What does the Confucian etiquette refer to?

What Confucianism calls "ritual" includes three aspects: political system, religious rituals and social customs and habits.

1. Political system

Confucian scholars believe that in the beginning, everyone had their own ideas and everyone had to satisfy their own desires, and there was no division of labor or cooperation between them. , so everyone started fighting, and society became turbulent. At this time, a "sage" will stand up and make a set of "rituals" for everyone. Let everyone allocate food, clothing and housing according to the order of rank and age, and allocate the work that everyone should do. Failure to comply with this provision will result in severe sanctions.

2. Religious rituals

Confucianism believes that these beliefs all mean "repaying the original and returning to the beginning", which means that everyone should rejoice in the continuation of life, recall the origin, and be grateful and virtuous. , work hard to repay. Confucianism also makes various regulations on how funeral ceremonies should be conducted after the death of a loved one. The most important ones, such as observing filial piety for three years, are also based on gratitude. And it also stipulates the different solemnities of funeral ceremonies according to the closeness of the blood relationship.

3. Social customs and habits

Confucianism also has its own regulations on the procedures for many major events in daily life, such as weddings and banquets. There are corresponding "etiquette" and Confucian rules when it comes to treating friends, treating the monarch, treating parents, treating brothers and sisters, treating children, and between husband and wife.

The inheritance and evolution of "ritual":

The Ancient Rites Classic originally had fifty-six volumes and was one of the "Six Classics" of the Pre-Qin Dynasty. The study of Confucian classics was developed in the pre-Qin period, and the Six Classics was already the basic textbook at that time. According to recent research, it may have been written in the early to mid-Warring States Period and was lost after the Qin Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty, Gao Tangsheng wrote seventeen chapters of "Shi Li". In addition, King Lu Gong obtained the "Book of Rites" from Confucius, and King Xian of Hejian obtained the "Li" and "Book of Rites" from the old pre-Qin books. There is no name for "Yili" in the Han Dynasty, and scholars both ancient and modern have no doubt about this.

It is difficult to determine exactly when the name "Yili" appeared. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, "Li" was first called "Yili". At the latest during the reign of Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it already had the name "Rituals". In the Tang Dynasty, when Kong Yingda compiled the "Five Classics of Justice", "Xiao Dai Li Ji" replaced "Rituals" for the first time and became the "Li" of the Five Classics. In this way, "Li" finally became "Xiao Dai's Book of Rites" instead of "Li".