The Research On The State Sacrifice In Liao Dynasty

As an important content of the dynasty's ritual system,state sacrifices have important political and cultural functions.The traditional sacrificial customs of the northern nomads and the Confucian rituals of the farming nation in the Central Plains were the two major sources of the state sacrificial rites of the Liao Dynasty.Before Khitan was founded,he regarded the world and all things as objects of worship and sacrifice,primitive religious beliefs full of nature never.After the founding of the regime,with the help of the Liao Dynasty's regime of"turning a family into a country",Abaoji(???),with the help of Minister of Central Plains etiquette,adopted the basic principle of"considering national customs and mixing with Han rituals"as the basic principle,and preliminarily drafted the state of the dynasty.Sacrifice etiquette.During the Taizong period,with the occupation of Youyun(??)area,the Central Plains national sacrifice ceremony began to appear in the Liao Dynasty state sacrifice system on a large scale.After Shengzong,in order to adapt to the new political environment,the traditional Khitan sacrificial customs declined,and the national sacrificial system was further adjusted.Based on the state sacrificial system of the Central Plains,the Liao Dynasty established a national sacrificial system compatible with"national customs"and"Han rituals"in combination with traditional sacrificial customs of the nation.In terms of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth,the Liao Dynasty had not only the natural worship of"respecting the gods from the heavens",but also the political concept of"submitting the destiny of heaven".Through textual research,the"Mountain Sacrifice Ceremony"in"Liao History·Lizhi"is essentially a sacrificial ritual of heaven and earth with Muye Mountain(???)as a place.To a certain extent,it has the same effect as the great rituals of the Central Plains dynasty.The core elements of the"Mountain Sacrifice Ceremony",such as"westward sacrifices","tree hanging animals","detour sacrifices",and"throwing lamps for cooking"(????)are basically found in the traditional sacrifice customs of northern nomads.In terms of sacrificial offerings to the sacred mountain,Muye Mountain and Hei Mountain(??),as national"sacred mountains",played different roles in the cohesion of the Khitan ethnic group and the construction of the Liao Dynasty regime.The Liao Dynasty was based on the Mount Muye beliefs,gathering heaven and earth sacrifices,sacrifices to the gods of Mount Mu Ye,sacrifices to the Liao He gods,sacrifices to the Baiyi Guanyin(????),and sacrifices to the ancestors in one place,forming a large-scale"sacrifice circle of Mount Muye".Regarding the sacrificial offerings to the royal ancestral temple,the rulers of the Liao Dynasty carried out a“localization”transformation in the process of absorbing and using the Central Plains ancestral temple system,and established a set of royal ancestral temple sacrificial system adapted to their own political and social forms.In this system,the capital temple,the State Temple,the Mausoleum Temple,and the Mausoleum Sacrifice complement each other.As a unique form of ancestor sacrifice in the Liao Dynasty,the Ordo"Xinggong Temple"(???)migrated with Nabo(??)in the four seasons and became the core of the royal ancestral temple sacrifice.In terms of offering sacrifices to the first saints and kings,although the Liao Dynasty was a northern nomadic regime established by the Khitan tribe as its ruler,it not only described itself as“the descendants of Yan and Huang”,but also regarded itself as“China”.On the one hand,the Khitan monarchs respected Confucianism and established temples to honor Confucianism in order to realize the recognition of"Orthodoxy".On the whole,in the composition and operation of the Liao Dynasty's state sacrificial system,"national customs" and "central plains etiquette" blended with each other.As a political ritual,state sacrifices can show the image of political power.Through the holding of national sacrifices,the Liao monarchs could not only achieve the purpose of consolidating the dynasty's rule,but also shape China's "orthodox." In addition,the separation of the national sacrificial center from the political center is not only a major feature of the construction of the Liao Dynasty regime,but also a relatively common national political structure for northern nomadic regimes such as the Huns and Turks.