”Rites” is the most appropriate action to be taken when one interacts with different subjects. As an idealistic construct that exists in real life, the extremities of rites can be found documented in books on rites and ideologies. The Book of Rites, is a compilation of ancient Chinese rites. Compared to “Yi Li”, which emphasized on the documentation of rite ceremonies, “the Book of Rites ” focused on defining rites and not its complexities. The essence of “rites” is in fact a courteous intention as indicated by the book which can be applied to suit various occasions, thus making the Book of Rites one of the most important books on defining the meaning of rite.
Based on the Book of Rites’s process of compilation, one can see that it is a book which focused on “rites” with the editor’s own ideas incorporated. On the other hand, readers may interpret and try to understand what “rites” mean based on own understandings. These two aspects are representations of the Book of Rites’s closeness and openness in terms of meaning of rites as well as the book’s acceptance and rejection of reader participation. Traditional Chinese Classical studies focused on the learning of how to be a decent human being while handling things in the most proper way. Through Classical Studies, one is molded into a person with a right state of mind. Thus for the readers, Yi Li is a construct as well as a guiding principle on how to handle things appropriately by enhanced self-cultivation via gradual acceptance and practice of Classical teachings so one can reciprocate and respond to the society. For this reason, as long as the reader is able to adjust and respond to the book and his/her surroundings, he/she can form his/her own systematic thinking on knowledge and the world when faced with different situations.
This study aims to format a systematic investigation on “rites”. By utilizing the openness of Classical Studies toward reader participation, this study attempts to interpret and understand the meaning of “rites” by defining the principles of “rites” as well as the system constructed based on such principle. This study will then attempt to clarify how parts and the entire rite system interacts with its surroundings and illustrate how an open rite system help to create a balanced and stable relationship and in return put itself into use in real-life politics and society with possible ideologies proposed for the future.
