A Review Of "Rites And Township Drinking Ceremony"

This paper takes Township Drinking of the Rituals as its study subject, and focuses on several questions of its steps and its social meaning. The paper consists of six parts.The first part is the introduction, which mainly talks about writing reason and present study situation of the theme. Township Drinking is a very important article of the Rituals and is consistently taken seriously by the scribes and philologists, which gives it very high value.The second part is tracing back to the origin of township drinking. It concisely introduces the origin of township drinking and discusses its categories. The question of its categories has been debated by scribes in all previous dynasties, which still does not reach a consensus even today. This paper lists various statements and gives its own interpretation that is deemed reasonable by the author.The third part is discussing the steps of township drinking. In this section, I set the Rituals of the notes and commentaries of Thirteen Classics, which is compared with Hu Peihui`s Yilizhengyi, Ling Tingkan`s Lijingshili, Yang Tianyu`s Yiliyizhu and Penglin`s Yiliyizhu, as a master copy to explicitly study the main steps of township drinking. At the premise of synthesizing various statements, several steps which are in doubt along history, like the date to notice guests and the position of guests when drinking a toast, are summarized into a conclusion here. Generally speaking, the study of steps in the past is detailed enough that there`s not much to discuss, except several small questions.The forth part is discussing the social functions of township drinking. Synthesizing several classics, like the Rituals, the book of rites, Shangshu, Zuozhuan and so on, I summarize four functions, which are subsiding quarrels, setting rituals of drinking, propagating filial piety and recommending excellent persons. The reason why township drinking is paid so much attention is exactly its enlightenment on common people. These four functions are extension of former studies, which used to be only two, recommending the excellent and respecting the old.The last two parts are the main body of this dissertation. And the forth part is an innovation.The six part is discussing its practical significance, which is summarized as two aspects. The first one is to renaissance the traditional ritual of filial piety, while another is to standardize today`s drinking culture. Only if we recognize its practical meaning can we push forward the study of township drinking and the whole ritual culture.