Andrew T W Hung

This article attempts to discuss the dispute between J.L. Schellenberg and Michael Rea about the “hiddenness of God”, and points out that “hiddenness of God” does not support the idea that God does not exist. Furthermore, numerous accounts show that many people have experienced personal relationships with God. For those people, God exist truly and God is not disengaged and indifferent. This article also argues that although Schellenberg and Rea have very different views on divine hiddenness, both assume that "the hiddenness of God" is not good. Based on Christian spirituality and eschatology, I argue that even if divine hiddenness happens, it is only temporary, and it may enhance one’s spirituality and enrich one’s way of the experience of God.
本文嘗試討論J. L. Schellenberg和Michael Rea之間有關「上帝的隱藏」的爭議，並指出「上帝的隱藏」不能證明上帝不存在，並且有很多文獻顯示，很多人都曾經驗過與神建立親身的關係，對那些人說，上帝是真實存在，並非抽離、遙不可及。本文亦指出雖然Schellenberg和Rea對「上帝的隱藏」有很不同的看法，但他們都不約而同地假設了「上帝的隱藏」是不好的。然而，筆者從靈修學與終末論角度去思考，並指出就算上帝真的向信徒隱藏自己，「上帝的隱藏」都只是暫時的，並且可能使信徒對神有新的體驗，造就信徒靈命有深度成長。

This paper explores the philosophy of tertiary civic education in Hong Kong. It does not only investigate the role of tertiary education that can play in civic education, but also explores the way to achieve the aim of integrating liberal democratic citizenship and collective national identity in the context of persistent conflicts between two different identity politics in Hong Kong: politics of assimilation and politics of difference. As Hong Kong is part of China and is inevitably getting closer cooperation with the Mainland in the future, this paper argues that Hong Kong citizenship should affirm its own distinctiveness while also identifying with Chinese nationality. Thus, tertiary civic education should foster a trans-cultural political vision so that the two different horizons can be synthesized, and the political framework and identity can be transformed in order to reduce conflicts between the two peoples.

本文嘗試從基督教角度探討傳統儒家孝道於現代社會的價值，筆者指出儒家孝道主張尊敬、奉養父母，其且要照顧自己，品行端正，以致光宗耀祖，這合乎基督教思想，在現代社會亦適用。本文亦探討五四運動對儒家孝道的批評可能犯了時代錯誤謬論，傳統儒家政治問題主要在於「家國同構」，不能因此否定孝道和孝治。但中國歷史中的確出現了愚忠愚孝的觀念，亦帶來不少傷害，故新儒家學者都強調先秦儒家有諫諍父母的觀念，筆者亦探討親親相隱的張力，指出傳統儒家的確有以血緣親情至上的傾向，阻礙現代化進展，筆者主張現代孝道應是以真理為基礎的批評性孝道，於此，基督教強調真理的超越性可提供支持。筆者並指出在過去西方基督教思想與儒家思想的互動中相方的確可以有雙互學習和彼此支持建立之處，尤其在儒家視野對比下，西方基督教的確較忽略孝道的重要性，而基督教的恩典觀有助實現儒家「修身、齊家、治國、平天下」的理想，在現今孝道衰落的時代基督教亦有助推動合乎上帝真理的孝道文化。

This paper attempts to explore the value of traditional Confucian filial piety in modern society from the Christian perspective. I point out that Confucian filial piety advocates respect and alimony, and children must take care of themselves, behave in a virtuous manner, and bring honor to one's family. This is consistent with Christian thought and still applicable in modern society. This article also discusses that the criticism of the Confucian filial piety made by the May Fourth Movement may have committed the anachronistic fallacy. The problem of traditional Confucian politics lies mainly in the "isomorphism of family and state". It cannot, therefore, deny the value of filial piety and the rule by filial piety. However, the concepts of blind loyalty and blind filial piety have indeed appeared in Chinese history, and they have brought a lot of harm to the Chinese. Therefore, Neo-Confucian scholars have emphasized that pre-Qin Confucianism has the concept of remonstrance. I also explore the tension between kin concealment and impartiality, and point out that traditional Confucianism does have the tendency of upholding the supremacy of blood relatives which hinders the progress of modernization. I argue that modern filial piety should be a truth-based critical filial piety that can be supported by the transcendent nature of the Truth in Christian thought. I also point out that in the past, the interactions between Western Christian thought and Confucianism show that both theories can mutually learn from and support each other. In particular, Western Christian ethics tends to ignore the importance of filial piety in light of Confucianism. The Christian concept of grace can also help to realize the Confucian ideal of “cultivating the self, regulating the family, and then governing the state, and lead the world to peace”. In the era of the decline of filial piety, Christianity can promote the culture of filial piety that conforms to the Truth of God.

