Long-term Discussion on "Restrain Oneself and Restore Rites" and Its Modern Values

Restrain Oneself and Rites is the core of Confucian theory.It has been discussed extensively for more than two thousand years.The discussion from Han Dynasty to Qing Dynasty centered on the right connotation of Restrain Oneself;the one from the May 4th new cultural Movement to Nowadays did on the real intension of Restore Rites.In this paper,it is regarded that the key of understanding correctly Restrain Oneself and Rites is how to explain Restore Rites.Restore has not only the meaning of recovering and returning,but also the one of practice and fulfilling.The rites in Zhou Dynasty are the core of Chinese culture,which merge the spirits of rites,respect,honesty,faith,trust and justice,with the external norm of rites,etiquette and ceremony.Confucian is a defender of the internal spirit of the rites in Zhou Dynasty.He opposed ceremonies without the internal spirits of rites.The aim of Confucian Restrain Oneself and Rites is to make people to recover the spirit and the moral of the rites in Zhou Dynasty by restraining themselves so that ones have kindheartedness with the perceptual and the society has the order and the harmony.The proposition that the aim of Restrain Oneself and Rites is kindheartedness still suits China and the world nowadays.It will provide some valued references to the construction of Chinese intellectual civilization and the establishment of the Global Ethics.