Social Order and the Integration of Confucian Ethic of Huizhou in the Middle and Late Ming Dynasty

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty,the lower parts of society were characterized by turbulence. In the integration of the disordered society,the power of the country permeated the lower parts of society through local authorities. Chief administrators,with their scholar-bureaucrat spirits,made efforts to comfort and compensate people hit by natural adversities. They standardized social rules according to the Confucian ethic and controlled people's behaviors by unifying the state and Taoism. Country gentlemen sacrificed themselves,advocated denying self and returning to propriety in order to unite people and maintain social order.Traditional Confucian ethic plays an important role in the changing times.