This paper explores Max Weber’s three criticisms of Confucianism: lack of tension between this world and the transcendent world, overemphasizing harmony of kin relationship and the lack of spirit of professionalism. Although Weber's viewpoints have been criticized by many scholars, such as Thomas A. Mazger, Tu WeiMing and Yu Yingshih, I would argue that Weber's criticism is not completely unreasonable. Compared with the "external transcendence" of Christianity, Confucian "inner transcendence" is indeed more difficult in forming the tension with the transcendent world. And the prevalence of vulgar Confucianism through the emphasis of familial relational ethics also makes the Chinese people give priority to the human relationship and saving face over professional norms and transcendent truth. This becomes a kind of nepotism which violates the ideal of pre-Qin Confucianism. However, the emergence of the East Asian economic miracle in recent years also reflects that Weber has ignored that the Confucian familial relational ethics can become a cultural driving force for the diligence and economic development of the country, which is similar to Weber’s thesis of Protestant ethics. By comparing the Japanese family system of Iemoto, it shows that Confucianism is able to transcend the bound of consanguinity. Furthermore, I would argue that Christian belief can help the modernization of Chinese culture. Christianity emphasizes the family value of the present world which is sustained by the Redemption and love of Christ. It believes that the Heavenly Family is the model of the human family in which obedience to the Heavenly Father's will as the Ultimate Truth is overriding to other relationships. Such belief is not only compatible with Confucian family values, it also helps the Chinese to break through the barriers caused by nepotism.

Ritual propriety (li) and benevolence (ren) are the central concerns of Confucius. However, ritual have been largely neglected by moderns as well as by certain Neo-Confucianists under the influence of Enlightenment which stresses individual rationality and being suspicious of traditional rituals as indoctrination which obstruct one's rational reflection. This article attempts to refute the criticism of traditional rituals given by the Enlightenment thought. Inspired by linguistic hermeneutics by Gadamer and Charles Taylor, I argue that as human beings are embodied agents who are historically situated, our understanding of the world inevitably involve prejudice or narrative derived meaning from tradition. However, in order to avoid blind observance of rituals which leads to stagnation of tradition, the development of tradition must be flexible and should be kept renovating through articulation and interacting dialogue between participants according to changing circumstance. The repetition in rituals does not necessarily exclude rational reflection; rather it helps to strength one's virtuous character. This article concludes that as long as we can keep tradition alive and practice rituals reflectively, Confucian rituals can still play an important role in moral cultivation and formation of social values even in the modern society.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to argue for the values of familial caring and relationships in addition to the provision of social media technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachThe discussion of this paper has adopted an inter-disciplinary approach by integrating health care system and psychological analysis, based on cultural philosophical argument through the hermeneutic approach of classical texts and critical analysis.FindingsThe COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the dilemma between the public health measures for COVID-19 and sustaining elderly social psychological health through familial connection. From a Confucian perspective, the practice of filial piety (xiao, 孝), which demands taking care of parents, is essential for one’s moral formation, and for one’s becoming a virtuous (ren, 仁) person. The necessity of taking care of elderly parents by adult children is not something that can be explained in terms of consequentialism. Indeed, the ri...

Purpose-The aim of this paper is to argue for the values of familial caring and relationships in addition to the provision of social media technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach-The discussion of this paper has adopted an inter-disciplinary approach by integrating health care system and psychological analysis, based on cultural philosophical argument through the hermeneutic approach of classical texts and critical analysis. Findings-The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the dilemma between the public health measures for COVID-19 and sustaining elderly social psychological health through familial connection. From a Confucian perspective, the practice of filial piety (xiao, 孝), which demands taking care of parents, is essential for one's moral formation, and for one's becoming a virtuous (ren, 仁) person. The necessity of taking care of elderly parents by adult children is not something that can be explained in terms of consequentialism. Indeed, the rising trend of instrumental rationality seems to weaken rather than strengthen the sense of filial obligation. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic which tends to separate connections between family members, the author argues that we should emphasize the values of familial caring and relationship because it enhances the elderly's characteristic of resilience. Originality/value-This paper shows that while social media technology has mitigated the negative effect of social distancing, such online relationships should never replace the bodily connections between the elderly and their family members from a Confucian perspective.

