On the Rites of Appreciation in Court Ceremony in the Five Dynasties Era : Zhengyaxie 正衙謝 and Zhongxie 中謝

Matsumoto Yasunobu

doi:10.14989/240773

The morning assembly 朝會儀禮 was an important rite, visualizing the hierarchy between the emperor and his subjects and confirming it corporally in physical behavior. In the Tang era, the changchao 常朝 (daily deliberations in the imperial court) already existed, but they had never been clearly described in historical sources, and the Songshi was the first of the Twenty-Four Histories to make it category. Therefore, we must examine the process of changes in the Tang system during the Five Dynasties era. In order to clarify the actual condition of the changchao, this paper attempts to examine the rite of expressing gratitude of a newly appointed official, which was celebrated at the morning assembly. The system of the morning assembly, which had declined in the last stage of the Tang era, was resurrected in the court of Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang. The new version was an orderly system that was not inferior to that of the Tang. The ceremony for expressing gratitude by a newly appointed official was divided into two parts : the zhengyaxie 正衙謝 (appreciation in the Regular Court Assembly) and the zhongxie 中謝 (appreciation in Inner Court Assembly). The former was a formal rite in which the emperor was not present, and the latter was a rite at which the emperor actually gave audience. Officials who held important posts in either the central or local government attended both. In particular, the attendance of lowranking, local officials such as the lushicanjun 錄事參軍 (administrative supervisor) and xianling 縣令 (county governor) at the zhongxie shows the emperorʼs interest in local control. On the other hand, one must ask why the changchao, at which the emperor was not actually present, was celebrated throughout the Five Dynasties era? This is because the authority derived from the celebration of a rigorously observed rite was especially required during the Five Dynasties era when the power of the emperor became unstable. On the other hand, it is probable that policies were actually decided on a daily basis at conferences between the emperor and small number of ministers in the inner court. Separation of morning assembly and the tingzheng 聽政 (Imperial Council) marked a division of authority and power, a suitable response to the confusion of the Five Dynasty era.

On the Rites of Appreciation in Court Ceremony in the Five Dynasties Era : Zhengyaxie 正衙謝 and Zhongxie 中謝

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