| An imperial mausoleum is the burial place of the emperor after his death.The mausoleum sacrifice is a worship ceremony hold by the descendants to worship their ancestors.In the imperial era,the mausoleum sacrifice is an important part of the national sacrifice system,which has important symbolic significance and political connotation.The Ming Dynasty changed the mausoleum building and sacrifice system of the Yuan dynasty,which was "do not highlight or over-build the mausoleum",and established its own tomb sacrifice system on the basis of inheriting the sacrifice system of Tang and Song Dynasties.The current research on the sacrifices to the mausoleum of the emperors and empresses of the Ming Dynasty is still inadequate systematically.This article aims to sort out the situation of sacrifices to the mausoleums in the Ming Dynasty comprehensively,and discuss the cultural value and political meaning reflected in these sacrifices.The first chapter simply sorts out the location and scale of the mausoleum of the emperors and empresses of the Ming Dynasty on the basis of previous studies,and believes that the location and scale of the Ming mausoleum are affected by geomancy,geography,politics and rituals.And according to the official documents of the Ming Dynasty,the time of the mausoleum sacrifice,the related institutions and personnel of the mausoleum sacrifice,and the etiquette of the mausoleum sacrifice were sorted out in order to show the overall circumstance of the mausoleum sacrifice in the Ming Dynasty.The second chapter explores the cost of sacrifices in the mausoleum through historical data,which includes the expenditure of sacrifice items,the expenditure of traveling to the mausoleum,the related expenditure of mausoleum sacrifice rewards,and the maintenance of the mausoleum.When the emperor personally worship the mausoleum,he would inevitably mobilize a lot of people,which would cost a lot of silver.Through the emperor’s personal worship to the mausoleum,sending officials to worship the mausoleum,promulgating the mausoleum prohibition and other related events,the third chapter mainly analyzes the political and cultural meaning of the mausoleum worship that the formulation and modification of the mausoleum ritual system is a manifestation of the political and cultural demands of the emperors.The mausoleum sacrifice in the Ming Dynasty is not only an important ritual activity of the country,but also a symbolic ritual of political governance.In the imperial era,the country and the family are the state affairs.Sacrificing to the emperor own ancestors is to worship the ancestors of the country.Through mausoleum sacrifices,the emperor bonded with his ancestors,edified his citizens,and demonstrated filial piety.In order to emphasize their own legitimacy and authority,the emperors of the Ming Dynasty visited the mausoleum personally,stipulated the mausoleum sacrifice ritual,formulated the mausoleum prohibition,and spent a lot of money to worship the mausoleum.Through mausoleum sacrifices,the emperor bonded with his ancestors,edified his citizens,and demonstrated filial piety.Although the deceased has passed away,the mausoleum sacrifice connects the dead and the living.All in all,the sacrificial ritual of the mausoleum reflects the organic combination of ethics sense and political consciousness in the imperial era. |
