A Seminar Report of the “Formation and Change of Chinese Ritual Culture from the Perspective of Archaeology”

On the afternoon of June 26, researcher Yang Wensheng, Vice President of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology (hereinafter “the Institute”), was invited to give the report of the series of public seminars on “The Central Plains Archaeology in the Past Century” at Zhengzhou Library, which was entitled “A Land of Ceremony and Decorum: The Formation and Change of Chinese Ritual Culture from the Perspective of Archaeology”.

Yang Wensheng, Vice President of the Institute

Influenced by the New Culture Movement, the study of the Doubting Antiquity School promoted the birth and development of Chinese archaeology. Excavating new materials from the physical level and exploring the formation and evolution of Chinese civilization and Chinese history and culture has always been the unremitting pursuit and effort of Chinese archaeologists. Chinese archaeology possesses a long history of hundred years, which has provided “the physical” perspective and “materialistic” thinking for the study of Chinese history and Chinese culture.

Researcher Yang Wensheng pointed out that the core of ancient Chinese culture is “rites”, also called the ritual system. The Zhou culture, which gradually matured and developed after the revolutions of Yin and Zhou dynasties, is the source of the ritual system. “Rites” are classified at three major levels, including etiquette, feudal clan system and ethics, and status hierarchy. During the Eastern Zhou and the Western Zhou Dynasties, the “rites” were the norms of ethics and morality, the modes rules of life and production that the aristocracy must abide by. It is also an important pillar to maintain the social orders of the Eastern Zhou and the Western Zhou Dynasties. In the social transitional period of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, because of the disempowerment of the rulers Zhou Emperors, the rites of the Zhou Dynasty took on the role of maintaining harmony of hierarchy and stability of social development.

A Scene of the Seminar

Yang Wensheng was committed to the comprehensive analysis of the archaeological findings of the sites and tombs of the Eastern Zhou and the Western Zhou Dynasties from the perspective of archaeological positivism, combined with documentary research, and to investigate the connotation and evolution of Chinese ritual culture formed on the basis of the agricultural civilization of the Central Plains from the perspective of “the physical”. He clearly pointed out that the Spring and Autumn Period was the “origin” of Chinese culture. The real connotation of the previous thoughts of the “overstep one’s authority” and “collapse” need to be revealed from Chinese ritual culture.

The numerical relationships in the bronze ritual vessels and musical instruments system, such as the Nine Dings and Eight Guis, reflected hierarchical order, yin and yang and the Five Elements and other thoughts were established on the basis of the epistemology that has been continuously refined and elaborated upon by the ancients’ constant observations of nature. First, it’s simple incremental numbers. And then there is a binary opposition and multiple interactions. With the deepening development of epistemology, people have tried to actively attach this understanding and recognition of the rules of nature to human society, so that it can cater to the rhythm and order of nature. In the ritual and music culture of the Eastern Zhou and the Western Zhou Dynasties, the complex numerical relationships between the various bronze ritual vessels and bronze musical instruments are specific representatives of this practice of the ancients. It can be said that the numbers in the bronze ritual vessel and musical instrument system condense the complex ideas and concepts of the people at that time, and reflect the pursuit of social harmony and hierarchical order of the ancients.

On-Site Questioning

Regarding the traditional view that “women’s social status continued to decline with the formation of the rites of the Zhou Dynasty”, he pointed out from the perspective of “archaeology about females” that the social status of female nobles did not unidirectional decline during the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou Dynasties. Until the early Spring and Autumn period, the level of funerary objects of female nobles continued the descending trend of “the revolution of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties”, which had significant differences compared to male nobles.

However, after the middle of the Spring and Autumn period, the level of sets of funerary bronze wares of female nobles has been significantly improved, and gradually moved closer to the joint burials with separate chambers of male spouses. In the late Spring and Autumn Period, “Fu Fu Tong Pao Zu” (husband and wife share the same kitchen, which metaphorically means a married couple living together and sharing domestic responsibilities, and emphasizes the close relationship and shared duties within a marital partnership.)” gradually became a stable social phenomenon, marking a significant improvement in the status of female nobles. From “Pin Ji Wu Chen” (women do not have authority) to “Gong Lao He Jin” (the ritual of sharing a meal and drinking from a cup together, which is a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony symbolizing the union and shared life of the newlyweds.), which vividly revealed the evolution of the social status of female nobles in the ritual-based society of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The “He Jin Er Yin” (the ritual of drinking from a cup, which means the husband and wife live together, regardless of superiority or inferiority) became a social consensus in the late Spring and Autumn period, and the female nobles had the right to have the same level of funerary bronze ritual vessels and musical instruments as their male spouses through marriage and family. The rites of the Zhou Dynasty admitted female nobles shows its own ethics side, meanwhile highlights the Chinese ritual culture in the Spring and Autumn period which was continuously matured and eventually perfected.

In terms of the relationship between “ritual” and “music”, the traditional view holds that “ritual emphasizes distinction, while music pursuits harmony”. From the perspective of “balance of ritual and music”, Researcher Yang Wensheng used musical archaeological methods to comb through archaeological materials of the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou Dynasties such as the Bianzhong Chime Bells and Bianqing Stone Chimes. He pointed out that ceremonial music in Chinese ritual culture, as an organic part of the ritual system is a kind of “ritual” in the form of music. The funerary musical instruments system and the funerary ritual vessels system are a united whole. Music itself also has a stronger hierarchical identity than ritual, which means that not all classes have the right to use “music”, and only middle and high-ranking nobles can bury musical instruments such as chime bells and stone chimes in their tombs. The previous traditional view of “ritual emphasizes distinction, while music pursuits harmony” should be corrected and the music and ritual are two sides of the same coin, both emphasizing hierarchy and difference. The funerary bronze ritual vessels and musical instruments system of the people of the Zhou Dynasty reflected the harmony and unity of dialectical relations between ritual and music in Zhou Culture.

From “the physical” perspective of archaeology, the Chinese ritual culture based on the agricultural civilization in the Central Plains originated in the “revolution of the Yin and Zhou Dynasties”. With the “solidification” and “generalization” of the rites of Zhou in a transition period in the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, Chinese ritual culture eventually matured and perfected, and further profoundly influenced later China and the entire East Asia region, becoming the main vein of the unique Oriental culture.