Research On Parental Instructions In Wei, Chin And Northern Southern Dynasties

This paper combines the social conditions of the Wei, Chin and Northern SouthernDynasties, and by discussing the parental instructions’ prosperous reasons, main ideas,and the features of that time, invests the promotive functions of the parental instructions.In that time, parental instructions have closely related to the social background. Onthe one hand, in this time, the society was split and turbulence; the official education wasdissipated and unprosperous. Therefore, families was maninly responsible for children’seducation. On the other hand, the power of families had become a rapid speed at thesame time. In such a social turbulent and split period, the meaning of Family Harmonywas far greater than that of State Governing and World Peace. The mandarin familieswrote parental instructions to admonish their children one after another, which becomesthe main prosperous reason. At the same time, in such social turbulent and political splitdynasties, the content of parental instructions became the distinct characteristics of thetimes that had metaphysical and Buddhistic atmosphere, contradiction on content andaction, and emphasis on the importance of Family Harmony. We find that those preachConfucianism and also refer to metaphysics and Buddhism. Scholars opposeConfucianism at the same time, but they use “experience the real world” of positiveConfucianism to admonish their children. Therefore, these ideas in parental instructionsare actually caused by the mixture of three religions’ ideas and turbulent social conditionsin that time.In the Wei, Chin and Northern Southern Dynasties, parental instructions areprincipaly about Confucian ethics. And admonishing descendants becomes a harmoniousfamily, self-cultivation, pursuing sduty. The core of ites is reprimands on self-cultivation,family harmony, conducting ourselves in society and pursuing sduty with basing onConfucian ethics. Literati and bureaucrats make the ideas of Confucian ethicspopularization in the form of writing parental instructions, which makes ites become a bridge between Confucian ethics and the pepole to some extent. Under the ground of thedecline of Confucianism in the Wei, Chin and Northern Southern Dynasties, parentalinstructions indeed play an important role in promoting Confucianism.