Who were the ancestors? The origins of Chinese ancestral cult and racial myths

Bibliographic Data

ID3473539
AuthorsLi Liu (0000-0002-5257-3391), Liu Li (0009-0000-7928-8614, La Trobe University, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume73
Issue281
Pages602-613
Publication date1999-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAntiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003598x00065170
OpenAlexW2152835706
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited10

Ancestor worship has been a dominant religious form in ancient as well as modern China. It has shaped thought and behaviour for millennia, and has been used by élites as propaganda legitimizing their political positions. Ancestors can be created and modified, so the nature of the ancestral cult has changed through time. Using archaeological data from China, this article first enables an exploration of the earliest manifestations and the development of ancestor-worship ritual in the Neolithic period; secondly, demonstrates that lineage/tribal ancestors became state deities in the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1100 BC); and, thirdly, investigates the process in modern history by which a legendary sage, the Yellow Emperor, was first transformed into the progenitor of the Han Chinese, and then into the common ancestor of all Chinese people

Aesthetics · Ancestor · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Biology · China · Cult · Emperor · Genealogy · History of China · Lineage (genetic) · Mythology · Period (music) · Politics · Shang dynasty · Theology · Worship · Chinese history and philosophy · Classics · History · Japanese History and Culture · Philosophy · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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