A Study Of Confucian Etiquette Symbols And Their Cultural Significance In The Book Of Rites

Ritual is one of the core content of Chinese culture. It is also the criterion of human behaviors and customs. Though the external form of Confucian ritual is complex and has not been suitable for modern society, its internal spirit and emotion won’t be disappeared and the values and behaviors reflected are still affecting Chinese people deeply. Compared with previous research on the name of material systems, semiotics shows us a new angle of view in the research of ritual and the research on signifiant, signifie and cause and process of signifying become the new ideas. The Book of Rites, one of Confucian three classics of li, not only interprets articles, normalizes signifiant, but also illuminates ritual semiotic system and symbolic meaning of different signs. It is the best text to study the signs of Confucian ritual.Confucian ritual is a complete symbolic system. It is made up of several elements, such as symbolic goods and actions. Each element is symbolic too. The paper discusses the classification of signs, symbolic meaning, ways and characteristics. The paper also chooses typical signs from four kinds of ritual signs to analyze their signifiant, signifie and reasons of forming symbolic meaning by using the semiology method and quadruplex evidence methodology. The analysis explains those signs in the context of then history and culture to help us understand the concrete content. Based on the idea, the paper falls into two parts.The first part discusses the signs of Confucian ritual generally. On the basis of defining concerned concept and research object, the paper divides the signs of Confucian ritual into four categories:object sign, behavior sign, sound sign and spacetime sign. They are independent but interconnected. Because of the similarity and connection, the core spirit and the various functions are symbolized in a variety of parables that the main way is metaphor. The core spirit centres on benevolence and manifests as respect, humility, integrity and the golden mean. The functions of ritual signs are highlighting the human morality and sociality, distinguishing differences, supporting the hierachy system and pursuing the harmony of the society. In addition to the universal symbolic characteristics, ritual signs still have other characteristics like signifiant superiority, binary and trinary structure. The second part analyzes the typical signs from four kinds of ritual signs. They are "Zhang" sign, "Shi" sign, "Hou" sign and "Shuori" sign. Staff can be used in daily life and ceremonys. Different staffs have different shapes, structures and functions. These characteristics of signifiant influence the formation of the symbolic meaning of respecting the old and family ethic. The concrete motion of "Shi" ceremony is handing on the cross-board and bending forward. Because of the specificity of saluting object and characteristic of movement, "Shi" sign has the symbolic meaning of respect and social harmony. The "Hou" appellation has specific ancient pronunciation and its font has the meaning of fertility. As the appellation of leader of matriarchal society, "Hou" sign symbolizes the status and virtue of appellation object undergoing the transformation from monarch to queen. "Shuori" is the first day of the lunar months. Some specific ceremonys are held on this day. The sign has the symbolic meaning of initialization and rebirth because of the ancestral cyclical sense of time and myth consciousness of moon’s rebirth. The son of Heaven confers calendars and astronomical phenomena like solar eclipse will appear in the first day of the lunar months. These are also related to the regime. What’s more, it’s worth noting that four signs more or less symbolize the social class differences.