Elements of the Chinese Cultual Grammar ： Sacrifice1

DAVID Gibeault��

Abstract：This article explores definitions of “sacrifice”， and arrives at a definition based on the “internal logic” of Chinese cultural facts. Through a detailed analysis on the two kinds of relations with gods， i.e. “homage” （or reverence） and “request”， the concept of “sacrifice” illustrated in the novel The Investiture of the Gods； a Taoist cosmic renewal rite named Jiao； and the imperial altar of Heaven， the author introduces a method for studying the “grammar” of Chinese cultural life， of which sacrifice is an element found in a contrastive relationship with other cultural elements in China.

Key Words：sacrifice； China；internal logic；grammar

Ⅰ.Aim and Method

There are inevitably problems of definitions. How to characterize the sacrifice？ I wish in the present paper arrive at a definition following the internal logic of the Chinese facts， and not define them externally. The internal logic of Chinese culture would allow us to define sacrifice “from the inside”. This well-known point of method is precisely the way Mauss begins his study of sacrifice， criticizing the then more common method of evolutionism：

Instead of analyzing in its original complexity of the Semitic ritual system， （R. Smith） concentrated in grouping genealogically the facts according to the analogies he saw between them. （1968： 198，Gibeault， trans.）

This method is especially recommended for a society like the Chinese society where distinct and relatively autonomous traditions， like Taoism， or Confucianism， exist. The genealogical method is there very tempting.

But one could notice that in the idea of following the “original complexity” of a foreign cultural system lie assumptions about the intellectual means we possess to do so. Those assumptions are based on a “third way”， to speak like Mr. Blair. A debate between Radcliffe-Brown and Marcel Griaule， a pupil of Mauss， some decades ago show some light on this.

Radcliffe-Brown， among others， wrote in the twenties and thirties on the subject of the maternal uncle in patrilineal societies among diverse cultures. The relationship between this uncle and his nephew - a relationship called “avuncular”， is in many instances the locus of distinctive behavior， often called a “joking relationship”. That is， the nephew and his uncle can or must mock and tease each other. In 1948， Griaule， studying the avuncular relation among the Dogon， criticized in a satirical mode the way Radcliffe-Brown dealt with the subject. The year after Radcliffe-Brown answered， in the paper called “A Further Note on Joking Relationships”.2 He thus summarizes the debates ：

If we wish to understand a custom or an institution that we find in a particular society there are two ways of dealing with it. One is to examine the part it plays in the system or complex of custom in which it is found and the meaning that it has within this complex for the people themselves. （...） But there is another method open to us， namely， to make a wide comparative study of all those types of social relationship in which two persons are by custom permitted， or even required， to use speech or behavior which in other relationships would be grievously offensive. （1965 ： 107）

Griaule objects to the second method as：

（...） to classify together the various examples of 'joking relationships' and to look for a general explanation， is like classifying together the ceremonies at which church bells are rung， such as funerals and weddings， calling them all cérémonies à cloches （ceremonies with bells）. （1965 ： 113）

I must inform Chinese readers perhaps unfamiliar with Christian rituals that classifying church ceremonies by bells is comical. But for Radcliffe-Brown， the alternative to the comparative method he defends is “particularistic explanations similar to those of the historians”. （1965 ： 114）

This question of method is of course a subject in itself， which I wont make the full exposition here. I will limit myself to the addition of Lévi-Strauss to this debate. Radcliffe-Browns conclusion to his study of the joking relationship was that it was an instance of alliances between groups. The maternal uncle is outside the family， but no stranger； hence the combination of defiance and proximity that results in “teasing”. Lévi-Strauss， as we all know， proposed to see the maternal uncle as part of his “element of kinship”（or “atom of kinship” as he also called it）. That is， an insider. With this view， it was possible to link together relations that were not so previously， thus giving us the means to see a cultural system， an internal logic. Lévi-Strauss states that

We thus see that the avunculate， to be understood， has to be treated as a relation inside a system， and that it is the system itself that must be considered in its entirety in order to see its structure. This structure is based on four terms （brother， sister， father， son） united by two correlative opposition couples， in a way that， in each of the two generations in question， there is always a positive and a negative relation. What now is that structure， and what is its raison d'être？ The answer is thus ： this structure is the simplest kinship structure we can conceive and that can exist. It is， strictly speaking， the element of kinship. （1958 ： 62，Gibeault， trans.）

I reproduce in Figure I the four variations of the system of attitudes Lévi-Strauss found in the ethnographic literature.

