EmpoweredbyAncestors:ControversyovertheImperialTempleinSongChina(960–1279)examinestheenduringtensionbetweenculturalauthorityandpoliticalpowerinimperialChinabyinquiringintoSongritualdebatesovertheImperialTemple.Duringthesedebates,Song-educatedelitesutilizedvariousdiscoursestorectifytempleritualsintheirownways.Inthisprocess,politicalinterestswerelessemphasizedandevendetachedfromritualdiscussions.Meanwhile,Songscholarsofparticularschoolsdevelopedvariousritualtheoriesthatwereusedtoreshapesocietyinlaterperiods.Hence,theSongritualdebatesexemplifiedthegreattransmissionofancestralritualnormsfromthetopstratumofimperialcourtdownwardtosociety.Inthisbook,theauthorattemptstoprovidealensthroughwhichhistorians,anthropologists,expertsinChineseClassics,andscholarsfromotherdisciplinescanexploreChineseritualinitsintellectual,social,andpoliticalforms.
EMPOWERED SOCIAL anthropologists CHINA SONG