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(B) Islam

Tang and Song dynasties were the incipient stage of growth of Islam in China. The dissemination of Islam synchronized with the development of Sino-Arab trade. In Song dynasties, the navigation and foreign trade in China prospered, so that a great number of Arab tradesmen came to the Middle Kingdom. Accumulating huge fortunes, some chose to live in China and never returned to their homelands. Usually, they resided in coastal cities such as Guangzhou and Quanzhou. They had wives and children in China and were gradually Sinicized. Such businessmen brought the Islamic faith to China and built mosques in the places where they lived. In the mosque, they worshipped Allah. In his Pingzhou ketan (Talking Prefecture Ping), Zhu Yu writes,

[In the Foreigner’s District of Guangzhou,] the foreigners (Arabs) wear apparel differing from the Chinese ones; likewise, the foods they have are not the same as the Chinese. … The foreigners do not eat pork. … Nor do they eat any livestock that is not butchered by themselves [in accordance with religious rites].82

It was said that the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou was built in Tang. Such an assertion is still open to debate. But at least, the Mosque was there as late as the early Southern Song dynasty. The Mosque had a tower soaring to 36 meters tall. During the day banners were hung on the tower, and at night, the tower could serve as a lighthouse. Additionally, a mosque was built in Taipingqiao of Yangzhou in the late Southern Song; Hainan had a mosque, in which owners of seagoing vessels performed sacrificial activities and pork was strictly banned.83 At that time, the Chinese called the mosque the “hall of rite”, the “hall of sacrificial ceremony”, or the “worshipping hall.”

Quanzhou was one of four major commercial ports of Song. In the city, there were many Arab tradesmen and mosques. The Shengyou Mosque, designed with medieval architecture, was built in the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1009). The Qingjing Mosque was built in Southern Song. Wu Jian, who was the author of inscriptions on the tablet in commemoration of the work of rebuilding the mosque, wrote,

In the first year of Shaoxing (1131), a tradesman from Siraf, whose name was Nazhibu Muzixi (纳只卜·穆兹喜), arrived in Quanzhou. In the southern part of the city, he built the Qingjing Mosque, wherein he made the silver lamp and burner for religious services and purchased lands and houses for the growing community.

The mosque’s original Chinese name—“qingjing 清静”—later changed to “qingzhen 清真,” which was the combination of two initial words—“qing” and “zhen”—of the phrase “qing-jing wu-ran zhen-nai du-yi” (impeccable purity and true uniqueness). There was also the Yemeni Mosque, which was built by Naina Aomuer (奈纳·奥姆尔), a businessman from Yemen, as late as the Southern Song dynasty. Unfortunately, there are only a few relics remaining of that Mosque. A tablet of the Mosque has been excavated. On both sides of the tablet there are words written in Arabic. On the one side, it reads, “And the places of worship Are for God (alone): So invoke not any one Along with God.”84 On the other side, it reads, “Naina Aomuer, who is from Yemen and a devoted and innocent old man, builds the gate and wall for the auspicious mosque and begs Allah for mercy and blessings.”85

Among wealthy and friendly Arabs in China, some donated money to the work of building walls of Guangzhou and Quanzhou, and some were appointed as court officials or Shibo shi (the Superintendent of marine trade). Their commercial activities provided great impetus to the economic and cultural exchanges between China and the world. It was the Arab merchants who brought the Four Great Inventions of ancient China to Europe. Thanks to their efforts, great products of Arab civilization—astronomy, the calendar, geography, navigation, medicines, spices, jewels, and so on—were introduced to China and the traditional Chinese culture was consequently enriched. In their communities, the Arabs founded schools, through which the young Muslims were educated, and some new elements were added into traditional Chinese education. The growth of the marine trade contributed greatly to the increase of customs revenue, which was used to finance the government. For example, in the reign of Emperor Gao of Southern Song the annual revenue of Shibo si (Office of Marine Trade) was as many as two million strings of copper cash. Therefore, in the tenth year of Shaoxing Emperor Gao said that inasmuch as the revenue of marine trade lays more solid foundation for the state finance, it is better to continue the practice and invite more foreign tradesmen in exchange of more prosperous commerce in one of his edicts. Arab merchants made their homes in China and intermarried with the Chinese. Such an adaptive effort was conducive to the formation of Hui people.

The history of Kara-Khanid Khanate founded by the Uyghur people was roughly simultaneous with the two Song dynasties. Prior to the period, the Uyghurs believed in shamanism and then in Buddhism, Manichaeism and Nestorianism. Since the mid-10th century, the people converted to Islam. The converts extended their power to Kashgar. Later, they defeated the local Buddhist army and annexed Hotan. As a consequence, with the exception of a Buddhist Khanate in Gaochang, the entire region chose Islam as the official faith. On the basis of its indigenous culture, the Uyghur people absorbed Han and Arab cultures in creating their own culture. In doing so, they displayed many brilliant cultural products. For example, the Khanate compiled Dīwān ul-Lughat al-Turk, a great comprehensive dictionary of the Turkish language, and the long poem entitled Kutadgu Bilig (the wisdom of bring happiness and blessings), both of which are indispensable for studies in Central Asian history, languages and literature.

(C) Judaism

According to Judaism, Yahweh (Jehovah) is the uniquely true god and Messiah, the savior, is expected to descend down to the world and save the Jewish people, who regard themselves as the descendants of Abraham and God’s exclusively chosen people. The canon of Judaism is the Torah or the Old Testament. The religion’s moral precepts lie predominantly in the Ten Commandments of Moses. Judaism requires: that Jewish boys must be circumcised as infants; that the faithful must not work on the Sabbath; that Jews must not intermarry with non-Jewish people; that the tendons in legs of ox and goat must be removed when the animals are butchered for food; and that Jews must not be allowed to gather together in places other than the synagogue. In 70 A.D., the Roman Empire destroyed Jerusalem, the holy city of Jewish people. From then on, the Jews became a people without “homeland” and had to scatter all over the world. Among the diasporas, some came to China.

According to extant historical materials, some Jews lived in China as early as Tang. In Song, the Jewish community, which was predominantly in Kaifeng, the Imperial city, reached its peak. Kaifeng thrived and prospered to the greatest extent in the 12th century, when the city was the most developed commercial and cultural center in the East. Three pieces of stone tablet in commemoration of the work of rebuilding the synagogue in Kaifeng might shed some light on the history of Jews in China. The three tablets were made in the second year of Hongzhi of Ming dynasty, the seventh year of Zhengde of Ming and the second year of Kangxi of Qing dynasty, respectively. Where the date of introduction of Judaism to China was concerned, the Hongde tablet says that it was in the Southern Song dynasty; the Zhengde tablet, Han dynasty; and the Kangxi tablet, Zhou dynasty. In spite of differing from each other in terms of the date of emergence of Judaism in China, the three tablets unanimously agree that the Kaifeng synagogue was built in the first year of Longxing of Emperor Xiao (1163) of Southern Song. The Southern Song’s Longxing reign was contemporaneous with the Dading reign of Emperor Shi of Jin, a Jurchen regime. At that time, Kaifeng was actually under Jin’s control in the first year of Longxing. The Ming and Qing Chinese regarded Song rather than Jin as the orthodoxy, so that they still used the reign title of Song in the inscriptions of tablets. All the three tablets state that Judaism was from Tianzhu, or ancient India. In light of such assertions, it might be possible that the Kaifeng Jews originally lived in ancient India. The Hongzhi tablet asserts:

[It was] from Tianzhu. Its people had seventy [Sinicized] surnames, among which there were Li, An 俺, Ai 艾, Zhao, Jin, Zhou, Shi 石, Huang, Li, Nie, Jin, Zhang, Zuo and Bai. They paid tribute of [alien] cloth to the Emperors of Song [and won their favor]. [As a result,] the Song Emperor(s) said, “Associate with the greater China, Please! You are allowed to keep your [religious and cultural] traditions and reside in Bianliang (i.e. Kaifeng).

What the tablet describes might have taken place in the Northern Song dynasty. At that time, Jewish tradesmen brought pieces of cloth to the Imperial court and asked for permanent residency in Kaifeng. Finally, the Emperor approved it. Historically, the Chinese never called the Jewish religion “Youtai jiao犹太教” (Judaism) but designated it “Yicileye jiao 一赐乐业教” (“Yicileye” was the transliteration of Israelite) instead. The “Yiceley jiao” was also called “Tiaojin jiao 挑筋教” (the Teaching of Removing Tendon) on the grounds that its believers removed the tendons in legs of ox and goat according to the doctrines. It was estimated that there were 500 or so Jewish families—more than 2,500 population in total—in Kaifeng in Song dynasties. Adhering to basic doctrines and precepts of Judaism, Jews in Kaifeng absorbed some Chinese cultural elements and changed their language and habits. For example, they called God “Tian” (Heaven); the Bible, “Daojing” (Classic of the Way); and their religion, “Tianjiao” (Teaching of Heaven). In their temples, they also offered sacrifices to ancestors. Nevertheless, the ancestors to whom they sacrificed were not individual family’s ancestral spirits but the common patriarchs such as Adam, Abraham, Jacob and Moses. The Kaifeng Jews also revered Confucius and his teachings. Every spring and autumn, they joined the sacrificial ceremony in the Temple of Confucius. In Kaifeng, the Jews and Chinese coexisted peacefully and harmoniously and their religion was sincerely respected by the Chinese.

