ABSTRACT
In modern Eastern Asian society such as in Japan and South Korea, the distinctive features and huge influence of “ritual culture” can be seen. One of the themes of the May Fourth New Cultural Movement in 1919 was to lash out at the “feudal ethical codes” of Confucianism. Confucianism lays particular stress on “rites” as the norm of group relations, international relations in particular. The Book of Rites: Summary of the Rules of Propriety states that “courtesy demands reciprocity”, which obviously reveals that rites require equality in human communication. Liang Shuming thought that the ideal of ritual music was an ideal social pattern for human beings. The influence of ritual culture finds its expression in the emphasis on the etiquette of interpersonal communication and the difference in leader-member relations as well as restraint and regulations, hence traditional factors in the modernity of East Asia. Compared with ancient Confucian ritual study, ritual study after the 11th century has its own features.
