The Great Ritual Controversy And Jiangxi Local Society In Ming Dynasty

The Great Ritual Controversy is a significant and profound historical event in the middle of Ming Dynasty,which causes huge changes in the imperial court as well as in the local society.The thesis take Jiangxi local society for example,by way of making clear the complicated attitudes of Jiangxi local society towards different periods and events,to explore its response measures which deal with the political disputes and the etiquette revolutions happened in the court.These response measures can reflect the interaction between the government and the local society in the middle of Ming Dynasty.The thesis demonstrates from three perspectives.First of all,the attitudes of Jiangxi local society towards the Jiangxi officials who took part in the Great Ritual Controversy depend on when they took part in and how they behaved.In the early stage,the Jiangxi officials who were punished by the emperor Shizong of Ming because of defending the orthodoxy are highly valued by his hometown.However,those who were promoted because of catering to the emperor are considered as a great shame.But later,viewpoint and standpoint are not the most important factors.Instead,getting emperor's appreciation also means being appreciated by the local society.The government and local society's standards for evaluating officials shows a change from inconsistent in the early stage to unified in the later stage.Secondly,when the government requires all regions to build the Enlighting Sage Shrine in the nineth year of Jiajing,the local society didn't care about this policy which had little connection with people's livelihood.Consequently,this policy wasn't carried out as planed.On the contrary,the local society shows great passion in"Tuien Decree" which was approved by the emperor but didn't become a national institution in the fifteenth year of Jiajing.The local people even break the limit of government decree and build ancestral hall to worship their ancestors.Jiangxi local society responsed differently exactly reflects its incomformity with the government.It shows that the local society would make choices based on its own instersts and needs,instead of absolutely complying with the government policies.Therefore,the institutions and policies designed by the rulers are rigescent and invariable,while the ruled is a group of people who has their own thoughts and struggle for survival.As a result,the institutions and policies are not uniform when implemented.Instead,the implementation is filled with adaptation and adjustment.