Thought On RITE Of Confucius Mencius And Xunzi

With the research on the content of RITE in the thought system of Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi, this paper aimed to discuss the kernel meaning and development track of ritual thought of Pre-Qin Confucian philosophy, and discover the function and significance of RITE for politics, society and life. RITE proposed by Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi had two functions: gradation and cultivation. RITE regulated and consolidated the moral rules between the high and the low, the elder and the younger, according to a series of ceremony and appliance with different grades, for example, big against small, many against few, splendid against simple, etc.. At the same time, RITE expressed a set of morality and emotion of the people, including love, faith, fealty and humility, and so on. Therefore, RITE could establish the gradation concept of the society, and instruct the people to constrain themselves with the morality. Accordingly, RITE was significant in both self-cultivation and governing.Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi all deemed that the people should cultivate himself with RITE. There were many such descriptions inside the book Analects of Confucius. Confucius expected that his students should restrain the desire, and introject the morality of monarch and subject, father and son as the second nature: each action should be appropriate to the corresponding grade, and full of true emotion. Mencius thought everyone was virtuous, and considered RITE as the nature of the people. He appealed that the people should cultivate the natural virtue consciously, making each action follow RITE. However, Xunzi considered that everyone had much desire, so that there were so many contests and confusion in the world, and the giant should establish the ritual system and rules to cultivate and meliorate the nature of the people. He thought RITE was the only content of self-cultivation, and the people should learn and accumulate constantly, in order to introject the ritual morality into their nature. And Xunzi proposed that law should be brought into the ritual system, and punishment be carried out upon those delinquents, with which RITE could be applied in each corner of the world.About governing, Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi all considered that the premise of welfare was the ritual rules maintained in the society, and none of them ignored the significance of the so(?)l Riles. They deemed that monarch should set a good example with RITE, and the people obey the ritual rules together, so that a harmonious society was reached. Confucius took recovery of the ritual system of Zhou as his will, and mightily rebuked those actions that broke the ritual system. He proposed a theory on rectification of gradation, expecting the people to maintain the ritual rules of Zhou. Mencius emphasized on the maintenance of social rules on monarch and subject, father and son, etc., and took these rules as the criterion of judgment. Nevertheless, the focus of Mencius wasn't put on RTIE, but on kingcraft. However, Xunzi's thought was centered with RITE. He considered that the social ritual rules should be established upon the basis of enabling the capable, equalizing high and low, differentiating familiar and distant, and sorting elder and younger. Particularly, Xunzi emphasized on the significance of establishment of national ritual rules and worship of monarch with RITE, and proposed that monarch should take RITE as the fundamental of governing the state, harmonizing the society, developing the ecnomics and consolidating the defence.With the effort of Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi, the ritual thought system of Pre-Qin Confucian had been integratedly established, which not only was significant to the succession and development the ritual culture of China, but also founded the special moral character of the Chinese nation.