It is better to die than to endure a life of humiliation. Since ancient times, the Chinese have “prized life” and “respected life.” At the same time, they felt that life itself was neither the goal nor the meaning of a person’s existence. If a conflict should arise between preserving an individual’s life and staying on the right path, he should sacrifice his life to uphold what is right rather than go on living ignobly. The essence of a virtuous life is having a correct perspective on life and death and a noble perspective on the value of life. At the moral level, Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals elucidated a“forcedlife” as one that is “not righteous.” This is the ultimate expression of the Chinese view of a virtuous life. In saying “give me decency or give me death,” it resembles “give me liberty or give me death.”

No humiliation is worse than a lack of decency. Thus a life without decency is a forced life, one which endures humiliation to prolong life, and death is preferable to a forced life. … Respect for life does not include wrongly accepting humiliation in order to prolong it. (Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals)