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The institution of 'audiences' ch'ao-p'ing is to honour the Lord and father and emphasize the filial way.
P'ing means wên 'to inquire' 1; the subject wishes to assure himself that his Lord is in good health.
Ch'ao means hsien 'to appear' 2; in five years there is one ch'ao audience, on which occasion one's spiritual power and ritual behaviour may appear in their fullness.
The ch'ao audience takes place in the first month of summer, the fourth month of the year.
When a Feudal Lord on his ch'ao audience is about to reach the capital he sends an envoy to communicate his mission to the Son of Heaven; the Son of Heaven sends a great officer to welcome him in the suburb, one hundred li from the capital, and the Heir to welcome him in the suburb, fifty li from the capital (Chin li ching; Shang shu ta chuan).
At the ch'ao audience the Son of Heaven personally gives to the Feudal Lords the tally of the Auspicious Token of Good Faith (Chin li ching; Shang shu).
The Feudal Lords pay 'court-visits' ch'ao-p'ing to each other as an expression of mutual esteem.
A Duke gives presents of jade, a Minister a lamb (Shu). It is on the first day of the first month that they go with their presents to congratulate their Lords.
The ritual at a ch'ao audience is that the Lord goes out and installs himself outside the inner gate; the Son of Heaven bows to the Feudal Lords and the Ducal Ministers one by one, to the Ministers collectively, to the great officers and common officers cursorily; the common officers are not saluted with the hands 3.
1. 聘, 問 .
2. 朝, 見.
3. The whole sentence is supplied by Ch'ên.
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 Published
by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003
by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia |
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