Premium
State Ritual in Late Imperial China
Author(s) -
Pidhainy Ihor
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
religion compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.113
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1749-8171
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2008.00111.x
Subject(s) - reign , buddhism , history of china , china , state (computer science) , ancient history , history , perspective (graphical) , art , law , archaeology , political science , politics , algorithm , computer science , visual arts
Until recently scholars have tended to view the Chinese imperial tradition from a human‐centred perspective. However, in the last two decades, the importance of ritual and state religion in imperial China has become better appreciated and more fully explored. This article focuses on research of late imperial China, from the tenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, with a particular focus on the last two dynasties: the Ming (1368–1643) and Qing (1644–1911). This article is divided into four sections: a definition of Chinese ritual and its essential texts; its relationship to other religious ritual systems (Buddhism, Daoism and folk religions); an examination of three central reign periods: Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang, reign 1368–1398), Jiajing (Zhu Houcong, reign 1521–1567), and Qianlong (Hongli, reign 1735–1796); and the aesthetics of state ritual, including literature, art history and music.