(D) Zoroastrianism

Although Zoroastrianism was seriously attacked in the anti-Buddhist movement launched by Emperor Wu of Tang, it did not disappear entirely. In Song, the religion was resuscitated by degrees. In his Mozhuang manlu墨庄漫录 (Miscellaneous writings in Ink House), Zhang Bangji, a scholar living in the transitional period from the Northern to Southern Song, writes,

In the Northern part of East Capital [i.e. Kaifeng], there was a Temple (Church) of Xian (Zoroastrianism). … Usually, the god of the Temple was regarded as the God of Fire and offered sacrifices. Residents in the Capital were afraid of the god’s power, so they revered him so much. The superintendent of the Temple was Shi Shishuang, who asserted that his family members were the superintendent for generations. … As early as Tang the god of Xian had been worshipped in Bian (Kaifeng). Astonishingly, the Zhu’s family always played the Superintending role in the Temple for more than two hundred years.

Apart from this, there were also Zoroastrian churches in the west of right auxiliary gate of the Imperial Palace (Dongjing menghua lu东京梦华录 (Dream-like splendor of East Capital) and Ningyuan Lane (Dongjing ji (Accounts of East Capital)) in Kaifeng. In addition, a Zoroastrian church could be found in Zhenjiang of Jiangsu (Zhenjiang zhi (Zhenjiang gazetteer)). According to “Annals of Rite” of History of Song, when the founding Emperor was pacifying Zelu (a place in present-day Shanxi) in the first year of Jianlong, he offered sacrifices to deities in temples of Xian, Mount Tai and City God and repeated the sacrificial ceremonies in the course of conquering Yangzhou and Hedong. In the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu, as the “Annals of Rite” record, in order to ward off the drought Emperor Zhen sent some officials to sacrifice to the god of Xian and City God. In view of these records, it might be concluded that sacrificing to the god of Xian had already been part of state-sponsored sacrificial ceremonies. Nevertheless, a large-scale religious activity in relation to Zoroastrianism was never detected in Song. Therefore, we can conclude that Zoroastrianism was of much less significance in Song’s religious life. In Yuan and Ming dynasties, traces of Zoroastrianism can still be found. But, at best, the religion had already dragged out its feeble existence.

Religions in Jin dynasty

Not only did the Jin regime have the conventional Shamanism, but it was also open to Song’s sacrificial ceremonies, on which the Jurchen people created their own state religion and codified sacrificial activities. Religiously, the Jurchen regime was more Sinicized than Liao, the Khitan regime. In Jurchen Buddhism, which was prevalent and under the state’s strict control, the Zen School was dominant. The Zhaocheng Tripitaka was produced in this period. In regions north of the Yellow River, new genres of Daoism emerged. Among new Daoist sects, the Quanzhen Dao (All Truth Daoism) was the most distinctive due to its ardent promotion of the dual practice of body and spirit and fusion of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. Thanks to the efforts made by Wang Chongyang 王重阳 and his seven disciples (a.k.a. the Seven Northern Truthful Masters), All Truth Daoism developed very rapidly and heralded a new era of Daoism. In addition to All Truth Daoism, the Supreme Oneness Daoism founded by Xiao Baozhen 萧抱珍and Liu Deren’s 刘德仁 Great Way Daoism were all examples of the new tide of Daoist growth.

1) Conventional customs of the Jurchen people and the creation of institutions with respect to the Jurchen state religion

Socially, the Jurchen people were still in the primitive stage in the period of Five Dynasties. When the Northern Song dynasty was founded, the Jurchen people embraced a drastic socio-economic development. Private ownership emerged and fundamentally changed the nature of Jurchen society. The new Jurchen society absorbed a great number of cultural elements from Tang and Song and underwent a deeper and greater course of Sinicization in comparison with the previous Liao regime. In terms of religion, the Jurchen people adhered to their indigenous Shamanism for quite a long time; then, when they conquered Liao, they were open to Song proprieties and institutions; they normalized religious activities by creating the Jurchen state religion and related sacrificial ceremonies on the basis of Tang and Song institutions. Nevertheless, many indigenous religious customs were preserved. As a consequence, the Jurchen regime actually had a hybrid type of religion.

