The Chinese Jiaxun (Family Precepts) in Pre-Qin (Before 221BC) Literature
Tong, Ho Kin

Abstract
The jiaxun (family precepts) is a key family education media in China from ancient time to the Qing Period (2100 BC-1911). In China, most of family precepts aim at cultivating spirituality of individual in the art of interacting with other people, managing one’s family and sustaining one’s family and its status in the society. The Pre-Qin family precepts is a neglected area in this field as current researches normally focus on family precepts from the Han Period (206 BC-220) to the Qing Period (1644-1911). The family precepts in the Pre-Qin literature mainly appeared as extracts of written monologues or dialogues in collections of prose which were not intentionally written for family juniors. This paper discusses Pre-Qin family precepts in the following areas: (1) definition of Pre-Qin family precepts; (2) extant works that fit the proposed definition of family precepts; (3) spiritual features of these Pre-Qin family precepts; (4) role of these works in the research of Chinese family precepts.

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