"Food and sex" means "material enjoyment and sensory enjoyment are human nature".

Food, the basic meaning is to eat. The meaning of color can refer to appearance (color is strong but inner is evaporated), beautiful appearance (color fades and love fades), and in Buddhist terms, it can also refer to matter (color is empty). Sex is human nature. That is, it is a modal particle expressing judgment.

The phrase "food, color, and nature" comes from "Mencius Gaozi 1, Section 4": Gaozi said: "Food, color, nature. Benevolence, internal, not external; righteousness "It's external, not internal."

It means: "Eating and drinking is the nature of men and women. Loving each other is internal, not external; the way of behavior is external. "Existing, not intrinsic."

Extended information:

This sentence "food and color are nature" was neither said by Confucius nor Mencius. It comes from "Mencius." " was said by Mencius's debate opponent, Gaozi.

Gaozi was a young philosopher who was very dissatisfied with Mencius's view of "human nature is good", so he came to debate with Mencius. During the process, Gaozi said, "Food and sex are the same as sex." For this debate about the nature of human nature more than 2,000 years ago, it is not very important who wins in the end.

What is important is that this sentence was recorded in the Confucian classic "Mencius" and has since become a classic for ancient people to discuss the nature of appetite and sexual desire.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Food and sex (Chinese words)