The Study On The Historical Evolution Of The Theory Of Heaven And Destiny Of "the Book Of Songs"

The Book of Songs, for the earliest anthology of ancient poems, is regarded as classic. The Theory of Heaven and Destiny in the Book of Songs, which inherited the theory in Shang Dynasty that the destiny was controlled by the mind of the God and guided the ideology including the doctrine of goodness by Confucius and the policy of benevolence by Mencius ,is an important stage in the history of Chinese ideology . After indicating the research meaning of the Theory of Heaven and Destiny, the thesis consists of three chapters in main body to elaborate this theory in the Book of Songs. Chapter one offers the ideological background of the Theory of Heaven and Destiny in the Book of Songs. Moreover, chapter two analyzes the Theory of Heaven and Destiny expressed by the Book of Songs in different Dynasties, which will deepen the Chinese traditional connotations and expose the presentation and development of "people" and "goodness". In the early Zhou Dynasty, it marked the emergence of human philosophy that people should decide their own destiny by themselves rather than God, which was interpreted by the theory that destiny was controlled by the mind of the God and the theory of "Match God with Morality" and "Moral Respecting and People Protection" esteemed by the ruler. The rulers' moral accomplishments promoted the people oriented ideology. They preferred people's wisdom to Blind worship for the God. Moreover, the moral transfer was also the sprout of "People Unified on God" in Chinese culture tradition. The authoritative opinion to God and Ghost, which was shaken since the late period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, was doubted in the Spring and Autumn Dynasty. The Book of Songs concerned the reality and people's feeling in ordinary life and complained the God; it marked the presentation of people's rational thoughts and meant the waking of conscious mind. The last Chapter refers to the theory of "Goodness" by pre-Qin scholars, especially the original Confucian delegated by Confucius and Mencius. The opinion in the Book of Songs, such as "Match God with Morality" and "Moral Respecting and People Protection", clarifies the evolution route of orientation of theory to "Goodness". Meanwhile, it means the profound tradition of theory of the order from God. This thesis intends to discuss the humanism of Chinese literature by means of analyzing the developing history of the Theory of Heaven and Destiny in the Book of Songs.