Creating Confucian Authority: The Field of Ritual Learning in Early China to 9 CE

Ritual Learning is a key driver in the cultural dominance of Confucianism. In early China, Confucian officials derive political influence from the sub-discipline of ritual. Imperial regimes establish legitimacy through their state religion, headed by sacrifices to ancestors and to deities of Heaven and Earth. Ritual Learning allows Confucian-educated officials to assert control over these cults, and reshape dynastic legitimacy according to their own design, claimed to derive from the sage kings of antiquity. Confucianism is not just a philosophical and intellectual tradition. Through its ritual expertise, it has cultural and political power, like that of a religion, allowing it to perpetuate itself successfully over time, even in contemporary China.