A Study On The Ethical Spirit Of Zhou Gong And His

Generally speaking, the Duck Zhou was considered as a saint in the eyes of descendants in ancient china. Although Mozi, Mencius and Xunzi, in pre-Qin times, saw the Duck Zhou as a saint, other philosophers seem either to avoid mentioning him or to utter a few words, and paid not close attention to him. After Qin and Han period times, Confucian scholars, on the contrary, praised the Duck Zhou highly even more than before. It is ever said that the Duck Zhou established Rites and Music, and was conferred a posthumous title as King of Wen Xian, with a high status and great imposing, he was also respected as primary saint of the Confucians. However, considering of the Sacrificial Rites of Duck Zhou, his reputation as a saint is quite undeserved.The ancients said that the great event of a state lies in sacrifice and war. Thus we know the important role of the sacrifice played in ancient society of china. Although Duck Zhou was highly praised by futurity, there was less historical records kept about his sacrificial rite, and the standard of the rite is not match the reputation of Duke Zhou. Not only did the rite of Duck Zhou can’t compared with the sacrificial rite of Confucius, but it can’t compare with the standard of the rite of Yan Yuan and Mencius.After East-Han dynasty period, Duck Zhou as a saint was permitted and accepted gradually by the government, and his sacrificial rite was also appeared in the form of national rite, which lasted until Qing dynasty. The original image of Duck Zhou, however, was wizard in early history of China. He has all the means and ability that the wizard owned. Duck Zhou, nevertheless, was fundamentally different from the wizard under the tradition of Wu-Shi. Duck Zhou combined with the power of royalty and divinity, and eventually decided the interpretation of religious affairs and political affairs. The former emphasis is to treat Heaven with Morals, while the latter emphasize that the king should worship virtue and protect the populace. Thus, the king needn’t to curry favour with the elusive God or Heaven like the wizard did ever before. Duck Zhou, by establishing rite and music, opened another ritual and musicial tradition which differ from the Wu-Shi tradition, and endued the ritual and musicial tradition a humanistic rational spirit, which composed the real essence of the traditional culture in ancient China.The sacrificial rite of Duck Zhou was mainly held by later generations in Duck Zhou temple, viz Qi Shan Duck Zhou temple, Luo Yang Duck Zhou temple and Qu Fu Duck Zhou temple. All of them shared a deep relationship with Duck Zhou in originality, while the sacrificial rite of Duck Zhou was mainly focused on Qu Fu Duck Zhou temple. This is because Qu Fu was the fief of Duck Zhou, the eldest son of Duck Zhou lived there and offered sacrificial rite of Duck Zhou age after age.The sacrificial rite of Duck Zhou mainly spread in two ways, one is ancestor worship, the anther one is saint worship. The former, which belong to the meaning of personality and clan, is the ancestor worship held by descendant of Duck Zhou family. While the latter, which is permitted by the imperial government as saint sacrifice, is national rite held by later emperors and Confucian scholars. Both of them are of vital importance to politics from first to last. What is more, it can be said that the power of secular politics finally determined the standard of the sacrificial rite of Duck Zhou.Although the sacrificial rite of Duck Zhou held by Ji family was appeared in the form of emperor rite and music standard in national rite in early years of Western Zhou dynasty, it disappeared thoroughly along with the ruin of Lu kingdoms. Even if the later emperors granted title to the descendants of Duck Zhou, for the purpose of showing admiration and respect to the virtue and merits of Duck Zhou, it hasn’t the spirit of ancestor worship held by descendants whom was set up according to the will of emperors in Yin-Shang dynasty times. The sacrificial rite of Duck Zhou discharge itself into the rite of saint sacrifice in school after Eastern Han dynasty and thus gradually became the main ceremony of Duck Zhou in the form of national rite in later ages.The ethical spirit that the sacrificial rites of Duck Zhou shows reflected in two sides, one is the spirit of filial piety expressed by Ji family through ancestor worship, emphasizing the virtue and merit of ancestor and repaying the loving-kindness given by them. Another is the spirit of culture and education expressed by later Confucian scholars through saint sacrifice, with the aim of transforming social tradition’s policies and culturing the world. These two kinds of spirit composed the centers of traditional culture in ancient China, and has an indispensable essential value and meaning in promoting personal morals and forming the national civilization.The spirit of filial piety can be understood from the point of view of personality and of country. In terms of personality, filial piety is mean to express the spirit of emphasizing the virtue and merit of ancestor and repaying the loving-kindness by later generations through serving the parents in daily life. In terms of country, filial piety is the fundamental principle that the later emperors held for governing the country. This is the meaning of the ancients said that filial piety can not only be carried out in household, but can be extended into the whole world.The spirit of culture and education is expressed through Shi Dian Rite by Confucian scholars in school, with the aim of showing real teaching established by old saint, which contains the spirit of honouring the teachers and the elders.The spirit of filial piety and of culture and education, which the Sacrificial Rites of Duck Zhou contains, is not only the real value of ancient traditional culture, but perform an essential exhortatory function in cohering public feeling and inleading social tendencies. Especially the sacrificial rite of Duck Zhou as an important part of the State Rites has a profound meaning in reflecting the value orientation of the whole state and in influencing the construction of mainstream spirit of a society.