The Pattern of Chinese Culture and Confucianism:A Study of "Ritual(li)"

Scholars usually tend to understand the features of Chinese culture from Confucianism but unable to explain why Confucianism has dominated in Chinese culture for such a long time. This paper argues that the fact has much to do with the deep psychological structure of Chinese people that had been formulated even before the rise of Confucianism. In the case of ritual(li) as one of the key Confucian concepts,the pattern or the psychological structure of Chinese culture,and the characteristics of being guanxi-based or relational,has determined that ritual is more powerful than law in social-institutional integration. This fact demonstrates that Confucianism has a strong basis in the soil of Chinese culture. To see the continuity of the pattern or the psychological structure,we will have a better understanding about the importance of Confucianism in modern China.