Figure 1

Lévi-Strausssystem of attitudes in its four variations

The definition of the system has to follow the inner logic of a culture， as Griaule wanted. But once the internal logic outlines the system of relations of the said culture， it is possible to do comparison and to obtain an objective base ground for generalization， as we have a real object.

So I will try to follow a similar path about cultual life， the attitudes between men and gods. I have called this a “grammar” of cultual life. In this the sacrifice would be only one element， to be contrasted and related to other cultual relations. I wish to get two benefits from this method. It allows me， I believe， to take into account the different traditions in the corpus of Chinese data， not negating the relative autonomy of the Taoist tradition， the court culture， the Confucian tradition， etc.， but not be limited by their autonomy. Second， I can eventually get a solid base for a comparative exploration. But here I must say that in the case of the system of attitudes between kin， what makes the system present across diverse cultures is， for Lévi-Strauss， the universality of the incest prohibition， and the universality of the kin relations of consanguinity， affinity and descent.3 What would be the universality of cultual life I will leave this question open for now.

Ⅱ.A First Element ： Homage

I have in a previous work already identified one relation of Chinese cultual life. It is imperative that I recall the results of this work， as the sacrifice relation I wish to analyze forms a system with it.

When Chinese people go to the temple， for most of the time they use expressions that describe what will happen there. They say jinxiang （进香， offer incense）， because when one visit a temple he does insert an incense stick in the incense burner. They say shaozhi （烧纸，burn paper offerings） because they will burn paper money for the gods. They say also chaoshan（朝山） and xuyuan （许愿， make a wish）. I will develop here what those actions mean.

Chaoshan （朝山） means to “face the mountain”. Mountain means “temple”， as the temples in China are seen as mountains. This is very important， and most of the time not fully considered in my opinion. One says also chaosheng（朝圣）， to “face the holy”， or chaoxiang（朝香）， to “face the incense burner”. So to go to the temple is to “face”. And indeed the temple is written as 廟， the “space” （广）where one “faces” （朝）.

But to “face”（朝） is also and before all what describes kingship in China. The court is called chaoting（朝廷）， the “yard of facing”， the dynasties are called chaodai（朝代）， “the generations of facing”， the magistrates dresses named chaofu （朝服）， “the dresses of the facing”. So “to face” is a political action as well as religious.

The word “to face” describes the submission and the superiority of two persons facing each other in a hierarchical space. The one placed at the north is the superior， as his face receives the yang breath， while the subordinated faces the north， his face receiving the yin breath. Most of the time， the one standing in the north is also elevated， and the one in the south is kneeling.

This happens both in the temple and in the court （and among kin also）. I have called this the “homage”. But in the temple it is not the only action made. On many occasions， after having paid homage in front of the central god in a temple， persons go to smaller gods in the sideways， and there make a wish/promise， xuyuan （许愿）. To be precise， what they do is to seek the authorization for something （like having a boy） and engage themselves for some return in exchange. And after the fulfillment of the vow， they will indeed return the pledge in a second visit， huanyuan （还愿）.

These two relations are also described as “reverence”， jing （敬） and “request”， qiu（求）. A detailed analysis shows that the two relations of homage （or reverence） and request， are clearly distinguished by people as two actions and as interdependent in some ways. Homage might be found alone， but request is always found with homage. They are hierarchized.4

This complex is also reflected in the architecture of the temple， in its distinction between the central gods and the side gods. （The situation is more complex but this is the main pattern； it will suffice for our present needs）. It is also sometimes present in the front - back distinction.

