The Religious Concepts of the State Sacrifice in Medieval China
Date Issued
2002-07-31
Date
2002-07-31
Author(s)
DOI
902411H002038
Abstract
This project is an analysis of the
religious concepts of the state sacrifices, such
as sacrifice of ‘jiao’, in medieval China, for
arguing the Confucianism as a religion. We
focused on the basic religious knowledge
adopted by the Confucian sacrifices, and how
the Confucian li-hsueh (the system of
knowledge through the study of ritual)
articulated these knowledge. The present
project aimed to answer these questions. First,
We collected and analyzed the materials of
Confucian li-hsueh to find out the basic
concepts of the cosmology of chi (vital air),
especially the concept of the number and
quantity. Second, we studied the idea of time
in the Confucian sacrifices, which was based
on the cosmology of chi. Last, we illustrated
the concepts of space expressed by the
Confucian sacrifices. We confined our
studies to the Han Dynasty, because the state
sacrifices in pre-modern China was founded
in this period. We focused on the analysis of
some philosophical works, such as
“Zuo-chuan”, “Chun-chiu-fan-lu”,
“Huai-nan-tsu” and the collections of
Wei-shu. Although no definitive conclusion
could be achieved in this project, and many
details should be figured out in future studies,
I would like to raise some arguments to
explore the new dimensions of the history of
Chinese political thoughts. Because of the
breakthrough happened in the field of
knowledge, especially astronomy and
medicine, the ancient Chinese intellectuals
initiated a series of the new perception of the
heaven and people, time and space, number
and quantity. These ideas constructed the
cosmology of chi, which got its form and system in the mid-Warring-age. This
discourse of the genesis of the universe was
generally accepted by scholars of different
schools. In the Former-Han age, the
Confucians constructed the li-hsueh
according to the cosmology of chi. Through
the political movement, the Confucian
bureaucrats destroyed the cults of shamanism,
building the ideal Confucian state.
Subjects
Confucianism
cosmology of chi
li-hsueh
state sacrifice
shamanism
medieval China
religious concepts
Publisher
臺北市：國立臺灣大學歷史學系暨研究所
Type
report
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