Le Sacrifice au Ciel dans la Chine ancienne: Theorie et pratique sous les Han Occidentaux.

• Author: Lippiello, Tiziana
• Position: Book Review

By MARIANNE BUJARD. Ecole francaise d'Extreme-Orient monographe, no. 187. Paris: ECOLE FRANCAISE D'EXTREME-ORIENT, 2000. Pp. 261. E 35.06 (paper).

At the beginning of the year 31 B.C. Emperor Cheng [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (r. 32-37 B.C.) performed the jiao [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] sacrifice in the southern suburbs of Chang'an, the capital of the Han empire. According to Dong Zhongshu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (195-115 B.C.) the jiao sacrifice, formulated and restored from the hermeneutics of ancient texts such as the Shijing, the Shangshu, the Chunqiu, and the Liji, stemmed from the Zhou dynasty. Following the steps of Dong Zhongshu who, elaborating on these texts, looked for the origin of the sacrifice, M. Bujard examines the occurrences of the term jiao in the aforementioned Classics, in an attempt to outline its history. The author divides her study into three parts: "Le sacrifice jiao dans le Chunqiu fanlu," "Le sacrifice jiao dans les Classiques" and "Le sacrifice jiao dans le Shiji et le Hanshu." In the first she presents Dong Zhongshu's theory: after devoting a short chapter to the biography of the Han thinker, she analyzes and translates the chapters of the Chunqiu fanlu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] dealing with the jiao sacrifice (chs. 65, 66, 67, 69, 70 and 71), which, according to G. Arbuckle, were written by Dong Zhongshu during the reign of Emperor Wu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (r. 145-87 B.C.). (1) In these chapters the ritual practices inherited by the Qin are criticized in favor of a sacrifice to Heaven: "En fait, le sacrifice jiao adresse au Ciel est le rite le plus important au regard des regles redigees par les saints d'autrefois. Dans les siecles precedents, il n'est pas un seul roi qui n'ait accomplice sacrifice, avec ferveur et devotion, pour servir le Ciel. Seuls les Qin, manquant a leur devoir, l'ont aboli. N'ont-ils pas ainsi gravement trahi 'les anciens preceptes'?" (p. 45).

Dong Zhongshu shed slight on the religious milieu at the time of Emperor Wu; he pleaded in favor of the jiao sacrifice and was eventually to cause a reform of the sacrifices performed during the Han dynasty. However, Emperor Wu did not implement his theories, but persevered with the religious practices of his forefathers. According to the Han thinker, the jiao sacrifice, the most important royal sacrifice since time immemorial, had been abolished during the Qin dynasty. In fact, Sima Qian (ca. 145-86 B.C.) in the "Treatise on the feng and shan Sacrifices" of the Shiji narrates that Emperor Shihuang (r. 221-210 B.C.) performed the jiao sacrifice at Yong [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], the ancient capital of the Qin, once every three years. (2) Dong Zhongshu maintained that the sacrifices performed by the Qin and later by the Han were not the authentic jiao, as they were not addressed to Heaven but to Shangdi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], then identified with the four Emperors, i.e., the White Emperor, Blue Emperor, Yellow Emperor, and Red Emperor. (3) The jiao sacrifice, prerogative of the emperor, was to be performed once a year, on the first xin day of the first month of the year, in the suburbs of the capital. It would bless the beginning of the year and was meant as an act of filial piety towards Heaven. Also, when the emperor received the Heavenly Mandate and before starting a military campaign he should celebrate the jiao sacrifice as a sign of gratitude to Heaven as well as a propitiatory rite. It was so important that the emperor should not suspend it even when in mourning: "Le Fils du Ciel sert le Ciel comme son pere et sa mere et il nourrit le peuple comme ses enfants et petits-enfants. Renoncer a sacrifier au Ciel sous pretexte que le peuple n'est pas partout rassasie, c'est comme renoncer a nourrir ses parents parce que ses enfants et petits-enfants n'ont pas encore mange" (p. 48).

In the fourth chapter, "Theorie du sacrifice," Bujard summarizes and comments on the chapters of the Chunqiu fanlu previously translated, announces the contents of the second part of the volume and ends with remarks on the...