Research on the Pre-Qin

Author: Dai Panghai
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-12-01
Features: The (crown ceremony) is one of the important research topics in the study of the "Three Rites" (). In the four popular editions of the 《》 (Rites of the Rites) during the Han Dynasty, without exception, the 《》 (Ceremony of the Scholar's Crown) was used as the title. In the 《》 (Book of Rites), there is also a dedicated chapter explaining the functions and meanings of the. The is a ritual to crown a man who has entered adulthood; for women, it is called the (hairpin ceremony). The rituals were actually the adulthood rites of the ancient Huaxia people. In the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, they had elaborate ceremonies and were highly valued by people. However, after the Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to massive social changes, the influence of foreign cultures, and the obscure language of ancient ritual texts, the fate of the was similar to that of the 《》—it gradually fell into neglect by the government and scholars, and was also forgotten by society. Very few people actually carried it out, and even when it was performed, it was done hastily. As Han Yu said, "Few of them are practiced today," and "Examined today, there is indeed no use for them." Liu Zongyuan also wrote in 《》 (Letter to Wei Zhongli), "In ancient times, the was highly valued because it was meant to teach the way of adulthood, which was particularly emphasized by the sages. For hundreds of years, people no longer practiced it. Recently, Sun Changyin was the only one who took it upon himself to revive it. After the ceremony was completed, the next day he went to court, reached the outer hall, and presented a ceremonial staff to the ministers, saying, 'This young man has completed his coronation.' Those who responded were all disheartened. Zheng Shuzhe, the Capital Prefect, was indignant, drew back his staff, and said, 'What does this concern me?' Everyone in the hall laughed." During the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, very few scholars studied the. Although scholars like Sima Guang and Zhu Xi strongly advocated for its revival, it had little effect. In the Qing Dynasty, the situation improved significantly. In modern times, it again fell into neglect. Since the early 20th century, the most important research achievements include Jiang Shaoyuan's 《》 (Ancient Chinese Adulthood Rites), Yang Kan's 《“”》 (New Exploration of the ), and the section in Qian Xuan's 《》 (Comprehensive Discussion of the Three Rites). The number of studies is very limited, and to this day, no dedicated monographs on the have been published either in China or abroad. Now, Dr. Dai Panghai has revised, supplemented, and perfected his graduate thesis 《》 (Research on the Pre-Qin ), and the manuscript is about to be published. He asked me to write a preface for him. I admire his determination and happily agreed to write the above words, hoping that Panghai will achieve more and better results in the exploration and research of ancient Chinese ritual culture in the future.