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Lushi jiagui 陸氏家規

Sep 26, 2013 © Ulrich Theobald

Lushi jiagui 陸氏家規 "Master Lu's family rules" is a treatise on the Confucian family model written by the Song-period 宋 (960-1279) scholar Lu Jiushao 陸九韶 (1128-1205), courtesy name Zimei 子美, style Suoshan Jushi 梭山居士. He was a brother of the famous Neo-Confucian philosopher Lu Jiuyuan 陸九淵 (1139-1193).

The text is divided into four great "guidelines" (dagang 大綱) and 18 "paragraphs". The basic idea is that in the question of adapting one's behaviour to one's social role, no single aspect had to be left out, and that particularly comportment in the women's quarters were as critical as at the imperial court. The text explains that the hierarchical head of the family was responsible for all fields of management, beginning with the fields, taxation and the fuel for the kitchen, to the treatment of guests. The Lushi jiagui rules are so detailed that even the portions of rice and fuel are mentioned that have to be handed over to particular members of the household and their guests. Each morning the head of the family assembled the household to bring offerings to the ancestral altar, then instructed the assembly in moral questions, and finally sent them out to do their daywork. The family members were likewise lectured after a meal, an occasion during which the family head would also punish evildoers among the household, and, in worst case, hand him or her over to the authorities and expel the person from the family.

The Lushi jiagui is included in the local gazetteer Jinxi xian zhi 金溪縣志.

Source:
Jiaoyu da cidian bianzuan weiyuanhui 教育大辭典編纂委員會, ed. (1991). Jiaoyu da cidian 教育大辭典, part 8, Zhongguo gudai jiaoyu shi 中國古代教育史 (Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe), Vol. 1, 248.