Publisher description
Initiated during the Former Han Dynasty in 136 B.C., the state cult of
Confucius endured for 2407 years as the civil religion of a vast empire that
ever-renewed itself despite periodic disunity and barbarian conquests. This was
a weak agrarian state whose foundation was a Neolithic peasantry, whose archaic
state-idea traces to the dawn of Chinese civilization, and whose ruling elite
earned its credentials in civil service examinations based on classic
Confucianism dating to pre-imperial times - all centered on the political
thinking of a late Bronze Age philosopher. This work explores the political logic of old China's archaic civilization,
where court protocol was the very essence of a liturgical government whose
philosophical basis rested on the scriptural authority of Confucian teachings.
Here is the historical paradox (vast empire, weak state) resolved in this book.
By looking into the state cult of Confucius and its origins, the illogical
begins to look reasonable for the pre-modern conditions of antiquity. Over 100
photographs and drawings are included, along with an appendix covering the
Great Chinese Museum of New York. This work explores the political logic of old China's archaic civilization,
where court protocol was the very essence of a liturgical government whose
philosophical basis rested on the scriptural authority of Confucian
teachings.
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Imperial China and the State Cult of Confucius
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