A Study Of Ethical Of Liao-Fan’s Four Lessons

Yuan Huang (1535to1608), whose courtesy title was Kun-Yi and who was affectionately known asLiao-Fan, was born in the county of Jia Shan in Zhe Jiang province, and through his deep understanding theknowledge that can help to shape one’s life, wrote Liao-Fan’s Four Lessons for his older son but later served asan inspiration to wider society. Liao-Fan’s Four Lessons is divided into four chapters: Learning to createdestiny, Ways to reform, The way to cultivate kindness and The benefit of the virtue of humility. Theunderlying message of the book is that one can grasp destiny through ethical thinking, that happiness orwell-being can be achieved through reforming and cultivating kindness.Liao-Fan’s Four Lessons is not just a family precept; it is a book of deeply persuasive ethicalthoughts. The first is the idea of grasping destiny by building a relationship between life and moral beliefs,giving life a deep moral attribute, a deeply subjective process. Second, the book embodies a mature andoriginal system of ethical reform, arguing that a person should be capable of feeling ashamed, of knowing fearand of having determination and courage, reforming through action and reasoning and the from heart. Third,according to the the moral relationship between moral behaviour and happiness, Yuan elaborates theimportance of accumulating good deeds, analyzing ten kinds of good deeds. Fourth, humility and modestycannot be forgotten. Practicing humility is a key virtue in the the attainment of moral enlightenment.In Liao-Fan’s Four Lessons, while priority is given to Confucian moral thought, this is fullyintegrated with elements of Buddhist and Taoist moral training. In addition, Yuan Huang, a member of theupper class in the late Ming dynasty, consciously assumes the duty to civilize people and maintain moral orderin civil society. Liao-Fan’s Four lessons, which were originally addressed to his older son, soon becamewidely circulated among the ruling class and then the whole of society. These lessons of moral educationexpanded their reach step by step, from being a personal inheritance from father to son, to a widely popular setof moral principles accepted by ordinary people around China.Liao-Fan’s Four Lessons had a great influence on the society of his time. It also has great relevanceto contemporary society. His theory of ethics provides a positive attitude towards life and contains insightsuseful for the study of ethics and the conduct of society.