Abstract

This paper aims to elucidate the philosophical meaning of the Neo-Confucian concept of ritual propriety (li 禮). In the Neo-Confucian view, the advent of ritual propriety occurred by the tension between the moral ideal and ontological predicaments of human beings, such as material disposition (qibing 氣稟) and human desires (renyu 人欲). Although human affairs (renshi 人事) should be conducted according to the Heavenly principle (tianli 天理), it would be extremely difficult for human beings to accomplish it. To resolve this problem, Neo-Confucians pay significant attention to ritual propriety, which serves as appropriate criteria in one’s everyday life. They define ritual propriety as the “formal code of human affairs,” which indicates the accessible instruction manual established by the sage, whereby human beings could start practicing to realize their original nature, which is the endowed Heavenly principle in their heart-and-mind. They also suggest the way to practice ritual propriety called “learning by familiarization” (xishu 習熟). Tis learning strategy requires one to accustom oneself to accordingly conducting ritual propriety since one’s childhood, like habit formation, as a groundwork for the higher level of learning. Seeking “genuine knowledge” (zhenzhi 眞知) through “apprehension of principles” (qiongli 窮理) as the next step of learning ritual propriety. In so doing, Neo-Confucians investigate the source of oughtness of human beings.