The Establishment And Development Of Personality Ethics Theory In China

Personality ethics is an ethical perspective with respect and promotion of personality as its main content. Layers suppressing personality have got to be peeled off in order to reveal the mystic force of personality and show the beauty and richness of personality. In China, the first layer to be peeled off is the mystic force of the Heaven which is embodied in the"Heaven with Everything as its Essence"in the Xuanxue (Dark Learning) in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The second layer to be peeled off is the ruling force of they monarchical despotism which started in the inversion of the relationship of"the Heaven as host and king as guest"at the turns of Ming and Qing Dynasties and completed during the Revolution of 1911. The third layer is the ruling force of traditional Confucianist culture, which started with the inversion of the relationship between"morality and interests"during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and completed with the inversion of relationship between"rationality and Desire"during the Reform movement of 1898. Personality ethics'complete inversion of the traditional culture started with the Reform Movement of 1898 and completed with the May Fourth Movement. Ever since then, the emphasis has been on the construction work of personality ethical system.