THE FAMILY SYSTEM of CHINA.docx

1、THE FAMILY SYSTEM of CHINATHE FAMILY SYSTEM OF CHINAThere were formerly no such words as family system as a sociological term; we knew the family only as the basis of the state, or rather as the basis of human society. The system colors all our social life. It is personal, as our conception of gover

2、nment is personal. It teaches our children the first lessons in social obligations between man and man, the necessity of mutual adjustment, self-control, courtesy, a sense of duty, which is very well defined, a sense of obligation and gratitude toward parents, and respect for elders. It very nearly

3、takes the place of religion by giving man a sense of social survival and family continuity, thus satisfying mans craving for immortality, and through the ancestral worship it makes the sense of immortality very vivid. It breeds a sense of family honor, for which it is so easy to find parallels in th

4、e West. It touches us even in very personal ways. It takes the right of contracting marriage from our hands and gives it to those of our parents; it makes us marry, not wives but “daughters-in-law”, and it makes our wives give birth, not to children but to grandchildren, It multiplies the obligation

5、s of the bride a hundredfold. It makes it rude for a young couple to close the door of their room in the family house in the daytime, and makes privacy an unknown word in China. Like the radio, it accustoms us to noisy weddings, noisy funerals, noisy suppers and noisy sleep. And like the radio, it b

6、enumbs our nerves and develops our good temper. The Western man is like a maiden who has only herself to look after, and who consequently manages to look neat and tidy, while the Chinese man is like the daughter-in-law of a big family who has a thousand and one household obligations to attend to. It

7、 therefore breeds in us soberness at an early age. It keeps our young in their places. It overprotects our children, and it is strange how few children rebel and run away where the parents are top self-centered and autocratic, it often deprives the young man of enterprise and initiative, and I consi

8、der this the most disastrous effect of the family system on Chinese character. A parents funeral interferes with a scholars chances at the official examinations for three years, and is good ground for the resignation of a cabinet minister. Family ethics interferes even with our travel and sport, for

9、 the theory was developed in the Xiaojing, or Classic of Filial Piety (which every schoolboy used to memorize), that the body, the hair and the skin are received from the parents and may not be injured. Zengzi, the great disciple of Confucius, said on his deathbed, Examine my hands, examine my feet,

10、 which had been kept intact to return to his forefathers. This already borders on a religious feeling. It limits our travels, for Confucius said A man does not travel to distant places when his parents are living, and if he does he must have a definite destination. The best form of travel, i.e. trav

11、el without destination and without hoping to arrive anywhere, is therefore theoretically impossible. The filial son does not climb high, and does not tread on dangerous places. There is therefore not a single filial son in the Alpine Club. In short, the family system is the negation of individualism

12、 itself, and it holds a man back, as the reins of the jockey hold back the dashing Arabian horse. Sometimes the jockey is good, and then he helps the horse to win the race, but sometimes he is not so good. Sometimes it is not a jockey that is holding the horse back but merely a refuse cart. But then

13、, Chinese society has no use for fine Arabian thoroughbreds, the best proof of which is that we have not produced them. We murder them, assassinate them, hound them into the mountains, or send them into the asylum. We want only steady, plodding draught horses. And we get plenty of them. The Doctrine

14、 of Social Status, as Confucianism has been popularly called, is the social philosophy behind the family system. It is the doctrine that makes for social order in China. It is the principle of social structure and social control at the same time. The principal idea is status, or mingfen, which gives

15、 every man and woman a definite place in society. In conformity with the humanist ideal of everything in its place, the social ideal is also that of every man in his place. Ming means name, and fen means duty. Confucianism is actually known as mingwei, or religion of names. A name is a title that gi

16、ves a man his definite status in any society and defines his relationships with others. Without a name, or a definition of the social relationship, a man would not know his fen, or duties in that relationship, and hence would not know how to behave. The Confucian idea is that if every man knows his

17、place and acts in accordance with his position, social order will be ensured. Of the five cardinal human relationships, four are occupied with the family. They are the relationships between king and subject, between father and son, between husband and wife, and those between brothers and between fri

18、ends. The last relationship between friends may be identified with the family, because friends are those who can be included in the family circle-“family friends. The family then becomes the starting-point for all moral conduct. It is only fair to mention that Confucius never intended family conscio

