The Analysis Of Ethics Thought About The Family Instructions Of Song Dynasty

The family motto is the instruction that elders taught their offspring the ways to discipline his household and associate with people. It is also called home commandments,home examples, family disciplines, family rules, teachings of the deceased, code of conduct , demonstration of generation and so on…. It is not only an important part of traditional Chinese culture, but also the concentrated expression of the traditional culture.The most prosperous period of ancient Chinese family instructions culture appears in Song Dynasty. Its literature has a great influence upon the later dynasties in the feature of significant quantities, various in forms, abundant contents, and extensive circulation.Family instructions in Song Dynasty came into being in the special political, economic and social environment .So its ethical thought also has its distinct characteristics of its times:Firstly, in the terms of the family education thought, the people in Song dynasty adhere to Virtue First. They train their offspring with practical and effective educational materials and methods in order to promote their progress and growth. Secondly, for the family ethical thinking, people advocate the etiquette and harmony to coordinate relationships among couples, brothers, the young and the old, master and servant, relatives and neighbors in order to maintain peace and stability of the family. Finally, for the family economic governance, they hold on the idea of practical purpose to deal with family economic life via the ethics principles of hardworking and thrifty in order to increase income and reduce expenditure. And then they can maintain the prosperity and development of family.After discussing the main ethics thinking about family instructions in Song Dynasty, Its history value and limitation, and modern enlightenment will be analyzed in the third part. Although the family instructions in Song dynasty are the cultural product of Feudal Society, some drawbacks of thought in feudal society is inevitable. However, as for some reasonable education ethical thought and family ethical concept, it has a positive impact on the family education and virtue construction in modern society.