Neo–Confucian metaphysics, ethics, and philosophical psychology are systematically connected.  Humans have the most clear qi of any being.  However, some humans have especially clear qi, and as a result manifest the virtues, while others have comparatively turbid qi, and therefore are prone to vice. The state of one’s qi is not fixed, though.  Through ethical cultivation, any human can clarify his qi, and thereby become more virtuous.  Similarly, through laxness, one can allow one’s qi to morally deteriorate.  Because the Pattern is fully present in each human, everyone has complete innate ethical knowledge. However, due to the obscurations of qi, the manifestations of this knowledge are sporadic and inconsistent.  Thus, a king who shows benevolence when he takes pity on an ox being led to slaughter and spares it may fail to show benevolence in his treatment of his own subjects (Mengzi 1A7).  Similarly, a person might manifest righteousness when he disdains to even consider an illicit sexual relationship; however, the same person might see nothing shameful about flattering the worst traits and most foolish policies of a ruler whom he serves (Mengzi 3B3). Because humans all share the same Pattern, we are parts of a potentially harmonious whole.  In some sense, we form “one body” with other humans and the rest of the universe.  Consequently, the fundamental human virtue is benevolence, which involves recognition of our shared nature with others.[3] Correspondingly, the fundamental vice is selfishness.  Cheng Hao uses a medical metaphor to explain the relationship between ethics and personal identity: