Traditional Chinese Ethics: The Source of Civilization Nurtured by the Yellow River.
Ancient Chinese traditional ethics began in the embrace of the Yellow River. Historical and natural conditions determined that ancient Chinese society was inevitably an agrarian society that "depended on the sky for food", and agriculture and peasants were the foundation for the stable development of society. The inheritance of agricultural technology is closely related to the development of agrarian society, while the gentleness of individual subjects is insufficient in the fight against natural disasters and beasts, and family members need to coexist, depend, and transform nature.
Therefore, in the process of China's transition from a primitive society to an institutional society, it did not completely part ways with the clan kinship system. On the contrary, through reconciliation and amendment, the clan kinship system was raised to the superstructure of institutional society, forming a social structure of "family under heaven" and cultivating an ethical system with the purpose of "ethics first".
The ethics of ancient Chinese law had its roots in the early days of the establishment of institutional society. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the form of "rites" presented the ethical principles of "kissing" and "respecting", requiring strict status hierarchy within the family, not allowing young elders to be eldered, and outside the family should also be centered on the monarch and maintain a strict hierarchical relationship.
However, ethics and morality do not occupy an absolute position in the law from the beginning, but gradually penetrate and merge through a gradual process. In ancient Chinese law, "etiquette and punishment", ethics and morality and law regulate people's behavior on both sides.
The "Confucianism Controversy" took place during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the Legalist school won the favor of the rulers of the Qin Dynasty with its rigid legal norms. Confucianism, on the other hand, promotes the edifying effect of warmth and storage, and incorporates institutions and laws into the ethical and moral system as auxiliary means. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty led people to realize that "the excessive abandonment of traditional etiquette and the reuse of punishment" was the reason for its end.
From the late Western Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Confucian ethics gradually commented on the law, forming a stage of "quoting scriptures and commenting on the law" and "confluence of rituals and laws". In the Tang Dynasty, with etiquette as the main body and law as the auxiliary, a legal system of "one quasi-rite" was constructed.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the "original situation of law enforcement" with "reasonableness" as the ethical norm became the key to the fairness of judicial adjudication. The construction of national law adheres to the legal concepts of "unity of ritual and law" and "ethics first", but there is still a need for breakthroughs in the research on the synchronization of codification and social development.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Zhang Zhidong, Lao Naixuan, Liu Tingchen, and other representatives of the "ethics faction" saw the problems of national ruin, social imbalance, lax law and discipline, and ethical degradation, and put forward the idea of "ethics for application". Zhang Zhidong emphasized the closed-loop ethical system of "family ethics + national ethics = application of law = promotion of etiquette", and Lao Naixuan restrained the grassroots people through education and education, and realized the conscious "application of the law" of ethical thought.
Liu Tingchen advocated that "literature is like a sword and a gun to serve the society", and tried to cultivate people's ethical beliefs through education. In the practice of traditional Chinese ethical thought at the end of the Qing Dynasty, these ethical figures contributed an important force to the stability of social order and the benign development of national governance.
This article profoundly examines the formation and evolution of traditional Chinese ethics in the Yellow River civilization, as well as the interrelationship between ethics and law in the construction of Chinese society. Through the investigation of historical background and natural conditions, the author reveals the importance of the agricultural foundation and family relations in ancient Chinese society. With a clear hierarchical structure, the article vividly outlines the integration of ethics and law in an agrarian society, presenting a picture of the symbiosis and coexistence of family and society.
As an important part of ancient Chinese law, ethics is depicted as the spiritual core and value embodiment, and it is also the guiding ideology and backbone soul of the law. The author points out that ethics did not occupy a supreme position in ancient Chinese law from the beginning, but gradually penetrated and integrated in a gradual process, and finally formed the legal principle of "ethical supremacy". In this process, the "li" of the Western Zhou Dynasty became the representative of ethical norms, which was reflected in the hierarchy and behavioral norms inside and outside the family.
This paper reviews the contest between Legalism and Confucianism during the period of the "Confucianism and Law Controversy", and the later historical process of integrating Confucianism and law into the ethical and moral system by promoting the educational effect of warmth. This paper traces the development of the ancient Chinese legal system in detail, and emphasizes the decisive role of ethics in the construction of law.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, ethical norms based on "reasonableness" became an important criterion for the impartiality of judicial adjudication. However, the authors also point out that there is still a need for breakthroughs in the study of the synchronicity of codification and social development. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, representatives of the "ethics school" Zhang Zhidong and Lao Naixuan put forward the concept of "ethics application", trying to find a balance between ethics and law.
Finally, the article focuses on representative figures such as Zhang Zhidong and Lao Naixuan, emphasizing their efforts to realize the self-consciousness of ethical thought and "application of scriptures" through education and education at the end of the Qing Dynasty. This viewpoint has been further developed by Liu Tingchen and others, with the core concept of "serving the society like a sword and a gun", cultivating people's ethical beliefs through education, and contributing to the stability of social order and the benign development of national governance.
Overall, this article is detailed and in-depth, providing a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of ethics and law in ancient China, highlighting the importance of ethics in the construction of law. Through the citation of historical documents and scholars' views, the article enables readers to have a deeper understanding of the development of traditional Chinese ethical thought.
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