Abstract:

Since the modern times, China has gradually adopted the modern academic system that is marked by the classification of disciplines. Hence, the traditional ethical discourse is no longer the main “resource of moral knowledge”. While absorbing the Western learning and innovating the tradition, China’s moral transformation has developed both in theoretical construction and social reform. In the evolution from the paradigm of Neo-Confucianist “substance-function” to the paradigm of modern “ethics”, the discourse system of modern Chinese ethics has gradually taken shape. The innovation in concepts, values and methods constitutes the historical backdrop of the moral transformation in modern China. By translating Western works, YAN Fu et el. start the conceptual innovation in the modern ethical discourse so as to build the base of modern ethical system. The re-examination of the “relationship between righteousness （yi） and profit （li）” has initially formed the value system of modern ethics.

Key words: YAN Fu, Confucian ethics, discourse system, innovation