Title

From Sentiment to Ritual: A Study of Zhu Xi’s Discourse on Ritual and Principle

Author

Chan Ping-jui

Genre

Article

Pages

431-471

DOI

10.6503/THJCS.202109_51(3).0001

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

mind, nature, sentiment, principle, reverence, ritual

Abstract

Zhu Xi 朱熹 has been consistently identified as a leading figure in the Neo-Confucian movement. However, when examined from the perspective of autonomous ethics, the Zhu Xi school has been criticized because of its theoretical supposition that the mind and nature are binary. Although scholars have attempted to explain and defend the moral practices of the Zhu Xi school, the concern of heteronomy remains in its ethics since, according to Zhu, the mind is categorized as qi 氣. However, once we think outside the frame of Western ethics and re-examine Zhu’s position within the context of Confucian ritual discourse, we can more clearly discern its problematic regarding the structure of lixue 理學. This new perspective provides evidence regarding the autonomy of ritual practice, and it should therefore be viewed as a breakthrough in the intellectual history of Chinese ritual philosophy. This article contends that Zhu Xi’s theory of self-cultivation is deeply connected to his conception of ritual. The lexical concepts within Zhu’s theoretical system, including mind (xin 心), nature (xing 性), sentiment (qing 情), principle (li 理), and reverence (jing 敬), should therefore be viewed from this perspective in order to develop a more thorough understanding of his thought.