Offerings of Jade and Silk by Howard J. Wechsler

Offerings of Jade and Silk: Ritual and Symbol in the Legitimisation of the Tang Dynasty by Howard J. Wechsler is a really great book. Wechsler looks at the beginnings of the Tang and how rituals and rites used by the emperors to help establish the legitimisation of their dynasty. He explores this history and tradition of the rituals used. He looks at the debates about their nature in the Tang, how they had survived the period of disunion and what new interpretations were given to them at this time. The book gives an in-depth look at different Confucian and Imperial rituals in particular, the accession ceremonies, the Suburban sacrifices and the cult of heaven, the ancestral cult, the Imperial tombs, the imperial tour of inspection, the Feng and Shan sacrifices, the Ming-tang, and the formulation of the calendar. The book is a superb background of the political landscape of the early Tang, as well as looking at the historical influences of the previous Imperial dynasties on the views of the time.

Unfortunately he has very little to say on the role of Empress Wu and her legitimisation through ritual. He focuses on the first three Tang emperors and mentions Wu only in passing and in relation to her husband. Often such side comments were quite helpful to my research, however by ignoring her simply as a "usurper" particularly on events that happened before the establishment of the Zhou he missed an opportunity to delve further into looking at the meaning and significance of the events and rituals he was studying. While many of the rituals were practised by the Emperors in many cases it was Empress Wu who actually was able to achieve rituals to state her legitimacy that other Emperors failed at. Specifically building a Ming Tang, restructuring the first month of the calendar, as well as "being the driving force behind", and actually performing the Feng and Shang sacrifices, many Imperial tours, and creation of the most famous Imperial tomb for her husband. Wechsler was quick to link Wu with Wang Mang, the famous usurper of the Han, as attempting to use ritual to legitimise her reign. It is interesting to the reference to "usurpation" being used in this way. It was almost as if he were validating the legitimacy of the Tang and not the Zhou. Rather than taking the objective viewpoint that there was no real source of legitimisation and that they were used to a greater or less successful extent in both cases. To me the interesting part is the way they were used and their differing levels of success, rather than simply focusing on what later scholars have viewed to be the correct vision.

I also felt that the book neglected to look at the influence of religion on state ritual. As the growth of Buddhism and Taoism was one of the key differences between the Han and the Tang. What influence did Buddhism have, if any, on these rituals? How did it change the growing views of Imperial legitimacy and ideology? Wechsler addresses this a little in his conclusion which addresses the idea of a supreme heavenly deity being adopted from the Buddhist idea of the universal monarch. It was in a similar vein that Taoism was mentioned. While Taoism seemed to be such a large part of the political legitimisation of the Tang, as they claimed to be descendants of Lao Zi, it would have been interesting to see how these claims affected state ritual and practice. However nothing was said about such matters.