儒家的倫理秩序就是中國自古先秦各派共同追求的理性精神（群體與社會），而道家的修身養性（個人），這表現在儒學與道家作為互補與對立面，此即中國古典美學的「中和原則」，這個中和亦即本文所說「和而不同」中的和，是一種文化價值觀也是中國文化所謂的群體與社會；此二者表現在西方美學就是更強調「群體」與「自我」對立面的理性與經驗之二元對立。盧梭對於建立順人而不失己的社會，有句名言：「人生而自由，可是到處在鎖鍊中。」西方思想史中的個人主義的追求，可以從盧梭的理想中可見一斑，他主張個人權利與自由在群體中應毫髮無損，如何在群體中仍保有自己？如何在邦國中成全自己？這便是「道德自由」。這種強調個人意志一直是西方政治思想始終重要的起源。

電影中李安總試圖想在對立的二元中，尋找調和這種危機的可能。《臥虎藏龍》中的玉嬌龍找到了以為的自由，在種種社會關係中掙扎，父母、師徒、愛人。遊蕩在自由與倫理之間，她的死亡其實是另一種回歸，是一個昇華。這種昇華，也是李安在本片處理李慕白與俞秀蓮情欲上做肉體的克制，在可望而不可及的精神世界裡保持著距離，這個選擇必然是不自由的。

The ethics of the Confucianism seeks a rational spirit (in community and society) inherited from the Chinese forefathers while the Taoists seek individual cultivations in morality. This manifests the complementarity and dichotomy of the two, and that is the "counteraction" or "Doctrine of the Mean" of the Chinese classical aesthetics. The "counteraction" principle indicates the "same yet different" aesthetics. The "same" refers to the Chinese cultural values — community and society, while it demonstrates in the Western aesthetics — "binary opposition" which concerns self and community. The pursuit of the Individualism exemplifies in Rousseau's "Human beings are born with freedom, but live in chains," in which he believes personal rights and freedom should be preserved in communities. How to be "the self" in a community? How to accomplish "the self" in a country? This is the "moral freedom," the emphasis of individual will is a significant origin of the Western political thoughts.

In Ang Lee's films, he attempts to balance the crisis of such binary opposition. In "Crouching Tigers Hidden Dragon" Jiao Long endeavors to find the supposed freedom and struggles in the interwoven relationships between self and others. Wandering between freedom and ethics, her death is another form of returning, a sublimation. This sublimation is also demonstrated in Lee's manipulation of the restrain of the carnal desire between Li Mu-bai and Yu Shu-lien, a lust refrained in the spiritual world, that is, a choice not willingly made.