This paper compares Aristotle’s theory of friendship with that of Confucius and Mencius. It shows that all of them are concerned with how friendship is related to virtuous cultivation. In light of Aristotle’s taxonomy of friendship, I argue that Aristotle’s utility and pleasure friendship would not be considered friendship for Confucians. Although Confucians’ discussion of friendship is not as systematic and theorized as Aristotle, Confucius’ biography and his relationship with his disciples show a vivid picture and idea of Confucian friendship. I also argue that Confucians’ emphasis on trustworthiness and familism in his theory of friendship and Aristotle’s stress of equality among friends can be mutually supplementary. In view of such comparison, I argue that while the family relationship is important in the formation of one’s virtuous character which is conducive to making virtue friendship, friendships can be considered a bridge between family and civil society in cultivating civic virtues.

Isaiah Berlin argues for negative liberty and criticizes positive liberty as a kind of fake liberty which may lead to the problem of despotism. However, for Mencius, in order to confront a corrupted social system, one has to be a great man which exactly implies the idea of positive liberty. This paper argues that while both negative and positive liberties are implicated in Mencius’ thought, Mencius’ main concern is positive liberty implied in the idea of a great man; and the ground of his implicit acceptance of negative liberty is different from Berlin’s. I also explore how Mencius’ philosophy can respond to Berlin’s criticism of positive liberty. This study attempts to evaluate positive liberty, and to affirm its significance in the light of Mencius’ philosophy.

Abstract This article compares Habermas’s and Taylor’s approach to the role of religious language in a liberal democracy. It shows that the difference in their approach is not simply in their theories of religious language. The contrast lies deeper, in their incompatible moral theories: Habermas’s universal discourse ethics vs Taylor’s communitarian substantive ethics. I also explore William Rehg’s defence of discourse ethics by conceding that it is based on a metavalue of rational consensus. However, I argue that Habermas’s and Rehg’s discourse ethics and translation proviso are untenable. While Taylor rightly argues that there is no reason to exclude religious reason from the formal political sphere, his proposed fusion of horizons to generate a new hybrid framework is also problematic. I suggest that Taylor’s historical hermeneutics should be extended to include the narrative approach to ethical deliberation as conducive to mutual experiential understanding, and hence to achieving a fusion of horizons of the diverse worlds of citizens in a liberal democracy.

Michael C. Rea is Rev. John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Philosophy of Religion. In this book, Rea deals with two problems induced by divine hiddenness. They are [1] the argument against the existence of God, most notably by J. L. Schellenberg; and [2] the challenge of the idea of God’s love. Rea’s approach to the issues involves two steps to respond to these two problems respectively. The first step involves two arguments to show that the hiddenness problems are based on an unfounded assumption about divine love. The first argument, in Chapter 2, is that Schellenberg’s problem is based on a concept of God which is different from and fails to target specifically Christian belief in God. For Rea, the problem of divine hiddenness is fundamentally “a problem of violated expectations” (p. 25).

In his book, A Secular Age, Charles Taylor suggests using the notion of fullness as a focal point for dialogue between different religious or non-religious beliefs and traditions. However, Taylor’s notion of fullness can hardly correspond with Buddhism which emphasizes the notion of emptiness and anatman (selfless). In contrast, Paul Tillich’s the concept of ultimate concern is very influential in regard to East Asian Religions. Contemporary Confucians and Buddhist scholars also find that Tillich’s concept of ultimate concern can adequately cover the concerns of different religions and provide a bridge for inter-religious dialogue. Nonetheless, Tillich’s suggestion of the framework of an ideal religion seems to be too Christian-centric and is hardly accepted by other religions. Furthermore, I argue that Taylor’s historical comparative hermeneutical approach can be complementary to Tillich’s method of dialectical correlation so that substantial interreligious dialogue and formation of certain hybrid forms of a religious framework might be achieved.