In one interesting case from the village I studied ethnographically， a village called Wujiagou in the northern part of Hubei province， one temple has as its main god the “True Warrior”， zhenwu（真武）， normally a god who excels at expelling the bad spirits. But， since in this temple he occupies the superior position， the villagers state that they cannot ask him anything， only pay homage. Just behind him， however， there is a little snake which can be helpful； the “requests” are addressed through him. From this case we see that the structure consisting of homage and request makes up the identity of the elements involved.

Ⅲ.Sacrifice in the Novel The Investiture of the Gods

One day at Wujiagou I was having lunch at one of the village houses， and a neighbor came to sit by my side and began to tell me a story. He talked for more than one hour； I could hardly follow him. Then my friends interrupted him and took me away for other activities. I realized， much later， that he was telling me the story of fengshen yanyi（封神演义，The Investiture of the Gods）. After one hour， he had finished chapter three ； the novel has 100 chapters.

The story is extremely popular among villagers. They have numerous tales about it. I read it some years ago with great pleasure. It is awfully long， and its material is rich in numerous ways， so I will not tell its tale （as my friend in the village does so）， but give the context of the novel and stick to what interests us here. I thought about it when Professor Wang Mingming invited me to talk about sacrifice， because it involves a very important sort of sacrifice that our studies often forget： the “political sacrifice”， or the sacrifice for a cause. It does not involve the customary victim， such as sheep， bread， plants or whatever， to “represent” the sacrifier， but is the direct sacrifice of the latter.

In the tale some 365 persons die during a change of dynasty. They die either to protect the old one， or to establish the new one. What was of particular interest to me， for our theme， is that all those victims （if we can call them such） in the last chapter of the book are “invested” （feng，封） as gods， while the new emperor ascend to the throne. So the sacrifices had an effect， a sort of reciprocity， but very different from the effect or reciprocity we are used to see in the sacrifice. This sort of relation implies a cosmic constitution different from the one that gave us the classical theory of sacrifice.

1.Theme and Time

The novel， of the epic genre， was written in the second half of the 16th century， in the late Ming， by Xu Zhonglin. Though epic， the novel is also comic. It is related to numerous theatre pieces and enjoyed public affection for its tone， style， and content， though it does not possess the refinement of the most famous epic novels of the Chinese tradition. Some well-known stories in it became part of common knowledge. For example there is “The foxes reveal their tails”， a chapter in which a bunch of foxes disguised themselves as gods to participate in a banquet， but their tails are eventually shown under their quilt， and they are thus hunted down. It became a moral saying telling that one cannot really hide ones nature， especially those who are lowly.

Some say the true writer was a Taoist priest， Lu Xining. And the Taoist content is indeed heavy， the story having plenty of immortals， with a Taoist pantheon and filled with notions taken from Taoist philosophy. But the novel is above all a sort of political philosophy manual， because of the nature of the tale it tells.

2. The Tale

The plot is about a famous historical event， central to Chinese history in fact： the end of the Shang dynasty and the establishment of the Zhou， in the 11th century B.C. The Zhou is the dynasty of Confucius and all the classics. What happened to them has been thus endlessly studied by almost everyone studying in China.

Now the change of dynasty is something delicate conceptually； in reality of course it is not so delicate. As the passage from one emperor to the other， it is very simple to accept： it follows the rules of descent. But in Chinese tradition there is very little about the passage from one dynasty to the other. It implies the notion of “mandate” （by whom？） and legitimacy （in whose eyes？）. It is a door open to many awkward questions； or at least questions that were not raised too frequently， for one reason or another.5

The novel begins with a poem that summarizes the whole novels plot， and that gives moreover the historico-cosmological context of the story. Those two aspects are important. In the traditional Chinese novel， at the beginning of each chapter there is a small poem that tells the story of the chapter. Perhaps this is linked to the oral ancestry of this literature. But here it is the whole book that is told， and in a very long poem.

