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Research On The Ming And Qing Palace Were Sacrificial System

Posted on:2015-01-22Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:H LiFull Text:PDF
GTID:2265330425495807Subject:History of Ancient China
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The human sacrifice is that the living is buried with the dead. The humansacrifice in China has been originated for a long time.It had already appeared as earlyas the end of primitive society.In slave society, the human sacrifice was very popularand was finally developed into a system. In this period, sacrificial victims weregenerally the slaves, wives and concubines or the trusted aides.In the feudal society,there was still human sacrifice to happen. The human sacrifice of Qin Dynasty was upto the extent of incapable of further increase in the time of Qin Shihuang’s death.After the demise of the Qin Dynasty, the culture of human sacrifice also declined andlarge-scale human sacrifice was also no longer existed,it mainly manifested in thefollowing aspects:the number of human sacrifice was reduced, the probability wasgreatly reduced, the rulers of the force was also reduced. Therefore, human sacrificeas a kind of institution no longer existed from the Han Dynasty.It only appearedoccasionally. But in the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, burying the living with thedead as a system was popular again.In the Ming Dynasty, sacrificial system of the palace was designated as "theancestors" by Zhu Yuanzhang. After that, the human sacrifice of the palace wasrapidly spreaded and formed a climax again.Its deep impact and wide scope wasvery rare. In the Ming Dynasty, sacrificial system of the palace was implemented inthe Hongwu, Yongle, Hongxi, Xuande, Jingtai Dynasty and interrupted by theemperor of Yingzong.The phenomenon of human sacrifice existed not only inImperial Palace,but it becomed a common practice in the palace of the prince. In theeighth year of Tianshun (1464), Ming Yingzong died and left a testament to abolishhuman sacrifice. Thus the palace sacrificial system here was coming to an end.In thenext two hundred years, the emperors of Ming Dynasty no longer used the humansacrifice and the phenomenon of human sacrificial also greatly reduced. Theprevalence of palace sacrificial in the Ming Dynasty is the result of many factors. Atthe first,it is influenced by the ancient concept of immortality of the soul. Secondly,Zhu Yuanzhang established a set of strict system of Imperial Concubines andeunuches.Thirdly,it is influenced by the savage customs of Yuan Dynasity.The YuanDynasity always regarded the life as dirt.Fouthly, it is closely related to the traditionalidea of Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, such as chastity view,the principle of feudalmoral conduct. At the time of Qing Dynasty, the phenomenon of human sacrifice still existed inManchu. Because of the promotion of the rulers, the disguised form of human sacrifi-ce was also meet the eye everywhere in the folk. The Qing Dynasty palace sacrificialsystem was abolished in June in the twelfth year of Kangxi (1673).Emperor Kangxidecided to abolish the sacrificial because of the influence of his father. After the QingDynasty ruling, the Manchu rulers were influenced by the culture of ethnic Han. Theygradually awared that some of the old customs of Manchu did not adapt to the new so-cial environment. So the Qing Emperor Huang Taiji started to restrict the old customswith the political power aftet he ascended the throne.Essentially,there was no difference in palace sacrificial between Qing and Mingdynasties.It was a disguised means to kill people for rulers. Because most of the theimmolated were persecuted.The immolated would be given commendation andgranted posthumous title.The families of the the immolated also would be given somecompensation. But there are many differences between the two dynasties in the scaleof the human sacrifice in the aspect of the martyrdom’s identity,the burying way andthe burial location.The damage of human sacrifice in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty was veryserious to the martyrs and their families. It also had a great influence on folk, thehuman sacrifice on folk made thousands of innocent women lose their lives. However,in the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, the trend of this system from the beginning tothe decline also reflected the progress of history.
Keywords/Search Tags:Ming and Qing Dynasty, Human sacrifice in Imperial PalaceSystem, Chastity view
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