In what is probably the most famous description of a sage in all of Chinese philosophy, the Analects tells us that when Confucius reached the age of seventy, he was able to “follow his heart’s desire without overstepping the bounds” (Analects 2.4). It seems that Confucius came to be able to act properly without even trying. Now one might well suspect that at least some of the time, acting properly is easy for most of us. When not faced with a difficult choice or temptation, perhaps we get along fine. The Analects is nonetheless making a very strong claim, even if what is true of Confucius always is true of each of us some of the time. Confucius, we may assume, did find himself faced with difficult choices or temptations, and still he was able to follow his heart’s desires. The implication is not that Confucius was lucky not to be challenged, but that successfully meeting any challenge was easy. We can think also of the legendary sage-king Shun 舜, who is described in the Mencius as able to feel genuine filial love, and act accordingly, even for a father who was trying to kill him (Mencius 5a1-3). It is apparently easy for a sage to act correctly, even in the most difficult circumstances. How is this possible?