Author ｜
Miki Nakamura
Abstract ｜
The idea of shame (chi 恥) is widely used in East Asian countries. This study explores its own significant meanings as a sense of ethic and a code of conduct primarily by means of searching for original meanings of the term. The analysis in this article consists of two parts. Firstly, it discusses the various usages of the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period texts. Secondly, I focus on the ideas appearing in “The Three Admonitions (Sanxun 三訓) chapter in The Lost Book of Zhou Dynasty (Yizhoushu《逸周書》) . Earlier research on the concept of chi has not paid sufficient attention to its important role in this text. Taking this into account, this article presents the following two points. Firstly, the concept of chi in The Analects and The Mencius represents an image of a prompt person who is engaged in introspection and self-cultivation. In the case of The Book of Guanzi（《管子》）, however, a concept similar to the ideas of propriety (li 禮) and righteousness (yi 義) appears, all of which are regarded as means of exerting state control. Secondly, the chapter “Three Admonitions” in The Lost Book of Zhou Dynasty presents an argument: If the idea of shame pervades throughout the country like a custom to be regulated by the mandate of Heaven (ming 命) , it functions as a precept to suppress evil and promote virtue. The thoughts presented in “The Three Admonitions” include an idea of correlation between Heaven and human spheres, in which the concept of shame also shows similar ethical and political functions as concepts of luck and misfortune (福禍) , as well as rewards and punishments (shangfa 賞罰) . In this sense, the concept of shame is in a sense a very pivotal method for controlling people, and this can be observed in The Book of Guanzi.
keywords ｜
the idea of shame (chi), The Lost Book of Zhou Dynasty, “Mingxun” Chapters in the bamboo manuscripts preserved in the Qinghua University, method for ruling people