19、usness to take the place of social or national consciousness and develop into a form of magnified selfishness-consequences which, with all his practical wisdom, he had not foreseen. The evils of the family system were already apparent in the times of Han Feizi (end of the third century B.C.), in my

20、opinion the greatest of Chinas political thinkers of that period. Pictures of the political practices of his times contained in Han Feizis works fit in perfectly for present-day China, such as the breaking down of the civil service system through nepotism and favoritism, robbing the nation to enrich

21、 the family, the erection of rich villas by politicians, the absence of any punishment for offending officials, the consequent absence of public citizenship (in Han Feizis own words) and general lack of social consciousness. These were all pointed out by Han Feizi, who advocated a government by law

22、as the way out, and who had to drink hemlock, like Socrates. But, in theory at least, Confucius did not mean family consciousness to degenerate into a form of magnified selfishness at the cost of social integrity. He did, in his moral system, also allow for a certain amount of ultra-domestic kindnes

23、s. He meant the moral training in the family as the basis for general moral training, and he planned that from the general moral training a society should emerge which would live happily and harmoniously together. Only in this sense can one understand the tremendous emphasis placed on filial piety,”

24、 which is regarded as the first of all virtues. Confucius said: The reason why the gentleman teaches filial piety is not because it is to be seen in the home and everyday life. He teaches filial piety in order that man may respect all those who are fathers in the world. He teaches brotherliness in t

25、he younger brother, in order that man may respect all those who are elder brothers in the world. He teaches the duty of the subject, in order that man may respect all who are rulers in the world. Again, Confucius said: Those who love their parents dare not show hatred to others. Those who respect th

26、eir parents, dare not show rudeness to others. In this sense he could say to Zengzi, his disciple: Filial piety is the basis of virtue, and the origin of culture. Sit down again, and let me tell you. The body and hair and skin are received from the parents, and may not be injured: this is the beginn

27、ing of filial piety* To do the right thing and walk according to the right morals, thus leaving a good name in posterity, in order to glorify ones ancestors: this is the culmination of filial piety. Filial piety begins with serving ones parents, leads to serving ones king, and ends in establishing o

28、nes character. The whole moral philosophy was based on the theory of imitation in society and the theory of habit in education. The method of social education was by establishing the right mental attitude from childhood, beginning naturally at home. There is nothing wrong in this. Its only weakness

29、was the mixing of politics with morals. The consequences are fairly satisfactory for the family, but disastrous for the state. Seen as a social system, it was consistent. It firmly believed that a nation of good brothers and good friends should make a good nation. Yet, seen in modern eyes, Confucian

30、ism omitted out of the social relationships mans social obligations toward the stranger, and great and catastrophic was the omission. Samaritan virtue was unknown and practically discouraged. Theoretically, it was provided for in the doctrine of reciprocity. Confucius said of the gentleman: Wanting

31、to be successful himself, he helps others to be successful; wanting to stand on his own feet, he helps others to stand on their feet. But this relationship toward the others was not one of the five cardinal relationships, and not so clearly defined. The family, with its friends, became a walled cast

32、le, with the greatest communistic co-operation and mutual help within, but coldly indifferent toward, and fortified against, the world without. In the end, as it worked out, the family became a walled castle outside which everything is legitimate loot.家庭制度中国以前并没有“家庭制度”这样的社会学措词，我们只知道家庭是“国家的基础”，或者说，是人

33、类社会的基础。这种制度给我们所有的社会生活增添了色彩。这种制度是与个人有关的，正如我们有关政府的观念一样，是带有个人感情色彩的。家庭制度教导我们的孩子们的第一课就是人与人之间的社会责任，相互适应的必要，自制、礼节，明确的义务感，对父母感恩图报和对师长谦逊尊敬。这种制度几乎取代了宗教的地位，给人一种社会存在感与家族延续的感觉，从而满足人们永生的愿望。通过对祖先的崇拜，这种制度使得人们永生的愿望变得极为真切。家庭制度培植了家族的荣耀感，相似的荣誉感在西方也颇为常见。家庭制度甚至还可以涉足于个人事务。它从我们手中夺去了缔结婚姻的权利，把这种权利给了我们的父母；它让我们与“媳妇”结婚而不是与妻子结婚；它使