Abstract
The family is the foundation of governance of the state and the achievement of illustrious virtue in all under Heaven, and qijia (regulation of the family) must be realized through xiushen (self-cultivation) and zhengxin (rectification of the mind). Proper governance of the family thus not only allows for personal cultivation and rectification, but also aids in governing the state and bringing peace to all under Heaven.
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Notes
- 1.
Feng Youlan, Complete Works of Three Squirrels Hall (Zhengzhou: Henan People’s Publishing House, 1986), 4: 133.
- 2.
See Wang Yubo, Origins and Evolution of the Chinese Family (Shijiazhuang: Hebei Science & Technology Press, 1992); Xu Yangjie, History of the Chinese Family Clan System (Wuhan: Wuhan University Press, 2012); Feng Erkang, Outline of Chinese Social History (Bei**g: Higher Education Press, 2004), 209–343.
- 3.
Ruan, Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics, 2: 452.
- 4.
[Suirenshi (燧人氏) is a mythological figure hailed as the inventor of fire].
- 5.
Zhang Shuangdi et al., eds., Translation and Annotation of Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals (Bei**g: Peking University Press, 2000), 686–687.
- 6.
Yang Bojun, ed., Translation and Annotation of Mencius (Bei**g: Zhonghua Book Company, 1960), 6.
- 7.
Ma Chiying, ed., Modern Annotation of Records of the Grand Historian (Taipei: Commercial Press Taiwan, Ltd., 1979), 5: 2259.
- 8.
Chen Shilin, Yu Donglin, “A Microcosm of Clan Culture in the Tang and Song—The Righteous Chen Clan of Jiangzhou,” Guangming Daily, Dec. 12, 2013: 11.
- 9.
Andre Burguiere, ed., A History of the Family, tr. Sarah Hanbury Tenison, Rosemary Morris and Andrew Wilson (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1996), 220–221.
- 10.
Xu Zhirui, New Annotation of the Great Commentary on the Changes of Zhou (**an: Qilu Press, 1986), 237–240.
- 11.
Sun **, “Guanxi [connections], social relationships, and social structures,” (Sociological Studies), no. 5 (1996).
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Li Xueqin, ed., Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics (VI): Orthodox Interpretation of the Book of Rites (Punctuated Edition of Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics) (Bei**g: Peking University Press, 1999), 656–715.
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Li Xueqin, ed., Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics (X): Commentaries and Subcommentaries on Analects of Confucius (Punctuated Edition of Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics) (Bei**g: Peking University Press, 1999), 221.
- 67.
Zhu, Textual Analysis and Collected Commentaries on the Four Books, 170.
- 68.
Fei, Fei **aotong on Culture and Cultural Consciousness, 190.
- 69.
Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws, vol. 1 (London: T. Evans, 1777), 395.
- 70.
Li, Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics (VI): Orthodox Interpretation of the Book of Rites, 1090.
- 71.
Cao Deben, History of Chinese Political Thought (Bei**g: Higher Education Press, 2004), 47.
- 72.
Li, Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics (VI): Orthodox Interpretation of the Book of Rites, 1345.
- 73.
Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, Collected Works of the Cheng Brothers (in Four Volumes) (Bei**g: Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 1174.
- 74.
Wang, Collected Commentaries on Xunzi (in Two Volumes), 12.
- 75.
Ibid., 356.
- 76.
Wu Shuchen, History of Chinese Legal Thought (Bei**g: Law Press, 2004), 194.
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Liu Zehua, Collected Works on the History of Chinese Political Thought (Bei**g: People’s Publishing House, 2008), 2: 42–43.
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Li, Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics (X): Commentaries and Subcommentaries on Analects of Confucius, 157.
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Jiang Guozhu, A Critical Biography of Li Gou (Nan**g: Nan**g University Press, 1996), 98.
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Li, Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics (VI): Orthodox Interpretation of the Book of Rites, 1376.
