Offering Sacrifices to Imperial Ancestors at Suburban Altars
Based on the Ming institutional legacy,the Qing dynasty gradually established a ritual system for offering sacrifices to imperial ancestors at suburban temples(郊坛)after the Ming-Qing transition.Disputes over the creation and reform of rites and altar positions for heaven and lateral positions for dynastic ancestors during Prayers for Grain from the late Shunzhi to the early Kangxi reign followed the course of the competition over political-cultural tradition between Manchu and Han and revealed the tortuous evolution of suburban altar rites in the early Qing.During the Kangxi reign,the sacrificial rites at suburban altars gradually inclined toward Confucian tradition,but also combined ancient and contemporary rituals,and thus comprised a new,distinctive form.The sacrificial rites performed at the Round Altar(圜丘),Square Altar(方泽)and Prayer for Grain Altar(祈谷)were firmly in place in the Kangxi reign,and successive generations followed this model with few changes.However,the court fell into dilemma over the rituals that resulted from the contradiction between the generational promotion and the continuity of the imperial line in the late Qing.The controversy over rites during Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns,was a dispute between two political courses for showing respect to ancestors and succeeding ancestors'political legacy.At last,the Qing court stopped this rite and maintained the established pattern of worship.
Qing dynastysuburban altarsritual system of offering sacrificesstate sacrifice
万方数据
维普
