Abstract:

As a kind of the most direct, observable and vivid action in social life, the ritual is a symbolic carrier of cultural concepts.We can reveal a certain kind of culture in a given time and a value system of certain society when we throw light on those concepts contained in rituals.In a certain extent, the Confucian thought of propriety and music is similar to the thinking of modern study of rituals.And the Confucian"propriety"has a ritual function and effect in general.Since the pre-Qin period onward, Confucian scholars have quite emphasized its inner significance through their interpretations of its ritual action.Correspondingly, Confucian propriety-music culture, means of ritual action and procedural structure, also expresses a kind of common ideal and value, so as to normalize and regulate relations between men and those between individual and society, thus guaranteeing social order and unity.

Key words: Confucianism, propriety and music, ritual