- 81.
Ibid., 1387.
- 82.
Ge Zhaoguang, Intellectual History of China (Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2000), 92.
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Li, Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics (X): Commentaries and Subcommentaries on Analects of Confucius, 719.
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Jiang Lihong, Meager Knowledge on the Book of Lord Shang (Bei**g: Zhonghua Book Company, 1986), 4–5.
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**g, China’s Social Development Outlook, 50.
- 86.
Wang Demai, “A New Study and Interpretation of the Significance of the ‘Five Classics,’” Studies of Zhouyi, no. 5 (2009).
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Wang Demai, “Governance Through Propriety and Governance Through Law—A Comparative Study of the Traditional Chinese System of Propriety and the Traditional Western System of Jus (Legal Rights),” in Proceedings of the International Academic Conference on Confucianism (**an: Qilu Press, 1989).
- 88.
Zhang Dainian, Outline of Chinese Philosophy (Bei**g: Social Sciences in China Press, 1994), 386.
- 89.
[Yiyi (义役, ‘charitable corvée’) consisted of the leasing of fields as corvée fields, the proceeds from which would be donated in lieu of performing corvée service].
- 90.
As recorded in Analects of Confucius, Confucius said, “The gentleman holds honor to be supreme” (“Yang Huo”). “The gentleman holds honor to be essential, and practices it through propriety” (“Duke Ling of Wei”). “To see what is honorable and act not is a lack of courage” (“The Practice of Government”). “To devote oneself to the honor of the people, and respect the spirits yet remain distant from them, may be called wisdom” (“There is Yong”). “On seeing gain, he thinks of honor” (“Chief of the Ji Clan”).
- 91.
The traditional canons debated whether benevolence and honor were inherent to life or originated from the external world. In the Guodian Chu bamboo slips, ties of blood were used as the dividing line for distinguishing between inner and outer relationships. For instance, The Six Virtues said, “Benevolence is inner; honor is outer; the rites and music are common to all. Inner stands the father, son, and husband; outer stands the sovereign, minister and wife”.
- 92.
Section Nineteen of Mencius: Li Lou II offered the following appraisal of Shun: “He walked with benevolence and honor, and did not walk after benevolence and honor”.
- 93.
Analects of Confucius: In Benevolence: “The gentleman understands honor; the villain understands benefit”.
- 94.
Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, Posthumous Works of the Cheng Brothers of Henan, vol. 17, in Collected Works of the Cheng Brothers (Bei**g: Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 176. Another example is the passage, “To speak of honor and benefit is the difference between public and private.” See Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, Pure Words of the Cheng Brothers of Henan, vol. 1, in Collected Works of the Cheng Brothers (Bei**g: Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 1172.
- 95.
Liu Xuehe, “A New Exploration of the Origins of ‘Honor’ and Its Transformation into Propriety,” Journal of Sichuan Normal University, no. 4 (2003).
- 96.
Zhu **, Textual Analysis and Collected Commentaries on the Four Books (Bei**g: Zhonghua Book Company, 1983), 73.
- 97.
Wang **umei, ed., Book of Poetry (Bei**g: Zhonghua Book Company, 2006), 299.
- 98.
Lu You, Collected Works of Lu You (Bei**g: Zhonghua Book Company, 1976), 193.
- 99.
Li **anyong and Wang Ronggui, eds., Complete Works of Fan Zhongyan (Chengdu: Sichuan University Press, 2007), 195.
- 100.
Tan Sitong, Complete Works of Tan Sitong (Bei**g: SDX Joint Publishing, 1954), 180.
- 101.
Feng Youlan, Complete Works of Three Squirrels Hall (Zhengzhou: Henan People’s Publishing House, 1986), 4: 133.
- 102.
Xu, Shuowen Dictionary, 52.
- 103.
Zuo Qiuming, Discourses of the States (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 2015), 65.
- 104.