This paper compares Aristotle’s theory of friendship with that of Confucius and Mencius. It shows that all of them are concerned with how friendship is related to virtuous cultivation. In light of Aristotle’s taxonomy of friendship, I argue that Aristotle’s utility and pleasure friendship would not be considered friendship for Confucians. Although Confucians’ discussion of friendship is not as systematic and theorized as Aristotle, Confucius’ biography and his relationship with his disciples show a vivid picture and idea of Confucian friendship. I also argue that Confucians’ emphasis on trustworthiness and familism in his theory of friendship and Aristotle’s stress of equality among friends can be mutually supplementary. In view of such comparison, I argue that while the family relationship is important in the formation of one’s virtuous character which is conducive to making virtue friendship, friendships can be considered a bridge between family and civil society in cultivating civic virtues.

Ritual propriety (li) and benevolence (ren) are the central concerns of Confucius. However, ritual have been largely neglected by moderns as well as by certain Neo-Confucianists under the influence of Enlightenment which stresses individual rationality and being suspicious of traditional rituals as indoctrination which obstruct one's rational reflection. This article attempts to refute the criticism of traditional rituals given by the Enlightenment thought. Inspired by linguistic hermeneutics by Gadamer and Charles Taylor, I argue that as human beings are embodied agents who are historically situated, our understanding of the world inevitably involve prejudice or narrative derived meaning from tradition. However, in order to avoid blind observance of rituals which leads to stagnation of tradition, the development of tradition must be flexible and should be kept renovating through articulation and interacting dialogue between participants according to changing circumstance. The repetition in rituals does not necessarily exclude rational reflection; rather it helps to strength one's virtuous character. This article concludes that as long as we can keep tradition alive and practice rituals reflectively, Confucian rituals can still play an important role in moral cultivation and formation of social values even in the modern society.

Isaiah Berlin argues for negative liberty and criticizes positive liberty as a kind of fake liberty which may lead to the problem of despotism. However, for Mencius, in order to confront a corrupted social system, one has to be a great man which exactly implies the idea of positive liberty. This paper argues that while both negative and positive liberties are implicated in Mencius’ thought, Mencius’ main concern is positive liberty implied in the idea of a great man; and the ground of his implicit acceptance of negative liberty is different from Berlin’s. I also explore how Mencius’ philosophy can respond to Berlin’s criticism of positive liberty. This study attempts to evaluate positive liberty, and to affirm its significance in the light of Mencius’ philosophy.

This paper attempts to explore Augustine’s ethics in light of internet addiction in the age of digitalization. According to cyber-psychologists, there are five subtypes of Internet addiction that are prevalent in modern society. They are cybersexual addiction, cyber-relationship addiction, net compulsions, information overload, and computer addiction; and among these the prevalence of cybersexual addiction is the most worrying. With such background, I then go on to explore Augustine’s theory of will, desire, and concupiscence, and his debates with Julian, a supporter of Pelagius. Although many scholars, just like Julian, criticize Augustine’s view of body and sexuality as too negative, in light of the prevalence of cybersexual addiction and other kinds of addiction, we can see Augustine’s caution regarding concupiscence is a good reminder to us to be aware of the possible damage caused by an inordinate sexual desire. I then explore the psychological process of addiction and argue that it is consistent with Augustine’s model of lust-habit-addictive necessity. I also defend Augustine’s idea of concupiscence as desire against one’s will and argue that it is also applicable to different kinds of internet addictions. For Augustine, human concupiscence comes from the Fall of the first parents which damaged our nature and free will and makes us remain in a state of weakness of will permanently so that we find it hard to resist the temptation of different enticing features of the internet and easily become internet addicted. However, our sin and weakness of will also remind us of our limitations and the need to seek the help of Divine grace.

Charles Taylor criticizes many liberal theories based on a kind of atomism that assumes the individual self-sufficiency outside the polity. This not only causes soft-relativism and political fragmentation but also undermines the solidarity of the community, that is, the very condition of the formation of autonomous citizens. Taylor thus argues for communitarian politics which protects certain cultural common goods for sustaining the solidarity of the community. However, Brenda Lyshaug criticizes Taylor’s communitarianism as suppressing plurality and enhancing hostility among cultural groups. In the face of such controversies, I argue for modern Confucian familism which emphasizes the family as a common good that provides a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for nurturing children and cultivating civility for future generations with a sense of community and autonomy. I also defend Confucian familism from four possible criticisms: insufficiency of familism, hierarchical relationship in the family, the danger of nepotism and challenge from postmodern families. I argue that unlike traditional Confucianism, modern moderation of the Confucian family can greatly reduce the hierarchical problem; its emphasis on the family as one of the foundations of politics can avoid the danger of being atomistic liberalism and suppressive communitarianism.

