Ten Ceremonial Utensils: Cultural Continuity

Hello, my name is Wang Yan and I’m a reporter with NewsChina. With our weekly podcast, we aim to provide insight into the trends and happenings in modern China through a historical lens.

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we discuss how Qing Dynasty emperor Qianlong holds Confucius in high esteem in order to win over men of letters where Han nationality dwell.

In the recent cultural relics exhibition titled “The Making of Zhongguo – Origins, Developments and Achievements of Chinese Civilization” at China’s Palace Museum, otherwise known as the Forbidden City, in Beijing, there were two sets of bronzes. One is the Bronze Chime Bells of Zheng State (806-375 BCE), usually housed at Henan Museum in Zhengzhou, one of the largest sets of chime bells ever unearthed in China. The other is known as Shangzhou Shigong（商周十供）, or the 10 ceremonial utensils of the Shang and Zhou dynasties (c.16th century-256 BCE) to commemorate Confucius, the celebrated thinker, educator and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BCE).

Chime bells must always be cast in one piece to ensure harmony in tone, so they perfectly represent historical information at a certain point in time. Qianlong, the longest-reigning emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), awarded the 10 ceremonial utensils to the Temple of Confucius in the city of Qufu, Shandong Province during a royal ritual ceremony to pay homage to Confucius. The 10 bronze wares, including a variety of utensils to store wine, grain, and meat, tell the story of the unique relationship between Qianlong and Confucius.

In 1771, the 36th year of his reign, Qianlong went to Qufu for the fifth time to pay tribute to Confucius. The emperor found the appearance and color of the sacrificial utensils incapable of matching the elegance of the grand ceremony. Returning to Beijing, Qianlong ordered 10 bronze wares stored in the Forbidden City to be sent to the Kong Family Mansion, the historical residence where the direct male descendants of Confucius lived and worked in Qufu.

Qianlong spent some time on the decoration of the bronzes before granting the award. For example, if a cover of one of the bronzes was missing, Qianlong ordered court carpenters to make a new exquisite wooden one. If he thought some bronzes should have a bottom support to appear elegant, he ordered craftsmen to make a delicate one. What’s more, he embedded the wooden supports with a jade seal. Qianlong was fond of affixing his seal on the royal collections of calligraphy and paintings, sometimes at the cost of ruining their aesthetics. This time, however, the seal was perfectly placed on the wooden supports in the form of a jade carving, which enhanced the aesthetic values of the cultural relics.

Since the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 25), Chinese emperors all respected Confucius. According to academic statistics, from the Western Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, at least 12 emperors paid 19 visits to Qufu to commemorate and offer sacrifices – Qianlong alone accounted for eight times. 

Why did Qianlong visit Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius so often? The most obvious reason is to win the hearts of scholars. Most Chinese people know a term called “Prosperous Age of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong,” which refers to the period when the Qing empire expanded to new heights. “Kang” refers to Emperor Kangxi, “Qian” refers to Qianlong, with Emperor Yongzheng in between, a period which lasted more than 100 years. It is referred to by Western scholars as the “High Qing”.

Kangxi and his grandson Qianlong are the two most renowned emperors in Qing history. In fact, Kangxi and Qianlong had to deal with two different kinds of problems. Kangxi was a trailblazer, suppressing rebellions and pioneering the frontiers. It was during his rule that the Qing Dynasty, a unified multi-ethnic country, was established. Qianlong, however, was a reformer who did not have many urgent and thorny issues to tackle. He had to make great efforts to stabilize his reign and it was a priority to win over scholars of the Han nationality. In Chinese history there were only two ethnic minorities that ever ruled over China. One is the Mongol Empire of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). The Manchus, founders of the Qing, from the frozen areas of northeast China, was the other. 

Confucius has long been regarded as a holy teacher by ancient Chinese intellectuals. He was revered as “the sacred model teacher for ten thousand generations” by Chinese emperors. It was not an isolated event for Qianlong to award 10 ceremonial utensils to the Temple of Confucius in Qufu. Qianlong also ordered to repair the Temple of Confucius in downtown Beijing, and paid a visit to Taixue（太学）, the highest government-sponsored educational institution in ancient times in China to commemorate Confucius. Taixue is also called Guozijian（国子监）, or the National Imperial University for higher learning in Chinese dynasties after the Sui Dynasty (581-618). The Confucius Temple and Guozijian are located next to each other.

Among the Qing emperors, Qianlong made several inspection tours south of the Yangtze River several times. Every place he visited, he would inspect schools and pay his respects to Confucius temples, treating Confucius with the highest courtesy. 

That is end of our podcast. Thank you to our writer Zhang Yue, translator Du Guodong, and copy editor Kath Naday. We hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening. See you next time.