The On Dongzhongshu "harmony" Morality

In traditional Chinese culture, the "Unity of Heaven and Man" is not only a kind of cosmic view but also a kind of morality. Dong Zhongshu's theory about the " Unity of Heaven and Man " absorbed the moral values from the previous ideas about the relationship between Nature and Man. This paper explains the following four aspects of ethical connotations .The Heaven are primitive human moral values, the highest ethical principle, the basis for the legitimacy of ethics and the interpretation of metaphysics about advocating the rule of virtue principles. Dong Zhongshu 's theory about the " Unity of Heaven and Man " is no lack of absurdness. He exaggerates the authority of Heaven. It suppresses human's initiative. Also because of mysticism in his theory ,it is criticized by the scholars. But the achievement of ethical thought about Nature and Human in Chinese history .Of course , Dong Zhongshu 's theory still has its own unique contribution. He studied moral primitive and put creatively the relations between Nature and Man in ancient China to a new stage. It was a direct impact on moral metaphysics constructing of the Song and Ming Neo-Confucian. He upgraded the Confucianism from one of hundred schools to the official ideology in the Han Dynasty and make it become the spirit of cohesion and stability to the society. He asked the rulers to follow God's will, trying to use "Heaven" to check and balance the power of kingship. He implicitly expressed some concern about the supremacy of imperial power . In certain sense, the end of Dong Zhongshu's theory just become one of the theoretical starting point of modern people to consider political legitimacy and moral authority .