Summary of Ritual Order in Local China

The content of ritual order in rural China is summarized as follows:

In rural society, social order must be maintained. On the basis of the previous chapter "There are Differences between Men and Women", Mr. Fei Xiaotong turned his attention to a deeper cultural tradition, that is, the rule of etiquette.

at the beginning, the author discriminates two concepts that seem to be relative, but are actually related-"rule by man" and "rule by law", and points out that the fundamental difference between them lies in the power used to maintain order and the nature of the norms on which they are based.

from this, we will find that the rural society is not a society ruled by law, nor a society ruled by man, but a society ruled by courtesy.

the main part of this chapter analyzes the essence, formation and characteristics of "ceremony", the core of "rule by courtesy" society. First of all, the author tells us with rich examples that "ceremony" has nothing to do with civilization and charity, but is only a socially recognized code of conduct and is maintained by tradition.

"Li" is characterized by initiative. Different from law restricting people from the outside and morality restraining people by public opinion, "ceremony" enters people's hearts through education, which makes people form the habit of awe and thus actively obeys tradition.

Rule by courtesy is the characteristic of local society, and the premise of its existence and function is that tradition can effectively cope with life problems. Therefore, in an era of rapid change, a society ruled by courtesy will not appear.