Li2 Chinese term meaning ‘rite’, ‘ritual’, ‘etiquette’, ‘ritual propriety’. In its earliest use, li refers to politico-religious rituals such as sacrifices to ancestors or funerals. Soon the term came to encompass matters of etiquette, such as the proper way to greet a guest. In some texts the li include even matters of morality or natural law. Mencius refers to li as a virtue, but it is unclear how it is distinct from his other cardinal virtues. Emphasis upon li is one of the distinctive features of Confucianism. Critics charge that this emphasis is a conflation of the natural with the conventional or simply naive traditionalism. Others claim that the notion of li draws attention to the subtle interdependence of morality and convention, and points the way to creating genuine communities by treating ‘the secular as sacred.’ See also CONFUCIANISM , MOHISM, TAOISM.
B.W.V.N.