A Virtue-based Government——the Foundational Significance of the Transition from the Yin to the Zhou Dynasty to Chinese Culture

Chinese culture was founded at the transition from the Yin to the Zhou Dynasty,whose primary values lay in the ideal of a virtue-based government.This great ideal was developed creatively by the people of Zhou,who,after successfully overthrowing the Shang Dynasty,had to face grave challenge to the monarchy,to make every attempt to cope with challenges,to deal with both history and reality,to cope with those conquered tribes of different families and to stand the contest of ruling the nation.The virtue-based government was both a significant legacy the people of Zhou left to the later generations and a heavy burden upon the shoulder of the Chinese people.From a contemporary perspective,our historical duty is to criticize and reflect this key character of Chinese culture so as to re-shape our human ideal with a humanistic mind.