著者

聶 莉莉 Nie Lili

出版者

国立民族学博物館

雑誌

国立民族学博物館研究報告 = Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology (ISSN:0385180X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.19, no.1, pp.61-94, 1994-08-25

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This article aims to describe and analyze the influence of Confucianismon Chinese peasant society. This analysis is based on field workin Haicheng Prefecture, Liaoning Province from August 1987 toSeptember 1988.The influence of Confucianism upon peasant society came throughvarious routes, such as:1) the influence of the intelligentsia.2) education.3) widely read pamphlets.4) folk entertainment.5) the law of the lineage.By these routes, the ethics of Confucianism deeply permeated the peasantsociety, influencing ideas and the form of social relations.On the other hand, Confucianism is, after all, a theory of Confucianscholars, and could not be realized completely in actual society.There are some gaps between the theory of Confucianism and its practicein peasant society. Confucianism maintains that morals have universality,but in peasant society morals are always closely related to specific people.Xiao (filial piety) is one of the most important moral concepts inConfucianism, and includes vang (support) , zang (funeral) , ji (holdingceremonies for the ancestors) , and a strong attachment to one'sparents. But in fact, the obligation of a son to look after his parents isalways related to the inheritance of property from the parents. He (harmony)is taken very seriously in Confucianism, and as a result, peasantsalso regard he as the most ideal moral state. But in the traditional extendedfamily, quarrels between married brothers and each nuclear familyoccur repeatedly.Because of such gaps, there is a dual character in peasant society.That is, although peasants claim to follow Confucian morals, in realitythey think of their own interests. In dealing with others, they make theirrequests in the language of Confucian ideals, but to themselves theyusually stress their own interests with various pretexts.