Like other old ethnic groups, the Jurchen people had cults of nature, soul, ancestral spirits and celestial gods in their early days. In everyday life, they frequently offered sacrifices to a great variety of supernatural beings. Overall, the traditional Jurchen faith can be categorized into shamanism and its main characteristic lay in the predominant role the shaman played in various religious activities. The shaman-centered religious activities were different from those in primitive religions. Linguistically, “shaman” was the transliteration of Tungusic “sorcerer” and it originally refers to a person who was so intoxicated that he danced wildly. The Jurchen people believed that the shaman was the agent and avatar of the clan god and played a bridging role between deities and human beings. The shaman was, as they believed, able to bring happiness and ward off calamities. In the Jurchen communities, the shaman provided religious services such as prayers and séances.

The prevalence of Shamanism in Jin dynasty was clearly recorded in Sanchao beimeng huibian三朝北盟汇编 (Collected accounts of alliances and wars between Song and northern regimes in three reigns). For example, “Wushi (i.e. Wanyan Xiyin) was talented but shrewd. … The Jurchen people called him ‘shanman.’ ‘Shanman’ (a variant of shaman) was nothing but the Jurchen sorcerer, who was believed to be able to maser changes as gods did.” The role Shaman could play was multifarious. He could perceive what gods thought and utter what gods talked.86 Shaman could heal. “If a person fell sick, shaman could ward off the illness by sacrificially butchering pigs and dogs; or shaman could prevent the person being hurt by the illness by means of transporting the sick to the deep valley or remote mountain by cart.”87 Shaman could also play the role that the Child-Giving Avalokitesvara did. Emperor Zhao (i.e. Wanyan Shilu) was childless. Thanks to Shaman’s prayer, he finally had two sons and two daughters. “[And] the sequence of such children’s birth was precisely the same as what shaman predicted; and therefore, the Emperor named the children after what shaman selected.”88 Bringing calamities to a person by means of a magical curse was one of specialties of a shaman. It was believed that whenever a family was cursed by a shaman it would definitely collapse.89

In light of the shamanism that was popular among the Manchus, the descendants of Jurchen people, it could be concluded that there were two types of shaman. One played a leading role in sacrificial ceremonies in a household and his duty was to communicate with the familial god. The other was exclusively responsible for healing the sick and was revered as the “divine shaman.” According to the shamanic faith, every person had the soul, which should never be, separated from the body, at all costs. If the soul went on a journey and was captured by evil spirits, the man would definitely fall ill. If the soul was detained too long, the man would die. In order to avoid such a tragic end, sessions of prayer and séance must be held for the sick by the shaman. The shaman’s wild dance in trance would entertain gods and spirits, so that the captured soul would finally be freed by an extraordinary force. When the tranced shamans were dancing, they put on sharpened hat and long skirt, with colorful paper tapes attached and bronze bells around their waists. They also would wear masks, on which there were two protruding mirrors in imitation of human eyes. While dancing, they incessantly beat the drum and muttered incantations. Such a type of shamanic trance-dance would be performed not only in cases of healing the sick but also in the ceremony of sacrificing to ancestral spirits immediately after the autumn harvest. In the latter case, the elder shaman would dance three days and three nights; and the newer shaman, nine days and nine nights. The foregoing descriptions of Manchu shamans might shed some light on the activities of their counterparts in the Jurchen people. As the author of Nandu lu南渡录 (Accounts of ferrying across the south) argues, Emperors Hui and Qin, who were disgracefully captured and kept in captivity by the Jurchen troops, caught sight of Jurchen shamen who stood in front of them, wearing colorful apparel and patterned hats, ringing the bells, beating the drums, kneeling [before gods] incessantly, and mumbling ambiguously. What the two Song Emperors watched was similar to that ritual in the Manchu people.

