Sacred Rituals and Symbols

Temple Rituals
The official rituals of Confucianism, the ones created for temple worship, are beautiful, precise rituals that are now viewed, by many, as historical reenactments.  The picture above is from the Taipei Confucian Temple where considerable time and energy have been spent reproducing the original Confucian rituals. These rituals are performed once a year and they include performance art: music and dance.  A complete list of actions of the temple ritual shows the precision of the performance.  The temple officials carefully paired the ritual down from 90 minutes to one hour for modern audiences.

The Emperors of China were always intimately connected to ritual.  It was an ideal that the Emperor would do nothing but ritual.  These rituals were formal, beautiful and important.  The Yellow Emperor, Huang Di, it was said, ruled by 'doing nothing' (Armstrong 370) meaning he delegated tasks but did the rituals that kept the Kingdom right with Heaven.

 One symbol of Confucianism that grew up centuries after his death, is his own likeness. (pictured on the right).  Confucian himself was revered as a Sage/Demi-God/God/Ancestor.  The Confucian temples all contain his likeness.

House Rituals

Many important rituals take place in the home at the family altar. It's difficult to find out how much these rituals are practiced on a daily basis. Home rituals take place on feast days and during changes in peoples lives.  The alter contains two important symbols.  Pictures of ancestors and the Ancestral Stone. 


Rites of Passage

Rituals are performed at key times in a families life.  Most common are at a birth, Capping (son reaching 14 yrs. old), marriage, and death.