Tentative Research On The Conferring Honor System Of The Han Dynasty

The conferring honor system is one of the important impetuses to maintain social moralization, which is the mirror of the moral spirit and the effective way to pilot the culture in the traditional society of china. But domestic and international scholars only involve some aspects of the conferring honor system in their thesis and books. The systematic treatise hasn't appear until now. So this dissertation investigates the source of the conferring honor system firstly, and then tries to tidy up painstakingly the historical facts of the conferring honor system of the Han Dynasty. On the basis of combining the documents and archaeological data, the author apply some theories and methods in history, sociology and psychology. The macroscopic narration of the system with the microcosmic analysis of the cases is also coalescent. And the necessary statistics is the important way for writing this dissertation.It's in the Pre-Ch'in Period that the conferring honor system is in the state of germination. The development of the meaning of the two words "Jing" and "Biao" establishs the foundation of the word "Jingbiao". Some honors are the apotheosis of the conferring honor system in aftertime. The main features of conferring honors in this time are primitiveness and model.The Han Dynasty is the initial establishment period of the conferring honor system. The word "Jingbiao" brings to bear in due form. Loyal liegemen, dutiful sons, vestal virgins, wisdom and righteous persons are the assured object of conferring honors in the Han Dynasty. The conferring honor system plays an important and particular part in making Confucian ethical code be known by plebs widely. Its actualization accords with the plebs' mentality to a certain extent and promote the process of Confucianism socialization. The erection, such as ancestral temple and stele, which is the preferable carrier of transmitting can give a feeling of idiographic edification and make Confucian ethic come down. The conferring honor system in the Han Dynasty has own characteristics. Besides various ways and time imbalance of conferring honors, it hasn't become the impelling instrument of controlling social ethos. All this has consanguineous correlation with the character of the Han Dynasty itself. Also, the conferring honor system of the Han Dynasty is influential for the later dynasties.