Abstract: Building upon a critical departure from the traditional historical-theological framework of Christianity， Voltaire developed a novel historical philosophy imbued with a fresh perspective on world history and the history of civilizations. This provided France and indeed Europe， with a new vision of what constituted its own civilisation， its processes， and the historical positioning of other civilizations. Henceforth， the history of civilizations ceased to be a display of divine providence， but a history of Mœurs that chronicled the continuous advancement of human spirit and mind. Through a historical and empirical narrative of the changes of Mœurs， Voltaire’s philosophy of reason， natural theism， progressive historical view， and his notions of human nature and social theory are made into a unified whole. For Voltaire， “Mœurs” emerged not only as a pivotal concept for accessing and comprehending issues of civilization and order， but also as a novel perspective for analyzing the times and the spirit of the nation， the rationality of mankind and the progress of the mind. While Voltaire’s contributions were not fully absorbed into the subsequent sociological tradition of the study of Mœurs ， his history of Mœurs retained a significant place within the field of sociology of Mœurs， and was duly preserved and transformed. It became an important foundation for the theory of Mœurs since Montesquieu and for the science of Mœurs that Durkheim sought to establish， and it contributed a historical-comparative method of examining and analysing the zeitgeist of the times through the lens of the changes of Mœurs . Overall， the sociological significance of the history of Mœurs lies not only in the unique connotations of customs as a concept that encompasses character， psyche， and spirit， but also in its ability to capture the essence and fluctuations of the spiritual landscape of an era through the depiction of such customary elements as religion， law， science， and art. In short， the study of “Mœurs ” or “history of Mœurs ” provides an important conceptual and methodological foundation for understanding both the formation of Western sociology and the construction of early Chinese sociology，

Key words: Voltaire, history ofMœurs, changes ofMœurs, spirit of the age, sociological study ofMœurs