Research On The Thought Of Funeral And Sacrificial Rites In The Book Of Rites

The development of Chinese culture is continuous,from the primitive culture to the traditional culture,from the Xia,Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties to the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States,although the characteristics of thought have changed significantly,but the thinking about death and afterlife is consistent,so the importance of funeral and sacrificial rites has been everlasting.The continuity of culture makes the funeral and sacrificial rites still have mysterious elements,but the development of humanistic reason makes the interpretation of the funeral and sacrificial rites have more confucian characteristics.The main content of this paper is divided into four parts.The first part introduces main funeral and sacrificial rites in the Book of Rites,as the foundation of the funeral and sacrificial ritual thoughts.The second part talks about witchcraft in the funeral and sacrificial rites,including the concept of spirits,taboos and sympathia.The third part studies the humanistic rationality of the funeral and sacrificial rites in the Book of Rites,thinking grieve,respect,filial piety,benevolence and moderation are principle of funeral and sacrificial rites.In the forth part,author thinks the ultimate rationality of funeral and sacrificial rites comes from the heaven and kindness.At the same time,the funeral and sacrificial rites play important role in edification.