How to Understand Morality in Traditional Chinese Culture article

There are two important foundations for the formation of traditional Chinese culture; first, the mode of production of the small peasant subsistence economy; and second, the unity of the family and the state, i.e., the patriarchal socio-political structure from the family to the state. What emerged from this foundation was inevitably a cultural value system centered on ethics and morality. Because the family patriarchal blood relations is essentially a human relationship, is based on the ethical foundation through people's emotional beliefs to deal with the relationship. The characteristics of family-oriented, on the one hand, make the regulation of family ethical relations become the basic subject of social life, and family ethics become the important foundation for the individual's well-being; on the other hand, in the integrated socio-political structure of the family and the state, the organization system of the whole society is the family - the village (in general, the village is the collection or expansion of the family) --On the other hand, in the socio-political structure of the family-state, the organization system of the whole society is the family-village (in general, the village is a collection or expansion of the family), and the growth of culture and spirituality is in the direction of the family-clan-nation. The central position of the family makes ethics of vital importance in the construction and regulation of social life order. In the traditional society, people's social life was strictly carried out in accordance with the ethical order, and the dress, behavior, cleaning and interpersonal communication were all limited to the scope of "rites", otherwise it would be a transgression of the "ethics". This expansion of the ethical order rose to become the basis of the political system of Chinese feudal society, the patriarchal system. The essence of patriarchy was to use the mechanism of family ethics to carry out political rule, a kind of ethical politics.

Corresponding to this, the doctrine of ethics and morality was at the center of various cultural forms. Chinese philosophy is ethical, the core of the philosophical system is the doctrine of ethics and morality, the essence of the universe is the metaphysical entity of ethics and morality, and the rationality of philosophy is the practical rationality of moralization. That is why people say that Western philosophers have the manners of philosophers, while Chinese philosophers have the manners of sages. Chinese literature and art also take "goodness" as the value orientation. "The aesthetic character of the Chinese culture is characterized by the unity of beauty and goodness. Even in science and technology, ethics and morality are the primary values. The value of traditional Chinese science and technology is to "correct virtue", i.e., to contribute to the enhancement of morality as the first goal, and then to consider the issue of "utilization and life". Therefore, the value system of Chinese culture is characterized by the emphasis on the unity of truth, goodness and beauty, with goodness as the core. In the history of culture, although there is no nation in the world whose culture does not want morality or does not talk about morality, there is really no nation like China that elevates morality to such an important position in its cultural value system. The universal belief of Chinese culture is that "man is the spirit of all things". The reason why man can be the spirit of all things is that he has morality, and therefore he attaches special importance to the "way" between man and man, as well as the "virtue" formed by following this "way". Lao Zi once explained from the height of ontology that "everything respects the Tao and honors virtue". Mencius said: "If you have enough food and warm clothes, and live in comfort without teaching, you are close to animals. The sage was worried about this, so he made Chee his disciple and taught him human ethics." (Mengzi - Teng Wengong Shang) In the social structure of the Chinese state, the three requirements for determining one's status and establishing order are honor, seniority, childhood, and virtue: "There are three ways to achieve honor in the world: one for the title, one for the teeth, and one for the virtue. There is nothing like a title in the court, nothing like a tooth in the countryside, and nothing like virtue in the world. It is not right to have one of them, and to be slow to recognize the other." (Mengzi Gongsun Chou) Of the three, rank and age are external and established, but only virtue can realize itself subjectively and actively. The basic spirit of respecting Taoism and virtue is to emphasize the difference between man and beast, to highlight the dignity of the human personality, and to take virtue as the root of the distinction between man and beast. Confucius said: "Riches and nobility are what one desires, but if one doesn't get them in his way, he doesn't go there; poverty and lowliness are what one hates, but if one doesn't get them in his way, he doesn't go there." (The Analects of Confucius - Liren) Therefore, the Chinese people all take the ideal of building a career with virtue and carrying things in a generous manner. As early as before Confucius, Shusun Bao, a doctor of the State of Lu, put forward the idea of "three imperishable" of "establish virtue, establish speech, establish merit": "The top of the establishment of virtue, followed by the establishment of merit, followed by the establishment of speech, although long and will not be abolished, this is called the three imperishable. This is called the three immortality. " (Zuo Zhuan - 24th year of the Duke of Xiang) Thus, a cultural personality with a firm sense of moral integrity was formed with morality as the primary orientation. "A gentleman seeks the way not to seek food", "a gentleman worries about the way not to worry about poverty" ("Analects - Wei Ling Gong"), for the pursuit of benevolence, although the箪 rice ugly alley, not to change their happiness, this is a kind of morality military supreme value orientation and cultural spirit.