Sages and Saints

Author: Huang Jinxing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: The title of this book, Sages and Saints, is clearly related to the fifth essay in the book, which highlights the theoretical implications of Confucius Temple studies over the past decade. The book primarily examines the over two-thousand-year-old system of honoring Confucius and other sages in the Confucius Temple from the perspectives of power, academia, and religion, and compares it with the system of honoring founding saints to understand the complex characteristics of Confucianism. The research approach combines the features of intellectual history ("understanding the micro from the macro") and institutional history ("evidence-based analysis"), aiming to avoid the dilemmas of being "trapped in words" and "detached speculation." The other articles in the book are also related to Confucius Temple studies and its derivatives. The essay "The Rise and Fall of the Temple of Martial Deities" contrasts the Temple of Martial Deities with the Temple of Literary Deities, both of which were part of imperial rituals, to highlight the political culture of traditional China. The Wild Man's Exposure of Words is the longest classical novel in Chinese, and my essay "The Wild Man's Exposure of Words and Confucius Temple Culture" is a cultural critique that attempts to analyze the Confucius Temple knowledge employed by the author during the creative process and to test its academic stance. "Destruction of Statues and Sacred Worship" is purely a short essay, using the relationship between statues and worship to point out the imperial authority consciousness of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty. Additionally, my works include the previously published essays "Power and Faith" and "Academia and Faith," which help readers grasp the origins and development of the Confucius Temple, and the entire book is relatively systematic.