The Study On The Ethical Thought Of Zhu Bolu’s “Motto Of Managing The Household”

“Motto of managing the household” is the types of motto written by Zhu Bolu who was the adherents of Qing dynasty, the Confucian scholar in folk and educator. The full text includes 522 words in total, although the length is short, which is the summary of Zhu Bolu’s life experience. It is one of classical masterpieces of family precepts in Qing dynasty, which contains the way of conducting ourselves in society proposed by the Confucian and expresses an outpouring of lofty sentiment of the Neo-Confucianism. It is the paradigm of secularizing the Confucian ethical thoughts and the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation. His works has a deep influence on the people which is regarded as a good way to rectify family precepts, manage households and educate children. The motto is a mirror for human behavior. It contains simple concept of household management and broad cultivation connotation, such as being diligence and thrift in running the household, being harmony with neighborhoods,being lenient with others and being self-cultivation and self-discipline. Today, Zhu Bolu’s work regarded as the classic textbook of family education still has very high practical significance, which is worthy of our learning and studying.The ethics of “motto of managing the household” involves in home, ways of life, self-cultivation and so on. In the aspect of familial norm, it emphasizes the way of living by industry and thrift, the way of ruling families by harmonious neighborhood and the way of flourishing family by educating children. In the aspect of principles of life, it stresses to be kind to others and to be cautious with person’s words and actions. In the aspect of the pursuit of virtue, it requires to harbor grateful heart forever, to have the doctrine of the mean and to pay attention to self-discipline and self-study. “Motto of managing the household” with dapper length, simple and concise language highlights the core of Confucian ethics and shows a strong practicality,which has a far-reaching influence on later ages. Today, we learn and study “motto of managing a household” with a strong value of the times, which is conducive to cultivate the talents of having both ability and political integrity, in favor of the establishment of a harmonious and friendly family and is beneficial to establish a good social atmosphere. It also has important implications for us to construct contemporary family precepts and family tradition.