A Study On The Relationship Between The Nineteen Chapters And The Suburban Sacrificial Rites In Han Dynasty

The suburban sacrificial rites occupy a very important position in the court's ritual activities of the Han Dynasty. By studying the suburban sacrificial rites in Han Dynasty, we can discuss the religious concepts, the custom of the rituals, the setting of the ritual institutions, the types of the articles for sacrificial use, the performance of music and dance, and so on. Produced by the literati, with Li Yannian adjusting the rhythm rules, the nineteen chapters, as the lyrics of the music used on the ceremony,providing us a way to study the suburban sacrificial rites even the religious culture of the Han Dynasty from the perspective of the text.The main objects of the suburban sacrificial rites of the Han Dynasty are the Five Emperors, Tai Yi, Hou Tu and the heaven and earth. Respectively, the main sacrificial places of the Five Emperors are the five platforms at Yong, the temples at Weiyang,the altar at Chang'an Gate and the Five Suburbs. The main sacrificial places of the Tai Yi are the alter designed by Miu Ji and the alter at Ganquan. The sacrificial place of Hou Tu is the alter at Fenyin. The main sacrificial places of the heaven and earth are the altars located at the southern and northern suburbs of Chang'an and Luoyang. In addition, there is Ming Tang, a place where all kinds of sacrificial objects are feted.These locations and places are reflected in the nineteen chapters, besides they are also the prerequisite for a systematic discussion of the relationship between the nineteen chapters and the suburban sacrificial rites of the Han Dynasty.The nineteen chapters' reflection of the suburban sacrificial rites of the Han Dynasty is divided into two parts. The first part is the relationship between the nineteen chapters and suburban sacrificial ceremony, which can be divided into two aspects. On the one hand, the nineteen chapters contain a lot of imagination about the parade of gods, which often refer to the real royal parade of the Han Dynasty; on the other hand, the nineteen chapters describe the things used on the ceremony such as clothes, foods and wine, which reflect numerous real details of the ceremony. And the description about the libation of the emperor and courtiers reflects the main steps of the ceremony. The second part is the relationship between the nineteen chapters and music and dance, which can also be divided into two aspects. On the one hand is the description of the music in the activities of the rituals, and through the specific use of the five tone we can try to recreate the performance of music of the rituals; on the other hand, the description of the dance reflects some of the details and concepts of the suburban sacrificial rites of the Han Dynasty.As the lyrics of sacrificial songs, the nineteen chapters record a lot of information about religious ritual culture. Through the study of this group of poems,we can research the suburban sacrificial ceremony, ritual culture and religious concepts of the Han Dynasty profoundly.