Han Zhong De Education Research

"Loyalty" is one of the most important ethical categories in ancient Chinese feudal society. It has great significance to the maintenance of political rule. Based on this point, the rulers of the Han Dynasty put the loyalty ethics into legal and bureaucratic track. They use the strength of the state to enforce the loyalty cultivation. At present, there are not so many papers and works on loyalty cultivation either in domestic or abroad. Therefore, the author will first discuss from the meaning of "loyaty " and then do a comprehensive study of the background, ways, features, effect and other aspects of the loyalty cultivation in Han Dynasty.First of all, I discuss the changes in the concept of loyalty from its birth to the Han Dynasty. I divide it into three stages:the pre-Qin period, the Qin period, and the Han period. When the "loyalty" arose, it had two aspects:general ethical and political ethical. However, with the establishment and development of the centralization of the feudal autocratic, the meaning of loyalty concept increasingly grew narrow. To the Han dynasty, for the ministers,"loyalty" became the absolute obedience to the emperor.Secondly, I discuss the background of the loyalty cultivation from three aspects:politics, society, thought and culture. The Han Dynasty was based on the Qin Dynasty. It faced with severe political situation. Besides, as it was built with a short time, the social orders were in chaos from top to bottom. In the field of thought and culture, the rulers of the Han Dynasty realized that the Qin’s perish was due to the application of legalism. So they turned to the Huang-Lao thought. Huang-Lao thought played a great role in the economic recovery in the early Han Dynasty. But with the power of the Han Dynasty strengthening, it was not adapt to the times and the needs of the rule any more. So the rulers started to use Confucian to govern the country. As a result, the "loyalty" that the Confucianism had emphasized all the time was valued gradually.Thirdly, I make a detailed analysis of the ways of loyalty cultivation. I analyze them in three aspects:"not loyal joined law", reward loyal person, and use filial piety to obtain loyalty. The government used two ways of punishment and reward to implement loyalty cultivation which had a great significance to encourage the ministers loyal and incorrupt. For those disloyal ministers, it also had a deterrent force.Fourthly, I summarize the features of the loyalty cultivation. Through the analysis to the ways of loyalty cultivation, I find that the loyalty cultivation has four features:ethical coded, legalization, progressive change and varied ways.Finally, I elaborate on the effects of loyalty cultivation. The loyalty cultivation trained the occupation moral of the officials. It also consolidated and delayed the rule of the Han Dynasty. In addition, the loyalty cultivation of the Han Dynasty provided a basic mode for the over2000years of Chinese feudal society.