The standardized and institutionalized proprieties of Tang and Song were based on the traditional Chinese faith, from which the indigenous Jurchen beliefs did not fundamentally differ, let alone conventional customs. Slight differences did exist between the two peoples in terms of degrees and ways. Nevertheless, such differences were not at all surprising. Consequently, when the Jurchen aristocrats decided to reform indigenous religions and create the state religion on the basis of institutions of the Central Plains, they enjoyed the freedom from ethnic or cultural conflict, and implemented their plan very smoothly. The “Annals of Rites” of History of Jin Dynasty records their achievements: In the Huining reign, the Imperial ancestral temple was created; in the Huangtong reign, rites in regard to sacrificial ceremonies in the Imperial ancestral temple and receiving ceremonies in the Imperial Court were formulated and put into practice; in the reign of Emperor Shi, two Imperial agencies were founded in order to rectify Imperial rites and music by reference to those of Tang and Song; and in the early Mingchang reign, there was the Jin zuanxiu zalu金纂修杂录 (Miscellaneous records of Jin’s rectification of rites), which included more than 400 volumes of detailed proprieties and marked the success of Jin’s standardization and institutionalization of Imperial rites. Rites in the giant book were dichotomized into the auspicious and inauspicious ones. Thirteen sections of rites with regards to Imperial chariots and guards were dedicated to greater funerals; and nine sections of rites were used to describe sacrificial ceremonies in the Imperial ancestral temple. Unfortunately, after the reign of Emperor Xuan, the Jin regime was increasingly coerced by the Mongols who were growing much more powerful. Jin declined so much that it was trapped in endless wars and unable to protect her territory from being annexed step by step. As a result, many books of rites were lost or destroyed and many religious ceremonies could not be performed in strict accordance with the standardized rites. For example, the book about institutions with regard to auspicious ceremonies—funerals, for example—has fallen into oblivion. It should be pointed out that although many indigenous Jurchen customs were preserved in the new state religion, the prevalence of shamanism in the pre-state Jurchen people had been fundamentally changed. The significance of Shaman, who used to play the predominant role in traditional Jurchen religion, was significantly reduced. Shaman in the new state religion was merely an insignificant host who could, at best, play an auxiliary role. Therefore, Shaman had to retreat to the lower echelons of Jurchen society. In contrast, the head of the royal family became the absolutely leading figure in grand sacrificial ceremonies stipulated by the state religion. By nature, shamanism was a popular religion that was shared by an entire clan; the state religion, meanwhile, was of class nature and was exclusively in the service of Jurchen aristocracy.

According to “Annals of Rites” of History of Jin Dynasty, there were stipulated ceremonies of sacrificing to Heaven at the southern and northern suburban altars. When Emperor Tai mounted the throne, he initiated the sacrificial practice devoted to Heaven and earth. After the Tiande reign, the sacrificial ceremonies held separately at the southern and northern suburban altars were institutionalized. In Da’ding and Mingchang reigns rites with respect to the two grand ceremonies were perfected. In the 11th year of Da’ding, the rites regarding the suburban ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven were discussed in the Imperial Court. Emperor Shi shed light on the significance of the rite of sacrificing to Heaven. He said,

The Kingdom pays much greater attention to the ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven. Your suggestion that the altar be built in accordance with the ancient proprieties is good. Taking into consideration the fact that we have dethroned the rulers of Liao and Song and consequently assumed the orthodoxy applying to all under Heaven, it will be unimaginable that the suburban ceremony of sacrificing to Heaven is not implemented. [Stating explicitly his regime’s attainment of Chinese orthodoxy, the Jin Emperor required that the grand state-sanctioned sacrificial ceremony must be performed. Then he furthered] The significance of sacrifice is unmatchable in state affairs. Likewise, the sacrifice dedicated to Heaven outweighs all other types of sacrifice. What the ancients did since time immemorial and the classic institutions are all available to us. [Unambiguously the Emperor suggested that the ancient rites of dynasties of Central Plains be adopted in Jin’s practice. Then he emphatically said that inasmuch as Jin had been granted the mandate of Heaven, Jin must hold the suburban sacrificial ceremony in honor of Heaven.] In fact, the administration is still too busy to perform the ceremony, even though the destiny of Jin has been confirmed and Jin’s inheritance of Chinese orthodoxy been justified. [In view of this,] Jin must express its appreciation [for Heaven’s favor] in a magnificent manner [in the suburban sacrificial ceremony].90

Where the altars were concerned, the southern [round] suburban altar was at the Fengyi Pass; the northern square suburban altar, at the Tongxuan Pass; the Sun Altar bearing the name of Great Light, at the Shiren Pass; and the Moon Altar with the name of Shining Night, at the Zhangyi Pass. Usually, on the day of the winter solstice there would be a grand sacrificial ceremony dedicated to the Lord Above of Vast Heaven and Great Earth God at the round altar; on the day of the summer solstice, to Great Earth God at the square altar; on the day of the spring equinox, to the Sun at the eastern suburban altar; and on the day of the autumn equinox, to the Moon at the western suburban altar.