The poem has this major characteristic： it links the progress of mankind， the different rulers （emperors and dynasties） and the making of the cosmos. This is a well-known trait of Chinese tradition， but the context of its enunciation is important. Like Granet once said， Chinese thought is filled with the opposition between chaos and order. It is its main vein.

I found a similar poem， with the same components （cosmic， civilisational， political） at a funeral in my village. I will mention this again at the end of this paper. Here are the main steps of the poem：

The Chaos differentiates first into Pan gu（混沌初盘古先）

He imagines the Supreme Ultimate， the two principles and the four figures（太极两仪四象悬）

Sky， Earth and Men come from there（子天丑地人寅出）

The Sage Yu Chao reels the wild beast（避除兽患有巢贤）

Suiren gets the fire so as to avoid raw food（燧人取火免鲜食）

Fuxi draws the trigrams， the Yin and the Yang（伏羲画卦阴阳前）

Shennong tastes the plants and cures the people（神农治世尝百草）

Xuanyuan establishes the rites，the music and the marriage elations（轩辕礼乐婚姻联）

Under Shaohao and the Five Emperors the people live in abundance（少昊五帝民物阜）

The king Yu controls the flods and regulates water（禹王治水洪波蠲）

Peace and felicity in the kingdom for 400 years（承平享国至四百）

The immoral Jie then puts the world upside-down（桀王无道乾坤颠）

There are two aspects in this passage. One is the “establishment by differentiation”， its progress. The second is vice following up on virtue. The end of the Xia dynasty is mentioned； the same pattern will happen with the Shang. Lust and alcohol govern the life of the Shangs last ruler， Zhouwang， and all gather around the duke of the West， Wenwang， and his son， Wuwang， and his sage， Jiang Ziya. After many battles， the Zhou are established for 800 years. The conclusion of the poem gives the title of the novel ：

Heaven awards to the virtuous men the honorific title of esteemed father（天挺人贤号尚父 ）

On the altar of deification are displayed the flowered documents（封神坛上列花笺）

The great and humble heroes souls are honored with a rank（大小英灵尊位次）

And thus is transmitted the story of Shang and Zhou for all time（商周演义古今传）

Following this poem is a text in prose that re-tells the same story， but emphasizing the cycle between the evil of the last emperors and the goodness of the founders. That is， the second trait of the poem （after differentiation）. This repetition is also important for my argument.

We find many important themes in the novel. It shows the relation between monarch and ministers， or more precisely monarch and sage （or hermit）， that exemplify the relation between the court and the mountain， which I believe is central in Chinese culture. It shows also the division between civil virtues， wen （文） and martial virtues， wu （武）. But most of all， what is underlined is the rise and fall of rulers， beginning in virtues and ending in vices. This theme is repeated again and again in Chinese tradition. This importance of virtue and corruption is a paramount sentiment in any Chinese person， I would say.

3. Some Characteristics of the Tale

1） I will not tell the plot any further， but will mention some of its traits. I might digress a little to point to some facts relevant to the particularity of the Chinese sacrifice.

What sets up the whole movement is an incorrect relation to a god. Zhouwang must pay his respect to the ancient goddess Nüwa and pray for the well-being of his people：

She labored for the people， and the mass gives offerings to Her in return. In praying this benevolent goddess， the four seasons are peaceful， the benediction of the kingdom is extended， the winds and rains are tempered， calamities disappear. To this goddess benevolent for the kingdom and protecting the people， His Majesty must burn incense. （Gibeault， trans.故有功于百姓，黎庶禋祀以报之。今朝歌祀此福神，则四时康泰，国祚绵长，风调雨顺，灾害潜消。此福国庇民之正神，陛下当往行香。）

But seeing the image of the deity Zhouwang is filled with desire and invites the goddess to serve him in his palace. The goddess is very upset by this reversal of position and decides to stop the reciprocal relations with men： “I will not answer any of （his requests）； he wont see my efficiency”， says she. （若不与他个报应，不见我的灵感）. More than that， she decides to punish the emperor by sending him a fox lady that will turn him into a beast by her moral influence. The story begins thus by a breach in the homage - request relation. It is a sacrilege. It will be compensated by the sacrifice and the cosmic renewal of the investiture. Though this is not my argument， I would suggest that the sacrifice and sacrilege are the positive and negative versions of the same act. Here the sacrilege marks the end of a dynasty， as the sacrifice will mark the beginning of a new one.

