禮是人類社會規範行為的形式，而「運」即有演變、旋轉、運行、發展諸義。大抵〈禮運〉是言偃記錄的，其中保留了孔子)論禮的基本看法，但在流傳的過程中，又吸收了道、墨、孟、荀、易傳及陰陽五行的一些觀點，層層累積，融會擴充，而寫成於戰國晚期。 〈禮運〉專論治道，普及教育，源自濃厚的感恩思維。天地有情，生養萬物，與自然共存，有必要建立良好的王道政治，擺脫個人渺小的局限，追求人類可以持續發展的大生命。 〈禮運〉描述大同世界的願景和環保理念，天下大順，令人嚮往。「大道之行」就是「禮運」。「道」，理也；「禮」，亦理也，「大道」意即天理，「運」即運行、流行。「天下為公」的大同世界就是孔子所描述的願景。大抵孔子認為「禮運」可以改變世道人心，通過教育壓抑人性的私念，期望公道，選賢與能，講信修睦，穩定社會，追求平等的政制。甚至天人合一，尊重生態環境，與自然平等相待，飲食必時，生物蕃衍，一切都合乎情理的需要，對山河大地表現感恩之情，建構和諧社會的「順」境。

Rites (li) are forms of social norms while movement (yun) also has the meanings of change, turning, operating and development, etc.Recorded by a disciple of Confucius, “Liyun”contains the basic viewpoints of Confucius concerning li. In the course of its circulation, thoughts from other schools besides Confucianism had been added. It took its present shape during the late Warring-states Period. “Liyun” theorizes on the ways of governing and education, with its ideas originating from the profound thought of thankfulness. It opines that humans should live with nature and should establish govenments of benevolence. “Liyun” begins with this sentence: “Dadao zhi xing ye, tianxia wei gong.大道之行也，天下為公.”Here dao 道 and li 禮 both mean li 理(idea); dadao means the idea of nature while yun means operating or moving. Dadao zhi xing is liyun. Tianxia wei gong, “the world as justness,”or, “the world as one belonging to all,” is the dadong shijie 大同世界, a vision depicted by Confucius. The sage believes that Rites could improve human thinking and behavior and eventually make the world a better place; that Rites could, through education, have the effects of ridding humans of privates desires, of achieving justice, of electing the virtuous and the capable, of stabilizing the society and of pursuing a political system of equality. Rites could even cultivate such ideas as enjoying nature-human unity, protecting the environment, expressing gratitute for mother-nature, and contructing a harmonious society.