"yan Parental Instruction" Thought

Yan Family instructions is a book on instructions which existed in the eariest stage, whose style is complete and has profound influence. The Confucianists thoughts is dominant in this book and teaching descendants how to behave in society is the main objection. The book reflected extensive social life of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, including scholars' ideas. The book is of great value for reference to study education, religion, literature, language, custom and history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. This article takes thoughts in Yan Famity Instructions as the study subject and studies the ideas about education, religion, literature and collation, and then inquires into clan and social background of thoughts in Yan Family Instructions.The artide is divided into two parts, part I is monographic study which analyses educational thinking, lierature thinking, collation ways and religious viewpoints, part II is summary about thoughts which analyses ideas of Yan Family Instruction from individual experence, clan tradition, scholars' psychology and so on. The following points generalize majar contents of this article:1. Yan Family Instructions had constructed it's educational style, mean while, the book had Characteristics of the times and family, the Confucian thoughts is guiding in the book.2. Yan Family Instructions discussed writings on the basis of literature form discrimination and writer's morality. The book advocated to reconcile styles of writings between north and south and commented on some poems and writings. From these, the writer showed his aesthetic altitude.3. Yan Family Instructions displayed extensive field of vision and cautious attitude on documents collation, whose collation ways were very many and had value for reference.4. Although Yan Family Instructions venerated Buddhism, the doctrines of Buddhism were used to improve the Confucian theory which was taken as model. Medicine, divination, and similar arts in Taoism wasexcluded.5. Yan clan tradition had a distinctive feature: Attaching importance to ethics and Being good at literature, Yan Family Instructions manifested this feature.6. Yan Zhitui's behaviour in society was greatly affected by his own experence. Behaviour in society in Yan Family Instructions reflected the writer's life experence.7. Scholars in the Northern and Southern Dynsties had changed their ideas, these changes were embodied in Yan Famiily instructions.8. Educational ways in Yan Family Instructions fitted in with the system of officials election at that time.