Xunzi's Translation of The Book of Rites (Excerpt)

How did the social code of conduct rise? The answer is: people are born with desires. If you can't get them, you can't pursue them If there are no restrictions and endless pursuits, they can't afford to compete. Competition will lead to chaos, and chaos will lead to poverty. The king hates this kind of chaos, so he makes a distinction between social behavior norms and the best behavior patterns, so as to nurture people's desires and meet people's requirements, so that people's desires will not be unsatisfied because of lack of material, so that material will not be exhausted by people's desires, and desire and material support each other and grow together. This is the origin of social behavior norms.