Etiquette practice:the starting point and landing point of Confucian medical decision-making

Medical care is not only related to individual life, aging, illness, and death, but also a negative force that tears apart existing family relationships. Compared with Western principled bioethics, Confucian bioethics emphasizes that in medical practice should be based on virtues, centered on the family, and guided by etiquette practices to make the most appropriate decisions for patients’ healthcare. As a moral practice theory, etiquette practice has established an appropriate starting point and landing point for the moral pursuit of Confucianism, as well as is reflected in the process of family joint decision-making in aspects such as family medical decision-making, informed consent, and coping with death. There are important prerequisites for the Confucian tradition to address current medical practice issues, which involve analyzing the essence of Confucian bioethics and clarifying the interactive relationship between etiquette and principles.