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.The Twice Yearly Confucian Ceremony is a sacrifice offeredto Confucius, along with the various categories of ConfuciansA Visit to the Confucian Temple 69represented in the Confucian Temple, including Worthies,Philosophers, Former Worthies, and Former Confucians.Theceremony presented three separate offerings, and it was organ-ized around the introduction and conclusion of each of these.The entire ceremony has six stages, each defined by thepresentation of a liturgical verse sung by the master celebrant,a distinguished Confucian.The first stage, called Radiant Peace, begins the ceremony.Itwelcomes the arrival of the spirit of Confucius at the ceremony.Allparticipants are in place musicians, celebrants, ritual attendants,and dancers.The orchestra plays and the celebrant sings a setliturgical verse to welcome the spirit.Prostrations are made toConfucius and the other Confucians honored in the Temple.Music accompanies each portion of the unfolding ceremony.The second stage, Manifested Peace, is accompanied by theorchestra and singing.It represents the first of three sacrificialofferings that make up the ceremony.Like the first stage, it beginswith a liturgical verse sung by the celebrant.The celebrant thenapproaches the altar and makes the offering.The first offeringusually consists of grain, silk, and fruit.Returning to his place, thecelebrant then makes triple prostrations by kneeling and bowing.The third stage, Regulated Peace, begins with another liturgi-cal verse sung by the celebrant.At this point, there is a secondoffering, an animal sacrifice.The animals, already cooked andprepared, are presented by the celebrant, who again makes tripleprostrations.At this stage, there is the formal presentation of aRitual Address, a short speech directed toward Confucius, whichis read by the chief celebrant.It praises Confucius in similarfashion to the liturgical verses themselves, admiring his incom-parable wisdom and the virtue of his teachings.The RitualAddress, too, is followed by triple prostrations.Following theaddress, formal dances may be performed.These are referred toas the Civil Dance and the Military Dance.The fourth stage, Ordered Peace, begins with yet another litur-gical verse sung by the celebrant.At this point in the ceremony, thethird and final offering is presented.It is an offering of wine.Only70 CONFUCIANISMat this stage does the celebrant actually partake of the offerings.This is considered the most significant moment of the ritual, asthe spirit and the human consume the offerings together.The fifth stage, Beauteous Peace, begins as each of other stagesdoes, with the singing of a liturgical verse by the celebrant.Thisstage focuses simply upon the ritual removal of the offerings andthe ritual vessels as part of the conclusion of the ceremony.The sixth stage, Virtuous Peace, also has a liturgical verse thatis sung, which includes a final passage such as:To the grand hall of learning,Scholars from the four quarters of the horizonCome to show respect.Reverently they perform the ceremonies of the sacrifice,With all solemn show required of the ritual.The spirit having enjoyed the fragrant odors of the giftsReturns to its place.The presentation of the offerings is finished.All who have shared in the ceremony enjoy great variety of happiness.It is believed that, at this stage of the ceremony, the spirit leavesand returns to its own realm.As a final act, the Ritual Address isthen burned, symbolizing its transfer to the realm of the spirits.With this burning, the ceremony comes to a formal end.THE TEMPLE AS A RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONThe existence of the Confucian Temple, with its traditions ofsacrifice, prayer, and ceremony raises fundamental questionsabout Confucianism as a religious tradition.One might ask, if theConfucian Temple is to be taken seriously, then why has thereever been a question about whether Confucianism is religious?After all, it offers prayers and sacrifices to its founder.Itperforms the highest level of sacrifice to Confucius, regardinghim as an uncrowned emperor more august than all the rulers ofhistory [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]