Rites of Zhou

The Rites of Zhou (Chinese: 周禮/周礼; pinyin: Zhōulǐ), also known as Zhouguan, is one of three ancient ritual texts listed among the classics of Confucianism. It was later renamed Zhouli by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the Classic of History which was also known as Zhouguan.

Though tradition ascribed the text of the Rites of Zhou to the Duke of Zhou or to its first editor Liu Xin, the work is considered by modern scholars to have been a anonymous utopian construct. For many centuries this book was joined with the Liji "Record of Rites" and the Yili "Etiquette and Rites" as the Three Rites of Chinese literature.

Compilation

The book appeared in the middle of the 2nd century BC, when it was found and included in the collection of Old Texts (Chinese: 古文经; pinyin: Gǔwén Jīng) in the library of Prince Liu De (劉德)(d.130 BC), younger brother of Emperor Wu of Han. From at least the Song Dynasty, the book was thought to be the work of its first editor, Liu Xin (劉歆), librarian and astronomer to the emperor Wang Mang 王莽. Liu Xin was the first known scholar who ascribed the work to the Duke of Zhou (Zhou Gong 周公). In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the famous scholar Kang Youwei (康有為), the book was often seen as a forgery by Liu Xin. A few holdouts in the scholarly community continue to insist on a Western Zhou date for the classic, but the majority follow Qian Mu (錢穆) and Gu Jiegang (顧頡剛) in assigning The Rites of Zhou to about the 3rd century BC. Present-day scholars, such as Yu Yingshi (余英時), are converging on the late Warring States period as the time of compilation of the book, some basing their hypothesis on a comparison of official titles in the text with extant bronze inscriptions, others on the knowledge of calendars that appears implicit in the text.

The book is divided into six sections:

1. Offices of Heaven (Tianguan Zhongzai, 天官冢宰) on government in general;
2. Offices of Earth (Diguan situ, 地官司土) on education;
3. Offices of Spring (Chunguan zongbo, 春官宗伯) on social and religious institutions;
4. Offices of Summer (Xiaguan sima, 夏官司馬) on the army;
5. Office of Autumn (Qiu guan sikou, 秋官司寇) on justice;
6. Office of Winter (Dongguan, 冬官) on population, territory, and agriculture.

In the 12th century, it was given special recognition by being placed among the Six Classics as a substitute for the long-lost Classic of Music (樂經).

References

Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article: Rites of Zhou (in Chinese)

• Jin Chunfeng (1993). New examinations on the composition of the Zhouguan and on the culture and age reflected in the classic. Taipei: Dongda Tushu Co.. ISBN 957191519X. 
• Lu Youren (2001). "Summary on Zhouli". Journal of Henan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition). http://218.17.222.243/was40/detail?record=1&channelid=13214&searchword=%20(%20%C2%C0%D3%D1%C8%CA+%29+and+%28+%B1%EA%CC%E2%3D%27%A1%B6%D6%DC%C0%F1%A1%B7%B8%C5%CB%B5'%20). 

Literature

• Nylan, Michael, The Five 'Confucian' Classics, New Haven (Yale University Press), 2001, ISBN 0-300-08185-5, Chapter 4, The Three Rites Canon pp. 168-202.
• Boltz, William G., 'Chou li' in: Early Chinese Texts. A Biliographical Guide (Loewe, Michael, ed.), pp. 24-32, Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China, 1993, (Early China Special Monograph Series No. 2), ISBN 1-557-29043-1.
• Karlgren, Bernhard, 'The Early History of the Chou li and Tso chuan Texts' in: Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquites, 3 (1931), pp. 1-59

External links

• Rites of Zhou (Chinese)
• Rites of Zhou (French translation of 1851, still the best Occidental source for the work)

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