In this article, I examine and respond to Charles Taylor's phenomenology of language. Taylor argues for the constitutive theory of language by refuting the designative theory of language. According to Taylor, designative theory fails to grasp the constitutive nature of language which opens up human meanings and values, shapes our emotions, and defines our social footings. Metaphors and symbols convey important insights about human reality through extending our language capacity. By comparing with Paul Ricoeur's and Avery Dulles' analysis of symbols, we can also see the significance of figurative speech in religious life. Finally, the anticipated criticism of Taylor's argument of moral felt intuition is also defended.

Michael Sandel, a prominent communitarian philosopher, is famous in his criticism of John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice and his lively teaching skill demonstrated in the Harvard course ‘Justice’. He criticizes Rawls’ liberalism for assuming a notion of an unencumbered self, which is not only in tension with his principles of justice, but also denying the human capability of deep evaluation on moral good thus discouraging the public deliberation of morality. By his historical retrieval, Sandel shows how the tradition of civic republicanism has been gradually replaced by liberalism in the American political history. The triumph of liberalism might be due to mass migration, the globalizing economy and the culture of consumerism, in which commodification of nearly everything and the unrestraint use of bioengineering has finally crowded out morality and corrupting human values that are important to republican self-government. In the face of modernity, Sandel calls for reviving civic republicanism with sovereignty diffused into multiplicity of political communities.

This article compares Habermas’s and Taylor’s approach to the role of religious language in a liberal democracy. It shows that the difference in their approach is not simply in their theories of religious language. The contrast lies deeper, in their incompatible moral theories: Habermas’s universal discourse ethics vs Taylor’s communitarian substantive ethics. I also explore William Rehg’s defence of discourse ethics by conceding that it is based on a metavalue of rational consensus. However, I argue that Habermas’s and Rehg’s discourse ethics and translation proviso are untenable. While Taylor rightly argues that there is no reason to exclude religious reason from the formal political sphere, his proposed fusion of horizons to generate a new hybrid framework is also problematic. I suggest that Taylor’s historical hermeneutics should be extended to include the narrative approach to ethical deliberation as conducive to mutual experiential understanding, and hence to achieving a fusion of horizons of the diverse worlds of citizens in a liberal democracy.

This paper explores the philosophy of tertiary civic education in Hong Kong. It does not only investigate the role of tertiary education that can play in civic education, but also explores the way to achieve the aim of integrating liberal democratic citizenship and collective national identity in the context of persistent conflicts between two different identity politics in Hong Kong: politics of assimilation and politics of difference. As Hong Kong is part of China and is inevitably getting closer cooperation with the Mainland in the future, this paper argues that Hong Kong citizenship should affirm its own distinctiveness while also identifying with Chinese nationality. Thus, tertiary civic education should foster a trans-cultural political vision so that the two different horizons can be synthesized, and the political framework and identity can be transformed in order to reduce conflicts between the two peoples. Abstract This paper explores the philosophy of tertiary civic education in Hong Kong. It does not only investigate the role of tertiary education that can play in civic education, but also explores the way to achieve the aim of integrating liberal democratic citizenship and collective national identity in the context of persistent conflicts between two different identity politics in Hong Kong: politics of assimilation and politics of difference. As Hong Kong is part of China and is inevitably getting closer cooperation with the Mainland in the future, this paper argues that Hong Kong citizenship should affirm its own distinctiveness while also identifying with Chinese nationality. Thus, tertiary civic education should foster a trans-cultural political vision so that the two different horizons can be synthesized, and the political framework and identity can be transformed in order to reduce conflicts between the two peoples. Abstract This paper explores the philosophy of tertiary civic education in Hong Kong. It does not only investigate the role of tertiary education that can play in civic education, but also explores the way to achieve the aim of integrating liberal democratic citizenship and collective national identity in the context of persistent conflicts between two different identity politics in Hong Kong: politics of assimilation and politics of difference. As Hong Kong is part of China and is inevitably getting closer cooperation with the Mainland in the future, this paper argues that Hong Kong citizenship should affirm its own distinctiveness while also identifying with Chinese nationality. Thus, tertiary civic education should foster a trans-cultural political vision so that the two different horizons can be synthesized, and the political framework and identity can be transformed in order to reduce conflicts between the two peoples.

