The Research Of Yu Yingshi's Thought On Confucian Social Order

The social order has been a main issue concerned by the sociologists all the time.It is more necessary and urgent to require a benignant social order for the sake of normal functianing.However,it is to be regretted that the studies on social order in contemporary academic world is still in preliminary stage,which indicates that the essence rooted in traditional culture remains to be further explored.The concept of “overall Confucian planning” raised by Yu Yingshi,a famous Chinese American historian,exactly interprets the thought that Confucian culture is in pursuit of social order.This thesis based on “overall Confucian planning” aims to explore Yu Yinghshi's thoughts of Confucian social order and to fill the gap in the field of Chinese studies on thoughts as well.Yu Yinghshi's thoughts of Confucian social order are mainly represented in his statement of the concept of “overall Confucian planning”.This thesis attempts to explore the thoughts of Confucian social order as much as possible by applying the main concepts in his statement.Yu Yingshi considered that there is always a fundamental planning in the developing process of Confucian culture,that is by “cultivating people intellectually and spiritually like a sage”,“the social order is realized and constructed”.According to the above opinions,this thesis focuses on the following two aspects.On the one hand,the author studies three main respects of Yu Yingshi's thoughts constituted and represented in Confucian social order.They are “the social order is realized and constructed”,“people should be ambitious to be a sage”,“cultivate people intellectually and spiritually like a sage”.And then the author inspects in details the origin of practice,the specific undertaker as well as the functions and positions presented in the realization of these three aspects when Confucian culture seeks social order.The relevant issues among the above statement are also discussed minutely.On the other hand,this research emphasized on the main performative paradigms of the thoughts of Confucian social order that emerged in both Song and Ming Dynasty,which respectively refers to the forms of “doers make it with leaders' support” in Song Dynasty and“citizens make it with clear minds” in Ming Dynasty.Meanwhile,during the traditional development of Confucian thoughts,it is also considered as a process of realizing social order by a concrete means.It could be revealed that in the historical course,Confusian,in order tosurvive in the difficult situations they confronted,changes various modes ceaselessly to pursuing social order.The means of practice created by Neo-Confusianism in Song and Ming Dynasty is used to realize social order,which can be regarded as historical reference for the descendants.The thesis mainly studies the thoughts of Confucian social order represented in the tradi tional studies of Confucian by Yu Yingshi.From the perspective of social order which is great ly concerned in the history of social thoughts,this thesis indicates that the pursuit of order is th e most prominent part of Chinese social thoughts,within which it mainly refers to Chinese pu rsuit to Daoism,that is the worship of social order.