The Book of Rites($29.99Value)

Description

The Book of Rites, also known as the Xiaodai Book of Rites or Xiaodai Records, is traditionally attributed to the Western Han dynasty ritual scholar Dai Sheng. It is an important collection of ancient Chinese statutes and institutional regulations, primarily documenting the ritual systems of the pre-Qin period and reflecting the philosophical thought of pre-Qin Confucianism (such as views on the way of heaven, cosmology, and outlook on life), educational thought (such as personal cultivation, educational systems, teaching methods, and school management), political thought (such as governance through moral transformation, the ideal of a harmonious society, and the relationship between ritual systems and penal laws), and aesthetic thought (such as the theory of objects moving the heart and the concept of harmony in rites and music). It serves as crucial material for studying pre-Qin society and is a compilation of Confucian thought. Dai Sheng (dates of birth and death unknown), courtesy name Cijun, ancestral home in Zaixian, Liang State (present-day Minquan County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province), born in Suiyang, Liang State (present-day Suiyang District, Shangqiu City, Henan Province). He was an official, scholar, and ritualist of the Western Han dynasty, and the founder of the New Text School of Confucian Classics in the Han dynasty. Later generations referred to him as "Xiao Dai" (Little Dai). Dai Sheng and his uncle Dai De both studied the "Rites" under Hou Cang and were collectively known as "Da Dai and Xiao Dai" by later generations. During the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han, Dai Sheng participated in the Shiqu Pavilion discussions as a Boshi (Erudite Scholar) and served as the governor of Jiujiang. His work includes the "Book of Rites," also known as the "Xiao Dai Book of Rites," traditionally attributed to his compilation. According to the "Book of Han," it was completed in the seventh year of the Jianchu era (80 CE) of the Han dynasty. In the third year of the Xianchun era (1267 CE), Emperor Duzong of the Song dynasty, Zhao Qi, posthumously enfeoffed Dai Sheng as "Kaocheng Bo" (Earl of Kaocheng) based on his ancestral hometown.