On The Spring And Autumn Period Ritual Thought

The Spring and Autumn Period is a historical age which witnesses both the decline of propriety and music and the great emphasis on propriety. Some statesmen and thinkers at that time, in order to restore the social and political order, come to reflect upon and re-explain "propriety" . They claim that the kingdom should be governed by "propriety" , thus forming the trend of propriety-government thought. Up till now, unfortunately, the academic field has not seen a deep enough exploration into this trend. In this thesis, therefore, the birth, content, manifestation, and developing tendency of the propriety-government thought are discussed so as to conduct a systematic study of this trend.During the Spring and Autumn Period, the patriarchal clan system begins to falter and political order falls into disarray. Correspondingly, virtue-government thought, the ruling ideology, gradually loses its efficacy. It is on this background that the trend of propriety-government comes into being. In this trend, propriety is a concept of consistent development and its focus of attention changes with historical development. As far as the connotation is concerned, "propriety" has experienced the change from the propriety of patriarchal clan system in the Western Zhou and the worthy' s political propriety in the Spring and Autumn Period to Confucius' s propriety of morality. Besides, the focus of propriety-government thought changes with the change of the connotation of "propriety" . It can be said that the trend of propriety - government makes a great difference in the political life in the Spring and Autumn Period, and it makes a bridge connecting virtue-government and law-government, hence exerting a deep influence on later political thought and practice.