Gui (贵), meaning “noble” or “expensive,” and jian (贱), meaning “lowly” or “cheap,” form a pair of opposites used to assess the value of things. These terms find application in three scenarios. First, they are employed to appraise the value or price of objects. Second, they serve to evaluate the identity or status of individuals within social hierarchies. Lastly, they are used to judge people’s morality based on certain ethical standards. Confucian scholars emphasized that moral nobility should hold greater value and should be more worthy of pursuit and admiration than mere social status. Some others argued that the distinction between gui and jian was relative, depending on different subjective perspectives or standards.