Introduction: The Confucius Temple as a Ritual System: Manifestations of Power, Belief, and Legitimacy in Traditional China

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Preface vii
4. Introduction: The Confucius Temple as a Ritual System: Manifestations of Power, Belief, and Legitimacy in Traditional China 1
5. I. Expanding the Symbolic Meaning and Function of the Rites: The Evolution of Confucius Temples in Imperial China 21
6. II. Confucianism as a Religion: A Comparative Study of Traditional Chinese Religions 58
7. III. Sages and Saints: A Comparative Study of Canonization in Confucianism and Christianity 88
8. IV. The Cultural Politics of Autocracy: The Confucius Temple and Ming Despotism, 1368– 1530 125
9. V. Xunzi: The Confucius Temple’s Absentee 149
10. VI. The Disenchantment with Confucianism in Modern China 171
11. VII. The Lonely Confucius Temples Across the Taiwan Straits: The Difficult Transformation of Modern China’s Traditional Culture 198
12. Conclusion: Reflections on My Study of Confucianism as a Religion 212
13. Notes 229
14. Bibliography 299
15. Index 323