SHIGAKU ZASSHI
Online ISSN : 2424-2616
Print ISSN : 0018-2478
ISSN-L : 0018-2478
The Systems of Chiao-ssu (郊祀) Festivals and the Tsung-miao (宗廟) Festivals from the Wei (魏) to the T'ang (唐)
Shuichi Kaneko
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1979 Volume 88 Issue 10 Pages 1498-1539,1612-

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the forms of the festivals of heaven and earth (chiao-ssu, 郊祀) and the festivals of the emperor's ancestors (tsung-miao, 宗廟) from the Six Dynasties to the T'ang. In China, the chiao-ssu festival is performed only by the emperor, and the tsung-miao festival of the emperor is bigger than that of any other. Therefore to investigate the actual forms of these festivals is to partially investigate the characteristics of the Imperial System in China. In the Chin (晋) and the Southern Dynasties, the festivalof the heaven was held every other year in January in the south suburb of the capital, and that of the earth was performed in the north suburb. This system is similar to the theory of Wang Su (王粛) who was a confucian in the early Chin. In the Northern Dynasties, the Sui (隋) and the early T'ang, the god of heaven was worshiped at the round hill in the winter solstice, and the god of earth at the square hill in the summer solstice. Furthermore, Kan-sheng-ti (感生帝) -the heavenly god who corresponds to the 'virtue' (徳) of each dynasty- was worshiped in the south suburb, while another god of the earth, Shen-chou (神州) which was different from that worshiped at the square hill, was sacrificed to in the north suburb. From the Northern Wei to the T'ang, the date of the festival in the north suburb was not fixed. To separate the festival of the round hill from that of the south suburb, and the festival of the square hill from that of the north suburb is a division based on the theory of Cheng Hsuan (鄭). On the other hand, Wang Su says that the festival held at the round hill is the same as that held in the south suburb, and the festival at the square hill is the same as that held in the north suburb. In effect, from the Northern Dynasties to the early T'ang, the festival system indicated by Cheng Hsuan was in use while from the Chin to the Ch'en (陳) dynasty a system close to Wang Su's was in practice. However, according to Wang Su's theory, the chiao-ssu festivals at the south suburb are held in January and in the winter solstice. The festivals of the Ts'ao-Wei (曹魏) period are similar to those of the Cheng Hsuan's theory, but there are some special features in the line-up of gods. Generally speaking, the system of the festivals of heaven and earth was organized after the Tung-Chin (東晋) dynasty. The festivals of the emperor's ancestors are almost the same in all the dynasties. They consist of two varieties ; ssu-shih-chi (四時祭), small festivals which are held four or five times a year, and yin-chi (殷祭), big festivals which are held twice every five years. In the T'ang dynasty the system of festivals were changed three times. The various systems were called the Ch'en-kuan li (貞観礼), the Hsien-ch'ing li (顕慶礼), and the K'ai-yuan li (開元礼). Amongst them notable it is that the festivals of Kan-sheng-ti are replaced by those of hao-t'ien-shang-ti (昊天上帝) who is the greatest god in heaven, and that other festivals related to hao-t'ien-shang-ti also appeared in the T'ang dynasty. Furthermore, the festivals of hao-t'ien-shang-ti were decided to be held every year and the T'ang emperors even held them in connection with their coronation. Therefore it may be safely said that during the T'ang dynasty great importance was attached to the authority of heaven.

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© 1979 The Historical Society of Japan
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