From The Dichotomy Between Legitimacy And Lineage Of The Monarchy To Being Under The Domination Of Legitimacy

The Great Ritual Controversy and the Reform of Sacrificial Rites in the MingDynasty are on account of the respectful title conferred on emperor Jiajing’s father.They are significant parts in Jiajing’s political reform, as they are not only deeplyconcerned about the change of power structure during emperor Jiajing’s reign, butalso reflect the reconstruction and introspectiveness of the rites in the Ming Dynasty.The thesis attempts to research on the the Great Ritual Controversy and theReform of Sacrificial Rites from the point of Zhang Cong’s rite ideology. The thesisfirstly makes a careful examination of the relevant ideology of Zhang Cong in thecontroversy, in order to find out the basis and value of Zhang Cong’s theory. Histheory comprises the structure of the dichotomy between legitimacy and lineage of themonarchy in the Great Ritual Controversy and the thoughts in the Reform of theSacrificial Rites.More importantly, It hopes to observe the connection and consistenceof his theory between the two periods.And then, the thesis focuses on the trend of the rites development in the Reformof the Sacrificial Rites. Based on the rite interaction between emporer Jiajing andZhang Cong, this part proceeds to analyse Zhang Cong’s theory within the system ofsovereign institution and the relationship between rites and sovereign institution. Inthis part, Zhang Cong compiled the national ritual institution and entered into thecenter of political power during emperor Jiajing’s reign.