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01-13-2006 16:58

The old province of Huizhou was famed as a stronghold of Confucian idealism. One of the areas most famous sons was Zhu Xi（朱熹）. The philosopher was born in the 12th century and was a vocal proponent of Neo-Confucianism. Through his influence, Confucian ethics were considered the only suitable moral guide for people’s everyday lives. Zhu Xi believed that a just society must be founded on filial piety. Huizhou people were told many stories showing their Confucian virtues proudly. This extended to the relationship between rulers and the ruled. Zhu Xi even maintained that subjects who complained about abuses of power should be punished for their disloyalty.

Huizhou natives were proud of their region’s reputation for virtue, especially filial piety. The philosopher Dai Zhen（戴震） was a thinker in the Confucian tradition. But his interpretation of Confucian virtues was quite different to Zhu Xi’s. Dai Zhen’s outlook was affected by his upbringing in a poor family. Through his own intelligence and persistence he became a well-known scholar. While working on the court-funded encyclopaedia, he would tell other scholars tales extolling the virtues of his native Huizhou.

Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism was a moral code full of impractical idealism. According to the scheme of perfect filial piety, the whole country would run according to one man’s will. The Emperor was in the position of the nation’s father. However, all responsibility rested with the subjects. The ruler, no matter how tyrannical or inept, could not be disobeyed. Dai Zhen’s philosophy seemed like a revolution at the time. Actually, it better represented the reciprocal nature of filial piety. In Dai Zhen’s thought, rulers were expected to be accountable for their actions and obey the same moral code as their subjects.

 

Editor:Wang Ping