Ritual Construction In The Early Ming Dynasty - Hongwu

The system of rite and music played a significant role in ancient China, as it was said"The major issues of a state are the rite of offering sacrifices to the gods and the military af-fairs." It stipulated the strata of the high and the low, standardized people's conduct. Likethe system of government, the system of rite and music became an important means for rulersto maintain the supreme imperial power and keep social stability.The system of rite and music in the Ming Dynasty changed a lot on inheriting the tradi-tional system of rite in China. This paper is just a study on the system of rite in the early pe-riod of the Ming Dynasty. It is divided into four parts.Part â… : The prefacePat â…¡: The process of instituting the systm of rite in the early Ming DynastyThe setting up of the system of rite in the early Ming Dynasty could be dated back to thetime before Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor. That was when he was still the dukeof Wu, he ordered the scholars with Liu Ji and Song Lian as their heads to discuss the rite ofenthroning and the rite of offering sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, to the ancestral tengle.Butin general, the system of rite in the early Ming Dynasty was planned by Zhu Yuanzhang him-self and modified repeatedly on the condition of throwing away the rites of mongols in theYuan Dynasty completely Starting from scratch, the system of rite gradually took shape. Inthe end, the framework of the system of rite persiting through the Ming Dynasty was estab-lished. This process can be divided into three stages: the stage of an all-round priliminarybuilding the stage of repeated modifying, the stage of being stablePart â…¢: The features of the system of rite in the early Ming DynastyThe framework of the system of rite in the early Ming Dynasty was formed through a pro-cession of activities to set up rites and compose music in the period of Hong Wuuntil the re-Inaining yeaxS Of Zhu Wh. Its feafor can be ed as folloWS:l. Tak the edhOnal Cotheibosm as the basic Pricinle fOr the Sytw of rite in the~ We botyIn ancent China, bost all the feuall dynases took the odhOnal Cothefor as thefor though advOCatw the fferent tu of the high and the low, the be dsghdeS and the five con8tan viItUes, and the rechfication Of --:QWn the supe foral po@Mn the fods guldes and virtues@Wze the rigid M W officals' conuno ed, and in other aSpeC Ofthe socai life.Ped lV: Zhu W's influnce on the Sening uP Of the SyStem Of rite in the earlyMng Dynasty and the infilthaon Of his ideas in dring his county into the SyStem.Zhu W's W life wtence, his Original undwtng Of the risetal an Of the formr dynasties and his ideaS Of mnning the counny had pe haPac on theN Of rite in the early Ming Dynas. He advocated ed, foIhade othere, OVerStePPnghis aUthOrity, OPpe me edties, Watw Ou for the ~al bo tO the thIone ofbo the folk whgion and tried to build a haIInous society with shaPle ~ nd PrOWrites and eq. All these ideas were fully dipe in the SyStem of rite in the Ming Dy-~.ffe bo of ~ rite with forA bo mp of the bos of the pe of rite in the eartr We botyffe whop rite of boDrawing bo fhan the fall Of the YUan Dyna8ty, Zhu Yhahabang be ua88alstatesand by the imperial chansmen all over the counny to SUgh the - haDil. HeH the uas8al states very high POlihcal pehon and the i~ clan the rite Of highstandaId as well. At the same hme, by adopng the rite Of bo and theIn Inaldng theconCePt Of the sump nd power deeP into the the field8 Of the -, he Inadtw to keeP the imperial clan in whty and COOwhnatin to gUaIane the everla8ting Iule ofthe Zhu' s.ffe influence Of the SyStem Of rite in the early period Of the hing Dynas on the SyStemOf rite in the ds and late peried.ffe SyStem of rite in the early peried Of the Ming Dyna8 are into - ds the re-Peated wtcation in the peried Of HOng Wu and the late COntinual iInPIOUot and re-nlenifornt. lt had the boic for wo& for the pe of rite in the ~ nynas. ffe...