Book of Rites

The Book of Rites (simplified Chinese: 礼记; traditional Chinese: 禮記; pinyin: Lǐjì), also known as the Classic of Rites, the Record of Rites, Liki, or Li Ch'i, was one of the Chinese Five Classics of the Confucian canon. It described the social forms, governmental system, and ancient/ceremonial rites of the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1050–256 BCE). The original text is believed to have been compiled by Confucius himself, while the copy society refers to now has been edited and re-worked by various different scholars of the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE).

Not to be confused with the other two classical texts on rites: Rites of Zhou 周礼 and the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial 仪礼/儀禮. On the relationship between the three see Yili (text)#History.

[edit] History

The Confucian Classics, such as the Book of Rites, have had a significant influence on Chinese history. Among these texts are those in which Confucius recorded his thoughts, ideas and teachings in an attempt to restore social and political order during a tumultuous time in history. During the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE) China was forced to face a time of brutal wars and political upset. Immediately following this period, under the rule of the very first emperor of China, many of the Confucian Classics were destroyed during the rule of the first emperor Shi Huangdi of the Qin Dynasty. The destruction of Confucian Classics was part of "The Burning of the Books." The "Burning of the Books" occurred in 213 BCE where all traditional books were burned with the exception of books on medicine, astrology, and horticulture. A year later, in 212 BCE, 460 Confucian scholars were brutally buried alive for criticizing the builder of the Great Wall of China, Qin Shihuang. This Emperor's dynasty collapsed five years after these events; fortunately a few Confucian scholars had memorized the Classics; through memory and oral tradition the surviving scholars taught their disciples the Classics and recorded them into scripts. These disciples recorded each of the Classics from memory; unfortunately, the Classic of Music (Yuejing) was not recompiled because they could not remember the 305 songs that Confucius had chosen. However, Confucius' disciples included a chapter in the Book of Rites, the Record of Music (Yueji) that is clearly derived from the lost Classic.

The Book of Rites was originally rewritten and edited by Confucius' disciples after the "Burning of the Books." Since then, other scholars have attempted to redact these scripts, including Dai De (Senior Dai) who reworked the text in the 1st Century BCE. Dai De's copy of the text was thought lost unti 1993, when a copy of a chapter of Dai De's book, "Black Robes", was found within Tomb no. 1 of the Guodian Tombs in Jingmen, Hubei. Modern scholars believe that the original title was Lijing, which literally means "Classic of Rites," but that this title was dropped by Dai Sheng (Junior Dai) in order to separate the Book of Rites from works that were more directly associated with Confucius. This renamed version of the text is accepted today as the most complete version of the Book of Rites.

[edit] Li (Rites)

Confucius described Li as all traditional forms that provided a standard of conduct. Li literally means "rites" but it can also be used to refer to "ceremonial" or "rules of conduct". The term has come to generally be associated with "good form" or "decorum". Confucius felt that Li should emphasize the spirit of piety and respect for others through rules of conduct and ceremonies. As outlined in the Book of Rites, Li is meant to restore the significance of traditional forms by looking at the simplicity of the past. Confucius insisted that a standard of conduct that focused on traditional forms would be a way to ease the turmoil of the Warring States Period. The absolute power of Li is displayed in the Record of Rites: "Of all things to which the people owe their lives the rites are the most important..." (Dawson 32). The ideas of Li became closely associated with human nature, ethics and social order as the population integrated Li into their lives. Li was beneficial to society because it forced people to recognize and fulfill their responsibilities toward others.

[edit] Previous Influences

During the life of Confucius, not only did Five Classics exist, there were actually Six Classics. The sixth classic was known as the Book of Music, Book of Songs, or Yuejing, and as was previously mentioned has been completely lost and destroyed. The focus of the book was believed to be the selected 305 songs personally chosen and performed by Confucius himself to ensure that they all properly fit together. The Book of Music was divided into four separate and distinct categories all having a different focus; the song (ceremonial anthems), the great ya (classical music), the little ya, and the feng (popular and traditional music). Upon the recompilation of the Confucian Classics what the disciples were able to remember of the Book of Music was redacted as chapter 19 of the Book of Rites.

[edit] The After Effects

As a result of the Book of Rites' chapters, using a syncretic system and combining Daoist and Mohist beliefs, later scholars formed both The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean. These two books were both believed to be written by two of Confucius' disciples one specifically being his Grandson. The great Neo-Confucian Zhu Xi and his edited versions of The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean influenced the Chinese society to place much more attention on these and two other books creating the Four Books. Throughout Chinese history the Five Classics and the Four Books were very important theoretical works, but also were the standard textbooks for the state civil examination, from 1313 to 1905, which every educated person had to learn by heart. Consequently, The Book of Rites and two of its by-products were large integral parts of the Chinese beliefs and industry for many centuries.

[edit] Contents

[edit] References

• Buckley Ebrey, Patricia. Confucianism and the Family Rituals in Imperial China. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1991
• Creel, H.G. Confucius and the Chinese Way. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1949
• Dawson, Raymond. Confucious.Great Britain: The Guernsey Press Co. Ltd., 1981
• de Bary, Wm. Theodore, Wing-tsit Chan, and Buton Watson. Sources of Chinese Tradition. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1960
• Holm, Jean, and John Bowker. Sacred Writings. London: Printer Publishers Ltd., 1994
• Jingpan, Chen. Confucius as a Teacher. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1990
• Lin Yutang. The Wisdom of Confucious. New York: Random House, Inc., 1938
• Smith, Howard. Confucius.Great Britain: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973
• Theobald, Ulrich. Chinese Literature. 24 Oct. 2008 [1]
• Yutang, Lin. The Wisdom of Confucius. United States of America: Random House Inc., 1938

[edit] External links

• The Book of Rites (Chinese and English)
• Confucian Documents (English)

Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article: 禮記