An Examination Of "Sincerity" In The Four Books

As an important idea of the philosophy of Confucianism, "Sincerity" has its significance on much levels such as the Way of Heaven, the Human Way, the noumenonn and the value . It can be traced back to early works of Confucianism including The Book of History, The Book of Change, The Book of Songs , in which it mainly possessed its meaning in the fields of gods rather than in that of ethics . It was Confucius that brought the idea of "sincerity" to the ethical field , Inheritting Confucius' idea, Mencius clearly put forward the concept of " sincerity " , He gave it an ontological significance from the aspect of both the Human Way and the Way of Heaven in spite of simplicity. In ZhongYong "sincerity" became one of its key concepts and was much more developed. In some sense we can say ZhongYong structured one relatively perfect system of "sincerity" . On the contrary, "Sincere intention" of Great learning made a further expansion and promotion about "conscientiousness of Sincerity" of Mencius .Therefore there is an abundant system of "sincerity" in the Four Books , which has exerted a tremendous influence on later Confucianists including Zhu Xi , Wang Yangming , Liu Zongzhou , Wang Fuzhi and Dai Zhen. Hence an exam on the idea of "sincerity" in the Four Books will help us grasp its abundant meaning and its historical origin in China's ancient philosophy, and its influence on later Confucianist philosophy .This thesis mainly includes three parts: Preface, Text and Conclusion. Preface mainly discusses three issues : authorship of the Four Books and its chronological sequence , the reasons to select the research object and the relation between the word "sincerity" and the idea of "sincerity".The text is divided into four parts:The first part analyses " the sincerity" in Analects of Confucius: the main content of "sincerity", the relation between "sincerity" and"faith" and the relation between "sincerity" and "benevolence" . The second part analyses the philosophical meaning of "sincerity" in Mencius: the Way of Heaven of "sincerity" , the Human Way and self-cultivation of "sincerity" and the function of "sincerity" .The third part analyses how ZhongYong inherits and develops " sincerity" from Mencius: from the aspects of the Way of Heaven of "sincerity" , the Human Way and cultivation of "sincerity" and the function of "sincerity" .The fourth part analyses "Sincere Intention" in Great Learning: the relation between "sincere intention" and "self-watchfulness" , the relation between "Sincere intention" and "practice and the knowledge of mind" .The conclusion sums up the significance of "the sincerity" in the Four Books and its influence on the Confucianist philosophy.