Li Huiling and Lü Youren, eds., Book of Rites (Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House, 2010), 89.
- 105.
** Liangnian, ed., Translation and Annotation of Mencius (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 2004), 156.
- 106.
Yang Yiyin, “‘Our People’: A Case Study of the Process of Building Trust,” Sociological Studies, no. 2 (1999).
- 107.
Wang **anqian, Collected Commentaries on Xunzi (Bei**g: Zhonghua Book Company, 2012), 101.
- 108.
Cui Gaowei, ed., Book of Rites (Shenyang: Liaoning Education Press, 1997), 130.
- 109.
Ibid., 1.
- 110.
Zheng Hangsheng and Gong Changyu, “Model for Interaction Between Honor and Benefit and the Positive Operation of Society—A Theoretical and Empirical Sociological Analysis of the Relationship Between Honor and Benefit,” Academics, no. 4 (2001).
- 111.
Li Xueqin, ed., “Volume Twenty: Hong Fan VI,” in Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics (II): Orthodox Interpretation of the Book of Documents (Punctuated Edition of Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics) (Bei**g: Peking University Press, 1999), 305.
- 112.
See Gong Changyu, “The Issue of Honor and Benefit in the Eyes of Several Classic Sociologists,” Journal of Social Science of Hunan Normal University, no. 1 (2004); and Gong Changyu, “Twenty Years of the Issue of Honor and Benefit,” Morality and Civilization, no. 3 (2003). For other Chinese sociological studies on the issue of honor and benefit, see Zheng Hangsheng and Feng Shizheng, “The Issue of Honor and Benefit in a Period of Accelerated Transformation of Chinese Society: A Sociological Research Paradigm,” Southeast Academic Research, no. 2 (2000); Zheng and Gong, “Model for Interaction Between Honor and Benefit and the Positive Operation of Society—A Theoretical and Empirical Sociological Analysis of the Relationship Between Honor and Benefit”; Zheng Hangsheng and Gong Changyu, “The Choice Between Honor and Benefit for Individuals in a Transitional Society—Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Study from the Perspective of Ethical Sociology,” Henan Social Sciences, no. 4 (2003).
- 113.
Zheng and Gong, “The Choice Between Honor and Benefit for Individuals in a Transitional Society—Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Study from the Perspective of Ethical Sociology”.
- 114.
Zhang Guojun: “Activities for Honor and Benefit Relationship Between Honor and Benefit · Theory of Honor and Benefit,” Jianghai Academic Journal, no. 2 (1994).
- 115.
Gao Herong and Zhang Aimin, “Traditional Forms of Private Mutual Aid and Elder Care in China and Their Value for the Era—A Survey Based in the Southern Fujian Region,” Shandong Social Sciences, no. 4 (2014).
- 116.
The emphasis on farming and farmland first arose in ancient China. Rites of Zhou included a relatively mature land system, and later generations continued to place emphasis on land, fields and agricultural taxation. An example is the passage, “Land is the basis; to cultivate the harvest is the end. Without the planting of land and duties, we would still be waging war bare-handed” (Book of the Plains, in Collected Works of Li Gou, vol. 19). “The great destiny of the people is millet and rice; what the state treasures are taxes and levies” (Policies for Enriching the State II, in Collected Works of Li Gou, vol. 16). Another example is, “Millet is the arbiter of the people’s destiny; land is that on which the millet grows; and the people are those who are governed by the sovereign. Where there is millet, it is at the state’s disposal; where the land is made distinct, the people will have enough to eat; and where the people are scrutinized, then corvée duties shall be made equal. To know all three is called ‘governance’” (System of Fields, in Comprehensive Institutions, vol. 1).
- 117.
Wang, Collected Commentaries on Xunzi (in Two Volumes), 502.
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**g, T. (2022). Regulation of the Family. In: The Origins and Continuity of Chinese Sociology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5681-2_5
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