2） Another characteristic is the continuum we see in the novel between men and gods. For some characters we do not see clearly if they are men with great capacity or gods， or in some cases monsters. Some characters go back and forth between heaven， retreats in the mountains， and the realm of men. This does not fit well with the classical theory of sacrifice. The idea that sacrifice is a way to bridge （and thus mark the distance） between men and god does not fit here. In fact， the holy / profane dichotomous structure does not suit this context.6

Let us consider the very general frame of the cosmos ordered by the theory of the five elements. As we know， this theory stipulates that everything in the cosmos is in correspondence with other things. This is similar to what Lévi-Strauss said of the “undomesticated thought” （or else， “totemic thought”）， where the principle is differential gap between elements； it is in opposition to sacrifice whose principle is the substitution of an element for another.7 But the five elements theory （that governs the passage between dynasties， according to well established political philosophies） stipulates passages from an element to the other， either by generation， sheng （生） or by subduing， ke （克）. It is both based on correspondences and on substitution （or transformation）. We will find that also in the Taoist ritual. So the whole story is based on a type of cosmic order that is quite adverse to the classical theory of sacrifice.

But instead of the classical separation between men and gods， we find operative in the novel， in relation to sacrifice， the distinction between the dead and gods. Many observers have underlined the tripartite division of “gods， ghost and ancestors” in Chinese culture. The men who died in the novel are precisely the ones who do follow this separation. Instead of being dead （or ancestors）， they are gods.

It is possible that the sacrifice is what makes the passage possible. It is also what we will see with the Taoist ritual which will “free” souls from the underground and push them to heaven where they will not be god but immortal （长生不老）. In ancient China there are developments described by Granet that would deserve to be explored further： he shows that eating some kinds of food in state banquets， and serving the state in such and such a way， was what enabled the soul to persist in its being after death. Sacrifice would be one of those actions that alter the souls status， a sort of joker enabling someone to pass from the system of correspondences to the system of transformations.

3） The last trait I would like to signal is the place of destiny. Everywhere in the novel the destination of the characters is presented before the unravelling of the events. Everything is written beforehand in the Sky. This is repeated on numerous occasions. For our purpose this tells us that the ending gives meaning to what happens in a retro-active fashion. Most of the time， this meaning is “this or that person had his name written already on the tablet of investiture” （to become a god）， so he had to die the way he did. This makes the novel even more cyclical， ordered by its finality， by the final renewal.

Sacrifice in the Investiture of the Gods is peculiar as it is not moral at all. Evil， good， fools or sages， are evenly invested as gods. What is important is that the cycle is complete. The narration insists heavily on that， by the poem at the beginning， by the inclusion of the story as the repetition of past similar ones， and by the finality of all destinies in the story. What makes the characters gods in this cosmos constituted as a continuum， is simply their participation in the completion of a cycle， of something complete. To summarize， the novel is a form of totalization. That is precisely what makes the Taoist ritual we will now consider.

Ⅳ.The Taoist Ritual： “Cosmic Renewal”（醮）

The grandest Taoist ceremony is called jiao （醮）. This term means “offering of incense and wine”. In its Taoist use it describes an offering at the heart of a three （or five or seven） days ritual.

The ritual is made at the request of a community when it wants to build or rebuild a temple （installation） or each 60 years. 60 years is the full temporal cycle in Chinese tradition. So by the length of the ritual （three days is a cycle）， by its occasion （60 years） the ritual also emphasizes cyclicality.

