The Ethicizing Politics And The Politicalizing Ethics

The Confucian culture has an obvious tradition of political function-to integrate the real politic through Confucian philosophy, and is the Confucian's pursuit. The Pre-Qin Confucianism experienced difficulties and always failed to achieve dominance in political practice.Since Dong Zhongshu, a master of Confucianism in Han Dynasty, paid supreme tribute to Confucianism while banned all other schools of thought, Confucianism has been a dominant ideology in Chinese feudal society and influenced the Chinese people for two thousand years, which is an affair to ponder over. Although this "revolution" in the development of Confucianism was the natural result of politics, economy, and culture of Chinese society, Dong-Zhongshu, the major proposer, played a decisive role. Therefore, a research on his thoughts can help us understand how Confucianism developed into the Chinese ethos while conforming to the historical trend and ponder upon its influence on traditional Chinese culture and Chinese society.We hold the belief that Dong, absorbing the different thoughts of Legalism, Mohist School and the Yin-Yang cosmology, reformed Confucianism on the despotic background of "great Unification ideology"; constructed the ethic system based on the metaphysical theory of "Telepathy Outlook Between Man and Heaven"; and finally realized the aim of ethicizing politics and the politicalizing ethics. In terms of the former, the ethical doctrines of "three cardinal guides" demonstrated by Dong and "five constant virtues" redefined by him, were adopted by the politics and therefore possessed the quality and function of politics. After combining with the politics of kingcraft, "three cardinal guides" and "five constant virtues" began to assume the heavy responsibility of "serving the sovereignty and the country", which established the ethicizing characteristics of traditional Chinese politics. While in terms of the latter, Dong advanced the principles of "ruling a nation with virtue but penalty" and the specific measures of reform, which laid politics under the control of ethics.Dong's Confucianism is to serve politics and the ethical features of his thought were embodied by ethicizing politics and the politicalizing ethics, from whose perspective we study his thought of ethics. This thesis falls into four parts:Chapter One discusses Dong's reform on Pre-Qin Confucianism and his theoretical presuppositions.Chapter Two discusses the epoch characteristics of ethics and politics from separation to integration, and the specific expression of "ethicizing politics and the politicalizing ethics".Chapter Three reiterates the theory of "great unification ideology", and the researcher holds the belief that the ultimate aim of Dong's thought mentioned in the second chapter is to maintain the stability of despotism, which changed the value of Confucianism.Chapter Four assesses Dong's ethical thought in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of "ethicizing politics and the politicalizing ethics".