A Research On The Sacrificial Rites Of The Ancestral Temple In The Northern Dynasties

Social rites, as important components of traditional Chinese culture, are magnificent social system in ancient china. Ancestral temple sacrifice system is a crucial part in the social rites system. Since it is the product of ancestor worship in primitive society and closely relates to state power, it is the important contents of social rites construction in every dynasty and one of the vital state sacrificial rites in ancient china. The Northern Dynasties, as a very important transition period in Chinese history, displays different features in its ancestral temple sacrifice in the development of Chinese history. Based on collection and generalization of the relevant documents and materials to ancestral temple sacrifice of the Northern Dynasties, combined with relevant study achievements by other scholars, this dissertation is going to make a systematic research and study on the settings and sacrifices of the Northern Dynasties.The first part of this dissertation is going to make a brief introduction and explanation to the ancestral temple sacrifice systems prior to the Northern Dynasties, tying to search the development and historical origin of the ancestral temple rite in the Northern Dynasties. The second part mainly describes the settings of the ancestral temple sacrifice of the Northern Dynasties. From the description of the changes of the ancestral temple sacrifice reform before and after the reign of Emperor Xiao Wen as well as the changes during the reign of Emperor Xuan Wu and Emperor Xiao Ming, it is obvious that the development of the ancestral temple sacrifice system at that time is a process of unceasing adaptation and improvement according to the social reality. The third part discusses the rites of sacrifice of the ancestral temple sacrifice of the Northern Dynasties from the details of the various important sacrifices holded in the ancestral temple in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The last part makes a simple discussion of the ancestral temple sacrifices of the Northern Qi Dynasty and The Northern Wei Dynasty as well as relevant issues, which shows that the ancestral temple sacrifice system in this period presents a tendency of variety. Through the exposition and research above, this dissertation makes a preliminary understanding to the basic contents and development of the ancestral temple sacrifice of the Northern Dynasties.