State Ritual and Political Culture in Imperial and Late Imperial China

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

From court audience to annual sacrifice, state ritual and political rites have long been seen as integral to operations of the imperial Chinese state. Signified in Chinese as li, these practices were more than just ritual activities, however, they were also key organizing principles that shaped political orders. While scholars have examined the meaning and form of such ritual practices, either through investigation of developments in early China or in exploration of their characteristics across later dynasties, little work has been done on how the practices and concepts of li changed over time, and how such changes facilitated unique political cultures in different dynastic states, from the Han to the Qing. Each of the papers of this panel takes up a key period of state or cultural formation in Chinese history—Han, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing—and shows how the philosophy and practices of li at the time were not only open to debate and negotiation, but also how the outcomes of those debates shaped the politics, institutions, and culture of the given dynasty. Individually, the papers offer new perspectives on the role of ritual and political culture in imperial and late imperial politics and institution building; collectively, they show the indeterminate nature and practice of li as it was changed to accommodate political and cultural needs of the day.

Area of Study

• China and Inner Asia

Session Organizer

• Macabe Keliher, Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Chair

• Macabe Keliher, Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Individual Presentations

• After Xunzi: Conceptions of Li in Early Han Political Discourse - Masayuki Sato, National Taiwan University

• In Pursuit of the Holy Rite: Ritual Innovation in the High Tang - Stephen S. Chou, Nanyang Technological University

• Interpretations of Confucian Ritual (li) in Eleventh Century Discourse - Christian Meyer, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Sinology

• A Change in Status: Marriage Rituals for Imperial Princes and Princesses of the Hongwu Reign (1368-1398) - Beibei Zhan, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

• Qing State-Making and the Manchu Translation of Li - Macabe Keliher, Indiana University Maurer School of Law