An Exploration of the Primary Characteristics of Confucian Thinking in the Han and the Tang Dynasty

The historical phases of the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty witnessed significant development of Chinese Confucianism,which took the orthodox place in the world of social ideology and adapted to the utmost degree the patriarchal society as the maximal social existence in the day.Philosophically,the current Confucianism enhanced the transition from the outlook of telepathy between heaven and man to ontological philosophy by synthesizing ideas of different schools and fusing Buddhist thinking as a separate religion to advance by itself in the course of tolerating and excluding ideas of different schools and groups.Academically,Confucianism classicized Confucian instructions by emphasizing explanation and neglecting interpretation,successfully adapting itself to relatively backward demand for social development.This preconditioned the new historical demand for development and innovation of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty.