01:840:211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Filial Piety, Junzi, Hegemony
Document Summary
According to ancient chinese ideology, upon birth human beings are comprised of two spirits. Hun ( ) : a spirit from heaven associated with yang (light/masculine complementary) energies. Po ( ) : a spirit from earth associated with yin (dark/ feminine complementary) energies. Upon death the hun spirit ascends to heaven, whereas the po spirit dissipates into the. During traditional confucian ritual sacrifices - the living invoke these spirits of the dead through music (for the hun) and wine (for the po) - then make a sacrificial oblation (e. g. of an ox, pig, and/or goat) The aim of these sacrifices - to show reverence to heaven, earth, or to the dead, whether kongzi himself or ancestors. The 1st century ce - chinese emperors mandated that sacrifices to confucius be undertaken in all educational institutions. Later neo-confucianism - only the emperor himself could sacrifice directly to heaven. The cult of heaven was officially restricted as a state cult.