and devour.
