The Study On The Pilgrimage Discontinuing System Of Liao Dynasty

The pilgrimage discontinuing system of Liao Dynasty comes from Houliang, one ofseparatist regimes after Tang Dynasty, and the pilgrimage discontinuing system of whichcan also date back to the Tang Dynasty. We can divide it into two categories: one forhuman affairs, the other for events. Roughly, there are two types in the the former one,when there are funeral arrangements and illness in the royal family or some otherimportant ministers’ family, the emperor of Tang will stop dealing with governmentadministration. In addition, when it is hot in summer or extraordinary cold in winter, orthere are special astronomical phenomena, or sacrificial activities are held, the emperorwill also stop dealing with government, so are the Khitan emperors. They will cancelpolitical meetings during big holidays or important solar terms, or held a feast or in timeof war. The court of imperial sacrifices is responsible for the rites of discontinuingsystem during Tang Dynasty, and Taichangliyuan in the Five Dynasties,Suijiataichangliyuan during Liao Dynasty. Although the pilgrimage discontinuing systemof Liao come from the central plains, it has its own characteristics. Firstly, the Chuochaoactivities in Liao Dynasty usually occur during the summer and winter, which is thebiggest difference between the dynasties in the central plains. Secondly, the empressdowagers have the power of performing Chuochao activities, such as Shu Lv-ping andXiao Chuo and so on. Thirdly, among the individual reasons of canceling morningassembly, the emperors in Liao Dynasty mostly because of drunkenness, however theTang Dynasty emperors are mostly due to their blood health condition. Fourthly, they aredifferent in the length of time, too. For example, when the imperial clan ’children died,the king of Tang usually stoping working and mourning the dead for three days, incontrast, the rulers of Liao always cancel the meeting for seven days, and this is truewhen other countries’ sovereign died either. Fifth, in spite of inheriting the pilgrimagediscontinuing system of Jiedushi from Tang and the Five Dynasties, there is a significantdifference between the two. The Jiedushi in Liao Dynasty are both vital militarycommanders and imperial clan members. Finally, among all the people who have thequalification of stopping rehearsing rites, the Khitans take a large proportion especiallythe royal family members. I arrived at my conclusion indirectly in my paper, using theexisting research results and my own research. For instance, the grade of the highest princes---Liangziguowang and Yiziguowang in Liao Dynasty is same to the one in TangDynasty, zhengyiping, which is the first grade among all the government official. Lordprotector is second only to it; Yuyue is the equal of Sanshisangong of the han system, andit is zhengyipin, too. The north privy is the second grade, and the south privy is justbehind it. The north prime minister, the south prime minister and Xuanhuishi are at thethird grade. At last, we can draw a conclusion that the relevant provisions of thepilgrimage discontinuing system in Liao is still dropping out following the Tang Dynasty.People who have the right should be official with the official grade above third and beclosely associated with the emperor at the same time. Eventually, the epitaph which areunearthed in the graveyard of Yu Tian-han Family are very helpful for my study, so Iprepare one chapter to analyze and research them.