What is most significant is that the ritual does physically happen in a temple， but not ritually. It all happens on an altar the priests have to constitute inside the temple. The altar - as perhaps all altars in China （we will see another in the next section） - represents the cosmos. This is “representation” in its fullest sense： to make something present.

In the brief description I will make here， I have followed Micheal Saso in his book devoted to the subject （Saso 1972）.

1. On the first day， the priest has to purify the place to make it an altar. He purifies it beforehand by fasting， by rules of avoidance， and by chanting many sutras for repentance and the accumulation of merit. They expel all evil breath and ritually seal the place.

2. Then they call some Spirits from the “Prior Heaven”. The cosmos is made of two realm， one in which the yin and the yang alternate in their dominance； this is the Posterior Heaven. The elements “conquer” or “kill” each other. Some order in the trigrams is followed in the transformations. This is our regular realm. Another realm is the Prior Heavens where the yang is always dominant， and the elements are coupled in productive ways. It is the realm of perpetual birth. The goal of the ritual is to make this realm penetrate the locality in order to rejuvenate it， and to seal an alliance with the gods of the Prior Heavens.

So the place having been purified， the spirits of the Prior Heavens are called. They are mainly the three purities （the three supreme deities of Taoism） and the five elements. They occupy the three walls around the altar. Very interestingly， the priest moves the local gods， normally placed in the north position in order to receive the “homage” that I described earlier， to the south wall， at the position of worshipers， according to Saso. We see here that sacrifice encompasses homage. The sacrifice is not about veneration， devotion， or submission. It is about order， the setting of an order. One dimension of this order is the relationship between locality and universality. For the local temple， the renewal of the cycle or the installation of a cult is made by the encompassment of its gods by the universal order.

On the ground， the trigrams are drawn by the priest. In following a specific order in his movement， the priest calls the Prior Heavens. The ritual action is actually made up by following， both in the movements of the priests and in his meditation， a certain path between the constituents of the cosmos （and his body）. By following this order， the Taoist progressively “reduces” the cosmos to the three purities. That is， he goes from a level of differentiation to that of unity. Then， when the three purities are made present together in the center of the altar， they become the original breath of the cosmos， pure life bearing. The priest then offers incense and wine to the original breath； hence the name of the rite.

The process is similar to the functioning Lévi-Strauss showed in his analysis of movement between different levels of a classification. Except that this is also a history， as the differentiation is something that developed through time from the original chaos （as we have seen in the poem of the novel）. We see that the jiao ritual is a totalization that involves cycles.

Saso says that a “feudal treaty” is established with it， an alliance， by the burning of a sort of covenant in front of the gods of Prior Heavens. I wonder if this could fit with Radcliffe-Browns general sociology， where the jural relations （rights and duties） are contrasted with （and complemented by） alliance relations （gifts， friendship）. The totalization would be the linking of sacrifice to alliances and to altars. In contrast， subordination-belonging would be linked to homage and request， and to jural relations to temples.

After the alliance has been made， the assembly is dispelled. The gods return to their normal position， and a huge banquet is given in front of the temple. The dead are served first， and then freed. They leave the underground to ascend to the Sky. So here again， as in the novel， sacrifice is what makes the change of status between the dead and the gods， to a certain degree. And after the dead， all the living members of the community partake of the food.

Ⅴ.The Imperial Altar of Heaven

I will be very short here， as we already have all the data necessary to rapidly see how the grandest of the imperial ceremony fits what I have said until now. Lagerwey （1995） said that the altar used by the Taoists is constituted the same way as the altar of Heaven used by the emperor， with three levels （the ground plus two）， and with the spirits of the cosmos ordered on the different levels. He thus characterizes the sacrifice to Heaven made by the emperor as “...the regular ritual of renewal of the Heavenly Mandate （天命） of the dynasty...” （1995 ： 91）. In this light， the “mandate” does look a little bit like the holy arch.

