Study On The Evolution Of Shang And Zhou Dynasty Ethical Thoughts

The ethical thought of Shang and Zhou Dynasties is the origin of the history of Chinese ethical thought and the core of the native culture of China.Ethicality is one of the important characteristics that distinguish China from Western civilization.This paper reviews the Shang and Zhou literatures,and discusses the three levels of issues related to Shang and Zhou ethical thoughts from the perspective of ideological change with historical research methods.First,explore the ethical thoughts in the religious concept of Shang Dynasty and the spirit of Zhou Dynasty people's evolution from the "profit and loss".Second,sort out the ideology of Shang and Zhou ethics and its diachronic changes.Third,it analyzes the political legitimacy of Shang and Zhou from the evolution of religious ethics,blood ethics and political ethics.In addition to the introduction of the topic selection,literature review and research methods,the conclusion summarizes the core arguments,sublimation issues and preliminary planning of the subsequent research ideas,the text of this article consists of four chapters,with three dimensions of the logical relationship.The first dimension,the first chapter and the second,third and fourth chapters are the logical relationship of the total-point.From a vertical perspective,the Shang and Zhou dynasties do have a tendency to evolve from religion to ethics.Therefore,the first chapter of the discussion on the "inclusion and transformation of the religious ethics of Shang and Zhou Dynasties" is of great significance for overall planning.The system of gods in Shang Dynasty is mainly divided into gods,natural gods and ancestor gods.In the spiritual concept of the Shang Dynasty,these three kinds of gods have an ethical connection between blood relation and simulated blood relation.Not only that,God is the supreme god.The inter-religious relationship actually reflects the religious ideology of the political relations between monarchs and officials in Shang Dynasty.In the process of conquering Shang Dynasty,the Zhou Dynasty people united "Heaven" and "God" and replaced Shang Dynasty with the "Change of the Yuanzi" to establish a blood relationship with the "Emperor".At the same time of inheriting the religious ethics of Shang Dynasty,the people of Zhou Dynasty highlight the meaning of "behavior"-"morality".The second,third and fourth chapters combing the inclusion and evolution of the ethical morality of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties can be regarded as the division of the first chapter.In the second dimension,the first,second,third,and fourth chapters are parallel logical relationships.From a horizontal perspective,the ethical thoughts of Shang and Zhou Dynasty present three parallel relationship of religion,blood and politics.Therefore,the second chapter and the fourth chapter focus on combing the "filial piety","friendship","respect" and "righteousness" in the literature and unearthed materials of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties,which have the representative meaning of methodology.As a blood ethics,"filial piety" and "friendship" are recorded in the literature of the Shang Dynasty.According to the interpretation of "filial piety to oneself " and "Gao Zong liangyin",the "filial piety" of Shang Dynasty has already had the meaning of filial parents and devout sacrifices to ancestors.The original meaning of the word "friendship" is that two people work together and intend to be friendly.From the Yin Qi "friendship" to the "You",the original meaning of "friendship" also contains the connotation of blood ethics,and the meaning of "friendship" in the Oracle Inscriptions often represents the meaning of colleagues and friends.The meaning of “filial piety” and “friendship” in Shang Dynasty was inherited by the Western Zhou Dynasty,but it has also changed.In the early and middle period of the Western Zhou Dynasty,in the process of sacrificing ancestors,the people gradually began to pay attention to the "the aspiration of inheriting ancestors" and adopted the "filial piety" blood ethics as the political criterion.In the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty,with the decline of the dynasty,the original blood ethics norms have been loosened.Although the records of "filial piety" and "friendship" are more abundant,the scope of subject and object of filial piety is expanding,and the friendship between friends is increasing,but with the destruction of the patriarchal system,the idea of "filial piety and friendship" as the blood ethics criterion has become indifferent,and "filial piety" and "friendship" are gradually losing the effect of maintaining political stability.The common virtues of "respect" and "righteousness" are that they have experienced the process of shifting from religion to personnel with the alternation of Shang and Zhou politics."Respect " originated from the "awe" of the Shang Dynasty people to ghosts and gods,which is an ethic in a religious category.The thought of "respecting heaven" and "respecting ghosts and gods" still existed after entering the Western Zhou Dynasty.However,because the rulers intentionally used the authority of "heaven" to prove the legitimacy of the rule,the object of "respecting" was no longer limited to ghosts and gods.The idioms of the Western Zhou Dynasty,such as "respecting morality" and "respecting authority" all reflected this change."Righteousness" originated from the "appropriate" sacrifice of religious ceremonies in Shang Dynasty,not only as a place to hold sacrifices,but also as a link in the ceremony.In the early Western Zhou Dynasty,the religious factors were still preserved,that is,the emergence of "righteousness" as a posthumous title,but also derived the meaning of law,etiquette and so on.After the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty,the concept of "authority" was connected with "righteousness",which made "righteousness" shift from religious level to political ethics.Under the patriarchal order of "respect",rulers established the legitimacy of their own regime and the hierarchy of monarchs,ministers and descendants with the help of "authority" of heaven.In the third dimension,the first,second and third chapters are progressive logical relationships,and the fourth chapter is supplemented.From the perspective of political legitimacy,the construction of the political legitimacy of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties presents a process from religion to blood to politics.The third chapter is the typical meaning of "loyalty" and "faith" of "political ethics." Although there are few records of "loyalty" and "trust" in the Shang dynasty and the Western Zhou dynasty,the Shang and Zhou dynasties already have the idea of "loyalty" and "faith".The "loyalty" thought of Shang and Zhou Dynasty has the characteristics of bidirectional between monarch and minister,hierarchical unity and dependence.After the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty,the "loyalty" thought began to be independent,and gradually replaced the fading religious ethics represented by " Emperor of Heaven " and the blood ethics represented by "filial piety and friendship ",which became an important morality of political ethics.In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties,there were not only “faith” of ethical and moral significance,but also different expressions such as “Dan”,“Yun”,“Fu”,“Chen” and “Chen”.Between Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou Dynasty,a series of political turmoil led to the "unconvinced" trend of thought,which promoted the maturity of "faith".Under the premise of fully studying the ethical thoughts of Shang and Zhou dynasties,this paper combines the theories of the sages,points and areas.It not only explores the relevant historical issues,but also analyzes the evolution of ethical thoughts of the Shang dynasty and the Western Zhou dynasty ethics from the perspectives of religion,blood and politics.