Ethical Thought. "rites" Study

This paper intends to discover the ethical thought in this classics through studying therules and regulations in it.The Ritual (yili) as Classics, has rich and systematic ethical thought. In the introducation , the essay textually criticizes the author and the time of the Ritual ,summarizes history and present situation of its ethical thought. In the first part,it expounds the base , on which the thought produced.In the second and third parts, it studies the content of the ethical thought. The Ritual carries records mostly concerning the contents and forms of various rites and ceremonial activitids and once served . Ethical thought of the Ritual include mostly ethics of clan and sociality. The part consists of explanations of the Ritual, chiefly concerning the Rite of Capping , the Rite of Marriage ,the Rite of Village Drinking , the Rite of Friendly Visit between the Feudal Princes with both descriptions of the ceremonial activities and elaborations of their significance .At last, the author talks about social pratice and historic influences of the Ritual, and social value of its ethical thought.