A Comparative Study Of The Feng And Shan Sacrifices In The Han With The Tang Dynasties

For the purpose of giving thanks to the Heaven and Earth, the Feng and Shan sacrifices were carried out by seven emperors(Qin Shihuang,Han Wudi,Han Guangwudi,Tang Gaozong,Wu Zetian,Tang Xuanzong and Song Zhenzong) at most in all of ancient Chinese history. There were five emperors in Han dynasty and Tang dynasty who were carried out the sacrifices successfully. The sacrifices became important means and stages for these two dynasties showing large power of countries internally and externally. It also symbolized that empires legitimately bore Heaven's appointment. There were a few research productions about the sacrifices, but the special study of comparing the sacrifices between Han and Tang dynasties had been a little .Therefore the author of this article wanted to try his best to compare and analyze the differences of them, to find the transformation of politics and culture in this perspective, to get different features of legitimacy proving of Heaven's appointment.The Feng and Shan sacrifices dedicated to the Heaven and Earth by ancient Chinese emperors far from capitals ,traditionally at Mt Tai and the nearby hill of Liang-fu in central Shandong province in eastern China. There were two properties belonging to the sacrifices. The first one was that it contained religious contents. For the other hand, along the sacrifices, there were some political contents. In fact, the first emperor who performed the Sacrifices was Shi Huangdi of Qin dynasty. Emperor Han Wudi adopted the theory of Confucians and Sorcerers (方士), then carried out the rites by his own idea, what was called "the case of Yuanfeng Feng and Shan". Wang Mang had been planted the Imperial Tour of Inspection three times , its essence was actually the sacrifices on Mt Tai. From Wei, Jin, the Northern and Southern Dynasties to Sui Dynasty, there were several plans about Mt Tai rites sometimes ,but they were all cancelled. During the period of Emperor Taizong in Tang dynasty, the jobs of preparing for the sacrifices was sufficiently, particular rites were also formulated, but the sacrifices were not performed finally. With the help of Wu Zetian, Emperor Tang Gaozong had been to Mt Tai. When Wu Zetian had built her own dynasty, she also carried out the sacrifices on Mt Song. It was the first time that the sacrifices were performed on other peaks, after a long time since the rites performed solely on Mt Tai. The last emperor in Tang Dynasty who carries out sacrifices was Emperor Xuanzong, who successfully performed the Sacrifices on Mt Tai ,but also had a plan on Mt Hua. The article had refuted the ancient legends of the Feng and Shan sacrifices, analysed the emperor's backgrounds and motives about the sacrifices of Han and Tang Dynasties, investigated the failing reasons on Wang Mang and Tang Taizong's plan, discussed about the reflections on the Han and Tang Dynasties' political changes and characterizations. All of these had advanced more or less on the basis of predecessors. In my opinion, comparing the similarities and differences of the Feng and Shan sacrifices between Han and Tang Dynasties was the biggest innovation in the article. On the religious, because of the close relationship between the sacrifices and the Suburban Sacrifices to Heaven (Jiao Si郊祀), there were great similarities on the God, sacrificer, participants and so on, therefore it could combine with the Jiao Si to inspect the similarities and differences of Han and Tang Dynasties. The God of Han and Tang Dynasties in the sacrifices had changed from the Great Unity (太一) to Haotian God. the dynastic ancestor who was to be Pei(配), had changed from only one to two or three at the same time. Female could be the sacrificer. Confucianism transformed the rites in almost every aspect. All of these reflected the time had changed more or less. On the political, during the Feng and Shan sacrifices, there were varies of reign-names(改元),merit (考课) ,amnesty (大赦) ,reward. The sacrifices was an important way for strengthening the legitimacy of the dynasty after the dynasty's establishment. Although Han and Tang Dynasties used the same way to prove the legitimacy of the dynasty, there were a lot of differences about the causes and practices. In the Feng and Shan sacrifices, Emperor Han Wudi used the Signs (符瑞), Emperor Guang Wudi used the Rumour(谶言), Emperor Tang Taizong failed because of his fear of performing the sacrifices unsuccessfully ,Emperor Tang Gaozong performed the sacrifices on Mt Tai With the help of Wu Zetian, the aim of Emperor Tang Xuanzong's rites was to strengthen the power of Tang dynasty. In conclusion, comparing with the Han dynasty's rites, the sacrifices of Tang became more grand, the scale and cost of the participants also became larger. Furthermore, neither were they performed solely on Mt Tai, but could be carried out on other peaks as well. A sharp contrast in the rites remained between mystery of Han Dynasty and publics of Tang Dynasty.