Rules with respect to the fasting in the sacrificial ceremony dedicated to Heaven was based on Tang regulations. Before the formal ceremony, there were an enormous amount of preparing work such as fasting, displaying objects, economizing sacrificial utensils, consecrating round pieces of jade, having sacrificial food well cooked, and so on. When the ceremony was being performed, the entire course of offering sacrifices to Heaven would be divided into three phrases—chu (the first libation), ya (the second libation) and zhong (the final libation). At the top level of the altar, there were the tablets of the Lord Above of Vast Heaven and the Great Earth God, to which the founding Emperor was chosen as the correlate. Below them, there were numerous gods such as Emperors of Five Directions, gods of Sun, Moon and Shenzhou (China as a whole), Celestial Emperor-cum-Great Monarch, god of North Pole, Five Gods, Five Ministers, gods of mountains, rivers and sea, God of Mount Kunlun, deities of hill, woods, lake, marsh, and so on. These were all supernatural beings that enjoyed ambrosia in Tang and Song’s state sacrificial ceremonies.

The ceremony held at the square altar was similar to that at the round altar, though it was actually less grand. The official in charge of Imperial proprieties would preside over the ceremony. The Emperor did not attend it in person. The ceremony of offering sacrifices to the Sun was originally based on the Jurchen convention. In the first month of fourth year of Tianhui (1126), the ceremony of sacrificing to the Sun was performed instead in the Qianyuan Palace first and then the ministers were allowed to have an audience with the Emperor. In the second year of Tianjuan, it was stipulated that on the first and fifteenth days of each month there would be the sacrificial ceremony. “[On the two days] cushions, facing unexceptionally the Sun, were prepared for all Imperial officials on the ground outside the gate of Palace.” In the Dading reign, the Jurchen convention of facing south while worshipping the Sun was replaced with the Tang custom of facing east while sacrificing to the Sun.

In the first year of Zhenyuan (1153), the altars of Earth and Grain Gods were built in the Upper Imperial City. In the seventh year of Dading, the twin altars were also built in the Central Imperial City. The ground of the Earth God Altar was made up by mud in five colors; in which, a white stone was erected as the avatar of the God. On the west side of the Earth God Altar, the Grain God Altar was created in the same style with the exception of stone avatar. On the day of wu of the first ten-day session of second month of spring and autumn, the Gods of Earth and Grain would be offered sacrifices in the altars, where the Imperial delegate would preside over the ceremony and the music in praise of harvest [thanks to god’s power] played. Related ceremonies at the prefectural level were entirely imitative of those in Tang and Song dynasties. In the fifth year of Mingchang, the Jurchen administration stipulated that the sacrificial ceremony in honor of supernatural beings in charge of wind, rain and thunder were of medium significance and would be attended by special Imperial agencies. The altar of the Master of Wind was built outside the Jingfeng Pass, and the Master would be offered sacrifices on the day of chou immediately after the beginning of spring. The altar of the Master of Rain was located outside the Duanli Pass and the ceremony devoted to the Master would be held on the day of shen immediately after the beginning of summer. In the fourth year of Da’ding, the Emperor issued an edict, in which he required that the sacrificial ceremony for gods of mountains, rivers and sea be held on the first days of spring, summer, autumn and winter and the day of Earth King.

As late as the reign of Emperor Xi, Confucius and his teachings had already been greatly admired among the Jurchen aristocrats. In the first year of Huangtong (1141), Emperor Xi sacrificed to Confucius in person in the Temple of King of Cultural Attainment (i.e. Confucius). In the Da’ding reign, the senior officials in charge of Imperial proprieties revised and perfected related sacrificial rules by reference to the highly accredited Kaiyuan Proprieties. For example, songs such as Lai’ning (Coming Peace), Jingning (Orderly Peace), Su’ning (Solemn Peace), He’ning (Harmonious Peace), An’ning (Stable Peace), Ji’ning (Aggregated Peace), Taining (Grand Peace) and Chengning (Accomplished Peace) were played in ceremonies. Eulogies were sung with the music. Some verses in praise of Confucius are as follows: