ABSTRACT

Let us hear what he has to say: "By the Odes the mind is aroused, by Rules of Propriety the character is established." Who can deny with confidence that his view is right? For instance, he says further, "Without the Rules of Propriety, respectfulness becomes laborious bustle, carefulness becomes timidity, boldness becomes insubordination, and straight-forwardness becomes rudeness." These sentences are taken from the "Li Ki," the most serious book on etiquette ever written, and in their collected form the rules go back to the Han Dynasty.