The Study Of The Royal Temple Of The Tang Dynasty

The royal ancestral temple is a ritual place where the nobility in ancient China worship and sacrifice their ancestors. It is the cultural product of "patriarchal-ethics" type political mode in ancient China. According to archaeological data, the earliest ancestral temple dating back to the foundational times of Chinese civilization is the Henan Yanshi Erlitou Xia Dynasty capital sites. Ancestral temple has a long history. After the Qin and Han dynasties, ancestral temple has become a special site dedicated to the worship of the royal family ancestors. Royal ancestral temple of Tang Dynasty inherited the former dynasties'basic system about royal ancestral temple and also had many innovations about royal ancestral temple. To some extent, these changes reflect Tang Dynasty's political, economic, ideological and cultural situation. At the same time, the Tang Ancestral temple system has important implication for the continuation of paying attention to filial piety and etiquette of Chinese traditional culture. This paper conduct a comprehensive inquiry about the royal ancestral temple of Tang Dynasty from royal ancestral temple's construction, sacrifice system, management system and social functioaRoyal ancestral temple of Tang Dynasty has a huge system, including Tai Miao which worship the late emperor and empress in ancient Chang'An City and LuoYang City.Bie Miao according to subjective feeling on basis of ancient system about royal ancestral temple. Temple of Xuan Yuan Emperor (Tai Qing Gong) which worship the biggest Patriarch of the Tang royal family has similar properties with royal ancestral temple.Royal ancestral temple sacrifice system of Tang Dynasty can be discussed from its sacrifice ritual activities and etiquette procedure. Sacrifice ritual activities of Tang Dynasty mainly include the Four -Season sacrifice, the Recommending New-Offering sacrifice, the Die and Xia sacrifice, the Lunar Eclipse Recommending sacrifice, the sacrifice in twelfth lunar month, and the sacrifice of telling something to ancestors. Basic etiquette procedures of royal ancestral temple sacrifice by the emperor in TangDynasty always include fasting, furnishings, planning sacrifice, meeting the Emperor, Sprinkling wine on the land and giving food. These etiquette procedures reflect a dense idea of ancestor worship and hierarchy difference. Sacrifices of Bie Miao and Temple of Xuan Yuan Emperor (Tai Qing Gong)are significantly different from sacrifices of Tai Miao, such as sacrifices of Temple of Xuan Yuan Emperor (Tai Qing Gong)fully reflect the significant influence of political force and thinking of Buddhism and Taoism on the country sacrifice area.The royal ancestral temple and its sacrifice is an important part of Tang Dynasty national ritual system. To make sure of the normal operation, the government of Tang Dynasty made a complete set of management and service organization for royal ancestral temple. And they implemented the system that key officials conducted sacrifices instead of the emperor. Meanwhile, government make a series of laws and ritual provisions to maintain sacrifice of royal ancestral temple in an orderly manner. Management and service organization, personnel security guarantee, ritual law and provision combine together to promote the orderly management and going of royal ancestral temple activities.Royal ancestral temple of Tang Dynasty has the basic functions of common temple. It is a reflection of ancestor worship and a tool of coordinating internal relations of the royal family. At the same time, royal ancestral temple of Tang Dynasty as the temple of the whole country, it is a symbol of imperial power and a place of educating subjects by rulers. Ancestral Temple is one of the derivatives of the patriarchal system, which in turn maintain the patriarchal system plays more stable. It can be said to be always consistent with the presence of Chinese ancient authoritarian regimes. Moreover, system of ancestral temple is far-reaching on the Chinese traditional culture. Its implicit idea about ethics has enormous influence beyond time and space.