| The thesis sorts out the ethical principles and standards of traditional family systematically, and tries to excavate and create their modern value once more and to remould and expand the ethics of traditional family from llic great changes of modern family resulting from social changes in a circumstance of the model-changing times.In China, family ethics has a long traditional history. The traditional society in China was an agricultural society, the family was the most important functioning-unit in production and consumption, which formed the traits of "family standard" and "supreme clan" inevitably in social life. In order to uphold the family's harmony and stabilization, ancient thinkers advocated the ethical principles of "harmonious family and good-neighbourness, kindheartedness and comity, being industrious and thrifty in running a household, etc", and promoted the ethical standards of "kind father and filial son, courteous husband and obedient wife, amiable elder brother and respectful younger brother, etc", which formed the family ethics traditionally. The traditional family was given birth to by living soil and cultural circumstance of the Chinese nation, so the ethics of family presented the distinctive features being different from the others'. Firstly, the traditional Chinese regarded the family life as the scope of their activities. The groups' consciousness of "supreme clan" became the core spirit of the ethics of traditional family. The family in harmony came true by individual interests obeying the collective interests unconditionally. Secondly, in a hierarchic patriarchal family, relations in family being arranged in turn by close or distant relationships with father, formed hierarchic pattern between members. The noble or humble status of family members was very clear. Thirdly, the mechanism of family and nation being a whole body and being homoconstitutive provided the possibility of socialstructure for changing filial duty to loyalty in political life. On the contrary, the feudal hierarchic features of political rule enhanced the political tendency of relationships of traditional family in harmony. Finally, the value goal of traditional family took "manage a household" as the foundation; values were unified; standards of evaluation were unitary, for above reasons, family members had strict identical tendency for value evaluation of family ethics.Traditional family ethics, having been passed on for thousands of years, was the basis of construction of social ethics and formed the Chinese national traits. Like any other traditional culture, universality surpassing the times and historical limitations must exist in the traditional family ethics. We should criticize its demerits and carry on its merits, and then make it obtain the great vitality once more from the family life.After the People's Republic of China was founded, the social structure in our country, having a basic change, makes the social quality of family have a radical change too. Socialist new-typed relationships between people characterized by equality and mutual aid founded, guarantee the equal status of family members. After reform and opening, especially with the development of socialist market-oriented economy, industrial civilization expands gradually in China, which makes the traditional big family fall into pieces, and the small family springs like mushrooms growth. The family structure in our country has a qualitative change, and namely blood relationship-marked family is turned into marriage-marked family. Family relationships change from vertical axis of father and son to horizontal axis of husband and wife, which provides real conditions for democracy between generations and sexual equality. The feudal family ethics of strict hierarchy between people has lost the basis of its existence. The ethical principles of father guiding son, husband guiding wife, are broken down radically. Family members obtain human independence, and commonlyenjoy family rights and share family duties.Since reform a... |
PDF Full Text Request