本書是以跨科際的進路探討中國傳統婚姻與兩性文化以及其現代轉變，並就著一些現代婚姻與兩性議題，對傳統文化作一現代哲思。



This book is to investigate the modern transformation of traditional Chinese marriage and gender culture with an interdisciplinary approach. It also makes a modern philosophical reflection on traditional culture in face of certain modern marriage and gender issues.

This is a Chinese book that introduces and reflects on Chinese family culture and morality.

筆者原先是讀電腦工程的，其後去研讀神學、宗教和哲學時有機會接觸中國文化科目，內容都是講中國儒、釋、道思想、中國的文學、藝術、心理等，上課時除了討論家庭和心理外，其他內容都有一份莫名的陌生感；自小長輩常告訴我﹕「我們中國人深受儒家思想影響」，但我自小並沒有讀儒家經典，當我成年後研讀時便出現莫名的陌生感，為甚麼我對這些內容如此陌生？難道我身處文化並非中國文化？直至過去幾年在香港理工大學專業及持續教育學院教通識科目「中國家庭與文化」，才突然有種強烈親切感：「這就是自小到大影響著我的中國文化！」很多討論中國文化或中西文化比較書籍都會討論哲學宗教、文學藝術、政治經濟等，但事實上一般人對儒家典籍、詩詞歌賦都認識不多，所以如果從哲學文學去討論中國文化，讀者會感到很陌生，甚至懷疑自己是否真的受中國文化影響，又或中國文化是否依然有價值。筆者在教導「中國家庭文化」的過程中深深體會到：我們不一定熟悉中國歷史和傳統典籍，但中國文化就在我們的家庭中，一代一代潛移默化地傳承下來，深深影響著我們的處事、思想和價值觀；另外有部分中國文化亦因近年西方現代文化和工商業化影響而作出了調適和轉變。這些教學經驗亦令筆者重新認識和反思自我和所處的文化。
筆者在備課時發覺找有關中國家庭文化參考書籍並不容易，大多都只是歷史進路，如家庭史或婚姻史，大多資料陳述，較少對傳統價值進行反思；又或只是社會學進路，多討論中國家庭現代化轉變和適應，對傳統家庭觀念只簡單概括及批評，缺乏對傳統的歷史視野和欣賞；至於中國家庭對於個人的價值觀、社會文化、甚至政治經濟文化影響的探討就更少。筆者原本只是想出版一本資料性的書籍，但因筆者的哲學訓練和教學背景的影響，在教授這一科目時總喜歡進一步發問、思考傳統價值和現代社會文化的優點和不足，以獨立批評性角度思考傳統和現代化問題，故一邊教學一邊進一步研究中國家庭文化。由於課堂需要每位同學交一份「家庭個案分析」，透過閱讀超過一千位同學的功課和課堂上的討論，再加上筆者過去在教會和一些非牟利團體結識的朋友，以及與中外學者的交流等等，都讓筆者有機會認識到很多真實家庭故事和文化，有助筆者對中國家庭文化進一步反思和產生一些看法。本書不單只是從歷史和社會學角度，亦涉及人類學、心理輔導、宗教和哲學的分析，偶然亦會與西方文化作比較分析，以及討論包含中國大陸、香港、台灣家庭現代化的發展分別，可謂一跨科際的進路，同時也有筆者不少獨特的研究心得，希望本書對有關議題能有所貢獻。筆者亦很感激羅國洪先生和蔣瑋茵女士對本書提出寶貴意見，若本書有甚麼錯漏，責任仍在筆者。
一般寫傳統中國家庭的書籍亦會討論到古代婚姻家庭起源、煩瑣的婚禮、父母之命、媒妁之言、三妻四妾、三從四德、貞烈觀等，這些觀念都備受現代人批評，但筆者發覺很多有關批評都太片面，並非不對，只是未能多角度去思考；但由於篇幅所限，未能在此討論。筆者不敢自跨書中內容有甚麼過人之處，只期望透過本書可與不同學人對中國家庭文化一起進行反思和交流。