A Study On Lv Kun’s Thought About Family Ethics

Lv Kun(1536-1618)was a famous thinker and philosopher during the late Ming Dynasty of China. This paper is an enquiry into Lv Kun’s thought about family ethics. Lv Kun’s thought about family ethics is an important part of his philosophical especially ethical thought. This paper attempts to provide a systematic analysis of Lv Kun’s family ethics. In view of this, it discusses in detail four aspects of Lv Kun’s family ethics, which are the background and origin, the philosophical basis, the basic content and fulfillment, and the evaluation. Accordingly, the main body of the paper is divided into four chapters.The first chapter discusses the background and academic origin of Lv Kun’s family ethics. Lv’s family ethics came into being during the late Ming Dynasty, the period of which is characterized by political crisis, intensification of social contradictions, and luxurious social climate. Lv Kun’s family ethics is to some extent a criticism of this social reality. Under the influence of Confucian culture, Lv Kun committed himself to the statecraft of pragmatism. This is the academic origin of Lv Kun’s family ethics.The second chapter discusses the philosophical basis of Lv Kun’s family ethics. The formation of Lv Kun’s family ethics cannot be accomplished without metaphysical philosophy, which is the ontological basis of his family ethics. The practical foundation of his family ethics is moral self-cultivation, and the knowledge-practice theory provides specific guidance to the fulfillment of the family ethics.The third chapter discusses the main content of Lv Kun’s family ethics. In respect of Family education, Lv Kun advocated the teaching of etiquette. In respect of family relationships, Lv Kun constructed parent-child ethics advocating father-loving and son-obeying, couple ethics advocating the different husband-wife, and elders-children ethics advocating appropriate orders.The fourth chapter discusses the practice and evaluation of Lv Kun’s family ethics. Lv Kun consciously implemented his family ethics. Although his family ethics has such positive values as feministic enlightenment, it has negative aspects of the feudal ethics such as advocating that men are superior to women. Lv Kun’s family ethics provides good ideas and methods for the construction of the modern family ethics.