Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.12, 2020

The Change from the Yin to the Zhou in the Light of the Western Zhou System of De (德)

(Abstract)

Guo Yi

“De” (virtue) was a core concept in Western Zhou thought. Clarification of Western Zhou thought on de and its formation is the key to solving such major problems as the relationship between heaven and man during the change over from the Yin to the Zhou dynasty. De originally referred to “gain,” but during the Western Zhou it was extended to mean the Mandate of Heaven bestowed on the Zhou, from which seven meanings were derived. The external virtue of human relations and the internal virtue of human nature came directly from Heaven as the supreme deity and were exercised in the virtues of behavior, conduct and governance through the action of the heart. Accordingly, the change from the Yin to the Zhou dynasty was indeed a change from an old to a new culture. This replacement, however, was neither as gentle as Confucius had said nor as drastic as Wang Guowei thought. Rather, there was a marked continuity alongside a significant change between the old and new. This was manifest as the confluence of Heaven and man, thus launching the prelude to the axial age of mankind.