Self-exploration is the spirit during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The issues between having freedom, as represented by human nature, which is known as "Zi Ran", versus having to be bound to and governed by a set of social norms, ethics and moral rules, which is known as "Ming Jiau", are explored and examined by the thinkers of the Neo-Taoism (also known as Xuan Xue) during that period. Go Hung, a Religionist and in particular a Taoist, applied the concept of "Shen Sian is Shen Ren" (which means immortals are the highest moral saints) to illustrate that "Ming Jiau" and "Zi Ran" are complementary, and both Confucianism and Taoism are indispensable. This paper examines Go Hung's key ideas and arguments of "Shen Sian" and "Shen Ren", and how the argument on "Shen Sian is Shen Ren" is justified. At the same time, the idea on how Confucianism and Taoism can be reconciled and neither of them can be disregarded.
