Study On The Concept Of Ghost In The Three Rituals

"the three rituals"-Zhou rite, Ritual, Ritual records, were the original Confucian classics.Zhou rite was originally named Zhou official in the Han Dynasty. It collected various systems of Zhou Dynasty and all Vassal state and was compiled and mixed with Confucian political ideals. Ritual was the book to explain the main literati class etiquette in spring and Autumn Period. With crown ceremony as its beginning, wedding ceremony as its root, funeral rites as its significance, dowry as its honor and shooting as its harmony, it formed the outline among the various rituals. Ritual records mainly recorded and discussed the rituals and meaning of rituals before Qin dynasty, explained Ritual records, recorded Confucius and his students'questions and answers, and described the rules of being a man. The three rituals centrally embodied Confucian politics, philosophy and ethics before Qin dynasty. They were important materials to study the society before Qin dynasty.This thesis intends to study the thought of ghost in "the three rituals" by the contents of relevant rituals in "the three rituals". It's a concrete application of the method of studying the history of thought by the combination of history of society and history of thought, and it enriched the relevant research historical materials and broadened the research field of history of thought.This thesis consists of five parts:In the first part, a discussion was made from the aspects of the emergence and its function of the concept of ghost, ancestor worship to the system of sacrifice, etc. The concept of ghost was one of the earliest human religious conceptions. Not only was the emergence of primitives'concept of ghost relevant to their false understanding of dreams and shadows, but also was relevant to their thoughts on coma, experience of dying and death. Ancestor worship was the outcome of worship of ghost and a kind of form of ghost worship. Ancestor worship, in essence, was also a kind of worship of ghost and had its own strict system of sacrifice.In the second part, the relationship of the concept of ghost and politics were illustrated from four aspects-solidifying ruling order, ethical educating, diplomatic etiquettes and military rules. Making use of the worship of the concept of ghost that people had, the ancient rulers gained their divine right of king. They educated their people by sacrificing for their ancestors and strengthened the internal solidarity of their own ruling group based on their blood bond. In addition, the concept of ghost also exerted influence upon military and diplomatic aspects, becoming a sharp weapon that the ruling class held during their political rules.In the third part, the contacts of economy and the concept of ghost was illustrated from two aspects-pushing the agricultural production and strengthening the concept of the basis of agriculture. In primitive society the level of productivity was low and the concept of ghost was universal in the self-sufficient natural economy in which the small-peasant economy predominated. It, to some extent, reinforced the ancient people's sense of the basis of agriculture and promoted the development of agricultural production.In the fourth part, the relationships of the concept of ghost and science and technology, literature and arts was illustrated from three aspects. Limited by ancient people's level of knowledge, their literature and arts were always related with religion and concept of ghost. They affected each other, and commonly enhanced the prosperity of ancient literature and arts.In the fifth part, the influence that the concept of ghost had on ancient people's social life was discussed from the aspects of clothing, eating, housing and traveling and marrying.