A Study On The Concept Of "Goodness" In Pre-Qin Text

With the renaissance of Chinese traditional culture,the researches on characters have gradually been an indispensable part of Chinese philosophy study.In traditional approaches,such researches are based on philosophical thoughts and the research on characters is used as an auxiliary part for discussing philosophy.For researches on language subjects focusing on characters,the philosophy is seldom explored.As a result,the research findings exploring the sources and evolutions of characters as well as philosophic contexts are absent so far.As a main period of forming the patterns and meanings of Chinese characters,the Pre-Qin Period is the initial period of developing Chinese philosophy as well.In order to illustrate philosophic contexts in an in-depth manner from the perspective of characters,"善",a frequently used character in philosophy,was selected for the analysis to analyze its multidimensional philosophic significances in various periods by analyzing it as per historical sequence and focusing on the accompanying philosophic context development and changes.On the one hand,the analysis was designed to generate unique thoughts on"善" and relevant philosophic proposition.On the other hand,it was expected that a helpful approach could be made by attempting such research.The paper is composed of the following five parts:The origin and significance of the topic were illustrated in the introduction.he existing philosophic and character researches on "善" were summarized through literature reviews and analyses,the standpoint and direction for the paper were elaborated,and the approaches and innovations in the paper were briefly introduced as well.In Chapter Ⅰ,the origin and evolutions of the patterns and meanings for "善"during the Pre-Qin Period,concerning the contents in oracle bones and bronze inscriptions respectively.Firstly,it was concluded that many variants represented by“(?)”,from oracle bones,were the original of by analyzing the main implications of "(?)".Correspondingly,its meanings related to sacrifices and judgment and other meanings pertinent to meals and time were analyzed.Secondly,the character"(?)",from bronze inscriptions,was studied in terms of its official position,capabilities,and other diet meanings modifying utensils,and "譱夫" and "膳夫"were distinguished to respond to some topics in current academic researches.Thirdly,based on the initial variants of "善" in oracle bones and bronzes,the initial philosophical connotations of the character were explored through the meaning changes of sacrifice,judgment,position,and capabilities to provide references for the researches on the character in handed-down literatures.In Chapter Ⅱ,the formation and development of multiple connotations for "善"in the handed-down literatures during the Spring and Autumn Period were explored.The basic pattem of "善" was confimed in the period.Therefore,the research shifted to the development of its meanings.The three basic patters of "善",reflected in the character used as a subject,a predicate,or an object,were analyzed to summarize the noble,technical,and moral meanings of the character based on the "Five Classics"and other typical written materials during the period,such as the Analects of Confucius,Lao-Tzu,Sun-Tzu,and The Commentary of Zuo.The efficient cause,formal cause,and final cause in Aristotle’s doctrine of four causes were adopted to explore the triple dimensions of"善"and provide references for the researches on the philosophical meanings of the character in the literatures of the Warring States Period.In Chapter Ⅲ:the substantial developments of "善"in the handed-down.literatures during the Warring States Period were explored.The literatures:including the Mencius,Xuncius,Chuang-Tzu,Mo-Tse,and Han Feizi,were used as representative literatues of the character during the period.The period witnessed the peak of the philosophical development of the contexts for the character during the Pre-Qin Period,making it have substantial meanings,According to Aristotle’s thought on substance,the character not only reflected the significance of general substance due to its connotation such as"regular overall form"but also reflected that of specific substance,as expressed in "accumulate merits"that can be increased:decreased,or accumulated.The former involves the definition of "善",exploring its inherent connotation,known as"substance" in the paper.The latter involves how to realize"善",discussing the methods of fulfilling its effects or functions,known as"practical application".At the end of the chapter,the philosophical significance developments of"善" from oracle bone inscriptions to handed-down literatures were summarized on the basis of the two previous chapters.Based on the researches of previous three chapters,the comparisons and contemporary values of "善" and some Chinese and western philosophical concepts were explored in Chapter Four.Firstly,the character had synchronizations and conversions of its meanings with various core propositions of Chinese philosophy through multiple connections in the same language system during:the period.The successively emerging integration and separation between typical examples "仁","道" and "善" were analyzed to demonstrate the meaning development prospects of characters in philosophical development.Secondly,the character "善"in different language systems during the period was compared with the characters in ancient Greek,represented by"αγαθóζ".For this purpose,the similarities and differences of these characters’ meanings and philosophical usages were compared to reflect on Chinese and western philosophical comparisons from a new perspective.Thirdly,the character was compared with the meanings in modern Chinese language to analyze the context changes and discuss the modern enlightenments from the research on the character during the Pre-Qin Period.The pattern formation,meaning establishment,and philosophical development of"善" act as a typical example of Chinese cultural development during the Pre-Qin Period.The philosophical research based on its development process indicates the gradual changes from God to humans,from concreteness to abstraction,and from simplicity to complexity.The scattered conditions due to the excessive attention to some philosophical figures can be avoided and general statements can be eliminated to the greatest extent by analyzing the character"善",which is an important attempt for the paper.