The Research Of The Thoughts Of Li And Yue Of TheAnalects Of Confucius

The concepts Li and Yue are not only synonymous with Chinese traditional culture,but also an important part of Confucius’ system of thought. As a major historicaldocument that records the ideology of Confucius, the contents in the "The Analects"plays an important role in studying Confucius’ thoughts of Li and Yue. Confuciusinherited the spirit of "Li of Zhou", and further expanded it in terms of the connotationof value, social function and universal domain."Benevolence" is another importantconcept in "The Analects". By means of introducing Benevolence into the Li,Confucius reframed the Li in the moral evaluation. Therefore,"benevolence" becomesintrinsic according to "Li", and as an external performance,"Li" is regarded as a wayto implement "benevolence".“Li” and “benevolence” are complementary to eachother forming a dialectical relationship as a unity. Confucius further discovered thepotential function of moralizing Li and Yue. He emphasized the implementation of"benevolence-Li" in social practice through the teaching and transformation of Liand Yue. Furthermore, by supplementing music, he believed that it can contribute tothe accomplishment of the character of "gentleman". With such a noble character of“gentleman”, the proper ethics such as loyalty, filial piety, harmony and righteousnesscan be formed in whole society so that a social order and an ideal society can beestablished. Finally, Confucius was confident that Li and Yue are instrumental ingovernance. That is to say that, with the governance of Li, people are expected tofollow various codes of conducts; with the governance of Yue, people can be betteredwith harmonious feelings. By means of increasing people’s income and educatingpeople to comply with etiquette and codes of conducts, Confucius’ ultimate goal is toachieve his political ideal of maintaining patriarchal hierarchy and realizing UniversalSociety.