Moreover， the ritual is made at the winter solstice， when the yang is to be reborn. So the ritual shares the same traits as the Taoist jiao and the novel： it is a totalization based on cyclicity. What interests me here is the configuration of the whole of the cultural complex， as the altar is not standing alone. This is a simple drawing of its configuration：

The “Temple for prayers” is a temple where the tablet of Heaven is revered in the “normal” way， like in any temple， as I described in the section on homage-request. The emperor goes there to pray for a good harvest. So the complex， united by a glorious path in the middle， takes within a single complex the two relations I wanted to present： the homage and the sacrifice. Their union in this most magnificent complex is for me the sign that indeed there is a grammar involved， a “system of relations” ， like the one found in the attitudes in the kinship structure.

Ⅵ.Conclusion

I will be very short here， as this is very tentative and schematic. I must underline three points：

1.This system of cultual life should be found in more contexts. I believe that the annual festival should show also a similar composition， with the New Year preoccupied with totality and renewal and Qingming with subordination. Also my analysis of Wujiagou ethnographic material has shown that the marriage ritual is basically an homage ritual. It consists in going to take almost by force （ritually enacted） a bride， bring her back home and make her “face” the ancestors of the grooms family. Would it be possible that the funeral， that forms a whole with the marriage ceremony （红白喜事）， would then be a sacrifice-totalization？ It is be explored. As I said in the first part of this paper， in the funeral， songs similar in content with the poem opening， and which summarizes the whole plot of the Investiture of the gods， are sung at ritually important moment - to open up the yang world to the yin world， the world of the living to the world of the dead.

2.When I contrast and unite those two forms of cult， forming a sort of grammar， I do not wish to limit religious life to those two. Other relations can be sought in order to give flesh to this skeleton. For example， we can notice in the complex of temples of the altar of Heaven that in the middle of the central axis there is a temple whose main feature is a “wall of echoes”. Its significance is to be explored.

3.When the grammar is defined with enough accuracy， we can try to see the “speech”， the discourse made possible by it. At what time and under which circumstances are those two types of ritual used in history？ Their combination can take many forms. And the movement between these combinations could give us the means to understand more deeply historical transformations. I have in the present paper limited myself to their identification.

Notes：

1.I created the term “cultual” to qualify what regards the cult， in the same way “cultural” qualifies what regards culture. We usually use the term “ritual” in similar context， but in China ritual refers to a category well beyond the relations between men and deities.

I would like to thank David Parkin， Fred Damon and Wang Mingming for their assistance in the writing of this article.

2.In Radcliffe-Brown 1965.

3.I must immediately specify that Lévi-Strauss does not limit the attitudes between kin to the one between the four kin presented here. For example， it is well-known that grand-parents play an important part in the institutionalized attitudes between kin. But Lévi-Strauss shows （in II and III） that the same logic operates though with different terms.

4.I have to refer the reader to a French paper for a detailed presentation for this complex of relation： “Authority as exchange” in David Gibeault and Stéphane Vibert （eds）， L'autorité， perspective anthropologique， forthcoming.

5.Though the dynastic changes， incorporated in the “five elements”set of ideas， were seen as natural and never lead to questions about the unity of the Chinese civilization， the “mandate” being passed from one dynasty to the other. No alternative to the reconduction of the mandate are given in the traditional corpus.

6.But the Taoist ritual I will present later re-establishes something of this opposition， a sort of transcendence. So I do not wish to generalize this point.

7.See Lévi-Strauss 1962 ： 267-268.

References：

Gibeault， D. L'autorité comme échange in David Gibeault et Stéphane Vibert （eds）， L'autorité. Perspective anthropologique， forthcoming.

Lagerwey， J. Taoist Ritual Space and Dynastic Legitimacy ， Cahier d'Extrême Orient， 8， 1995.

Lévi-Strauss， C. Anthropologie structurale， Paris， Plon， 1958.

Lévi-Strauss， C. La pensée sauvage， Paris， Plon， 1962.

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