The System of Major, Medium and Minor Sacrifices During the Tang and Northern Song Dynasties. (Chinese).

With the establishment of the System of Major, Medium, and Minor Sacrifices in the Sui Dynasty, the concept of sacrificial hierarchy in Zhou Li was realized. However, the sacrificial hierarchy was not completely carried out in the state sacrificial rituals, and only a few official, propitious rituals were included in the System. However, during the Tang and the Northern Song: the sacrificial hierarchy was put into effect on a much larger scale. In addition, more regular sacrifices were incorporated into the System starting with the reign of Daoism, the Theory of the Five Elements, the personal preferences of emperors, etc. By categorizing these sacrifices by rank, the court confirmed the importance of these rituals and codified them. In the end, a new system of state deities arose at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]