Practice and Discourse: Ritual Vessels in a Fourth-Century BCE Chinese Tomb

Supposedly articulated by Confucius himself (ca. 551–ca. 479 BCE), this tightly knit political rhetoric provides a logical context for understanding the intrinsic relationship between qi (vessel, insignia, instrument) and li (ritual, rite, propriety), a central concern of Rujia 儒家—the School of Confucians—in the second half of the Eastern Zhou, from the fifth to third century BCE. The idea that vessels store essential ritual codes is stated more plainly in the Book of Rites: “The round and square food containers fu 簠 and gui 簋, the stand zu 俎, and the tall dish dou 豆, with their regulated forms and decoration, are the vessels (qi) embodying ritual propriety (li).” One of the major intellectual forces at the time, Rujia developed the notion of li on two fronts: as a principal concept in its political, moral, and aesthetic teachings, and as specific rules governing different kinds of ritual performances, including the use of ritual vessels and other ritual paraphernalia on special occasions. Accordingly li is applied to two major aspects of human lives: ceremonies and related practices; and social conventions—primarily those of law, human relations, and morality—that govern the working of society at large. These two aspects overlap. In the idealized society envisioned by Eastern Zhou Confucians, ceremonies and ritual vessels reflect and regulate human relationships and thus determine legal and moral standards. In this sense a bronze or pottery vessel can embody ritual codes and social principles. Whereas the Confucian theory of li has been a central subject in modern scholarship on traditional Chinese philosophy, the Confucian discourse on qi has received much less attention. To those who study Eastern Zhou material and visual culture, this lack is related to another overlooked issue concerning the relationship between discourses and practice: In what way were Confucian ritual writings, especially those on ritual vessels and procedures, connected to actual ritual performance? This question is not general but specific and historical because the predecessors of Rujia arose from ritual specialists, and many of its members carried on this profession in the late Eastern Zhou and even the Han. This is why Confucian ritual texts are often practical guides to conducting ritual affairs. How can we connect these writings to contemporary ritual objects, tombs, and other ritual structures found through archaeological excavations?