A Preliminary Study On Xunzi's Idea Of "honoring Rituals And Emphasizing Laws

Xunzi,as a famous thinker in the late Warring States period,faced with different topics of the times and real politics from Confucius and Mencius,made him deeply aware of the limitations of Confucian ritual rule.Whether in the shaping of gentleman’s personality or in the realization of political ideals,Xunzi believes that it is an impractical act to place the realization of ideals entirely on the consciousness of human nature and the absolute obedience of rulers to tradition.At the same time,he also saw the advantages of the Legalism in governing the country and maintaining social order.From the perspective of the advantages of the Legalism in governing the world,Xunzi found that the thinking of law is exactly what Confucianism needs in the actual political system,and it is not that there is no foundation in the traditional Confucian concept of etiquette.Therefore,he reinterpreted the rites of Confucianism and the law of Legalism,and actively integrated the internal contradictions between the rites of Confucianism and the law of Legalism by means of introducing the law into the rites and paying equal attention to the rites and law,so that the rites and law became the foundation of governing the country and forming his unique thought of "emphasizing rites and law."This paper attempts to start from the four aspects of the proposal,development,realization and significance of the thought of ’ emphasizing rites and law ’,and strive to show the integrity of Xunzi ’s thought of ’ emphasizing rites and law ’,and systematically reflect on it in the dialogue between the contemporary social background of the rule of law and the historical background of the Warring States Period : The first chapter is the proposal of the thought of ’ emphasizing rites and law ’.With the fall of the concept of morality and etiquette in the Warring States period and the rise of the concept of law,the problem of human nature has become an urgent problem to be solved by Xunzi.In the face of the problem of human nature,Xunzi clearly saw the limitations of the traditional Confucian rule of rites,the advantages and values of the Legalism rule of law.Therefore,Xunzi solved the end-result of human nature by assisting the law into the rites and using the rites and laws,and put forward a rescue plan different from the traditional Confucianism.The second chapter is the development of ’ emphasizing rites and law ’ thought.The core of Xunzi ’s thought is rite and law.Xunzi regards rite as the basic value of human beings,regards law as the necessary means of governing the country,and the law contains the spirit of rite,which is the biggest difference between Xunzi and Confucianism and law.Ritual and law together constitute the " foundation " of governing the country.Ritual is the basis and guiding principle of law,and law is the extension and auxiliary means of ritual.The third chapter is the realization of the thought of ’ emphasizing rites and law’.Xunzi ’s thought of " emphasizing rites and law " can not only provide the value of the theory,but also provide specific practical solutions from the three levels of individual,social group and country,guiding individual learning and self-cultivation,social group order maintenance and national prosperity and stability.The fourth chapter is the significance of ’ emphasizing rites and law ’ thought.The influence of Xunzi ’s thought on the history of Chinese thought and the value of the times still have positive significance and reference value for the construction of contemporary legal system.